Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus
by Spirit Reader
Summary: Takashi Nakamura's single goal in life was to become the best Duelist in the entire world. However, when mysterious threats appear to threaten the world, a larger destiny makes itself known to him. Now Takashi might just have to become the best, if he wishes to protect the people he loves from the dangers to come! (OC's closed)
1. Chapter 1

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 1 – **_Enter Takashi Nakamura_

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><p>Outside of the large and industrialist metropolis known as New Domino City, resides a large and mostly empty desert. In this wasteland resides one small town, which is known as Crash Town. The town has an old 19th century theme to it as the people who live there wear old fashion cowboy clothes. Not a lot of people, who live in New Domino City, know about Crash Town. However the same can't be said for the people of Crash Town. You see town is known for its mines, which produce a very valuable mineral known as Dyne. This mineral is one of the key pieces people need in order to construct Duel Runners, the high-speed motorcycles that Duelist use in order to Turbo Duel.<p>

About 50 years ago two individuals, Malcolm and Radley, discovered the rare mineral by accident. The two managed to gather other people to help them in their excavation and they eventually made Crash Town so that they could live closer to the mines. However, Radley and Malcolm began to fight over the mines. The two of them split up and began having the people who served under them Duel each other. The town became ruled by such duels, so a law was made so that both families would control themselves.

_Once the sun sets, both factions must have one person represent them. The two Duel one another and whoever loses must work in the mines for the opposing faction. _

For over 20 years both Malcolm's and Radley's faction have been fighting and no one can be sure when the conflict will actual end. It is here in this violent town, where our story begins.

Inside of the smaller houses of Crash Town a sleeping boy, who had black hair with cerulean blue highlights, was sleeping peacefully in his bed. This boy's name is Takashi Nakamura and he is 15-year-old. Ever since he could walk, Takashi has always loved to Duel. He especially loved Turbo Dueling. The speed and the excitement of the event has always been on his mind. However, even though he was a good duelist, Takashi doesn't own a Duel Runner nor does he have the means to construct one. Despite those obstacles though, Takashi still believes that one day he'll become the next King of Turbo Duels.

As the young man sleeps in his bed an old man, with gray hair, huge mustache, and was wearing cowboy clothes, entered the room. As he looked at Takashi, the old man started glaring at him and proceeded to slap the boy in the head. The slap woke Takashi up at once and he immediately jumped up. However when he turned and saw the old man, he just sighed and sat back down on the bed.

"C'mon Klaus…" Takashi groaned as he placed the blanket over his head. "Why the hell are you waking me up so early in the morning?

Hearing this caused Klaus to punch Takashi in the head. "First of all it's not morning!" He said. "And second don't use that language in this house Takashi. You know better than that. Now get up!"

The young man sighed again before getting out of his bed. "Fine…fine." He said. Takashi got up from his bed and proceeded to head over to the bathroom. As he was washing his face and brushing his teeth, Klaus began talking to him some more.

"Takashi…" He said. "Do you plan on leaving the house today?"

Takashi gave him the thumbs up as he was busy brushing his teeth, thus was unable to talk back.

"I see. Then I need you to go to the bank and withdraw some money." Klaus explained. "We're almost all out of cash."

Hearing him say that caused Takashi to almost swallow the toothpaste that was in his mouth. He quickly caught himself and spit the teeth cleaning liquid into the sink. He then ran out of the bathroom and glared at the old man.

"How the heck did we run out of money so fast?" He asked him. "Last time I checked we had enough cash to last us for an entire month!"

"It's because you always spend your money are the newest Duel Monster cards." Klaus told him. "You know those cards aren't cheap here and yet you still buy them as if we have all the money in the world. Do I need to remind you about what's going out there?"

Takashi looked at Klaus for a minute before swinging his head in disagreement. He knew about the conflict between the Radley and Malcolm families and he also knew that both sides raised the amount of money on Duel Monster cards. They did this because they didn't want the commoners to buy cards, when they really needed them.

"Listen Takashi…" Klaus said as he put his hand on one of the boy's shoulders. "I know you love to Duel, but you shouldn't let dueling get in the way of our money problems. We barely have enough to keep the place that we have now. So you can't spend it on things that aren't as important."

The young man nodded his head. "I know…I'm sorry." He said. "I'll try to handle our money better."

"Good…" Klaus said as a smile appeared o his face. "Now I'm about to head to work. You enjoy yourself until I get back and make sure you go to the bank."

Takashi nodded his head and with that Klaus left his room and proceeded to leave the house. Once he was gone, Takashi proceeded to put on his clothes, which were like Klaus's. Once he was done getting dress he walked over to his desk and opened the top cabinet. Inside was his Duel Disk, a device that Duelist use to bring Dueling to a higher level, and his Dueling Deck. He attached the Duel Disk to his left arm and inserted his deck in the slot provided. Once he finished doing that, he left his house.

Once he was outside, the young began observing the scenery. He saw that a lot of people were out so he knew that today was going to be pretty busy. He decided to head over to bank first before going out to do anything else. So he quickly made his way over there and luckily for him hardly anyone was inside. So Takashi quickly made his withdraw and left the bank. He then headed back home and put the money inside of a safe before going back outside. However as soon as he came out he saw a young boy with dark skin and black hair waiting for him.

"Hey Takashi…" The boy said.

Takashi smiled when he saw him and began walking over to him, "Hey West." He replied.

West was 8-year-old boy who saw Takashi as one of his best friends. He always looked up to him and would always challenge him to a duel. It was good for them because, the two of them were always looking to improve. However they always avoid dueling whenever members of the Malcolm or Radely family were around because they didn't want them to notice that they were dueling. If they did they might want to recruit them.

"So what you've been up too?" Takashi asked.

"Nothing much…" West answered. "Though, I have been looking for you all day."

This confused Takashi somewhat. "Why were you looking for me?" He asked. "You needed me for something?"

"Yeah…" West said as he nodded his head. "Come with me."

West lead Takashi to the end of Crash Town and the two of them soon came across an old shack. This was West's hiding place and he would always come here to play or to be alone. When the two went inside they saw a little girl with long black hair and skin just as dark as West's. The girl turned and looked at the two boys and began to smile.

"West…Takashi…" She said.

"Hey Nico…" Takashi replied with a smile on his face.

Nico was West's older sister by 2 year, thus making her 10-years-old. Like her little brother, Nico saw Takashi as one of her best friends and almost saw him as an older brother. Takashi felt the same about the two children as almost saw them as his younger siblings.

"Hey sis…is it ready yet?" West asked his sister. "I really want to show it to Takashi."

Nico shook her head. "Not yet West." She said. "Give me more time and it'll be ready."

West nodded his head at Nico before looking back at Takashi. "Hey…while we wait for her to get ready, why don't we have a Duel?" He proposed.

"Sure…I don't have a problem with that." Takashi said. "Besides, it would be good to see how much you've improved since our last Duel."

"I've improved a lot." West told him. "I'll defeat you this time Takashi!"

With that the young boy brought out his Duel Disk from his trunk and inserted his deck into the slot holder. Takashi and West would then activate their Duel Disk, which started to glow as soon as they cut on. They then separated from one another and began drawing 5 cards from their decks

* * *

><p>"Duel!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**West: 4000 LP**

"I'm first." West declared. "Draw!"

The young boy drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he took another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Celtic Guardian, in Attack Mode!"

**Celtic Guardian: ATK 1400 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a bright light illuminated West's side of the field. Soon, an elf knight appeared and stood in front of him as it held a sword in its right hand. Once it was on the field, Wes grabbed another card from his hand. This time however, he inserted it into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk. The card appeared face-down on the field, right behind Celtic Guardian.

"I then set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

Takashi nodded his head in approval as he knew that it was his turn now. So he proceeded to gently place his right hand on the top of his deck.

"It's my turn." He said. "Draw!"

The young man swiftly drew a card from the deck and looked at it for a few moments. Once he finished, Takashi placed the card onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Luster Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Luster Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

Just like when west placed Celtic Guardian's card onto his Monster Card Zone, a bright flash of light appeared as Takashi placed his card on his Duel Disk. From that light, a beautiful blue dragon with sapphire scales appeared onto Takashi's side of the field. The dragon glared at Celtic Guardian and proceeded to roar at the knight.

"Luster Dragon, attack Celtic Guardian!"

Luster Dragon obeyed its master's commanded and released a powerful blast of blue energy from its mouth. The attack struck Celtic Guardian, destroying the knight completely and draining a portion of West's Life Points.

**West: 3500 LP**

Once the attack ended, Takashi noticed that West was a little shaken up by it. Despite the fact that monsters that they summoned were holograms, they looked very realistic. This was due to the Solid Vision system which installed during old days of Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba. The purpose behind the Solid Vision system was to bring a sense of realism towards the game of Duel Monsters, thus making the game far more excited than it would be if played on a table.

"Are you okay, West?" Takashi asked.

West got himself refocused as he began to shake his head for a few seconds. Once he finished he looked towards Takashi and nodded his head in approval. Upon receiving his answer, Takashi continued on with his turn as he took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Like with West, Takashi's card appeared face-down on the field.

"I end my turn by setting one card face-down."

"Ok, then It's my turn again." West replied. "Draw!"

The young boy drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. He then examined all of his cards, wanting to make sure that the next card he chooses a card that will help him. After about a minute, he grabbed a card and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"For this turn, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Tune Warrior, in Defense Mode!"

**Tune Warrior: ATK 1600 DEF 200 LVL 3**

Another bright flash of light appeared on West's side of the field as a red robot was summoned onto his field. The robot proceeded to kneel down to one knee and crossed its arm, taking a defensive position in front of its master. Upon seeing the monster, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face.

"A Tuner Monster…" He said. "With that card in your deck, it must mean that you have a Synchro Monster."

"That's right." West replied, also with a smile on his face. "I got it when I at the card shop. I've been practicing like crazy so that I can properly play it when we dueled."

In the game of Duel Monsters, there were special monster that were unlike the normal monster that people play. Synchro Monsters are one of those monsters. To summon one, a Duelist must first have a regular monster and unique type of monster called a Tuner Monster. The level of the Synchro Monster that the Duelist wants to Summon must equal the combined level of the Tuner and regular monsters used to form it.

"It's cool that you now have a Synchro Monster of your own, West." Takashi said with approval. "I hope I get the chance to see it in this Duel."

West nodded his head. He knew by Takashi's words that while he wanted to see the Synchro Monster, he wasn't going to make it him to summon it. Realizing that, West looked through his hand again and picked out a card from it. He then inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone, which appeared face-down on the field.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." He said.

"It's my turn again." Takashi said. "Draw!"

Upon drawing a card and placing it into his hand, Takashi examined West's side of the field very carefully. He saw that his young friend hand one monster out and two face-down cards. He could tell from this that the face-downs were going to be used to protect West's monster. At least until his brings out the monster needed to perform a Synchro Summoning.

To make sure his young opponent doesn't get the chance to summon his monster, Takashi grabbed a card from his hand and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dread Dragon, in Defense Mode!"

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

The bright flash of light illuminated the field again as a brown dragon with short wings appeared on the field. The dragon stood next to Luster Dragon and proceeded to take a defensive position in front of Takashi.

"Next, I'll have Luster Dragon attack Tune Warrior!"

Luster Dragon roared and started gathering power so it could release its attack. As that was happening, West pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This action activated one of his face-down cards, which started to flip up.

"I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack!" He declared. "With this Trap, I can negate your Luster Dragon's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

As Luster Dragon fired its attack, a giant vortex appeared in front of Tune Warrior. The vortex sucked up the attack, protecting the warrior in the process.

"Nice move there West." Takashi said with a smile. "You're starting to think more strategically."

"Well…I did learn from the best." The young boy replied, having remembered that he learned most of his skills from Takashi himself. "You were the one who always said that I needed to protect my monsters better."

"That's true…But I also told that you need to protect your Life Points as well."

A confused expression appeared on West's face as he saw Takashi grab another card and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Meteor of Destruction!" He declared. "With the power of this Spell, I can inflict 1000 points of damage towards your Life Points!"

Both Duelists looked towards the ceiling as they saw a giant rainbow colored meteor appeared onto the field. The meteor quickly made its way over towards West and exploded upon making contact with him.

**West: 2500 LP**

As he watched the smoke clear and saw that West was alright, Takashi looked through all the cards in his hand again. Once he saw that he didn't have another other moves to make this turn, the young man looked towards his opponent.

"I'm done for now West. I end my turn."

Upon hearing Takashi say that he ended his turn, a huge smile appeared on West's face. He then looked towards him as he placed his hand on his deck.

"I did it!" He yelled with an excited tone of voice. "I finally did it!"

"Did what?" Takashi asked.

"This!" The young boy replied. "It's my turn. Draw!"

West swiftly drew a card from his deck and quickly placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he pressed another button on his Duel Disk so that his other face-down card could activate.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With this Trap Card, I can revive one of the monsters that rest in my Graveyard. The monster that I choose is my Celtic Guardian!"

As the Trap Card flipped up, both Duelists saw Celtic Guardian pop out it and stand next to Tune Warrior. Upon seeing both monsters, a smile appeared on Takashi's face as he finally figured out why West said he did it.

"Alright Takashi…" The young boy said. "This is it! I Tune my Level 4 Celtic Guardian with my Level 3 Tune Warrior! Great spark of the sky, pass judgment on those that spread evil! Synchro Summon! Shine, Lightning Warrior!"

**Lightning Warrior: ATK 2400 DEF 1200 LVL 7**

Tune Warrior and Celtic Guardian quickly jumped into the air as both monsters started to glow. Soon, Tune Warrior transformed into 3 green rings and placed them inside of Celtic Guardian. Once that happened, Celtic Guardian transformed into 4 shining stars. Then, a bright flash of light consumed the stars and a new monster appeared onto West's side of the field. The monster was a warrior wearing silver armor with two red scarfs, one of its neck and the other on its waist. The warrior also had spiky yellow hair ad was wearing a silver mask across its face.

The sight of the monster impressed Takashi as it was the first time that he's seen West summon a Synchro Monster before. This action made him feel really proud as his young friend was on his way to becoming a True Duelist.

"Go Lightning Warrior!" West called. "Destroy Luster Dragon with your Lightning Claw!"

The warrior complied with its master's orders and started gather electricity into its right hand. Once it gathered enough, the Synchro Monster dashed towards Luster Dragon and destroyed the beast with one swoop.

**Takashi: 3500 LP**

"Next, I activate Lightning Warrior's Special Ability! When it destroys one of my opponent's monsters through Battle and sends it to the Graveyard, it can deal them 300 points of damage for every card that's in their hand! You have 4 cards in your hand Takashi. That means you're being dealt 1200 points of damage!"

Lightning Warrior appeared before Takashi and placed its hand right on top of him. Once it did that, the warrior proceeded to shock the young man with its electrical powers and drain him of more of his Life Points.

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

As Takashi instinctively fell to one knee, the smile of West's face grew larger as he saw that his opponent's Life Points were now less than his own. The mere sight of this caused him to jump up and down with joy.

"I did it!" He yelled. "I have finally have more Life Points than Takashi!"

The little boy raced across the hideout, as the feeling of accomplishment only grew with each passing second. The mere sight of this embarrassed Nico, as she was ashamed that her little brother was making this big of a deal out of this. As for Takashi, who finally got back to both feet, he liked the scene. Out of all the times that he and West dueled one another, the latter had never reduced his Life Points beyond 1000 points. The fact that he was able to take down 1700 Life Points was a real accomplishment for him as he understood why he felt the way he did.

"Good job, West." He thought to himself.

West continued to parade around the hideout for another two minutes before Nico finally stopped him. She then got him to focus back on the Duel before she went back to doing what she was doing.

"Alright Takashi…" The young boy said. "I don't have any other moves to make. So I end my turn."

"Ok…" Takashi replied. "It's my turn. Draw!"

As Takashi drew a card from his deck, he started to hear the roar of powerful dragon from within his mind. The sound of the dragon made him smile as he inserted the card that he drew into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn!" He declared. "With this Spell, I'm allowed to revive one monster from either Graveyard onto my side of the field. The monster that I choose is my Luster Dragon!"

Another bright flash of light illuminated Takashi's side of the field as the young Duelist's Luster Dragon reappeared onto the field. Once it showed up, Takashi grabbed a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Magma Drago, in Attack Mode!"

**Magma Drago: ATK 1400 DEF 600 LVL 2**

A powerful blast of fire erupted onto the field as a fierce red dragon arrived and stood next to Takashi's other dragons.

"I now Tune my Level 4 Luster Dragon with my Level 2 Dread Dragon, to Synchro Summon: Iron Chain Dragon, Attack Mode!"

**Iron Chain Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 1300 LVL 6**

The two dragons flew up into the air and quickly perform the Synchro Summoning process that West's monsters did last turn. When they finished, a new dragon appeared from a bright flash of light. This dragon was very muscular and it had several iron chains around its body. The mere sight of this monster surprised West as he wasn't expecting Takashi to Synchro Summon a very powerful monster like Iron Chain Dragon so soon.

"Iron Chain Dragon, attack Lightning Warrior!" Takashi ordered.

The powerful dragon complied with its master's orders and proceeded to wrap its iron chains around Lightning Warrior. Once it did that, the dragon dragged the Warrior-Type monster over towards it before devouring it completely.

**West: 2400 LP**

As he watched his monster be devoured, West was upset that Takashi was able to come back so easily even when he thought he had the advantage. Also, since he didn't have any other monsters out nor any Spell or Trap Cards, West knew that Takashi was most likely going to attack his Life Points directly with Magma Drago.

"This was a fun Duel, West." Takashi said with a smile on his face. "As a reward for such a good match, I'll show you the monster that you always like to see."

As West eyes widen from surprise, Takashi activated the face-down card that he set during his first turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Urgent Tuning! With this Trap, as long as I have the required monsters on my side of the field, I can perform a Synchro Summoning! So I Tune my Level 6 Iron Chain Dragon with my Level 2 Magma Drago!"

As West's eyes widen even more, Nico stopped what she was doing and looked as Takashi grabbed a card from his extra deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Clustering wishes will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Iron Chain Dragon and Magma Drago flew high into the air and quickly perform the process for a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, a bright flash of light illuminated the entire hideout as a beautiful dragon appeared. It had shiny scales all over its body and had large wings which were almost as tall as it body. The sight of this dragon caused Nico and West to smile gleefully as they were excited to see the powerful Synchro Monster.

"Wow…" Nico said. "It's Stardust Dragon."

"Yeah…" West replied. "That's the Ace of Takashi's deck."

As Stardust Dragon flew just above Takashi, the young Duelist looked at the beast for a few moments. He then smiled at it, happy that it was once again by his side.

"Alright…" He said to himself. "Stardust Dragon, attack West's Life Points directly with Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust complied and started gathering energy from within its body. Once it gathered enough, the powerful dragon fired a stream of cosmic energy from its mouth. The attack struck West's body, draining him of all of his remaining Life Points.

**West: 0 LP**

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><p>Once West's Life Points dropped to 0, all of the holograms started to vanish. Before they did though, Takashi looked back towards Stardust Dragon and watched it roar one more time before disappearing completely. Once it was gone, the young man deactivated his Duel Disk and walked over towards West.<p>

"Man…I thought I had you this time." The little boy said as he deactivated his own Duel Disk. "But I'm going to get you next time Takashi."

Takashi smiled upon hearing West's words. He knew well that losing a Duel could be very hard, but he was glad that his young friend was able to get over the loss quickly and use it as motivation for the next time they Duel. He then knelt down towards him and gently placed his hand on his head.

"I can't wait for that day, West." He said with a smile on his face. "Until then, keeping training hard and don't forget the basics."

West smiled and nodded his head in approval. He then shook Takashi's hand for a moment before walking over towards his sister.

"Nico…" He said. "Are they done?"

"Yeah…" She replied. "I just finished a couple of seconds ago."

The two siblings smiled at one another and proceeded to walk over towards the thing that Nico had been working on. The then put the last finishing touches on it before wrapping it up and presenting it to Takashi.

"Here Takashi…" They both said in unison. "This is for you."

The young man nodded his head and grabbed the thing that Nico and West prepared for him. He then slowly removed the wrapper and looked at it, surprised at what he saw.

"This…this is…"

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Just what is the thing that Nico and West had prepared for Takashi and will he like it or not? Then later, a local rental deck tournament is taking place and Takashi decides to enter. _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 2 – The Rental Deck Tournament_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **Hello guys, I hope that you all like the first chapter of my new Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Fanfiction. This is an AU (Alternate Universe) fanfic, so there will unique characters that weren't in the 5D's anime. However, that doesn't mean that characters from the anime won't appear so pay close attention and look out for them.

Also, I would like that you send characters to me so that they appear in the story too. All you need to do is either send them through either PM or Review. When you send me an OC (Original Character) please give me their name, age, appearance, background, personality, deck, and Ace Monster.

Thank you for reading Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Please review the story and tell me how it is. Your praise and/or criticism will be really helpful for the story's progress. Once again, thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 2 - **_The Rental Deck Tournament_

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><p>Takashi was sitting on the floor, eating a freshly baked peanut butter cookie that Nico just made herself. As he was eating it, a huge smile appeared on his face.<p>

"This is good." He said. "You're getting a lot better Nico."

Nico slightly blushed as she put her head down. "Thanks…" She said. "I'm glad that you like it."

West smile too as he was putting some cookies into his mouth. "See I told you." He told Takashi. "You just had to see it…"

Takashi nodded his head. "Yup…" He spoke. "I'm glad that I did."

As the trio was busy stuffing their faces a young man with blonde hair, blue eyes and was wearing a red jacket entered the hideout. Takashi, West, and Nico turned towards the individual and smiled at him.

"Hey Toru…" West and Nico said at the exact same time.

"Hey you guys…" Toru responded.

Toru Ishida, this 16-year-old boy is one of Takashi's best friends since childhood. For as long as they could remember, the two of them had always been on the same page when it came to everything. They both loved to eat, they both loved to Duel, and they both wanted to leave Crash Town one day and head to New Domino City.

However there is one difference between Takashi and Toru. That difference is; unlike Takashi, Toru actually has his very own Duel Runner that he's been working on. Takashi and Toru found the Duel Runner, which was in terrible condition, near the mountains and both of them played a game of Jaken (Rock-Paper-Scissors) to see who would get it. Takashi eventually loss so Toru ended up getting the Runner. For almost 3 years the young man has made great progress in the repair of his Duel Runner and has brought it back to perfect condition. However, Toru is missing a few key pieces and that's keeping him from completely his Runner.

"So…you found those pieces yet?' Takashi asked his friend.

Toru sat down and took one of the cookies that Nico baked. As he ate it he responded to Takashi's question.

"Not yet…" He answered. "I looked all over Crash Town and still can't find them. I'm starting to think that I'm going to need to get the parts from someplace else."

"But what other place sells those types of parts…?" Nico asked.

Toru looked at Nico as he scratched the back of his head. "That's the million dollar question." He said. "However I'm sure I'll find some place." Toru then looked back at Takashi. "So have you found a Runner of your own?"

"No…" Takashi answered. "Besides even if I had one, I doubt Klaus would let me keep it."

"Why not…?" West asked him.

"Klaus has always been against me on having a Duel Runner of my own." Takashi explained. "For some reason he says it would be pointless to have one."

"I'm not too surprised." Toru said. "Klaus used to be against me on having the Duel Runner I have…yet he's been more on Takashi than me."

Takashi grabbed another cookie and started eating it. "He's my Grandfather and has been my only family since my parents died. He's just probably overprotective of me."

Nico and West looked at Takashi and Toru while the two teenagers were talking. They tried their best to understand the situation that they were talking about. Nico and West's father worked in the mines so they only got to see him during the night. And most of the time they were too tired to talk so they just went to sleep. However the two children were not mad at their father because they knew the situation that he was in. Also Takashi and Toru were kind of like big brothers to them, so it helped them not feel too lonely. Still they felt bad for the two boys in a way. They know that their father is still alive and they see him every now and then. However both Toru and Takashi's parents were dead so they wouldn't get the chance to see them.

Soon Takashi saw that both Nico and West were looking at him with some tears in their eyes. Guessing what they were thinking about, Takashi gently petted both of their heads and smiled at them.

"Don't worry about it you guys." He said to them. "My parents died shortly after I was born so I have no memory of them. So I'm not too upset."

"Really…?" Nico asked.

"Yup…" Takashi answered. "I mean sure…I wish I had the chance to know them, but there's no point in bitchin about what can't happen. All I can do is move forward."

"Nicely put…" Toru said as he ate another cookie. He soon got up and prepared to leave. "Well see you guys later."

West looked at him before remembering something. "Wait Toru…" He said as he walked up to him. "I forgot to ask you something…"

"What's that West…?" Toru asked.

West pulled out a flyer that he had his pocket and handed it to Toru. Takashi, who was interested at what was on the flyer, walked over and took Toru and looked at the flyer.

"Crash City's: Rental Deck Tournament?" He questioned.

"Yeah…" West said. "The local card shop is hosting it later on today. It's a tournament where competitors Duel using decks that the card shop provides. The winner of the tournament gets to keep the deck that they rented."

Toru looked at the flyer for a little bit before handing it to Takashi.

"Sorry West…" He said. "But I'm going to have to sit this one out."

"But why…?" West asked in a disappointed tone.

"I really want to get back to working on my Duel Runner." Toru explained. "One of my friends told me that he think he knows where to get the missing parts that I need."

"Oh…I see." West said. The young boy then looked at Takashi. "Then will you compete?"

"Sure…" Takashi answered. "I'm always up for a Duel, no matter what type it is."

This brought a huge smile onto West's face. "Awesome…" He said. "This is perfect because since you can't use your deck in the tournament, I'll have a better chance to beat you."

"We'll see…" Takashi said.

With that, Toru left knowing that his friends were going to have a good time. The others then continued on eating the rest of cookies before leaving as well. Once they arrived at the card shop, the three of them went inside so that they could register for the tournament. West was able to find the store clerk, who was wearing a Dark Magician Girl costume.

"Excuse me…" He said. "Can we register for the Rental Deck Tournament?"

The girl smiled. "Sure thing…" She said. "Though we only have two more spots left. I'm afraid that only two of you can compete."

"Really…?" West asked in disappointment. "Isn't there some other way all of us can compete."

The girl stood looked at West for a moment before grabbing a notepad. She then looked over several pages before looking back at West again.

"Well…one competitor hasn't showed up yet." She explained. "I'm pretty sure that he won't show up since it's so late. So I guess I can remove him and make room for all 3 of you."

West smiled when he heard this and looked over at Takashi and Nico, who were also smiling. The three of them registered for the tournament and took the deck that they were going to use for it. They soon left the store after that and waited for the tournament to begin.

"What kind of deck do you have sis?" West asked out of interest.

"I can't tell you, that'll be cheating!" Nico replied. "So mind your own business and look at your own deck."

West frowned and did as he was told. He opened the box that contained his rented cards and took a good look at them. Quickly his frown turned into a smile.

"Awesome…" He said. "I'm so going to win this."

Takashi smiled and decided to look at his deck. As he did a surprised look appeared on his face as he wasn't prepared to receive the cards that he has.

"This is going to be interesting…" He thought.

Soon two clerks, who were both wearing Dark Magician Girl costumes, showed up. One of them had a microphone in her hand and started talking.

"_Welcome to our annual Rental Deck Tournament."_ She said. _"My name is Ashley and the lovely lady beside me is Rachel. We'll both be your host today."_

The crowd of people, who were watching the tournament, started clapping and cheering.

"_Let's get started with our first match-up."_Rachel said. _"Will Takashi Nakamura and Nico Matsuda please come forward?"_

Both Nico and Takashi walked out towards the field and stood on opposite sides of each other. The two of them looked at each other and prepared themselves for the Duel.

"Let's have fun Nico." Takashi said. "And make sure to do your best."

Nico nodded her head. "Ok Takashi…"

The two of them inserted their decks into their Duel Disks and activated them.

"_Let the match begin!"_Ashley and Rachel said at the same time.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Nico: 4000 LP**

"Ladies first…Draw!" Nico said as she drew a card. She looked over at her hand and placed a card on her Duel Disk. "I summon Marshmallon in Attack Mode!"

**Marshmallon ATK: 300 DEF: 500 LVL: 3**

A small monster that looked like a giant Marshmallow appeared on Nico's side of the field.

"I end my turn." She said.

"_Awe…what a cutie."_Ashley said in a cute tone of voice.

"_But can this cutie be a match against Takashi and his deck?"_Rachel questioned.

"Draw…!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card. He quickly looked at it before looking at his other cards. He then decided on which card he was going to play.

"I summon the Elemental Hero: Sparkman, in Attack Mode!" He said.

**E-Hero: Sparkman ATK: 1600 DEF 1400 LVL: 4**

A man wearing blue and golden armor appeared on Takashi's field.

"I attack with Sparkman! Go, Spark Flash!"

Sparkman fired a blast of blue electricity from the palm of his hand. The blast hit Marshmallon; however the attack wasn't able to destroy it.

"Sorry Takashi…" Nico said. "But my Marshmallon can't be destroyed by battle."

"I know Nico…" Takashi replied. "However you placed it in Attack Mode, so you still lose Life Points."

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Nico: 2700 LP**

"_What an amazing turn of events."_Ashley spoke. _"Thanks to Marshmallon's Special Ability, it remains on the field. How will Takashi react to this development?"_

"Like this…" Takashi said. "I place 1 card face-down and end my turn." He inserted a card into his Duel Disk and its hologram appeared face-down on his field.

"My turn…I draw!" Nico said as she drew a card. She quickly put it in her hand and placed another on her Duel Disk. "I sacrifice Marshmallon to summon my Dark Witch in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Witch: ATK 1800 DEF 1700**

Nico's Marshmallon disappeared in a flash of light as she inserted the card in her Graveyard. Then, in that same flash of light, a beautiful witch that had wings and a sharp spear appeared on the field.

"Dark Witch, attack Takashi's Sparkman with you Shining Scepter Blast!"

Dark Witch pointed her spear at Spark and began to insert her energy into it. Soon the tip of the spear glow a bright green color and once that happened Dark Witch fired the energy.

"I activate a Trap…Hero Barrier!" Takashi yelled as he pressed one of the buttons on his Duel Disk. His face-down card flipped up and a glowing shield appeared from out of it. The shield got in front of Sparkman and protected him from the attack.

"Hey, what just happened?" A confused Nico asked.

"When one of my Elemental Hero monsters is about to be attacked, I can activate the Hero Barrier Trap Card." Takashi explained. "With it, I can negate one of my opponent's attacks."

"Oh no…!" Nico said in shock.

"_Awesome…Takashi saw Nico's attack coming and was prepared to block it."_ Rachel said over her microphone. _"I can tell that he's using his rented deck to perfection."_

"_Now, how will Nico respond?"_Ashley asked.

Nico looked over the rest of her cards and soon found one that caught her interest.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." She said. The card appeared right behind Dark Witch.

"My turn…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card. He then looked at Nico's field and started to think.

"Ok, she's has a Level 5 monster with 1800 Attack Points and a face-down card on her side of the field. Odds are that her face-down is a trap. I better get rid of that before I make my next move."

Takashi inserted a card into his Duel Disk and the image of that card appeared on the field.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Mystical Space Typhoon!" He yelled. "With it, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card. The card I choose is your face-down!"

A powerful cyclone shot from out of the card and headed towards Nico's face-down card. The hologram was instantly destroyed and Nico, reluctantly, placed the real card in her Graveyard. Once she did that Takashi looked over his hand again.

"Ok…now that her face-down is gone, I can go after her Dark Witch." He thought. "Though I need to figure out how." He carefully looked over all of his cards and soon he found 2 that quickly caught his interest. "That'll work."

"_Takashi seems to be in a deep thought."_Ashley said.

"_Of course he is."_Rachel said, annoyed that he co-host was stating the obvious.

Takashi soon stopped thinking and decided on what to do. He first inserted a card into his Duel Disk.

"I activate the Spell, Polymerization!" He yelled. A card appeared on the field and it had the image of two monsters, combining into one monster. "With this, I can take 2 or more of my monsters and fuse them together in order to Fusion Summon a new monster."

"Fusion Summon…?" Nico asked.

"_Wow…it's been awhile since I've seen someone use a Fusion Summon."_Rachel said. _"Ever since Synchro Summoning came around Duelist haven't been fusing monsters as much. It's good to see that some people still use it."_

"I fuse my Sparkman with the Elemental Hero: Clayman that's in my hand. In order to Fusion Summon, the Elemental Hero: Thunder Giant!"

**E-Hero Clayman ATK: 800 DEF: 2000 LVL: 4**

**E-Hero Thunder Giant ATK: 2400 DEF: 1500 LVL: 6**

Takashi's Clayman appeared on the field and quickly both it and Sparkman fused into one monster. Soon a giant man with yellow and purple armor appeared. In the middle of the man's armor was a dome, which was sparking with electricity.

Everyone in the crowd was amazed at the site of Takashi's new monster. However the person who was most surprised was Nico, who now had to deal with this new foe.

"Good job Nico, but this is where it ends." Takashi said to her.

"Huh…?" She said.

"_Oh my…Takashi said that the match is about to end."_Ashley said. _"What could he possibly mean?"_

"I activate Thunder Giant's Special Ability!" Takashi yelled. "By discarding one card in my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy one monster on the field. As long as that particular monster's original Attack Points is less of that of Thunder Giant's."

"Wait…" Nico said. "Dark Witch has an attack of 1800. While your Thunder Giant has an attack of 2400. That would mean…"

"Yup…" Takashi interrupted. "That means that Dark Witch is automatically destroyed!"

E-Hero Thunder Giant fired a small blast of electricity from the palm of his hand. The blast hit Nico's monster, destroying it instantly.

"Thunder Giant; attack Nico's Life Points Directly with your Thunder Beam!"

Thunder Giant began charging energy into his chest and soon shot a beam of electricity at Nico. Though the attack didn't hurt Nico, she instinctively flinched due to hologram looking extremely realistic.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Nico: 300 LP**

"_What an amazing move…!"_ Rachel said. _"In just one move Takashi has nearly taken out all of Nico's Life Points."_

"_This young man is extremely powerful Duelist."_Ashley said.

"I'm not done yet." Takashi said. "I've still have one more card left to play." He inserted his last card into his Duel Disk. The image on the card had a monster splitting into two monsters. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, De-Fusion. With it I can defuse one of my Fusion Monsters back into the monsters I originally used to form it!"

Thunder Giant started glowing and soon split back into Sparkman and Clayman.

"Clayman, attack Nico's Life Point's directly!"

E-Hero Clayman ran over towards Nico and punched her with its giant fist.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Nico: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Everyone in the crowd started clapping as all of the holograms vanished.<p>

"_That was an amazing Duel."_Rachel said. _"Nico tried her very best to pull off a victory, but in the end Takashi was just too strong for her to overcome."_

"_That's true."_Alexis said. _"And with this victory, Takashi is moving on to the next round of our tournament!"_

Takashi walked up to Nico and gently patted her head while he smiled at her.

"Great job Nico…" He said. "I had a lot of fun Dueling you."

Nico looked at the boy, who she saw as an older brother, and smiled.

"Yeah…Same here." She said. "I'm not even upset that I lost."

"That's good to know…" Takashi replied.

The two of them walked over to the crowd and waited for the next Duel to start.

"_Now it's time for our next Duel."_Ashley said. _"Will West Matsuda and Asami Honda please come forward?"_

From out of the crowd West and a girl with blue hair and green eyes walked out onto the field. The two of them shook hands and started the Duel. However the match didn't last too long because West's inexperience in the use of Spell and Trap Cards, caused him to lose the Duel.

"_Wow…in no time at all Asami was able to defeat West!"_Ashley said. _"She must be one incredible Duelist!"_

West walked over towards Takashi while his head was down.

"Sorry…" He said. "I…I lost."

Nico walked over to her little brother and gently patted his back. She then smiled at him.

"Don't worry about it." She said. "You tried your best and that's all that you could do. With more practice I'm sure that you'll end up winning your next Duel."

"Nico's right…" Takashi added.

West, who had some tears in his eyes, looked at Takashi.

"You really think so...?" He asked.

Takashi simply nodded his head, which brought a smile back onto his face.

"_Will Takashi Nakamura come back onto the field?"_Ashley announced. _"The final match is about to begin!"_

Takashi walked out onto the field and activated his Duel Disk. He then looked at Asami as she was activating hers. Ashley looked at both Duelist and saw that they were both ready for the final match to begin.

"_Begin!"_She yelled.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Asami: 4000 LP**

"Ladies first…Draw!" Asami yelled as she drew a card from her deck. She looked over all the cards that were in her hand before finally making her move. "I summon Etoile Cyber in Attack Mode!"

**Etoile Cyber- ATK 1200 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

"Next, I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

A beautiful figure skater with red hair and a face-down card appeared on Asami's side of the field.

"It's my turn…Draw!" Takashi said as he drew a card. He quickly looked at the card and smiled. "I summon Elemental Hero: Sparkman in Attack Mode!"

**E-Hero Sparkman- ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

Takashi placed the card on his Duel Disk and Sparkman appeared right beside him.

"Sparkman…attack Etoile Cyber with your Spark Flash!"

Sparkman fired a bolt of electricity at Etoile Cyber; however Asami was prepared for such an attack.

"I activate the Trap Card…Doble Passé!" She yelled as she pressed a button on her Duel Disk. Her face-down card flipped up and revealed the image of a ballerina, with the spotlight solely on her. "With this card, I can turn your attack on my monster to a Direct Attack on me!"

"What…?" Takashi said in a shocked tone of voice.

Sparkman's electricity was about to hit Etoile Cyber, however the attack just went through her and headed straight for Asami. The electricity hit her and she started groaning, even though she wasn't in any real pain.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Asami: 2400 LP**

"_Whoa…Asami used her Trap Card to save her monster from being destroyed, but it cost her almost half of her Life Points!"_Ashley said. _"Just what could she be up too?"_

"I'll show you…" Asami stated. "I activate Doble Passes' second effect! Once you made a Direct Attack on me, then the monster that you tried to attack can make a Direct Attack on you. Oh and by the way, when Etoile Cyber makes a Direct Attack she gains 500 extra Attack Points.

**Etoile Cyber- ATK 1700**

Asami's monster headed for Takashi and began to spin around at an incredible speed. Once she got close enough, Etoile Cyber kicked Takashi in the chest and though it didn't hurt, Takashi felt the force of the blow.

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

**Asami: 2400 LP**

"_Interesting…just has soon Asami lost some who her Life Points, she causes Takashi to lose some of his."_Rachel said. _"And now, for the first time in this tournament, Takashi is actually losing."_

"Damn…I didn't see that coming." Takashi thought. "Who would've guess that she sacrifice her own Life Points just to get to my own."

Asami drew a card from her deck and looked at it, which caused her to smile a little.

"Hey since you fused your monsters, can I do the same?" She asked.

"Huh…?" Takashi said in a confused tone.

Asami placed two cards on her Duel Disk and both appeared on the field.

"I summon Blade Skater and activate Polymerization!" She yelled.

**Blade Skater- ATK 1400 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

A purple and blue figure skater appeared on Asami's field and stood right next to Etoile Cyber. Then an image of a Polymerization card appeared. The two monster then started to fuse into one monster.

"I summon…Cyber Blader in Attack Mode!"

**Cyber Blader- ATK 2100 DEF 800 LVL 7**

Another figure skater suddenly appeared on the field. This one had long blue hair and was wearing red goggles.

"Cyber Blader, attack Takashi's Sparkman!"

Cyber Blader swiftly glided over towards Sparkman and sliced his head off with her figure blades.

**Takashi: 1800 LP**

**Asami: 2400 LP**

"I end my turn…" Asami said pretty confidently.

Back in the crowd Nico and West were shocked at what just took place. They've never seen Takashi lose that many Life Points before and they've never seen him be outsmarted before either.

"This…could be bad." Nico said in a worried tone of voice. "Takashi could actually lose this…"

"Be quiet sis…!" West yelled. "Takashi never loses…and he's not going to start today."

Back at the Duel Takashi drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then carefully looked over all of his cards and soon found one in particular. Taking a chance, he decided to play it.

"I activate the Field Spell: Fusion Gate!" He said as he opened a slot on the side of his Duel Disk. He then placed the card in the slot and as it closed a holographic dimension, filled with whirlpools surrounded everyone. "Now as long as this card is active, we can fuse monsters without the use of a Polymerization card."

"_Interesting…"_Ashley said. _"With this move, Takashi can Fusion Summon his Elemental Heroes at a much faster rate."_

"_Yes, that is true."_Rachel said right after her. _"However, because of Fusion Gate's effect Takashi must remove from the Duel the Fusion Material Monsters that he fuses together."_

Takashi took two monster cards from his hand and placed them in his Graveyard. Then a Fusion monster card suddenly appeared from his Extra Deck. He took the card and placed it on his Duel Disk.

"I fuse my Elemental Heroes: Avian and Burstinatrix in order to summon the Elemental Hero: Flame Wingman in Attack Mode!" Takashi yelled.

**E-Hero- Avian ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

**E-Hero- Burstinatrix ATK 1200 DEF 800 LVL 3**

**E-Hero- Flame Wingman ATK 2100 DEF 1200 LVL 6**

Quickly the image of a green birdman and lady who was mostly in all red clothing appeared on the field. However, they fused together to form a new type of monster. This monster had green and black skin, one white wing, and a dragon's face on its right hand.

"Nice looking monster you have there." Asami said. "However it's Attack Power is only at 2100, which is the same as my Cyber Blader. That means if they attack, they'll just end up killing each other."

Takashi simply smirked. "You sure about that…" He asked.

Asami had a puzzled look on her face as Takashi placed a card in his Spell/Trap Zone. The image of the card appeared on the field and it had he image of a swordsman covered in aura.

"I activate the Equip Spell; Kishido Spirit!" Takashi said. "With this card, my monsters can't be destroyed when they battle against a monster of the same Attack Power. Meaning, my Flame Wingman can destroy Cyber Blader. Also, thanks to its Special Ability, when it destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to your destroyed monster's Attack Points."

Flame Wingman pointed its dragon arm at Cyber Blader and shot a red hot flame at it. However, much to everyone surprised, Cyber Blader was still standing on the field.

"Sorry to disappoint you…, but when you only have 1 monster on the field; my Cyber Blader can't be destroyed when it battles a monster of equal Attack!" Asami explained.

"_Whoa…"_Ashley said in shock. _"Takashi can't figure out a way to take out that Cyber Blader. Even with that scary looking monster of his."_

"_That just proves that Asami was one step ahead on Takashi on that one exchange."_Rachel said.

Takashi looked at the remaining 2 cards that he had in his hand. He knew that they wouldn't be of any use now, so he did the only thing he could do.

"I end my turn." He said.

"Then it's my turn…" Asami said as she drew a card. She looked at it and smiled. She then inserted to cards in her Spell/Trap Zone. The first had the image of a monster becoming smaller. The other had an image of a monster holding a gun. "I activate the Spell Cards; Level Down and Fusion Weapon!"

Everyone in the crowd looked on in shock as they saw Cyber Blader become slightly smaller. They then saw that the figure skater soon had a blaster attached to her right arm.

"Thanks to my Level Down card, Cyber Blader's level drops down from 7 to 6. Then, thanks to Fusion Weapon, my Level 6 monster receives a 1500 point power boost!"

**Cyber Blader- ATK 3600**

"What…?" Takashi said in surprised.

"Cyber Blader, attack Flame Wingman with your Cyber Energy Shock!" Asami yelled.

Cyber Blader pointed her blaster at Flam Wingman and shot a giant blast of energy at it. The blast so powerful that it disintegrated Takashi's monster the instant it made contact with it.

**Takashi: 300 LP**

**Asami: 2400 LP**

"I end my turn." She said confidently.

"_Looks like this Duel is almost over folks…"_Rachel said. _"With no cards out and no monsters to defend himself with, it looks like Takashi is numbered."_

Takashi looked at his deck for a few minutes before taking a deep breath.

"Draw…" He yelled. He looked at the card and a smile appeared on his face, greatly confusing Asami.

"Why are you so cheery?" She asked. "You know that you're about to lose."

"I'll show you why I'm so cheery." Takashi replied as he placed a card on his Duel Disk. "I summon the Elemental Hero: Clayman!"

**E-Hero Clayman ATK: 800 DEF: 2000 LVL: 4**

Takashi's Clayman appeared on the field and it looked ready for battle.

"What's he going to do?" Asami asked. "There's no way that it can match Cyber Blader's power."

"I know that…" Takashi said confidently. "But it can stand a chance if it's with its comrade." He took a card from his hand and put in his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared on the field and it had an image of a shining cross. "I activate the Spell Card; Monster Reborn!"

"Oh shit…!" Asami said, cursing herself.

"With this Spell I can bring back one 1 monster from either of our Graveyards." Takashi explained. "I choose my Elemental Hero: Sparkman!"

From out of Monster Reborn, Sparkman appeared on Takashi's field and stood right next to his Clayman.

"Now, I activate Fusion Gate to summon the Elemental Hero: Thunder Giant!"

**E-Hero Thunder Giant: ATK 2400 DEF 1500 LVL 6**

Both Clayman and Sparkman fused together and in a flash of light, out came Thunder Giant. Nico and West were both happy to see that monster out, though everyone else didn't share their optimism. This also included Asami to some extent.

"I see…so you managed to bring out your Thunder Giant." She said. "But even though it has 2400 Attack points, it still doesn't come close to my Cyber Blader's 3600 Attack Points."

"You're right about that." Takashi said with a smile. "But did you forget about my Duel against Nico? My Thunder Giant has to ability to destroy anyone monster who's 'original' Attack Points is less than its own."

"Original Attacks Points…?" Asami asked.

"That's right…Attack Points without any type of enhancement." Takashi explained.

"But…when I first summoned Cyber Blader, her original Attack Points were 2100." Asami said in disbelief.

"That's also right." Takashi said. "That means by discarding one of my cards, your Blader is automatically destroyed!"

Thunder Giant placed his hand in front of Cyber Blader and shocked her with electricity. The shock destroyed the monster, leaving Asami wide open.

"Now Thunder Giant, attack Asami's Life Points Directly with your Thunder Beam!"

The Elemental Hero charged energy into his chest and soon fired a beam of electricity. The beam hit Asami and dropped her remaining Life Points down to zero.

**Takashi: 300 LP**

**Asami: 0 LP**

"_This match is over!"_Ashley yelled.

"_The winner of the Rental Deck Tournament and owner of the Elemental Hero Deck is…Takashi Nakamura!"_Rachel stated.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With his victory over Asami, Takashi has won the Rental Deck tournament and earned an Elemental Hero Deck for his efforts. However when the person who's place he took finally arrives, can Takashi use the power of his new Deck to defeat him and prove his worth?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 3 – Stupid conflicts and the trip to the Satellite_


	3. Chapter 3

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 3: **_Stupid Conflicts and the Trip to the Satellite_

* * *

><p>With the Rental Deck Tournament now over, Takashi decided to head back home before he sunsets. As he did he looked at his new Elemental Hero Deck and smiled.<p>

"I can tell that I'm going to win a lot of Duels with this Deck." He said to himself. He then brought out his Dragon Deck and the first card that he saw was his Stardust Dragon. "However…I'll still use this deck. I mean it was the first deck that I ever made."

Takashi started to flashback to the time where he first made his Dragon Deck. He was a little boy and Klaus give him his first card, which happened to be Stardust Dragon. Klaus told Takashi that Stardust used to belong to his father and that he should always cherish it. He also told him that one day; Stardust Dragon will open the door to his destiny. Even to this day, Takashi hasn't figured out what Klaus meant when he said that. However he's come up with the assumption that Stardust would help him become a great Turbo Duelist.

After he finished flashing back, Takashi put his Dragon Deck back into the Duel Box that he keeps on his belt. He was then about to do the same with his E-Hero Deck, however before he got the chance to do so…a man accidently ran up to him.

"Hey…watch where you're going!" He said as he caught himself from falling on the ground.

"Shut up…!" The man said. "I'm in a hurry, the Rental Deck Tournament is about to start and I have to get there!"

Takashi looked at the man and saw that it was Bronson, a guy who works in the pub where Klaus works.

"Bronson…" He said. "What are you doing? Aren't you late for work?"

Bronson looked up and saw that it was Takashi. He then stood and looked him in the eyes.

"I have the day off today." He answered. "I was going to use my day off to participate in the Rental Deck Tournament."

"I see…" Takashi said. "But you should know that the Tournament ended a few minutes ago. I just won it."

"What…?" Bronson said in a shock tone. "Why did they start it without me? I would've been there eventually."

"The store clerk said that you were running late and that the Tournament had to begin soon." Takashi explained. "So she just allowed me to take your place."

Bronson kicked his boot towards the desert ground and cursed himself for a few seconds. He glared at Takashi and activated the Duel Disk that was attached to his arm.

"Duel me…!" He said. "If you won the Tournament, then I'll just defeat you. That way I'll be the true winner."

Takashi looked at him for a few minutes before nodding his head. He then activated his own Duel Disk and inserted his E-Hero Deck into it.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Bronson: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He quickly looked at it before looking at all the other cards that were in his hand. He then decided to play the card that he just drew. "I summon my Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode! With that I end my turn."

**E-Hero Clayman: ATK 800 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

"My turn, I draw." Bronson said as he drew a card from his deck. He looked at the card and smiled at it. However when he looked at all of the rest of the cards in his hand, his smile faded.

"What's wrong…?" Takashi asked. "Don't have the cards that you want?"

Bronson looked at him. "Don't worry about it! I have just the card to fix that problem." Bronson placed the card that he drew into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk. The card appeared on the field and it had the image of a mallet with wings. "I play Magical Mallet!"

"Magical Mallet…?" Takashi questioned. "What does that card do?"

"I'm glad you asked." Bronson said with a smile. "Magical Mallet is a Spell Card that allows me to add any number of cards that's in my hand and put them back in my deck. I then reshuffle and draw the cards that I added. I think I'll choose all of my cards."

Takashi looked on as Bronson put Magical Mallet in his card Graveyard. He then took the rest of the cards that were in his hand and put them in his deck. The Duel Disk would then automatically shuffle his cards and Bronson would draw few new cards. When he did a smile appeared on his face again.

"You got a better hand this time?" Takashi asked.

"Yes…" Bronson said. "However there are a few cards that I need that aren't in my hand right now. So I think I'll do this." Bronson put a card in his Spell/Trap Zone and the card was revealed to be another Magical Mallet.

"Oh c'mon…!" Takashi moaned.

His opponent would take two cards from his hand and add them to his deck. The Duel Disk shuffled his cards again and Bronson drew two cards from his deck. When he looked at them, his smile got bigger. He would then place a card on the Monster Card Zone

"I summon V-Tiger Jet in Attack Mode!" He yelled.

**V-Tiger Jet: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

The hologram of a yellow and green tiger jet appeared on the field. Bronson would then put another card in his Spell/Trap Zone. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Frontline Base!" The card appeared on the field and it had the image of a knight riding a black dragon. "With this card, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Union Monster, once per turn! The monster that I choose to summon is my, W-Wing Catapult!"

**W-Wing Catapult: ATK 1300 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Bronson placed the card on his Monster Zone and soon a blue, twin plane appeared right next to V-Tiger Jet. Takashi wasn't too worried when he looked at the monsters that he was facing. Sure, they were tough looking, but they didn't have enough Attack Points to break through Clayman's Defense. However there is one thing that was on his mind.

"What's a Union Monster…?" He asked Bronson.

"A Union Monster is a type of Monster that can combine to form one powerful monster." Bronson explained. "For example…I combine my V-Tiger Jet with my W-Wing Catapult to summon my VW- Tiger Catapult!"

**VW-Tiger Catapult: ATK 2000 DEF 2100 LVL 6**

Bronson's V-Tiger Jet got on top of his W-Wing Catapult. The two monsters then combined and landed on the floor.

"That still doesn't help you!" Takashi said. "Your monster's Attack is just as strong as Clayman's Defense, so it won't be able to destroy it."

"I know that!' Bronson yelled. "That's why I'm activating my Tiger Catapult's Special Ability. By discarding one card, my Catapult can force one of your Monsters in Attack Mode!" Bronson put one his cards into the Graveyard, which suddenly caused Clayman to stop defending. "Now VW-Tiger Catapult, attack Clayman with your Tiger Missile!"

Tiger Catapult fired a missile from its and it headed straight for Clayman. Once the missile connected with its target, the Elemental Hero was blown to bits!

**Takashi: 2800 LP**

**Bronson: 4000 LP**

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

A face-down card appeared right in front of Bronson, who was giving Takashi a smug smile. However, the young man simply ignored his opponent and began his turn.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card. Takashi looked at the card and saw that it was a Spell Card that had the image of an angel on it. However he couldn't use that Spell right now so he just put it in his hand. Takashi would then take two cards and place one in the Monster Zone, while he placed the other in the Spell/Trap Zone. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in Defense Mode. Then, I place one card face-down and end my turn."

**E-Hero Sparkman: ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

Sparkman appeared on the field and sat in a defensive position. Then a face-down card appeared behind him.

"What…is that all you have?" Bronson said as he drew a card. "I expected more from the guy who won the Tournament." He placed at card on his Duel Disk. "I summon my X-Head Cannon, in Attack Mode!"

**X-Head Cannon: ATK 1800 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

A robot with two cannons on his shoulders appeared on the field.

"Next I activate Frontline Base, to Special Summon my Z-Metal Tank in Attack Mode!"

**Z-Metal Tank: ATK 1500 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

A yellow Tank with an eyeball in the middle of it appeared and stood right next to X-Head Cannon. Bronson would then press a button on his Duel Disk, which caused his face-down card to reveal itself. It had the image of graveyard with ghost coming out of the tombs.

"I activate the Trap Card, Call of the Haunted, to bring back the Y-Dragon Head that I discarded using my Tiger Catapult's ability!"

**Y-Dragon Head: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

A red, robot dragon appeared and stood next to its comrades. Takashi looked on in horror when he saw all of Bronson's monsters on the field.

"This…is not…good." He stuttered.

"You're right Takashi…and it's about to get much worse!" Bronson said. "I combine my X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank to form the XYZ-Dragon Cannon. Then I combine XYZ-Dragon Cannon with VW-Tiger Catapult to form my ultimate monster, The VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon!"

**XYZ-Dragon Cannon: ATK 2800 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

**VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon: ATK 3000 DEF 2800 LVL 8**

The X, Y, and Z robots combined to form a tank sized cannon. Then it combined with VW Tiger Catapult and it turned into a giant robot. When Takashi saw it, it reminded him of a Power Rangers Megazord.

"Holy Crap…" He said in shock and awe.

"I'm not done yet Takashi!" Bronson yelled. "I activate my Dragon Catapult Cannon's Special Ability. Now I can remove one of your monsters from the Duel and I choose Sparkman!"

VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon shot a power laser beam from its eyes, which proceeded to hit Takashi's Sparkman. The Elemental Hero then vanished into another dimension.

"Shit…!" Takashi cursed as he took Sparkman's card and put it away.

"Now Catapult Cannon…Attack Takashi's Life Points!" Bronson yelled.

Dragon Catapult Cannon fired two powerful laser beams from the cannons it had on its shoulders. As the beams were headed towards him Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk. His face-down card flipped up and it had the image of a monster coming out of a box.

"I activate the Hero Emerges Trap Card!" He yelled. The lasers beams stopped just before they hit Takashi and they stood in place as the young man continued talking. "With this Trap, you have to pick a card that's in my hand. If it's a Monster then I can Special Summon it. However if it's a Spell or Trap card, then I have to discard it."

"Ha…so this entire Duel is going to be decided by a random guess." Bronson said while he was laughing. "Fine…I choose the 3 card from the right."

Takashi slowly looked at the card and smiled. He then placed it on his Duel Disk.

"I summon Elemental Hero Avian in Defense Mode!" He yelled confidently.

**E-Hero Avian: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

The winged Elemental Hero got right in front of the Takashi and prepared to take the hit for him.

"That won't help you!" Bronson stated. "I activate VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon's second Special Ability! When it attacks a Monster, I can choose its mode. I choose to switch Avian in Attack Mode!"

Avian stopped blocking as the laser started moving again. The attack hit the Elemental Hero, destroying it completely.

**Takashi: 800 LP**

**Bronson: 4000 LP**

"You should surrender Takashi! You have no monsters that can stand up against my powerful Dragon Catapult Cannon."

Takashi looked at Bronson and shook his head in disagreement. "No way…" He said. "I never give up. There's always a way to win a Duel. And I'll show you right now! Draw!"

Takashi swiftly, but firmly drew a card from his Duel Disk. He slowly looked at it and smiled.

"I summon Winged Kuriboh in Attack Mode! Next I place on card face-down and end my turn."

**Winged Kuriboh: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

As a face-down card appeared on the field, a small brown monster with brown fur, big eyes, green arms and legs, and small angel wings appeared.

Seeing the little creature, Bronson couldn't hold back his laughter.

"You…you're actually…playing that thing…Ha!" He said. "You must've gone…insane."

"Haven't you heard the story of David and Goliath?" Takashi asked. "That story brought true meaning to the phrase, 'big things come in small packages."

"Yeah…this isn't the story of David and Goliath!" Bronson yelled as he drew a card. "This is the story of my monster kicking your monster's ass. Show him what I mean VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon!"

Bronson's monster fired its laser beams at Kuriboh and the attack caused a huge explosion. As the holographic smoke covered the battlefield, Bronson started laughing again.

"Take that! I win!"

"You sure about that…?" Takashi asked.

Bronson looked on as the smoke started to clear. He soon saw that Winged Kuriboh was glowing and that a Spell Card with an image of an angel was right next to it. As he pondered what was going on, Takashi explained the situation to his confused opponent.

"I activated the Quick-Play Spell Card, Transcendent Wings. This card can only be activated when I have Winged Kuriboh on the field. Now by discarding two cards, and sacrificing Winged Kuriboh, I can Special Summon Winged Kuriboh Level 10!"

**Winged Kuriboh Level 10: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 10**

Takashi discarded the two cards had in his hand. This caused Winged Kuriboh to glow even more and soon it had a dragon, with a giant pair of angel wings, on its body.

"Lev…level….10…?" Bronson stuttered in disbelief. He just couldn't believe at what he just saw.

Takashi saw the shock on his face and smiled. "I activate Level 10's Special Ability! By sacrificing itself, Kuriboh can destroy all of your Attack Position monster and deal you damage equal to their Attack Points."

"What…?" Bronson said in horror. He saw that Winged Kuriboh glowed so bright that it consumed his Dragon Catapult Cannon. Soon the light faded and both monsters vanished.

**Takashi: 800 LP**

**Bronson: 1000 LP**

Takashi looked at Bronson and saw that his will was broken. Not wanting to drag the Duel any longer that it needs to he simply drew a card from his Deck and placed it on his Duel Disk.

"I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart in Attack Mode." He said calmly.

**E-Hero Wildheart: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

A man, wearing jungle clothes and had a large sword, appeared on Takashi's side of the field.

"Attack his Life Points Directly."

Wildheart ran over towards Bronson and slashed him in the chest with his sword. However Bronson didn't respond the attack, all he did was fall to his knees with a defeated look on his face.

**Takashi: 800 LP**

**Bronson: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms disappeared, Takashi deactivated his Duel Disk and put his deck in his pocket. He then walked over towards Bronson.<p>

"Just to let you know…the deck I used was the one I won at the Tournament." He said. "So if I can beat you using cards that I'm just getting used to. Then imagine Dueling against my real Deck."

With that Takashi left, leaving Bronson to reflect on what he just said to him. Soon a bell started a ring, which caused everyone in Crash Town to jump up. This included Takashi who quickly ran towards his house. You see…when the bell rings, it means that it's sunset and that means that the Radley and Malcolm family about to duke it out.

Once he made it inside his house, Takashi was relieved that Klaus was already inside making dinner. He quietly thanked God as he walked inside. Soon the two of them were eating dinner and as Takashi was stuffing his face with rice, beef, and broccoli.

"Takashi…" Klaus said.

The young man looked at his Grandfather, with tons of food in his mouth.

"Tomorrow, we're taking a little trip outside of town."

"Really…?" Takashi said as he swallowed the food that was in his mouth. "Where to…?"

As he watched his Grandson drinking some juice, Klaus answered his question.

"We're going to Satellite…"

Takashi eyes widen as he spat the juice from out of his mouth. Klaus reacted fast and quickly grabbed a pan, so that the liquid would get on it instead of him.

"We're going…to the Satellite?" Takashi asked in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Yes…" Klaus answered. "I friend there and has some things I need for the pub. I want to take you along because I don't want you to be at Crash Town all the time."

"Klaus…" Takashi said. "You do know what happens at the Satellite…don't you?"

"It will be fine Takashi…" His grandfather said. "Don't worry about it too much."

Later that night Takashi was busy laying on his bed thinking about tomorrow.

"From what I heard…" He thought. "The Satellite is an awful island, separated from New Domino City. It's filled with thugs and killer and all types of other people. Toru thinks that the people who reside there are suffering from an actual 'Living Hell'. However I've also heard rumors of a group of Duelists called 'Team Satisfaction' are trying to helped out the people living there and getting rid of all the thugs. I can't be sure whether or not this is true or not…, but there's only one way to find out."

The next day Takashi and Klaus woke up at the crack of dawn and were preparing to leave in a small car. Just before they were about to get inside, Takashi heard someone calling his name. He turned around and saw that it was Toru, who was running towards him.

"Takashi, where are you going?" He asked. "I wanted you to help me work on the engine of my Duel Runner."

"Sorry man…" Takashi replied. "But Klaus and I are heading for the Satellite. Apparently he needs to get something from a friend, who lives there."

"Satellite…?" Toru said in shock. "Do you know what that place is?"

Takashi nodded his head. "I do, but Klaus says that there is nothing to worry about. I can't be entirely sure if that's true, but there is only way to find out."

"I see…" Toru said. "Well if you're going, then can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, but what is it?" Takashi asked his friend.

Toru went into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He would then text for a few minutes before finally putting his phone away. Just as he did that Takashi's cell phone started to ring. He pulled it out and saw that he's just received a text message from Toru himself. He would look at his friend with a confused look.

"Why text me something, if you're right here?" He asked.

"Just read it…" Toru told him.

Takashi sighed and opened his phone. He then saw that Toru texted him a list of Duel Runner parts.

"My friend told me, that the parts I need can be found in the Satellite." Toru explained. "He was going to have one his contacts pick it up for me; however the timetable was around 2 to 4 months. However since you're going, you can pick up the parts for me."

"Yeah…I have no problem doing that for you." Takashi said. "However you need to do something for me in return."

"Sure…what would that be?" Toru asked.

"Once you finished working on your Duel Runner, I want to be the first one to ride it." Takashi said. "That's all I want."

Toru smiled when he heard his childhood friend say that.

"Takashi…you do this for me and I'll allow you to ride my Runner as many times as you want."

Takashi smiled. "Awesome."

* * *

><p>With that, the two boys shook hands and went their separate ways. Takashi would go in the car with Klaus and drive into the desert. However their drive only lasted for about an hour as Klaus parked the car by some boulders.<p>

"Why are we parking here?" Takashi asked.

"Get out of the car and find out." Klaus said to him.

Klaus got out of the car first, followed by a curious Takashi. The two of them walked towards the boulders and soon saw an opened man-hole near one of them.

"Back when Crash City was just being built, Radley and Malcolm used this underground tunnel to walk towards New Domino City, without having to cross the desert." Klaus explained. "We can use this abandoned tunnel to make to Satellite."

"I see…" Takashi said. "Then let's stop standing here, with are head up are asses, and go."

Klaus slapped the young man upside the back of his head. "Language…!"

The two of them went inside the tunnel and used an old railcar to make their journey through the tunnel go by a little faster. After another hour they made it to the end of the tunnel and saw another man-hole entrance. They climbed out the railcar and made their way to it. Takashi was the first one out and got his first real look at the Satellite Sector. There were a lot of old and beat up building and the people that he saw were wearing old and beat up clothes.

"Whoa…" He said.

Klaus made it out next, however he didn't look around because he already been to the Satellite before. He would then look at Takashi.

"Alright, I'm going out to get the things from my friend." He said. "You go and look for the parts that Toru wanted you to get for him."

"Right…" Takashi replied.

The two of them walked away in opposite directions. Takashi, who was looking around while walking, soon made his way to the pier. As he looked out at the ocean he heard someone crying. He turned and saw a little girl, crying in the middle of the road. He walked up to her and gently patted her shoulder.

"You ok sweetie…?" He asked.

The girl looked at him and slowly answered him.

"I…I can't…find him…" She said.

"Find who…?" Takashi asked. "Your daddy…"

The girl swung her head. "No…I can't…find Crow…" She said.

"Crow…?" Takashi questioned. "Who's Crow?"

"A boy who looks after me…" The girl answered. "I've lost sight of him and I don't know where to look."

The girl started crying some more, so Takashi gently picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. He then smiled.

"Then why don't I help you find him."

"Really…?" The girl asked. "You would do that?"

Takashi nodded his head, which caused the girl to smile a little. The two of them then walked all around the area, trying to find Crow. Soon they came across a young man with spiky orange hair and he was calling for someone.

"Saya…Saya where are you?" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

The girl looked at the boy and smiled. "Over here Crow!" She yelled.

"So that's Crow…" Takashi thought as he put Saya back on the ground.

Crow turned around and saw Saya waving at him. He sighed with relief and ran towards her. Once he got to her, the two of them hugged.

"There you are." He said. "I've thought I lost you."

Crow looked up and saw Takashi looking at them. This made Crow angry, so he stood up and grabbed Takashi by his shirt.

"What do you think you're doing?" He yelled. "Were you trying to kidnap this little girl?"

Takashi glared at the carrot top as he slapped his hand away.

"What do mean kidnap? I brought her to you!"

"Like hell you did!" Crow replied. "Then why haven't I seen you here before. No one around here would help a little girl for no reason."

"What..?" Takashi yelled.

The two boys glared at each other for several minutes. Soon Crow noticed that Takashi had a Duel Disk on his arm. This gave him an idea, so he activated the Duel Disk that was on his arm.

"Duel me!" He yelled.

"Duel you…?" Takashi questioned. "What for?"

Crow simply smirked at him. "What wrong…are you too much of a chicken shit to Duel me?"

Hearing Crow call him a chicken shit pushed Takashi over the edge. He quickly activated his own Duel Disk and inserted his Dragon Deck into it.

"Fine you asshole! You got yourself a Duel and I hope you're prepared to lose."

Crow smiled and soon pressed a button on his Duel Disk. Suddenly a black cable popped out of it and attached itself to Takashi's Duel Disk.

"What the hell is this?" He asked. "What you do to my Duel Disk, you bastard?"

"I'm just adding more excitement to this Duel." Crow stated. "That wire carries a very unstable electromagnetic pulse. If you lose this Duel, then the pulse will activate destroying your Duel Disk."

"What…?" Takashi yelled

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 4 Preview<strong>_

_With his Duel Disk on the line, Takashi takes on Crow. Can the Crash Town resident defeat this powerful opponent who focuses on the equally powerful Blackwing Monsters? _

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 4 – Crow Hogan and Team Satisfaction_


	4. Chapter 4

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 4: **_Crow Hogan and Team Satisfaction_

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Crow: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck. "I summon Red-Eyes Wyvern in Attack Mode!"

**Red-Eyes Wyvern: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

Takashi's Red-Eyes appeared right beside him as Crow began his turn.

"Draw…" He said as he drew a card. "I summon the Tuner Monster, Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind: ATK 1300 DEF 400 LVL 3**

A small wing-beast monster with black with around its body and green feather on its head appeared on Crow's side of the field.

"And you know the saying, "Birds of a feather flock together", well when I have a Blackwing monster on my field I can Special Summon Blackwing- Bora the Spear. I'll also place him in Attack Mode."

**Blackwing- Bora the Spear: ATK 1700 DEF 800 LVL 4**

Another wing-beast appeared beside Crow. This one also had black feathers around its body. However it had orange and yellow feathers around its chest, had a large beak, and was holding a huge spear in its right arm.

"Hah…!" Takashi said. "Nice monsters you have their. Too bad they still don't have the Attack Points to deal with my Red-Eyes Wyvern."

Crow smiled at Takashi. "Are you sure about that?"

Takashi looked at Crow for a few seconds before realizing that one of his opponent's monsters must have a Special Ability to handle the attack difference.

"I activate Gale the Whirlwind's Special Ability!" Crow yelled. "Once per turn, he can half the Attack and Defense Points of one of my opponent's monsters."

Gale the Whirlwind flapped its wings until a small tornado surrounded him. He then launched that tornado at Red-Eyes, causing the dragon become weaker.

**Red-Eyes Wyvern: ATK 900 DEF 800**

"Now Gale the Whirlwind, attack Red Eyes Wyvern with your Hurricane Wave!"

Gale the Whirlwind flapped his wings again until a giant wave of visible wind began heading towards Red-Eyes. Acting quickly, Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk. His face-down card flipped up and revealed the image of giant vortex.

"Trap Card Open, Negate Attack!" He yelled. "With this card, I can negate your monster's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

A vortex appeared from out of the card and got in front of Red-Eyes. It then sucked up all of Gale the Whirlwind's wind before finally disappearing.

'Humph…" Crow moaned. "You got lucky on that exchange. I place one card face-down and End my Turn."

"Draw…!" Takashi said as he drew a card from his deck. As he placed the card in his hand, he began to think to himself. "Damn it…I expected that Red-Eyes Attack and Defense would return after that bastard ended his turn. But nothing has happened yet, so it must be a permanent monster effect."

He looked over his hand and saw a picture of a brown dragon with small wings. He then picked it up and looked at the card some more.

"I'm going to have to get rid of Wyvern." He placed the card on his Duel Disk. "I summon the Tuner Monster, Dread Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

The dragon stood right next to the weakened Red-Eyes Wyvern.

"Next, I tune my Level 4 Red-Eyes Wyvern with my Level 2 Dread Dragon to perform a Synchro Summon!"

Both dragons flew high into the sky and as Crow looked on, he began to curse himself and Takashi.

"Damn that bastard...!" He silently said. "I didn't think that he was a Synchro User too."

Once they got high enough, Dread Dragon turned into 2 small circles. Red-Eyes Wyvern brought its body into both of the circles and soon its body revealed 4 small level stars. Soon a flash of light covered the two of them.

"I summon the Iron Chain Dragon, in Attack Mode!" Takashi yelled.

**Iron Chain Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 1300 LVL 6**

A giant blue dragon, with chains all around its chest, appeared from the flash of light and flew towards Takashi. The dragon then glared at both of Crow's Blackwing monsters.

"Iron Chain Dragon, attack Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind with your Hell Chains!"

Takashi's dragon roared and flew towards the smallest Blackwing. As it did, the chains that it had around its body began to burn with a dark red color. As the attack was heading towards his monster, Crow pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This caused his face-down card to flip up and it revealed a picture of a monster, getting in front of a another monster.

"I activate the Trap Card, Shift!" He yelled. "With this, I change the target of your attack to another one of my monsters. I choose Blackwing- Bora the Spear!"

Iron Chain Dragon suddenly stopped flying towards Gale the Whirlwind and started heading towards Bora the Spear. Once it got close enough to it, Iron Chain Dragon wrapped its chains around Bora the Spear and Crow watched his wing-beast burn to death.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Crow: 3200 LP**

"Next, I activate Iron Chain Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi stated. "When he successfully deals my opponent Battle Damage, he must discard 3 cards from his Deck."

Crow moans as he took the top three cards from his Deck and placed them in his Card Graveyard. Iron Chain Dragon then flew back over to Takashi and began hovering above him.

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn." Takashi said calmly.

Two face-down cards appeared right in front of him.

"My turn…I Draw!" Crow yelled as he drew a card from his deck. "You bastard…I'll make you pay for that. I activate Gale the Whirlwind's Special Ability!"

Gale the Whirlwind flapped its wings at a very high speed and created another tornado. He then through it at Iron Chain Dragon, but Takashi was prepared for it. He pressed a button on his Duel Disk and one his face-down cards flipped it. The image on the card had the image of a dragon roaring at the top of its lungs.

"I activate the Dragon's roar Trap Card." He yelled. "With it I can negate the activation of a Monster, Spell, or Trap effect that targets one of my Dragon Monsters."

Iron Chain Dragon starting roaring as loud as it could. The power of the roar created shockwaves, which destroyed Gale the Whirlwind's tornado.

Crow was mad at Takashi's move, but he was able to refocus himself and continued on with his turn.

"I summon Blackwing- Calima the Haze in Attack Mode."

**Blackwing- Calima the Haze: ATK 600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

Crow's new Blackwing was different from than the one's he summoned before. This one was purple and it looked like a ghost.

"Next, I tune my Blackwing- Calima the Haze with my Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind, in order to Synchro Summon Blackwing Armor Master!"

**Blackwing Armor Master: ATK 2500 DEF 1500 LVL 7**

Both of Crow's monsters flew into the air and did the same thing that Takashi's Dragons did before. Gale the Whirlwind turned into 3 shiny circles and Calima the Haze put its body through them. Then, as Calima's body revealed 4 shiny stars, a flash of light covered it. Shortly after that a new monster flew down beside Crow. This one looked more like a man who was wearing armor. The armor covered most of the man's boy and it even included a pair of steel wings on the back.

"Blackwing Armor Master, attack his Iron Chain Dragon with your Black Hurricane!"

"What…?" Takashi said with a confused looked on his face. "Both of our monsters have the same number of Attack Points. If they fight, then they'll just destroy each other!"

Crow didn't say anything and just watched his monster begin his attack. He saw Armor Master fire several steel feathers from his wings and all of them headed for Iron Chain Dragon. Takashi's monster attempted to block the feather with its chains, but it couldn't. It soon died in a hurricane of steel feathers.

"What…what just happened…?" Takashi wondered.

Crow smirked when Takashi asked his question. He then decided to answer it.

"It's my Armor Master's Special Ability." He said. "He can't be destroyed in battle. Also, his second Special Ability prevents me from taking any battle damage."

"Shit…" Takashi thought. "That's going to be a pain to get rid of."

Crow took two cards from his hand and put them in his Duel Disk. The image of those cards appeared behind his Armor Master.

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn…" He said with a smile on his face.

"My turn…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card. He took a look at it and sighed. He then placed it on his Duel Disk. After doing that he inserted a card into his device. "I place one card face-down and a Monster Card in Defense Mode!"

A face-down Monster Card, which was placed horizontally, and a face-down Spell/Trap Card appeared on Takashi's side of the field.

"I end my turn."

"Is that's all you can do…?" Crow questioned as he drew a card. "How sad…"

"Shut up and make you move, you prick!" Takashi yelled. "You're wasting my time here!"

Crow smirked again as he placed the card he drew into his hand. He would then take out another card and proceeded to insert it inside of his Duel Disk. The card appeared on the field and it was Monster Reborn.

"I activate Monster Reborn!" He said. "I'll use it to bring back Blackwing- Bora the Spear." In a flash of light, Bora the Spear returned and stood next to Armor Master. Crow would then place a card in his Monster Card Zone. "Next I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster, Blackwing- Mistral the Silver Shield!"

**Blackwing- Mistral the Silver Shield: ATK 100 DEF 1800 LVL 2**

A new Blackwing monster appeared beside Crow. This one was about the size of a crow and it had a giant shield attached to its face.

"Now, I tune my Level 4 Bora the Spear with my Level 2 Mistral the Silver Shield to Synchro Summon my Blackwing Armed Wing in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2300 DEF 1000 LVL 6**

Crow's monster flew into the air and performed the sequence for Synchro Summoning. Once they were done a new Blackwing monster appeared and stood next to Crow. This one had some similarities to Armor Master in terms of appearance. However the main differences are that it had a lot of real feathers all over its body and it also had real wings. It also carried a spear gun.

"Blackwing Armor Master, attack his face-down card with Black Hurricane!"

Armor Master fired another hurricane, filled with steel feather. The attack destroyed Takashi's face-down until there was nothing left.

"Now Blackwing Armed Wing, attack his Life Points directly! Black Charge!"

Armed Wing pointed his spear gun at Takashi and prepared to fire it at him. However, before it could, Takashi activated one of his face-downs. The card flipped up and revealed an image of different colored goats.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Scapegoat!" He yelled. "With it I can Special Summon 4 Sheep Tokens, all of which I place in Defense Mode."

A red, blue, orange and pink goat appeared and surrounded Takashi.

"That won't help you!" Crow stated. "Continue your attack Armed Wing!"

Blackwing Armed Wing fired his spear gun. The spear quickly ran through the red sheep and hit Takashi in the chest. Thinking that he was actually hurt, Takashi fell to one knee and groaned in pain. He then noticed that his Life Point meter was dropping at an incredible rate.

**Takashi: 1200 LP**

**Crow: 3200 LP**

"What…the fuck?" He said in shock. "How did I lose almost ¾ of my Life Points?"

"It's all because of my Armed Wing's Special Ability." Crow said. "When he attacks a monster who's Defense is lower than his Attack, then the difference is taken out of my opponent's Life Points."

"But then…my Life Points should be at 1700." Takashi stated. "How in the hell did Armed Wing gain an extra 500 Attack Points?"

"Simple…Blackwing Armed Wing possesses a second Special Ability. When he attacks a Monster in Defense Mode, he gains an extra 500 points."

"Damn it…" Takashi cursed. "This Blackwings are really starting to piss me off. I can't destroy Armor Master and Armed Wing can still damage me, even when my Monsters are in Defense Mode."

He looked at his Duel Disk and saw the cord that was on it. He proceeded to glare at it.

"But I can't give up. If I lose this Duel, then I can say goodbye to my Duel Disk."

Takashi got on his feet and proceeded to draw a card from his deck. He slowly looked at it and when he did he saw the image of a blue dragon. He would then look at his Sheep Token.

"Ok…let's do this."

He grabbed another card from his hand and inserted it inside of his Duel Disk. The image of the card had a shining star.

"I activate the Spell Reincarnation of Hope! By discarding two Monster cards I can add a new Monster to my hand on my Second Standby Phase. Next I summon the Tuner Monster, Debris Dragon!"

**Debris Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

As Takashi was discarding cards to his Graveyard, Debris Dragon appeared on the field and glared at Crow's Monsters.

"Now, I tune all of my Level 1 Sheep Tokens with my Level 4 Debris Dragon to Synchro Summon Exploder Dragonwing!"

**Exploder Dragonwing: ATK 2400 DEF 1600 LVL 7**

All of Takashi's monsters combined to form a brand new Synchro Monster. This was creepy looking at and was mostly all purple.

"That's a tough looking monster." Crow said in a sarcastic tone. "I mean, sure you'll be able to take out Armed Wing, but I'll lose 100 Life Points."

"You'll lose more than that!" Takashi yelled.

His opponent was confused at his statement, so Takashi decided to explain to him what he meant when he said that.

"When my dragon attacks a monster whose original Attack Points is equal or less than its own, then Exploder Dragonwing can destroy that monster. Also, when that happens my opponent loses Life Points equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points."

"No…!" Crow yelled in shock.

"Yes…!" Takashi yelled. "Exploder Dragonwing, attack Blackwing- Armed Wing with King's Storm!"

Takashi's dragon opened its mouth and fired a firestorm at Armed Wing. The flames were too intense for the Crow's Synchro monster and it died in the massive sea of flames.

**Takashi: 1200 LP**

**Crow: 900 LP**

"I end my turn!"

Crow drew a card from his deck. He then glared at Takashi's dragon.

"Blackwing- Armor Master, destroy Exploder Dragonwing!" He yelled.

Armor Master fired another stream of steel feathers, all of which hit Exploder Dragonwing and killed it instantly.

**Takashi: 1100 LP**

**Crow: 900 LP**

Crow then pulled out a card from his hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk. The card revealed itself to be, Mystical Space Typhoon.

"I don't like those face-downs you have there." He said. So let me get rid of one of them for you!"

The typhoon appeared from the card and destroyed the face-down card that was to the right of Takashi.

"Bastard…!" He yelled.

"Asshole…!" Crow replied. "I end my turn."

"Draw…" Takashi said as he drew a card. "I place one card face-down and a Monster Card in Defense Mode! With that I end my turn."

The two cards appeared on Takashi's side of the field.

"My turn…Draw!" Crow yelled. "I summon Blackwing- Kalut the Moon Shadow in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing- Kalut the Moon Shadow: ATK 1400 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

A small Blackwing, with yellow feathers on the top of its head, appeared on Crow's field. The Blackwing Duelist would then press a button on his Duel Disk, causing one his face-down cards to activate. The card flipped up and had the image of a bird, which was being struck lightning.

"I activate the Trap Card, Icarus Attack! By Sacrificing a Wing-Beast I have on the field, I can destroy 2 cards. I choose to sacrifice Kalut the Moon Shadow, to destroy your two face-down cards!"

Before anything happened Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk, to activate one his face-downs. The card flipped up and it revealed an image of Stardust Dragon coming out of a stream of light.

"I activate the Starlight Road Trap!" He said.

"Starlight…Road?" Crow questioned. "What the hell is that?"

"Starlight Road is a special Trap Card, which can only be activated when a card that can destroy 2 of my cards is activated." Takashi explained. "I can destroy that card and Special Summon my Stardust Dragon, Synchro Monster, from my Extra Deck!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Crow's Icarus Attack shattered into a million pieces as Takashi grabbed his Stardust Dragon card from his Extra Deck. He firmly placed it on his Duel Disk and the beautiful, but powerful dragon appeared. The Blackwing Duelist was amazed at the sight of the dragon, as he's never seen that card before in his life.

"Where did you get that card?" He asked.

"It belonged to my father." Takashi explained. "When I was a baby he died, but before he did he gave the card and all cards relating to it, to my Grandfather. He also told him to give them to me, when I was old enough…at least that's what I was told."

"I see…well that is amazing dragon you have there." Crow said. "Too bad it has to die."

"What do you mean by that?" Takashi asked. "You make sound like Stardust Dragon is not going to survive this turn."

"That's right." Crow said as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. Crow's last face-down opened and it had the image of a bunch of birds gathering around a giant. "I activate the Blackwing Barrage Trap Card." With it I can destroy one monster on the field, as long I remove the number of Blackwings whose level equal that of the destroyed monster."

"I don't think so...!" Takashi yelled. "I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability, Victim Sanctuary!"

"Victim…what?" Crow questioned.

"Victim Sanctuary…" Takashi repeated. "By sacrificing itself, Stardust Dragon can negate the effect of a card that destroys other cards and destroy them!"

Stardust Dragon glowed started glowing so bright that Crow's Trap Card exploded. However by doing that, Stardust Dragon vanished into thin air. Crow was amazed at what just happened, but he soon noticed that Takashi didn't have any monsters on his field to defend himself with. This brought a small smile, onto his face.

"You're wide open!" He yelled. "Blackwing Armor Master, attack his Life Points Directly!"

Armor Master looked at Takashi and fired a barrage of steel feathers at him. However, just before the feathers hit him, the spirit of a white dragon surrounded Takashi and protected him from the assault.

"Sorry Crow…" He said. "But I activated the Special Ability of my White Dragon. When it's in my Graveyard, I can remove from the game so that I can end my opponent's Battle Phase."

"But…I never destroyed that card!" Crow said to him. "When did you put it in your Graveyard?"

"Back when I played Reincarnation of Hope." Takashi answered. "Remember, I had to discard two monsters cards from my hand in order to use it. One of the cards I discarded was my White Dragon. I choose it; because I wanted to be sure I could have another turn even though I didn't have any monsters to defend myself with."

Crow was left speechless, as he didn't expect Takashi to think that far ahead. With no more moves to make Crow said 4 words he really didn't want to say.

"I end my turn."

As soon as he said that Takashi's Duel Disk glowed from his Graveyard. Soon Stardust Dragon appeared back on the field and it looked ready to fight.

"Oh…I forgot to mention that Stardust Dragon has a second Special Ability." Takashi explained. "When he uses Victim Sanctuary, then he can return to the field during that turn's End Phase."

Crow's mouth was opened so wide that a bird could fly into his mouth. This caused Takashi to laugh a little as he began his turn.

"Draw…" He said.

The young man, didn't activate Reincarnation of Hope because he knew that he didn't need to anymore. So he just drew a card from his deck.

"Stardust Dragon attack Blackwing- Kalut the Moon Shadow, Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust flew up high into the air. He then fired a powerful blast of cosmic energy from his mouth. The blast destroyed Kalut the Moon Shadow, created an explosion that caused Crow to fall to one knee.

**Takashi: 1100 LP**

**Crow: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>When Crow's Life Points dropped to zero, the cable that he attached to Takashi's Duel Disk popped off. Takashi checked to see if his device was working and was revealed that it was. He then walked over to Crow, who was just standing up.<p>

"Listen man…I wasn't trying to kidnap that little girl." He explained. "I just happen to find her and brought her to you."

Crow looked at Saya, who was watching the entire Duel. "Is this true?" He asked her.

Saya gently nodded her head. "I couldn't find you and ended up becoming lost." She explained to him. "But this guy found me and helped me find you."

"I see…" Crow said. He looked back a Takashi. "Sorry man…I didn't know. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Takashi thought for a moment before giving Crow his answer.

"Do 2 things for me and we have a deal." He said.

"Sure…" Crow replied.

"First…where is the Hardware Store? My friend needs parts for his Duel Runner." Takashi asked. "You see, we both live in place called Crash Town and it's in the desert. He asked me to get the parts to him because I just happened to be going to Satellite."

"I see…" Crow said. He then pointed to the north of him. "If you go that way, you'll come across a fork in the road. Take a right and you'll be at the Hardware store."

"Ok…and now for my second thing." Takashi said. He quickly punched Crow in the face which caused the Blackwing Duelist to fall on the floor in pain. "Ok…I'm done." Takashi began to walk away. "Oh yeah…my name is Takashi Nakamura."

Crow wanted to react to being punched, but he knew that he deserved to get clobbered.

Takashi followed the directions that he was given and after about 30 minutes of walking, he soon made it to the hardware store. As he went inside, he saw that the place was dump.

"Welcome…Welcome." A middle aged man said from the store's counter.

Takashi saw him and walked over towards him. He then brought out his cell phone and brought out the list that Toru texted him.

"Hello sir…" He said. "Do you have these parts? I need to buy them for a friend."

"Please don't call me sir, it makes me sound old." The man said. "The name is Gordon and of course I have the parts you need."

Gordon quickly looked at the list and went under his counter. After about a minute he popped back out with a bag filled with parts. He then pulled out a receipt that he showed to Takashi and the young man was surprised at how much the parts cost.

"When I get back…I'm going to kill Toru." He thought quietly to himself.

Takashi pulled out his wallet and brought out all the money that he had on him. It wasn't enough, but Gordon was so stupid he didn't count the money. Takashi proceeded to take the parts and leave the store.

"Well that went faster than I expected…With that over with I can find Klaus and get the hell out here. If I stay any longer, I'm afraid of getting robbed."

Just as he said that Gordon suddenly ran up to Takashi and stole the parts that he just gave to him. He then started to run away. As he looked at him Takashi slapped himself, hard in the face.

"Me and my big mouth…"

He took chase after Gordon and after a few minutes, finally started to catch up to him. However before he could reach him 3 tough looking goons appeared blocking his way. Each of the goons had a knife in one hand and a Duel Disk in their other hand.

"Hey…!" Takashi yelled. "Get the fuck out of my way! That bastard stole my parts!"

The goons ignored Takashi and proceeded to slowly walk over towards him. Two of them threw their knives at him. Luckily the knives only managed to make a cross-shaped scar on Takashi face, though it still hurt him.

"That hurt you bastards!" He yelled as he covered his face.

He glared at them and prepared to fight them all at once. However the third goon punched him right in the stomach, sending Takashi flying into a nearby wall. As Takashi was coughing up blood, the goons slowly walked towards him.

"3 on 1…that doesn't seem fair." A female voice said from the distance.

"Let's remedy the situation." A male voice said.

3 figures jumped from a small building and got in between Takashi and the goons. As he struggled to get back on his feet, Takashi got a good look at the figures. One was a man with Black hair and was wearing a black jacket, the other was man with short white hair and he was wearing brown jacket, and the last one was girl with crimson red hair.

"Don't worry kid…" The girl said. "Team Satisfaction is here to save you."

"Team…Satisfaction?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Team Satisfaction deals with the three thugs. Takashi rushes over to where Gordon is and attempts to get even. Will our hero be able to exact his revenge or will more tragedy come his way?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 5 – Payback's a Bitch_


	5. Chapter 5

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 5: **_Payback's a Bitch_

* * *

><p>"What a minute…" Takashi said as he was getting back to his feet. "You guys are Team Satisfaction…?"<p>

The girl turned around and Takashi was able to get a better look at her. Along with her red hair, she had a black a white jacket on, light purple eyes, a nice figure, and medium sized breasts. As he looked at her Takashi started blushing, which he girl quickly noticed.

"Are you ok?" She asked him. "Your face is red."

Takashi quickly stood up completely as he looked at her with an embarrassed look on his face.

"I'm…I'm fine…" He stuttered.

The girl smiled at him. "That's good. Anyway I'm Lilly Muto and you need to get Gordon before he gets too far."

Hearing her say Gordon's name caused Takashi to remember him. He then looked around and soon found him running into a dark alley. Takashi ran after him, wanting to kick the shit out of him for what he did. The goon who punched him in the stomach attempted to stop him, but Lilly attached a cord onto his Duel Disk, prevent him from going any further.

"Oh no, you don't…" She said with a sly smile on her face. "He's off limits, but if you want to play with someone…I'm right here."

The goon glared at her. "Don't get in my way you little bitch!" He yelled. "You don't want to mess with me; Goro Ishida!"

"What's wrong…you scared?" Lilly asked while she was still smiled. "Are you afraid to get your ass kicked by this little bitch?"

Goro became even angrier at Lilly and proceeded to turn towards her. He then activated his Duel Disk and Lilly did the exact same thing.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Goro: 4000 LP**

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Goro said as he drew a card from his Deck. "I summon UFO Turtle in Attack Mode. Then I place one card face-down and end my turn."

**UFO Turtle: ATK 1400 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A giant turtle with a small UFO on its back appeared on Goro's side of the field. Behind the turtle was a face-down card.

"Draw…!" Lilly yelled as he drew a card. She looked at it and smiled.

"I summon Magician's Valkyria in Attack Mode!'

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

A female magician, who was wearing clothes similar to Dark Magician Girl's, appeared on the field. The magician had brown hair, blue eyes, and was carrying a hook-shaped staff.

"Attack Magician, with you Mystic Scepter Blast!" Lilly yelled.

Magician's Valkyria pointed her staff at UFO Turtle and prepared to charge energy into it. Once she was done, she fired the blast and it destroyed Goro's Turtle!"

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Goro: 3800 LP**

"Thanks for doing that!" Goro yelled. "Since you destroyed my UFO Turtle as a result of battle I can Special Summon a Fire Monster from my deck, as long as it's Attack Points is 1500 or less."

Goro took his Deck from out of his Duel Disk and soon began searching for a card. After about a minute of looking, Goro found the card he wanted. He took it out and put his deck back into his Duel Disk. Then, as his Duel Disk was reshuffling his deck, Goro placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon; Solar Flare Dragon!"

**Solar Flare Dragon: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A giant dragon, who had flames all over its body, appeared next to Goro. It then roared at Lilly, but she was intimidated by it. She simply took a card from her hand and inserted it inside of her Duel Disk. The image of the card was face-down and it was behind Magician's Valkyria.

"I place one card face-down and End my Turn." She said calmly.

"It's my Turn!" Goro yelled as he firmly drew a card from his deck. When he looked at it he started laughing like a madman. "You're in for now, you whore! I drew one of my best cards, and it's going to finish you."

"Oh really…" Lilly said as she was yawning. Even though the Duel just started, she was already bored out her mind.

"Yes really, you bitch!" Goro yelled as he noticed the bored look on Lilly's face. "Let me show you who it is! I summon my Little Chimera in Attack Mode!"

**Little Chimera: ATK 600 DEF 500 LVL 2**

A small little beast, which to Lilly looked like a combination of a horse and a cat, appeared on the field.

"Big deal…" She said. "I'm not afraid of your horse-cat."

"It's not a horse-cat!" Goro screamed. "It's a Chimera! You know, the combination of two animals into one."

"Whatever…" Lilly said. "Just continue on with you turn."

"Fine…!" Gora agreed. "I activate my Little Chimera's Special Ability. For as long as it remains on my side of the field, all of my Fire Monsters will 500 extra Attack Points. This also includes Little Chimera too!"

**Solar Flare Dragon: ATK 2000**

**Little Chimera: ATK 1100**

A powerful flame surrounded Goro's Chimera while the flames on his Dragon became even more intense. Goro would then take a card and put it inside of his Duel Disk. The card appeared on the field and it was Monster Reborn!

"I activate the Spell Card; Monster Reborn! With it, I'll revive my UFO Turtle!"

Goro's turtle reappeared on the field and stood next to his other Fire Monsters. A flame would then appear on its back, while the flames on Solar Flare Dragon and Little Chimera grew even more intense.

"Now that a new Fire Monster is on my field, Little Chimera's Ability activates. Giving them another 500 extra Attack Points!"

**Solar Flare Dragon: ATK 2500**

**Little Chimera: ATK 1600**

**UFO Turtle: ATK 1900**

Lilly looked at all of her opponents monsters and yawned again.

"Am I supposed to be impressed by this or something…?" She asked.

Hearing her say that made Goro even more mad. "You should!" He yelled. "I'm about to defeat you! Attack my Fire Creatures!"

All of Goro's monsters combined their attacks and launched a giant stream of fire, which was big enough to not only take out Magician's Valkyria, but Lilly as well. However, before the flames hit its target, Lilly pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This activated her face-down card and as it flipped up it revealed the image of a laser being bounced off a mirror.

"I activate the Mirror Force Trap Card!" She yelled. "With it, I can negate your attack and destroy all the monsters you have in Attack Mode!"

"What…?" Goro said in shock. "All of them?"

"That's right." Lilly stated. "That means all 3 of your Monsters are automatically destroyed!"

A powerful mirror suddenly appeared in front of Magician's Valkyria and protected her from the fire. The mirror would then absorb the power of the flames and redirect it back at Goro's Monsters, destroying all of them. Once all of Goro's monsters were destroyed, Lilly started yawning again.

"God I'm bored…" She said. "You have got to be the weakest Duelist I ever faced."

"Oh yeah…!" Goro yelled. "Would a weak Duelist do this?" He pressed a button on his Duel Disk. His face-down card flipped up and revealed a Call of the Haunted Trap. "I activate Call of the Haunted, bringing back my Solar Flare Dragon!"

Goro's Dragon popped out of the card and stood next to him.

"Uh…yeah…a weak Duelist would do that." Lilly said.

"Shut up…!" Goro yelled. "I End my Turn!"

"Finally…Draw!" Lilly said as she drew a card from her Deck. She looked at it and smiled before placing it in her hand. She then took out another card and placed it on her Duel Disk.

"Summon Silent Magician LV4!" She said.

**Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A little girl with white a blue clothes, white hair, white eyes, and was holding a small white staff appeared on Lilly side of the field and stood next to Magician's Valkyria.

"First, I attack Solar Flare Dragon with my Magician's Valkyria! Mystic Scepter Blast!"

Magician's Valkyria fired a blast of green energy at Solar Flare Dragon, destroying it completely.

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Goro: 3700 LP**

"Next, I'll have my Silent Magician LV 4 attack you Life Points directly. Go, Magical Wave!"

The small Magician waved her staff, releasing a wave of white energy. The attack hit Goro, causing him to flinch.

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Goro: 2700 LP**

"I place two cards face-down and End my Turn!" Lilly inserted two cards into her Duel Disk and they appeared on the field.

"It's my turn. Draw!" Goro yelled as he drew a card from his deck.

"I activate Silent Magician's LV4, Special Ability!" Lilly responded.

"What…?" Goro questioned.

"Whenever you draw a card from your deck, my magician receives a Spell Counter and with every Spell Counter she gains Silent Magician LV4 gains 500 extra Attack Points!"

Lilly's magician started glowing as it started to grow up a little. When the glowing stopped, Silent Magician LV4 looked like a 10-year-old girl.

**Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1500**

"That won't help you!" Goro said as he placed a card on his Duel Disk. "I summon Blazing Inpachi in Attack Mode!"

**Blazing Inpachi: ATK 1850 DEF 0 LVL 4**

Goro's monster looked like a man made out of wood, that had its body completely covered in fire. On its chest was the number 18.

"Attack that stupid Silent Magician with your Fireball Attack!"

Blazing Inpachi fired a fireball Silent Magician's…however Lilly activated a face-down card and magical barrier surrounded both Silent Magician and Magician's Valkyria. Goro was shocked at what just took placed and look at the card Lilly had activated. The card had a picture of two magicians being side a magical barrier.

"What's that card…?" He asked.

"It's my Magician's Shield Trap Card." Lilly explained. "When I have two Spellcaster-Type Monsters on my side of the field, I can negate one of your attacks."

Goro cursed himself and proceeded to play a card face-down, that card was destroyed as soon as played it because Lilly activated her other face-down card.

"Sorry…, but my Mystical Space Typhoon Spell will get rid of that face-down card." Lilly said.

"Shit…" Goro cursed. "I…I End my Turn."

"Draw…!" Lilly said as she drew a card. "I'm ending this before I fall asleep. So I sacrifice my Silent Magician LV4 to Summon Dark Magician Girl!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

Lilly's Silent Magician disappeared in a flash of light as her Dark Magician Girl appeared on the field to take her place. The magician had long blond hair, green eyes, and was wearing pink and blue magician's clothes. She would then stand next to Magician's Valkyria.

"This…this is bad…" Goro said.

"Yeah…you're right about that." Lilly replied. "And it's about to get a lot worse for you!" Lilly placed a card into her Duel Disk and as the card appeared it had the image of two shaking hands. "I activated the Equip Spell; United We Stand and equip it to Magician's Valkyria! With this card, my Valkyria gains 800 Attack and Defense Points for every Monster on my side of the field. Counting both Dark Magician girl and herself, Magician's Valkyria receives a 1600 point power boost!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 3200 DEF 3400**

"Now…Dark Magician Girl, take out his Blazing Inpachi and Magician's Valkyria attack his Life Points Directly!"

Both Magician's placed their staffs together and fired a power stream of magical energy at both Blazing Inpachi and Goro. The attack hit them and as Inpachi turned to ashes, Goro's Life Points dropped to zero.

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Goro: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms disappeared, Goro's Duel Disk appeared due to the electromagnetic cord that Lilly placed on it before the Duel began. Lilly would then walk over to him and grab him by his shirt collar.<p>

"Hey…who's black and blue all over?" She asked.

"Who…?" Goro questioned.

"You…" Lilly answered. She took her right fist and began punching him repeatedly in the face.

As Lilly was kicking Goro's ass, Takashi continued chasing after Gordon. The two kept running until Gordon went inside an abandoned building. Takashi walked inside the place and quickly noticed that Gordon was nowhere to be found.

"Coward…" He silently thought. "Running away like a frightened animal."

The Crash Town resident started looking around the house, trying to find Gordon. As he was looking, Gordon was in the shadows looking at him. He slowly brought a knife out his pocket and slowly walked towards Takashi. Once he got close enough to him, Goro prepared to stab the young man in the back. However, Takashi saw Gordon's shadow on the wall and was able to avoid his strike without even turning his head. He then grabbed Gordon by the wrist.

"Enough!" He yelled. He punched Gordon in the chest, causing him to spit out blood. He then kicked him towards the wall. "Run away and attack people from behind…you've got to be the biggest coward on the face of the planet."

Takashi slowly walked towards Gordon and was prepared to beat the crap out him. Thinking, quickly Gordon started looking all around Takashi's body and soon noticed his Duel Disk. That's when he got an idea.

"Let's Duel!" He said.

"Duel…?" Takashi questioned. "Why should we…?"

Gordon slowly got to his feet and pulled out a Duel Disk that he had with him.

"C'mon now…don't you have any pride?" He said. "As a Duelist, you should accept any challenged that's placed in front of you."

Takashi pondered Gordon's words for a few seconds. He then started walking towards him again. This scared Gordon so he came up with another idea.

"How about this then…you beat me in a Duel and I'll return the parts to you." He suggested. "I beat you and you have to leave me alone."

Takashi stopped and glared at him. "You're scum…" He said. "And it'll be fun to wipe scum like you off the face of the Earth. I accept your stupid proposal."

Takashi and Gordon walked into an empty room with a lot of space. Before the Duel began, Takashi took his Dragon Deck out his Duel Disk and put it in the deck case, which was near his right pocket. He then opened the deck case that was near his left pocket and took out his Elemental Hero Deck. He then proceeded to place it in his Duel Disk.

"This bastard doesn't have the right to face my dragons." He thought. "He needs to face justice…and no better cards to do that, than my Elemental Heroes."

Both Gordon and Takashi activated their Duel Disks.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Gordon: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…" Gordon said as he drew a card and placed it in his hand. He then opened the Field Spell Card Zone of his Duel Disk and placed a card in it. As he closed it a holographic ocean kingdom surrounded both him and Takashi. "I activate the Field Spell; A Legendary Ocean!"

Takashi looked around the area and saw virtual fish all over the place. He also saw that his clothes were moving, like he really underwater.

"These...solid images are amazing." He thought. "I've never get tired of seeing them."

As Takashi was being amazed by the scenery, Gordon placed a card on his Duel Disk.

"I place a Monster in Defense Mode and End my Turn." He said.

As soon as he heard the words, End my Turn, Takashi refocused himself and got his mind back on the Duel.

"Draw…!" He said as he drew a card. He looked at it and smiled before inserting it into his Duel Disk. When the card revealed itself it turned out to be a Polymerization Card. Takashi would then place two cards into his Graveyard. "I play Polymerization, fusing my Elemental Hero Avian with Elemental Hero Burstinatrix to Fusion Summon; Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

**E-Hero Flame Wingman: ATK 2100 DEF 1200 LVL 6**

Avian and Burstinatrix appeared on the field and fused together to form Flame Wingman.

"Go Flame Wingman…attack his face-down Monster with your; Flame Shoot!"

Flame Wingman fired a powerful flame from his dragon arm. The flames destroyed the face-down Monster, which turned out to be a blue bear.

"You've activated my Mother Grizzly's Special Ability!" Gordon said. "When it's destroyed as a result of battle, I can Special Summon a Water Monster from my deck with 1500 Attack Points or less."

**Mother Grizzly: ATK 1400 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

"So what…?" Takashi stated. "By destroying your monster, my Flame Wingman's Special Ability activates. You now take damage equal to Mother Grizzly's Attack Points!"

Flame Wingman fired another blast of fire at Gordon, causing him to flinch.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Gordon: 2600 LP**

After Flame Wingman stopped firing his attack at Gordon and flew back over to Takashi, the old man pulled out his deck and proceeded to look through it. He then pulled out the card he wanted and put it in his hand before putting his deck back into his Duel Disk. Then, as his Duel Disk reshuffled his deck, Gordon placed the card he found onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Appear, Amphibious Bugroth MK-3!" He yelled.

**Amphibious Bugroth MK-3: ATK 1500 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

A robot with, jet missiles, on its back appeared on Gordon's side of the field. MK-3 was painted on the side of each of the missiles.

"I place 2 cards face-down and End my Turn!' Takashi said as he placed a card into his Duel Disk. Two face-down cards appeared behind Flame Wingman.

"It's my turn again…Draw!" Gordon said as he drew a card. "I attack with Bugroth, go Water Missile!"

Burgroth fired a powerful blast of water from its missile. However instead of hitting Flame Wingman, the attack hit Takashi.

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

**Gordon: 2600 LP**

"What the fuck!" Takashi screamed. "How the hell did your monster attack my Life Points directly when I have a monster on my field? Also how the hell did I lose 1700 Life Points when Burgroth only has 1500 Attack Points?"

"I'll be glad to explain it to you." Gordon said in a sly tone. "You see my Field Spell, A Legendary Ocean, raises the Attack and Defense Points of all of my Water Monsters by 200."

**Amphibious Burgroth MK-3: ATK 1700 DEF 1500**

"Also…my Burgroth Special Ability allows it to attack my opponent's Life Points when the Field Spell; Umi is on the field."

Hearing that really pissed off Takashi. "Umi isn't of the field you dick!" He yelled.

"Another one of a Legendary Ocean's powers allows it to be treated as Umi." Gordon calmly told Takashi. "Now…I place one card face-down and End my Turn!"

Gordon inserted a card into his Duel Disk and it appeared next behind Burgroth.

"Draw…!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck. "Flame Wingman, destroy his Burgroth!'

As Flame Wingman prepared to fire its flames at Burgroth, Gordon pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This activated his face-down card which, when it flipped up, had the image of fish being inside a small bubble.

"I activate the Water Barrier Trap Card!" He said. "With it I can negate the attack of a monster that targets one of my Water Monsters."

A bubble surrounded Amphibious Burgroth MK-3, just as Flame Wingman fired the flames from his dragon arm. The flames simply bounced off the bubble.

"Damn it!" Takashi said. He looked at his hand and took a card out. He would place the card face-down on his Monster Card Zone. "I place a monster in Defense Mode and End my Turn."

The face-down card appeared right next to Flame Wingman.

"Then it's my turn again…Draw!" Gordon said. He drew a card from his deck and when he looked at it he smiled. He would then place it on his Duel Disk. "I sacrifice my Amphibious Burgroth MK-3 to Summon; Levia-Dragon – Daedalus in Attack Mode!"

**Levia-Dragon – Daedalus: ATK 2600 DEF 1500 LVL 7**

A giant, blue, water dragon appeared on Gordon's field after his Burgroth vanished from it. Takashi was in awe at the beast, but soon realized something that made him angry.

"How the fuck did you summon a Level 7 Monster with only 1 sacrifice?" He asked. "You need 2 sacrifices in order to do that!"

"A Legendary Ocean…" Gordon said.

"Fuck!" Takashi yelled.

"When A Legendary Ocean is out on the field, the Level of all my Water Monsters are reduced by 1. Meaning Daedalus is a Level 6 Monster instead of a Level 7 Monster. So I can summon it with just 1 sacrifice. Also…please don't forget its 200 Attack and Defense Point bonus.

**Levia-Dragon – Daedalus: ATK 2800 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

Takashi clinched his fist and gritted his teeth. "That Field Spell is really pissing me off!" He yelled.

"I see…" Gordon said. "Then why don't I get rid of it for you…"

"What…?" Takashi questioned.

"I activate my Daedalus' Special Ability!" Gordon yelled. "By getting rid of A Legendary Ocean, Daedalus can destroy all every card that's on the field!"

Levia-Dragon – Daedalus summoned a whirlpool so powerful that everything was sucked into it. Takashi's monsters, his face-down, and even A Legendary Ocean too. It sucked everything away and as the area turned back into the abandoned building, only Daedalus remained.

"However, because it activated its ability, Daedalus' stats return to normal." Gordon stated.

**Levia-Dragon – Daedalus: ATK 2600 DEF 1500 LVL 7**

"You did well my friend, but…YOU LOSE! Daedalus, attack his Life Points directly!"

Daedalus fired a huge blast of water at Takashi and as the water covered him Gordon started laughing.

"How you like that, you bitch! That's what you get!"

"Who are you calling a bitch?" Takashi asked.

Gordon looked on and was shocked that the attack didn't affect Takashi's Life Points. Before he could ask him what happened, Takashi pulled showed him his Winged Kuriboh card.

**Winged Kuriboh: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

"When your dragon destroyed all the cards of the field, it activated my Winged Kuriboh's Special Ability." He explained. "When it's sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can't lose Life Points as a result of battle for the remainder of the turn."

Gordon was speechless at what just happened. He assumed that he had the Duel won right, but like a virus that mutated to preserve itself, Takashi was still in the Duel.

"You…you bastard." He said. "I'll get you next round!"

"Draw…" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck. "Sorry Gordon, but there isn't going to be a next turn for you!"

"What do you mean?" A confused Gordon asked.

"I'll show you…" Takashi said. He took the card from out of his hand and placed it on his Monster Card Zone. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!"

**E-Hero Sparkman: ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

In a flash of light, Takashi's Sparkman appeared on the field and stood right next to him. Takashi would then insert the card that he drew into his Duel Disk. The card appeared on the field and it had the image of two cards fusing together and in the middle of them was the letter H.

"I activate the Spell Card; Miracle Fusion!"

"Miracle Fusion…what the hell is that?" Gordon asked.

"I'm glad you asked." Takashi said with a smile on his face. "Usually I can only fuse cards that are either on my field or in my hand. However with Miracle Fusion, I can fuse Elemental Hero Monsters that are in my field with Elemental Hero Monsters that are in my Graveyard! All I have to do is remove the Fusion Material Monsters from the Duel."

"What…?" Gordon said in shock. "Your Graveyard?"

"I fuse my Elemental Hero Sparkman, that's on my field, with the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, that's in my Graveyard, to Fusion Summon; Elemental Hero Shinning Flare Wingman!"

**E-Hero Shinning Flare Wingman: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

The spirit of Elemental Hero Flame Wingman appeared and stood next to Sparkman. The two would then fuse together and in a flash of light a new Elemental Hero appeared. This one looked like Flame Wingman, covered in a shiny armor that covered his whole body. The armor even included a nice pair of shiny wings. Also the dragon head that was on his right arm was replaced with regular arm.

The glow coming from Shinning Flare Wingman lit up the entire building and it was so bright, that Gordon had to cover his eyes a little.

"Nice…nice monster you have there." He said. "But it's still not tough enough to bring down my Levia-Dragon – Daedalus."

"Are you sure about that?" Takashi asked.

As Gordon wondered why Takashi said that, the spirits of Elemental Hero Avian and Burstinatrix appeared behind Shinning Flare Wingman. The sight of the two monsters shocked Gordon a little.

"I activate Shinning Flare Wingman's Special Ability." Takashi said. "For every Elemental Hero that's in my Graveyard, he gains 300 extra Attack Points!"

The spirits of Avian and Burstinatrix flew inside of Shinning Flare Wingman, increasing its overall Attack Power.

**E-Hero Shinning Flare Wingman: ATK 3100**

"Also...let me tell you something really important." Takashi said Gordon, who looked like he was about to shit his pants. "Elemental Hero Shinning Flare Wingman possesses the same Ability as Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. When it destroys a monster in battle, my opponent takes damage equal to that monster's Attack Points!"

"No…no…!" Gordon yelled in disbelief.

"Yes Gordon…YOU LOSE!" Takashi yelled. "Attack Shinning Flare Wingman!"

Shinning Flare Wingman started glowing even brighter than before. It soon charged towards Daedalus and destroyed the water dragon with one punch.

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

**Gordon: 2100 LP**

Once the dragon was gone, Shinning Flare Wingman flew towards Gordon. Once he got right in front of him, he started glowing even more. The glow was so bright that Gordon's eyes started to hurt.

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

**Gordon: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms disappeared, and the room became dark again, Takashi walked over towards Gordon, who was busy covering his eyes in pain.<p>

"Alright you bastard…" He said. "Keep your end of the deal."

Gordon moved his hands and looked at Takashi. Acting on instinct, Gordon brought his knife back out and began swinging it around. However, because Shinning Flare Wingman blinded him a little, he couldn't see Takashi clearly allow the young Duelist to avoid the strike very easily.

Takashi soon became bored though so he decided to end this. He grabbed the hand that held the knife Gordon was holding and made him drop it. He then began to punch Gordon's face repeatedly for about 10 minutes. Once he was done, Gordon fell to the floor a bloody mess. Takashi would retrieve not only Toru's parts, but the money he used to buy them. He then started to walk away, but not before telling a knocked out Gordon something.

"You know the saying Gordon…Payback's a Bitch!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview <strong>_

_Having achieved his revenge, Takashi makes his way back to Team Satisfaction and converses with them for a few before leaving. Once he's back home helps Toru complete his Duel Runner, the latter makes a suggestion. Just what is Toru's suggestion and will Takashi accept it?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 6 – Saying Goodbye_


	6. Chapter 6

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 6: **_Saying Goodbye_

**Special Thanks to:**_IizAMuggyheale_

* * *

><p>Takashi was running through Satellite, trying to make his way back to Team Satisfaction.<p>

"I have a bad feeling that they're in trouble." He thought. "I need to get over there and help them out. Besides, it's my problem and I should be the one to settle it."

He continued running as fast as he could, trying to waste a single second. He found Team Satisfaction, but was shocked at what he also found. He saw that the goons that got in Takashi's way were on the ground and they were beaten up pretty badly. He also saw that all 3 of the goons Duel Disks were completely destroyed.

Lilly saw Takashi and proceeded to walk over to him.

"Are you ok?" She asked. "Did you take care of Gordon?"

Takashi ignored her question and continued to look at the goons. Seeing that, Lilly slapped him in the face where his newly formed scar was.

"Pay attention!" She yelled.

The pain from his scar and the force from her slap made Takashi focus all of his attention on her.

"What…?" He asked.

"I asked if you were ok and took care of Gordon?" Lilly asked again while glaring at him.

"Yes…I took care of that bastard." Takashi answered while holding his face. "But no, I'm not ok."

"Why not…?" Lilly asked.

"Because I have a huge cross-shaped scar on the left side of my face and violent female just slapped me in the place as the scar!" Takashi stated while glaring at her. "That's why I'm not ok!"

Lilly calmed down after realizing what Takashi said was true. She would then gently rub his face.

"I'm sorry…" She said with a tone of regret in her voice.

Takashi blushed when she was rubbing her face.

"It's…it's no big deal…" He said.

"Oh please don't petty him Lilly!" The man with the black hair said as he walking towards Takashi and Lilly. "If he's so weak to get hurt by those weaklings…then he deserves to get beaten up."

Takashi turned his attention to the man and walked up to him.

"What you say…?" He said in an angry tone of voice. "Just who deserves to get beaten up?"

"You do…" The man said.

Takashi attempted to punch him, but the man simply blocked the blow. He then through him into a nearby pile of metal garbage cans. Lilly ran up to Takashi and helped him to his feet. She then glared at the man.

"Alistair…!" She yelled.

"What…?" He said. "You know it's true…right Kalin?

Alistair turned to the man with white, who proceeded to shrug his shoulders.

"Don't get me involved in this." He said.

"Oh c'mon Kalin, you're just afraid to answer because Lilly, your girlfriend, is here." Alistar stated. "You're just afraid to get your ass kicked by her."

"And is there anything wrong with that…" Kalin calmly replied.

Alistair was about to say something else, but stopped when he sensed something vicious behind him. He turned around and saw that Lilly was giving him a death glare, which had a lot of killing intent. Takashi saw this and almost pissed his pants.

"Alistar…" She said. "Shut up…now!"

Alistair slowly nodded his head. Lilly would then stop glaring and looked at Takashi.

"Sorry you had to see that…"

"It's…it's…ok." Takashi stuttered.

Soon, from out of nowhere, Crow appeared and ran up to all of them. He looked at the scenery and sighed out loud.

"Damn it guys…" He moaned. "You could have a least save something for me."

Kalin looked at Crow and smiled.

"Sorry man, but that's the way the cookie crumbles." He said.

Crow sighed again before seeing Takashi with Lilly. He would then walk up to them.

"Hey man, what are you doing here?" He asked.

Takashi scratched the back of his head as he pondered Crow's question.

"That's a damn good question." He thought. "One minute I'm busy grabbing some parts and the next minute I'm here looking at all the members of Team Satisfaction."

"He was attacked by Gordon and his thugs." Lilly answered for him. "We showed up when things got to rough and allowed him to take care of Gordon himself."

"I see…" Crow said. He then started to remember his Duel with Takashi. "Hey guys…I just remembered something about this guy."

"What is it..?" Alistar asked.

Crow walked over to Takashi and looked him in the eyes.

"Hey…can you show us that dragon you used to defeat me?" He asked.

Hearing Crow say that shocked Lilly, Kalin and especially Alistar.

"Do you mean my Stardust Dragon?" Takashi asked.

"Yeah…that…your Stardust Dragon." Crow replied.

Takashi went and grabbed his Dragon Deck. He then began to search through all of his cards until he found Stardust Dragon. He then showed it to everyone.

"Here it is…"

The members of Team Satisfaction looked at Takashi's card and, in their own way, were impressed by it.

"Where did you get this card…?" Kalin asked him.

"It belonged to my father." Takashi explained. "He gave it to my Grandfather shortly after I was born and told him to give it to me."

"What does it do…?" Lilly asked.

"By sacrificing itself Stardust Dragon can negate and destroy Monster, Trap, or Spell effects that destroy other cards." He said to her. "When it does this, Stardust Dragon can return at the turn's End Phase."

"Wow…and you used it to defeat Crow?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah…" Crow answered.

Alistair looked at Takashi's card for a few more seconds before looking at Takashi himself.

"Hey…You! He called.

Takashi looked at Alistar and started glaring at him again.

"My name is not 'you'!" He said. "My name is Takashi…Takashi Nakamura."

"Whatever…" Alistar firmly said to him. "I want you to Duel me…Duel me now!"

Everyone looked on with a shocked expression on their faces.

"I want to see that dragon in action." Alistar explained while he was activating his Duel Disk. "Also…I want to how a weakling like you Duels."

Takashi growled to him and proceeded to take his Elemental Hero Deck from out his Duel Disk. He then inserted his Dragon Deck into the device and activated it.

"Fine you prick!" He yelled. "I'll be glad to take you on."

The two Duelists prepared to make their first moves, however before anything could take place Takashi's cell phone started ringing. He proceeded to take it out and answer it.

"Hello?" He stated.

"_Takashi…"_Klaus said. _"I got the things I need, so come over here and we can leave."_

The young man sighed to himself. "Fine…I'll be right there."

Takashi hung up his phone and put it away. He then deactivated his Duel Disk.

"I've got to go."

"Are you running away?" Alistair said. "Well…I don't blame you. A person like you has no chance in hell of defeating me."

Takashi charged at him, wanting to punch his lights out. However Lilly stopped him before he could get close enough to Alistair.

"Don't worry about him…" She said. "He's just like that."

Takashi sighed and stopped trying to attack Alistar.

"I'll settling things with you some other time…" He said to him.

Alistar ignored him and proceeded to turn his back to him.

"Hey…" Lilly said. "Hope we get to see you again."

"Yeah…" Crow replied. "I would like to have the chance to Duel you again."

Takashi smiled at them. "Yeah…I would like that. I'd like that a lot."

With that, Takashi proceeded to walk away. As he did, Alistair looked at his deck and pulled out a card that had the image of a red dragon.

"There's no way he can beat me.' He thought. "Not with Red Dragon Archfiend on my side!"

Takashi soon made it to Klaus, who was shocked by the scar that was on his face.

"What the heck happened?" He yelled.

"…Stuff." Takashi answered.

* * *

><p>The two of them went through the tunnel and made their way back to the desert. Once there, they got back inside the car and drove back home to Crash Town. As soon as he got back, Takashi walked over to Toru's house and proceeded to knock on the door.<p>

"Open up!" He yelled. "I have the stuff that you wanted."

Toru opened the door and the first thing that he noticed was the scar of Takashi's face.

"Dude…what the hell happened to you?" He asked.

Takashi handed Toru the parts and started to explain what happened to him, while he was in the Satellite.

"And that's what happened." He said.

"I see…" Toru said as he was inserting the parts into his Duel Runner. "That must've been an interesting experience."

"It was…" Takashi replied. "Anyway…how's the Duel Runner coming along?"

"Well…let's find out." Toru said as he inserted the last part into his Runner.

The two of them brought the Duel Runner outside and brought out to the desert. Once they got there, Toru handed Takashi a helmet.

"Get on…" He said. "I did promise I let you ride it."

Takashi looked at him and smiled. He then put the helmet on his head and pressed the button that was on the side of it. This released a windshield, which covered Takashi's eyes. Toru would then walk over to him and was about to press the button, which would activate his Duel Runner.

"You ready…?" He asked.

"Go for it." Takashi said as he was gripping the Runner's handles.

Toru nodded his head and proceeded to press the button. The Duel Runner sounded and began rumbling. Takashi pressed the petal and immediately drove forward at an incredible speed. Seeing the Runner in action brought a huge smile onto Toru's face.

"Alright…it works!" He yelled.

Takashi was smiling too as he was finally riding a Duel Runner, like how he always wanted to. As he was driving all around the desert, Takashi began feeling an amazing sensation. The speed, the wind, the rush…all of these things ran through his body and it made him feel incredible.

"Awesome…" He said. "This is Awesome!"

After driving around for about 20 more minutes Takashi drove back to Toru and allowed him a chance to drive around. Like Takashi, he to enjoyed the rush of driving his Duel Runner around the area. Soon though, after about 30 minutes of driving, Toru headed back over towards his friend.

"What a rush!" He said. "I've felt anything so amazing before in my entire life."

"Yeah…" Takashi agreed. "It was like I was in a totally different world."

The two friends headed back to Toru's house and started to relax. As they were doing that though, Toru was thinking and soon started talking to Takashi.

"Hey…" He said. "I'm thinking of leaving for New Domino City."

'Really…?" Takashi asked.

"Yeah…" Toru responded. "I mean…with my Duel Runner now working, there nothing keeping me from fulfilling my dream of become a Turbo Duelist."

"I see…" Takashi replied. "That does make sense. New Domino City is famous for having a large number of Turbo Duelists. Odds are it's the best place for you to make a name for yourself. Still…Nico and West are going to be sad that you're leaving."

"I know…, but you'll still be here to help fill the void." Toru said.

"True…" Takashi responded.

The two of them stayed silent for a few minutes until Toru got an idea. He walked up to his Duel Disk and inserted his deck into it.

"Let's Duel Takashi." He said. "Let's have one more match before I leave."

Takashi smiled and nodded his head. "You're on."

The two of them went outside to the backyard and stood about 10 feet apart from each other. They then activated their Duel Disks.

"Alright Takashi…I don't intend on holding back." Toru told his friend.

"I wouldn't want you to." Takashi replied.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Toru: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from deck. He put the card into his hand and proceeded to take out another card and place it on his Monster Card Zone. "I summon Masked Dragon in Attack Mode!"

**Masked Dragon: ATK 1400 DEF 1100 LVL 3**

A brown and red dragon appeared on Takashi's side of the field.

"Next I place 1 card face-down and End my Turn!"

A face-down card appeared behind Masked Dragon as Toru began his turn.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card. He looked at the card and inserted it into his Duel Disk. "I activate the Spell; Foolish Burial!" The card appeared on the field and it had the image of a hand, holding a shovel, popping out of the ground. "With this, I can send a Monster card from my deck and send it to my Graveyard."

Toru took out his deck and began searching for the card that he wanted to discard. Once he found it he took out of his deck and placed it in the Graveyard. Toru would then put his deck back into his Duel Disk, watch it reshuffle, and continued on with his turn. He would take a card from his hand and place it in his Monster Card Zone. "I summon my Scrap Hunter in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Hunter: ATK 1600 DEF 400 LVL 3**

A Monster, which looked like a combination of different piles of junk, appeared on Toru's side of the field.

"I attack with Scrap Hunter!"

Toru's monster ran over to Masked Dragon and proceeded to slice its head off with one swoop.

**Takashi: 3800 LP**

**Toru: 4000 LP**

"When my Masked Dragon is destroyed as a result of battle, its Special Ability is activated." Takashi stated. "I can now Special Summon and dragon type Monster that has 1500 or less Attack Points."

Before he went through his deck though, Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk to activate his face-down card. When the card flipped up it was revealed to be Call of the Haunted.

"I activate the Call of the Haunted Trap Card! With it I'll revive my Masked Dragon!"

As Masked Dragon appeared on the field, Takashi took out his deck and proceeded to look for the Monster that he wanted to Special Summon. Once he found it he placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon my Tuner Monster; Delta Flyer in Defense Mode!"

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

Takashi's tiny dragon appeared next to Masked Dragon. He would then place his deck back into his Duel Disk and watched it reshuffle.

Toru would continue on with his turn by taking two cards from out his hand and insert them into his Duel Disk. The cards appeared behind his Scrap Hunter.

"I place 2 cards face-down and End my Turn.' He said.

"Then it's my turn…Draw!" Takashi said as he drew. He looked at the card and smile before placing it on his Monster Card Zone. "I summon my Red-Eyes Wyvern in Attack Mode!"

**Red-Eyes Wyvern: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

Takashi's trusty Red-Eyes appeared on the field and stood next to its comrades.

"Next I activate Delta Flyer's Special Ability. Once per turn, I can raise the Level of one of my Monsters by 1. I choose to raise Masked Dragon from a Level 3 Monster to a Level 4 Monster!"

**Masked Dragon: LVL 4**

"Next, I Tune my Delta Flyer with my Masked Dragon to Synchro Summon; Exploder Dragonwing in Attack Mode!"

**Exploder Dragonwing: ATK 2400 DEF 1600 LVL 7**

Takashi's dragons flew into the air and performed the sequence for Synchro Summoning. In a flash of light, Exploder Dragonwing appeared and stood next to Red-Eyes Wyvern.

"Now…I attack Scrap Hunter with Red-Eyes Wyvern. Go…Molten Fireball Attack!"

Red-Eyes fired a molten fireball at Scrap Hunter. However Toru activated his face-down and it turned out to be a Negate Attack Trap Card. The card released a giant vortex that sucked up the fireball and sent it to another dimension.

"Sorry Takashi…" Toru said. "But my Negate Attack will prevent you from attacking any more this turn."

"Nice move Toru…" Takashi said with a smile.

"Thanks…and I'm not done yet." He friend replied. He pressed another button on his Duel Disk, which activated his other face-down card. The card flipped up and revealed the image of a punch of scrap pieces falling from the sky. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card; Scrapstrom!"

"Scrapstorm…?" Takashi questioned. "What does that card do?"

"Scrapstorm allows me to select one Scrap Monster that's on my field and one that's in my Deck." Toru explained. "I then send both cards to the Graveyard and draw one card from deck."

Scrap Hunter disappeared from the field and Toru placed its card in the Graveyard. He would then went through his deck and pulled out another card and would also place it in his Graveyard. After placing the deck back into his Duel Disk and watch it be reshuffled, Toru proceeded to draw a card.

Takashi started questioning why Toru was putting cards into his Graveyard. He knew that the abilities of Scrap Monsters revolved around Toru doing that, but he knew that could backfire on Toru if he wasn't able to get the cards that he needed. However, Takashi didn't want to any unnecessary risks. So he took 2 cards from his hand and inserted them into Duel Disk.

"I place 2 cards face-down…I End my Turn!"

Toru nodded his head and proceeded to draw a card. He placed it in his hand and took out another card, which he placed in his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon my Scrap Chimera in Attack Mode!" He said.

**Scrap Chimera: ATK 1700 DEF 500 LVL 4**

A metal chimera, which looked like a combination of an eagle and a lion, appeared on the field.

"I activate my Chimera's Special Ability. When it's successfully Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Scrap Tuner Monster that's in my Graveyard."

"Damn it…" Takashi cursed. "I had a feeling that would happen."

A card appeared from Toru's Graveyard and he proceeded to pick it up. He then placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon; Scrap Goblin in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Goblin: ATK 0 DEF 500 LVL 3**

A small goblin, with was made from different pieces of junk, appeared on the field and stood next to Scrap Chimera.

"Now, I'll tune my Scrap Goblin with my Scrap Chimera in order Synchro Summon; Scrap Archfiend!"

**Scrap Archfiend: ATK 2700 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Both of Toru's Scrap Monsters performed the sequence for Synchro Summoning. In a flash of light, his new monster appeared on the field. It was a giant fiend that was constructed out different pieces of scrap.

Takashi remembered facing Toru's Scrap Archfiend several times in the past. Its overwhelming Attack made it extremely difficult for him to defeat it.

"I attack Red-Eyes Wyvern with Scrap Archfiend!" Toru yelled. "Go, Scrap Fist!"

Scrap Archfiend balled up its metal fist and proceeded to crush Red-Eyes in one single blow.

**Takashi: 2900 LP**

**Toru: 4000 LP**

"I play one card face-down and End my Turn." Toru said as a face-down card appeared behind his Scrap Archfiend.

"Draw…!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card.

As he watched Takashi plan his next move, Toru began to think to himself.

"That Takashi…" He thought. "Despite being down by 1100 Life Points he still looks so calm. But then, he's been that way whenever he'd Duel someone."

Toru flashed back to the many times he seen Takashi Duel. Despite being down and sometimes frustrated. He would always find a way to win. This is what made Takashi and dangerous opponent to Duel against. He would always try to plan several moves ahead of his opponents.

"I summon Totem Dragon in Attack Mode!" Takashi said as he placed the card on his Monster Card Zone.

**Totem Dragon: ATK 400 DEF 200 LVL 2**

A small dragon, that had a totem pole sized neck, appeared and stood right next to Exploder Dragonwing,

"I now remove Totem Dragon from the game to Special Summon; The Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"

**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2400 LVL 10**

Totem Dragon vanished from the field and a new Red-Eyes monster took its place. This one was twice the size of Red-Eyes Wyvern and its entire body was covered in metal.

"Holy…shit…" Toru said in shock. "Takashi's strongest Monster; Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon."

"I activate Red-Eyes' Special Ability!" Takashi said. "I can Special Summon a Dragon Monster from either my hand or Graveyard. I choose to Special Summon my Flamvell Guard Tuner Monster in Attack Mode!"

**Flamvell Guard: ATK 100 DEF 2000 LVL 1**

A dragon, with burnt metal armor, appeared on the field.

"I now Tune my Level 7 Exploder Dragonwing with my Level 1 Flamvell Guard. Clustering wishes will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Flamvell Guard and Exploder Dragonwing flew up into the air and performed a Synchro Summon. In a blinding flash of light, Stardust Dragon appeared and stood next to Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!

Toru was amazed at what he just witnessed. In just 1 turn, Takashi had something 2 of his most powerful Monsters.

"I attack Scrap Archfiend with Red Eyes!" Takashi yelled. "Go, Darkness Metal Flare!"

Red-Eyes fired a blast of dark energy at Scrap Archfiend, destroying it completely.

**Takashi: 2900 LP**

**Toru: 3900 LP**

"Next, I'll have Stardust Dragon attack your Life Points directly. Go, Cosmic Flare!

Stardust fired a blast of cosmic energy from its mouth. As the attack was headed for him, Toru pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This activated his face-down card which, when flipped up, had the image of a monster trapped inside a fire barrier.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Half Shut!" He said. "With it I can reduce the Attack Points of one Monster on the field by half. I choose Stardust Dragon!"

A wall of blue fire surrounded Toru. Stardust's Cosmic Flare hit the flames and started to go through them. However when it finally made it passed the barrier, only half of the blast's power managed to hit Toru.

**Takashi: 2900 LP**

**Toro: 2650 LP**

Takashi would then insert one card into his Duel Disk. The card then appeared behind his dragons.

"I place 1 card face-down and End my Turn."

"Draw…!" Toru yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He looked at it and smiled for a second. He would then press a button on his Duel Disk, which opened his Field Spell Zone. He then placed the card he drew inside of it and closed it up. "I activate the Field Spell; Scrapyard!"

The area around Toru and Takashi started to change around them. They soon found themselves in dark junkyard.

"With Scrapyard I can add 1 Scrap Tuner Monster from deck and add it to my hand." Toru explained. "I choose to bring Scrap Mind Reader to my hand."

The card popped out of his deck and Toru picked it up and added it to his hand. As his deck started to reshuffle itself, he would insert a card into his Duel Disk. The card appeared on the field and revealed itself to be Monster Reborn!

"I revive my Scrap Archfiend!"

Toru's giant Scrap Monster reappeared on the field and it glared at Takashi dragons, who proceeded to roar back at it.

"What's Toru thinking…?" Takashi thought. "I mean even if he destroyed Stardust, he knows I'll just revive it my next turn. So what the hell is he planning?"

Toru placed another card into his Duel Disk and when it appeared it had the image of two monsters standing next to each other.

"I activate the Spell; Double Summon!" He said. "With it I can Normal Summon twice this turn."

"What…?" Takashi said in shock.

Toru placed two cards on the Monster Card Zone of his Duel Disk.

"I summon both Scrap Mind Reader and Scrap Beast!"

**Scrap Mind Reader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Scrap Beast: ATK 1600 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

Two Scrap Monsters appeared on Toru's side of the field. The first was a small orb that had a telephone attached to it. The second looked like a panther. Both Monsters were made out of pieces of scrap.

"Next, I Tune my Level 7 Scrap Archfiend with my Level 1 Scrap Mind Reader! The earth's discarded pieces now come together as a new power is formed! Synchro Summon! Reanimate, Scrap Dragon!"

**Scrap Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Scrap Mind Reader and Scrap Archfiend jumped in the air and perform a Synchro Summon. Soon a giant dragon, which was made out of scrap, appeared and started hovering above Toru.

"I now activate my dragon's ability. I can select one card I control and one card my opponent controls and destroy them both! I choose to destroy Scrap Beast and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"

Scrap Dragon fired a laser at Scrap Beast, destroying it completely. It then fired one at Red-Eyes.

"I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi yelled. "I sacrifice him to negate Scrap Dragon's ability and destroy it!"

Stardust Dragon started glowing brightly, however as it was doing that a cage surrounded it and slammed Stardust into the card. Takashi was shocked at what he saw and started looking around the field. He then saw that Toru had activated a Quick-Play Spell. The card had the image of black cage.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Scrap Cage!" Toru said. "With it, I negate the activation of one of my opponent's monsters!"

With Stardust Dragon trapped inside the cage, Scrap Dragon was able to destroy Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon with its powerful lasers.

"I now attack Stardust Dragon with Scrap Dragon!"

Scrap Dragon fired flames that were filled with shrapnel. The attack hit Stardust Dragon, killing it instantly.

**Takashi: 2600 LP**

**Toru: 2650 LP**

"I End my Turn."

"My turn…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card. He looked at it for a second before inserting it inside of his Duel Disk. The card appeared and revealed itself to be Foolish Burial. "I activate Foolish Burial to send a Monster in my deck to the Graveyard."

Takashi took out his Duel Disk and proceeded to look for the card that he wanted to get rid of. Once he found it he proceeded to place it in his Graveyard before putting his deck back into his Duel Disk. Then, as his deck was reshuffling, Takashi inserted another card into his Duel Disk. The card appeared on the field and it revealed itself to be Scapegoat.

"I play Scapegoat to Summon 4 sheep tokens in Defense Mode! I then place 1 card face-down and end my turn!"

A face-down card appeared on Takashi's field along with 4 sheep tokens.

"I Draw…!" Toru said as he drew a card. He put the card in his hand and took out another card, which he inserted into his Duel Disk. The card had the image of several lightning bolts, striking the ground. "I activate the Spell Card: Lightning Vortex! Now by discarding one card in my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy all face-up Monsters on my opponent's field!"

As Toru placed the card that he was discarding into his Graveyard, Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This activated his face-down which, when flipped up, had the image of a machine with 3 different shields.

"I activate the Trap; Spell Shield Type-8!" He said. "With it I can negate to activation of a Spell Card and destroy it! All I have to do is discard a Spell Card from my hand."

As Takashi placed the Spell Card into his Graveyard, the machine from his Trap Card appeared. It then produced a barrier that protected Takashi's sheep tokens from Toru's lightning blast.

"Damn it…" Toru said as he brought out another 2 cards from his hand. He then inserted them into his Duel Disk. The first card had the image of a man putting together a robot while the other had the image of group of soldiers moving past another group of soldiers. "I activate the Spell Cards; Scrap Repair and Bypass! With Scrap Repair I can Special Summon; Scrap Beast from my Graveyard. Then with Bypass, I can attack your Life Points Directly as long as my Monsters Attack Points are cut in half!"

From the Scrap Repair card, Toru's Scrap Beast reappeared on the field. Then it and Scrap Dragon's attack power were transferred to the Bypass card.

**Scrap Dragon: 1400**

**Scrap Beast: 800**

Both Scrap Monsters then jumped over into the air and proceeded to launched their attacks at Takashi, causing him to flinch a little.

**Takashi: 400 LP**

**Toru: 2650 LP**

"With that…I End my Turn."

Takashi looked at his hand and found nothing that he could use to combat Toru's monsters. So he gently placed his hand on the top card of his deck and closed his eyes for a few moments.

"I…Draw!" He yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He slowly looked at the card, and he sighed in disbelief.

Toru saw the expression on his face and assumed that Takashi didn't draw the card that he wanted. He felt that he had this Duel in the bag.

Takashi closed his eyes again and started to flashback on the moves that he and Toru made through the entire Duel. He then remembered something very important. So he placed the card he drew into his Duel Disk and it appeared on the field.

"I place one card face-down and End my Turn." He said.

"Ok then…Draw!" Toru yelled.

"Not so fast!" Takashi replied. "I activate the Special Ability of my Red-Eyes Wyvern!"

"You what?" Toru said in shock.

"When Red-Eyes Wyvern is in my Graveyard and I don't Normal Summon or Set a Monster this turn…I can remove it from the Duel to Special Summon 1 Red-Eyes Monster from my Graveyard!" Takashi explained.

"Wait a minute..." Toru said. "That means…you can summon…"

"It means I can summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon in Attack Mode!" Takashi yelled.

Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon appeared from out of Takashi's Duel Disk and started flying above him. It then roared at Scrap Dragon, saying it was ready for Round 2.

"….Draw!" Toru yelled as he was drew a card from his deck. He wasn't expecting Takashi to revive Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. However he wouldn't let this new development stop him from winning this Duel. "I activate the Special Ability of my Scrap Dragon. I sacrifice my Scrap Beast to destroy your Red-Eyes!"

As Scrap Dragon destroyed Scrap Beast, Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk. The flipped his face-down card up and it revealed the image of a spirit protecting a dragon.

"I activate the Trap Card; Spirit Shield!" He said. "With it, I can negate the activation of Monster, Trap, or Spell effect that targets my Dragon Monsters and destroy it! All I need to do is remove a dragon from the Duel."

Takashi removed Exploder Dragonwing and its spirit appeared and protected Red-Eyes. The spirit then attacked Scrap Dragon, destroying it.

"I activate Scrap Dragon's Special Ability!" Toru yelled. "With it, I can revive a Scrap Monster from my Graveyard. I choose Scrap Goblin and place it in Defense Mode!"

Scrap Goblin appeared on Toru's field and made a defensive stance.

"I End my Turn!"

"My move…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card. "Sorry Toru, but you made fatal mistake!"

"Oh yeah…" Toru said. "And what would that be?"

"Bring out your Scrap Goblin!" Takashi answer. "I activate Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon's Special Ability! I revive the Stardust Dragon that's in my Graveyard!"

Takashi's Duel Disk started to glow and out came Stardust Dragon. It then stood next to Red-Eyes and both dragons glared at Scrap Goblin and Toru.

"Stardust Dragon…attack Scrap Goblin with Cosmic Flare!"

"Sorry Takashi, but my Scrap Goblin can't be destroyed in battle!" Toru stated.

"Sorry Toru, but you should know that if Scrap Goblin is attacked while face-up in Defense Mode, then it's automatically destroyed!" Takashi replied.

Scrap Goblin saw Stardust prepare to launched its attack. Scared, it self-destructed.

"Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon…attack Toru's Life Points directly with; Dark Metal Flare!"

Red-Eyes launched a blast of dark energy at Toru, creating an explosion that surrounded him.

**Takashi: 400 LP**

**Toru: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As all the holograms disappeared Takashi walked over to Toru, who was sitting on the floor.<p>

"Damn it…" He said. "I wasn't thinking when I summoned Scrap Goblin. I should have summoned another monster." He then looked at Takashi, who was sitting next to him. "You're amazing man."

"How so…?" Takashi asked.

"The way you Duel…" Toru answered. "The way you hardly panic during tough situations and clearly think through every move. It's amazing."

"It's not that big of a deal…" Takashi said. "Besides…I'm only as good as I am because I have you to push me."

Toru smiled. "That's true…"

The two friends smiled at each other and proceeded to shake hands.

2 days later Takashi, Nico, and West were at the edge of town, preparing to watch Toru leave. The little ones were sad that he had to go, but they knew that it was Toru's dream to travel to New Domino City. It was a chance that he just couldn't give up.

"Toru…" West said. "You'll come back won't you?"

Toru looked at West and smiled at him. He then started to rub the top of his head.

"Of course I will…" He said. "And I'll be sure to write whenever I can."

Hearing that made West feel somewhat better, but he was still a bit upset. Soon, Toru had all his things together and proceeded to get on his Duel Runner. He was about to leave when Takashi called out to him.

"Toru…!" He said.

Toru turned his head and looked at his friend.

"Go kick some ass." Takashi said with a smile.

Toru smiled and activated his Duel Runner. He then gave his friend a thumb's up before driving off to fulfill his dreams.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_3 years have passed since Toru left Crash Town and Takashi is now 18-years-old. During those 3 years, his Dueling skills have improved greatly and he'll need him when Nico is outside during a Malcolm and Radley family showdown. Can Takashi save his young friend and what will be the result of his actions?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 7 – Doing what's Right_


	7. Chapter 7

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 7: **_Doing what's Right_

* * *

><p>"Takashi…Takashi…!" Klaus yelled from the kitchen. "Come down here! Your food is getting cold!<p>

"Calm yourself Klaus…" Takashi replied from inside his room. "I'll be there in a minute."

Takashi Nakamura, now 18-years-old, was busy constructing a new deck from all the cards that gathered throughout the years. Ever since Toru left for New Domino City, Takashi has been trying to become an even stronger Duelist than he was before. To accomplish that task, Takashi spends most of his time either Dueling the other Duelist within Crash Town or constructing his Deck to make it more powerful. For the last 30 months he's been trying to build a brand new Deck, one that combines his Dragons, Elemental Heroes, and the cards that support them. Now…after several long months of planning, building, and rebuilding…Takashi has finally finished completing his new Deck.

"Finally…" He said as he held the deck in his hand. "It's finally completed."

Takashi proceeded to look at the front of his deck and first monster that he saw was his trusty Stardust Dragon. He smiled for a few minutes before putting his deck into his deck box. He would then attach it to his belt before walking out of his room. Takashi quickly headed for the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Finally…" Klaus said as he handed him his food. "I thought that you would never come down."

"Well I'm here now aren't I?" Takashi said as he started eating his food. "Besides aren't you a little old to be waiting on me to come down and eat. For God's sake Klaus you're almost 70-years-old."

"You know it's important to eat with your family Takashi." Klaus reminded him.

"Yeah…I know…I know." Takashi moaned.

The two of them started eating in silence for a couple of minutes before they finally started talking again.

"Hey Klaus…" Takashi said.

"Hmm…" Klaus moaned as he was chewing food within in mouth.

"What were my parents like?" Takashi asked. "The only thing you told me was that my dad had Stardust Dragon."

Klaus stopped eating and began looking at the table for a few moments. He then looked back at Takashi.

"You're parents…" He said. "Well they were kind individuals…Especially your mother/my daughter."

"What was she like…?" The young man asked.

"Your mother was a beautiful woman…" Klaus explained. "She had long cerulean blue hair and eyes of the same color. Like you she was an excellent Duelist and she even competed in the Riding Ace Dueling League."

Takashi nearly choked on his food. So he quickly grabbed a glass of water and started to pour the liquid into his mouth. Once he finished drinking, Takashi placed the glass on the table and looked at his grandfather with a huge amount of excitement in his eyes.

"My mom competed in the Riding Ace Dueling League?" He yelled.

Klaus simply nodded his head. Takashi was shocked by the fact that his mom competed in a tournament of that level. The Riding Ace Dueling League is the strongest, toughest, and the best Turbo Dueling League in the entire world. Every Turbo Duelist in the world dreams of joining the League and one day obtaining the title of World King, the title given to the best Turbo Duelist in the world.

"Klaus…Klaus…did my mom become the World King?"

Klaus nodded his head in disagreement. "No…she became the World Queen."

"Ho…Ly…Shit!" Takashi said.

Klaus attempted to punch his grandson in the face, Takashi however blocked the blow without even thinking.

"Why haven't you told me about this…?" Takashi asked while he looked at Klaus.

Klaus looked down again, this time for a longer period time. Before he could say anything else, someone began knocking on the door of the house.

"Takashi!" The person from behind the door yelled. "Takashi please open the door!"

Takashi looked towards the door with a puzzled look on his face.

"West…?" He said. Takashi looked towards Klaus again before getting up from his chair. "We'll talk about this later…"

Takashi walked towards the door and proceeded to open it. He saw West and noticed that he was breathing really hard. He also saw that he had tears in his eyes.

"What wrong West?" He asked out of concern.

"I…I…I can't find Nico!" West said as he tried his best to hold back his tears. "I looked everywhere, but I can't find her."

"What?" Takashi yelled in shock.

He quickly looked outside and saw that town bell was going to ring at any minute. When that happens, both the Radley and Malcolm families will appear and both sides have only gotten more vicious during this past 2 and a half years.

So, without even thinking, Takashi dragged West inside of his house and quickly ran up to his room to get his Duel Disk. Once he grabbed it, he immediately ran back downstairs and proceeded to run out the door.

"Takashi…!" Klaus yelled as he ran out the door. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Where do you think?" Takashi said without even turning towards his grandfather. "I'm going to find Nico and bring her here!"

"Are you insane?" Klaus yelled. "The war between the Malcolm and Radley families are about to resume. You won't be able to make it back here with her!"

Klaus walked towards Takashi and touched his shoulder. However as soon as he did, Takashi turned around and punched him in the face. He then proceeded to grab Klaus by his shirt collar and glared at him.

"If I do nothing, then Nico is going to be found!" He yelled. "If that happens then her life is practically over! I don't know about you, but I'm not going to sit on my ass and wait to see what happens! I promised Nico's and West's father that I would always look after them while he worked in the mines. I intend to keep my promise!"

Takashi threw Klaus to the ground and proceeded to runs towards town as the bell began to ring. As Klaus looked on at his grandson he saw an image of his daughter running alongside him.

It took 20 minutes for Takashi to reach the middle of town and he already saw that both the Radley and Malcolm families were already going at it.

"Damn it…" He thought. "I'm going to have to take my time. If I rush through I'm just asking to get noticed."

He walked over to side of one of the nearby buildings and proceeded to carefully walk against it. As he walked, he started thinking to himself again.

"Ok…if I was Nico…where would I be during this time…the Hideout!"

Takashi remembered telling Nico and West that if the bell should ring and they're not at their house, then they need to go to their Hideout. It was one of the safest places that they could hide out while the fights were going on.

He looked around the area and saw a space where no one was around and prepared to run over there, but before he could get the chance to do so a man appeared behind him.

"Hey you…!" The man said.

Takashi broke into a cold sweat and slowly turned around. He looked at the man and saw that he had blonde hair, green eyes, and had a very muscular figure. The man also had a Duel Disk attached to his right arm. The man looked at Takashi for a few minutes, before seeing the Duel Disk attached to his arms.

"You…" He said. "You're coming with me to join the Radley Family!"

Takashi was shocked at what the man said to him…however he was able to shake it off very quickly and proceeded to nod his head in disagreement.

"I refuse!" He said.

"Wrong answer…" The man replied as he walked over towards him.

He pulled out a knife from his pocket and was about to hit Takashi with it. However, the young man was able to avoid the first strike and quickly punched the man in the chest. He then quickly grabbed the man by the head and rammed it into the buildings wall, causing him to be stuck.

"Sorry pal..., but I have somewhere to be!" He said as he continued on his way.

Takashi continued to make his way for Nico's and West's hideout. As headed over there, he was constantly attacked by members of both the Radley and Malcolm families and each time he was able to defeat them, with just using his fist. Soon, after 40 minutes of running and fighting, Takashi made it to the edge of town and saw the Hideout. He ran over towards it and quickly ran inside. As soon as he came inside, Nico appeared.

"Takashi…!" She yelled as she ran over hug him.

Takashi held the little girl for a couple of minutes before letting her go. He then looked at her.

"Nico…why weren't you with West?" He asked.

"I about to meet up with him, but while I was running I ran into this big guy." Nico explained to him. "He started yelling at me and calling me names, which made me really upset. So ran in here so that I could hide from him."

"I see…" Takashi said. "Well…West is over my house. I'll take you to him."

Nico nodded her head. "Ok…"

The two of them walked out of the hideout and proceeded to make their way back to Takashi's home. However as they were running, Nico tripped up and fell into the ground. She started crying so Takashi quickly ran over her, however something from behind grabbed him by the back of his shirt and slammed him to the ground. As he slowly picked himself up Takashi saw that the Radley Family member, whose head he rammed into a house, grabbed Nico by her shirt. The man grabbed his knife and proceeded to place it by Nico's throat.

"Ok…we're going to try this again." He said. "You're going to join the Radley Family…if you don't', I'm going to kill this little bitch!"

"Takashi…help me!" Nico yelled at the top of her lungs.

Takashi tried his best to keep his cool, but on the inside he was freaking out like never before. He knew that one false mistake and Nico's life was over. He started thinking multiple scenarios within his mind, but each of them ended with Nico dying. He started to feel that he had to join Radley's, in order to protect Nico.

"Well…what are you going to do?" The man questioned.

Takashi looked around one more time and soon noticed something. He saw that Nico was wearing a loose t-shirt and as the man was holding it…it looked even looser. This gave him just the idea that he needed.

"Nico…raise your arms!" He yelled.

Nico quickly did what she was told and raised her arms in the air. Once she did that, she proceeded to slide down her shirt until she hit the ground. Once that happened she proceeded to run over to Takashi.

"You bastard!" The man yelled as he watched Nico jump into Takashi's arms.

"You're the bastard." Takashi replied. "Taking a little girl hostage like that. You're the biggest piece of shit I've ever seen in my entire life."

"Watch your mouth!" The man yelled. "You're talking to Virgil…second best Duelist within the Radley family."

Takashi took of his jacket and gave it to Nico, who proceeded to put it on. He then stood up and activated his Duel Disk.

"I don't care if you're the best Duelist in the damn world!" He yelled. "No one threaten the lives of my friends and gets away with it!"

Virgil glared at him and proceeded to activate his Duel Disk too.

"Fine you little bastard, have it your way!" He said. "It'll be more fun this way."

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Virgil: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he swiftly drew a card from his deck. He proceeded to put the card into his hand and pull out another card, which he placed on his Duel Disk's Monster Zone. "I summon Dragon's Knight in Attack Mode!"

**Dragon's Knight: ATK 1700 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

A knight wearing dragon plated armor appeared on Takashi's side of the field.

"I then place 1 card face-down and End my Turn."

Takashi took a card and put it in his Spell/Trap Zone. As the card appeared on the field, Virgil began his turn.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card. "I place a monster in face-down Defense Mode. Then I place 1 card face-down and hand it back over to you."

Two face-down cards appeared on Virgil's side of the field. One was in his Monster Zone while the other was in his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Draw…!" Takashi said. "I summon Elemental Hero Stratos in Attack Mode!"

**Elemental Hero Stratos: ATK 1800 DEF 300 LVL 4**

An Elemental Hero with, blue and white armor and airplane wings, appeared on Takashi's side of the field and stood next to his Dragon's Knight.

"I activate Stratos' Special Ability! When he's successfully Normal or Special summoned, I can bring one Elemental Hero monster from my deck and add it to my hand."

The Duel Disk displayed a new holographic keyboard that displayed all of the Elemental Hero monsters that were currently in Takashi's deck. After spending a couple of seconds searching, Takashi found the card that he wanted. So he gently pressed it and the real card popped out of his deck. Once he saw it, he took it out and the holographic keyboard disappeared. Takashi would then add the card to his hand while his Duel Disk reshuffled his deck.

"Dragon's Knight, attack his face-down monster!"

As Takashi's knight headed for the face-down card, Virgil pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This activated his face-down card and it revealed the image of a lion roaring.

"I activate the Trap Card; Threatening Roar!" He said. "With this, I can cancel your Battle Phase!"

The roar of a powerful lion sounded, freezing Dragon's Knight in his tracks. He then fled over to Stratos, who was also pretty shook up from the roar.

"Damn it…" Takashi said softly. "I end my turn."

"I Draw…!" Virgil yelled as he drew card and placed it in his hand. "I summon Armed Dragon LV3, in Attack Mode!"

**Armed Dragon LV3: ATK 1200 DEF 900 LVL 3**

A small dragon, with orange and tan armored scales, appeared on Virgil's side of the field. He then proceeded to insert a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it revealed itself to be Mystical Space Typhoon."

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Mystical Space Typhoon! With it, I can destroy one Spell or Trap card that's on the field. I choose to destroy your face-down card!"

The card shot out a virtual tornado which proceeded to destroy Takashi's face-down card.

"Now that your face-down card is gone, I'll end my turn by playing 2 cards face-down."

Virgil placed two cards into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk and quickly, those two cards appeared face-down on his side of the field.

"Draw…!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card. He then inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone and when the card appeared onto the field, it had the image of swords shinning down from the night sky.

"I activate the Spell Card; Swords of Revealing Light! With this powerful Spell, not only are you not allowed to attack for 3 turn, but any monsters that you placed face-down on the field are now flipped up!"

10 shining swords shot from out of Takashi's Spell Card and landed over towards Virgil's side of the field. The swords were so bright that Virgil's face-down flipped up, revealing to be a Masked Dragon.

**Masked Dragon: ATK 1400 DEF 1100 LVL 3**

"Masked Dragon huh…?" Takashi thought. "Now I see. He must've wanted me to attack it so that he could use its ability to bring a dragon card to his hand. That ability could be a pain if he picks a dragon that can do damage to my Life Points. I better get rid of it."

Takashi took a card from out of his hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk. The card appeared onto the field and it revealed itself to be a Lightning Vortex card.

"I play the Spell; Lightning Vortex! Now by discarding 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy all face-up monsters on your side of the field!"

Takashi took a card from his hand and put it in his Graveyard. This activated his Spell Card, which started shooting lightning blast at Virgil's dragons. However, before the lightning was to hit them, Virgil pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This activated his face-down card, causing it to flip up and when Takashi got a good look at it he saw that the card had the image of a magical circle, sucking up some steam.

"I activate the Trap; Magic Jammer!" He said. "With this Trap Card, I can negate the activation of a Spell Card and destroy it. All I have to do is discard 1 card from my hand!"

As Virgil placed the card that he wanted to discard into his Graveyard, a magical circle appeared in front of his dragons. The circle proceeded to suck up Takashi's lightning before redirecting it at his Spell Card, destroying it on contact.

"Fine then…" Takashi said when an irritated tone in his voice. "I'll just get rid of them by force. I attack Masked Dragon with Dragon's Knight!"

Dragon's Knight pulled out the sword that he had hooked to his back and proceeded to run over towards Masked Dragon, destroying it with one swoop of his sword.

"I activate Masked Dragon's Special Ability!" Virgil yelled. "Now I can Special Summon a Dragon-Type card with 1500 or less Attack Points from my deck."

A holographic keyboard, revealing all the dragons that Virgil was allowed to pick, appeared before him. After about a minute of thinking, he pressed the card that he wanted to Special Summon and that card popped out of his deck. Virgil took out the card and, while keyboard vanished, proceeded to place it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon; Red-Eyes B. Chick in Defense Mode!"

**Red-Eyes B. Chick: ATK 800 DEF 500 LVL 1**

A baby Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared on Virgil's side of the field and took a defensive position next to his Armed Dragon LV3.

"Ok…so what now?" Takashi asked himself. "If I destroy that chick with Stratos, then on Virgil's next turn…he'll just level up LV3 into LV5. However…if I destroy LV3 then Virgil could exchange Red-Eyes B. Chick for Red-Eyes Black Dragon. No matter what I choose, I'm going to have to deal with a monster with over 2000 Attack Points."

Takashi looked at his hand and saw that he had no other cards that he could play. He then looked over at Virgil's other face-down card.

"Well...if I'm going to fight a powerful dragon…I might as well deal with the one that doesn't have an effect." He pointed at Armed Dragon LV3. "Elemental Hero Stratos…attack his Armed Dragon LV3!"

Stratos flew over to Armed Dragon LV3 and proceeded to beat the dragon to death with its powerful punches.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Virgil: 3400 LP**

As soon as he saw his monster defeated, Virgil pressed a button on his Duel Disk, activating his second face-down card. The card flipped up and revealed to be Call of the Haunted…a card that Takashi didn't want to see.

"I activate the Trap; Call of the Haunted…so welcome back Armed Dragon LV3!"

From the card, Armed Dragon appeared as if nothing happened to him.

Takashi looked at his hand again, hoping to find a card that he could play before he had to end his turn. However…he couldn't find one."

"I end my turn." He said in a disappointed tone.

"It's my turn!" Virgil yelled as he drew another card from his deck. "I now activate my Red-Eyes B. Chick and my Armed Dragon LV3's Special Abilities! I offer both of my monsters to Special Summon; Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Armed Dragon LV5, both in Attack Mode!"

**Red-Eyes Black Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

**Armed Dragon LV5: ATK 2400 DEF 1700 LVL 5**

Takashi was in shock as he looked at both dragons. Like its names implies, Red-Eyes Black Dragon was a giant black dragon with red eyes. While Armed Dragon LV5, was a stronger version of Armed Dragon LV3. It had dark scales and more spikes all over its body.

"I attack Elemental Hero Stratos with Red-Black Dragon, while I attack Dragon's Knight with Armed Dragon LV5!" Virgil proclaimed.

Both dragons opened their mouths and released their attacks. Red-Eyes launched a stream of red-hot fire, while Armed Dragon released a gust of wind. The two attacks combined and formed a giant flame which consumed both of Takashi's monsters.

**Takashi: 2700 LP**

**Virgil: 3400 LP**

"Damn it…" Takashi said to himself.

"I end my turn by playing 1 card face-down, but as my turn end's the Special Ability of my Armed Dragon LV5 activates!" Virgil explained as a face-down card appeared on his side of the field. "When it successfully destroys a monster as a result of battle, I can Special Summon; Armed Dragon LV7!"

**Armed Dragon LV7: ATK 2800 DEF 1000 LVL 7**

Once again, Armed Dragon leveled up and became more powerful. The spikes that were all over its body became much sharper and larger. The armored scales that was on it also improved to the point that almost half of its body was covered in it.

"It's my turn. Draw!" Takashi said as he slowly drew a card from his deck. He put the card into his hand and began to look at all of his cards.

As she watched him, Nico silently prayed for Takashi to win, knowing that if he lost, he would be forced to join the Radley family.

Soon, after thinking for a few minutes, Takashi developed a strategy. He first took a card from his hand and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon; Vice Dragon in Attack Mode!" He yelled.

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

A giant purple dragon appeared and stood next to Takashi. Virgil was somewhat shocked when he saw it.

"What are you trying to pull?" He said to Takashi. "You know for a fact that you can't Normal Summon a level 5 or higher monster without sacrificing a monster first!"

"I never said that I Normal Summoned, Vice Dragon." Takashi calmly explained. "I Special Summon it."

"You Special Summon it…?" A shocked Virgil asked. "But…how?"

"It's Vice Dragon's ability." Takashi said. "You see…when my opponents have monsters on their side of the field and I don't, I can Special Summon Vice Dragon. However…the drawback is that Vice Dragon's Attack and Defense Points are cut in half."

**Vice Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 1200 LVL 5**

"I don't get it…" Virgil said. "Why Special Summon a monster whose Attack and Defense Points gets cut in half."

"I'll show you…" Takashi said as he placed another card onto his Monster Card Zone. "I summon the Tuner Monster; Delta Flyer in Attack Mode!"

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

Takashi's trusty Delta Flyer appeared and started flying next to Vice Dragon.

"Now…I tune my level 5 Vice Dragon with my level 3 Delta Flyer in order to Synchro Summon; Dark End Dragon!"

**Dark End Dragon: ATK 2600 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Both of Takashi's monsters flew into the air and performed a Synchro Summon. Soon only one monster appeared and it was a giant black dragon, with a face on its chest.

"I activate Dark End Dragon's Special Ability! By giving up 500 of its Attack and Defense Points, it can send any of my opponent's monsters to the Graveyard. The card I choose to send…is your Armed Dragon LV7!"

**Dark End Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600**

Dark End Dragon's chest mouth opened up and released a blast of evil energy that heading towards Armed Dragon LV7. However, Virgil was prepared for such a tactic. He pressed a button on his Duel Disk, which activated his face-down card. When the card flipped up it revealed itself to be Shift.

"I activate the Trap Card; Shift!" Virgil yelled. "With this, I'll change the target of dragon's effect to Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

Dark End Dragon's blast shifted towards Red-Eyes. When the attack hit the dragon, Red-Eyes disappeared into a void of darkness.

"Damn it…!" Takashi cursed. "I'm not done yet though!"

The young Duelist inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone and when the card appeared onto the field, it revealed itself to be Half Shut.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Half Shut! With it, I can temporarily half the Attack Points of one monster on the field. In exchange though, the selected monster cannot be destroyed as a result of battle!"

A blue flame surrounded Armed Dragon LV7, brining it both pain and protection at the same time.

**Armed Dragon LV7: ATK 1400**

"Dark End Dragon…attack Armed Dragon LV7 with your Dark Fog!"

Dark End Dragon fired a mysterious black fog at Armed Dragon LV7. When the attack hit it, Armed Dragon began roaring in pain.

**Takashi: 2700 LP**

**Virgil: 2700 LP**

"With that, I end my turn by playing 1 card face-down."

Takashi inserted a card into his Duel Disk and in a matter of seconds, a hologram of his card appeared face-down on his side of the field.

Virgil was becoming angry at what was happening. He couldn't believe that Takashi was still in this match and that he was losing Life Points. The mere thought of that threw him over the edge and he started screaming for a few minutes before glaring at Takashi.

"I'VE HAVE ENOUGH OF THIS!" He yelled. "I Draw!" He quickly looked at the card and smiled. "It's over for you, kid!"

"What makes you say that?" Takashi asked.

"Talk is cheap!" Virgil proclaimed to him. "I'll show you…I sacrifice Armed Dragon LV7 to Special Summon; Armed Dragon LV10!"

**Armed Dragon LV10: Attack 3000 DEF 2000 LVL 10**

As Virgil started laughing like a madman, Takashi and Nico looked on in horror as they witnessed Armed Dragon's ultimate form. It became a giant dragon that was around the size of small skyscraper. Every feature that it had while it was at its previous levels were completely modified to the ultimate scale.

"I activate LV10's Special Ability!" Virgil said. "By sending 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard, Armed Dragon can destroy your monster!"

Armed Dragon LV10 released a power sonic wave from its mouth and as soon as Dark End Dragon heard, it exploded into the nothing.

"Now I attack your Life Points directly and end this Stupid Game!"

Armed Dragon prepared to fire a giant flame attack at Takashi; however the young man quickly activated his face-down card. The card quickly flipped up and revealed an image of the soul of an Elemental Hero.

"I activate the Trap; Hero's Soul!" Takashi yelled. "For every Elemental Hero that rests in my Graveyard, I can lower the attack of one of my opponent's monsters. I have Stratos in my Graveyard, so Armed Dragon LV10's Attack Points drops!"

**Armed Dragon LV10: ATK 2500**

Elemental Hero Stratos' soul appeared from Takashi's Duel Disk and surrounded its master. When Armed Dragon attacked, the soul managed to absorbs some of the flames, but not all of them. When the attack ended Takashi fell to both knees.

**Takashi: 200 LP**

**Virgil: 2700 LP**

"DAMN IT!" Virgil yelled. "Why don't you just give up? You're only delaying the inevitable!"

Takashi was breathing pretty hard, as it felt like Armed Dragon's attack really hurt him in some way. In his mind…he truly wanted to give up, but then he turned to Nico and saw that she was crying. Seeing the girl, whom he viewed as a younger sister awoke something inside of Takashi. It gave him to strength to get back up.

"I can't…give up." He said to Virgil. "If I do…then who's going to be there for Nico and her brother?" He glared at Virgil as he placed his hand on his deck. "I can't afford to lose here! Draw…!"

Takashi drew a card from the top of his deck and played it without even looking at it. For some reason, even he didn't quite understand, he knew what the card was. When it appeared on the field, it turned out to be Monster Reborn!

**Dark End Dragon: ATK 2600 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

"I activate the Spell Card; Monster Reborn! Be revived…Dark End Dragon!"

A dark flame popped out of Takashi's Duel Disk and from it, out came Dark End Dragon. Virgil wasn't too impressed by the return of Takashi's Synchro Monster.

"That dragon won't help you kid...!" He said as he discarded a card from his hand to the Graveyard. "I activate Effect Veiler! By discarding it, I can negate the ability of one monster of the field…and I choose Dark End Dragon!"

A small angel appeared from Virgil's Graveyard and summoned a veil of light around Dark End Dragon. Takashi didn't pay attention to it and simply glared at Virgil, while continuing his turn. He proceeded to insert a card into his Duel Disk and when the card appeared it revealed the image of a monster preparing to Synchro Summon.

"I play the Spell Card; Synchro Change! With it I can exchange one Synchro monster on my side of the field with another of the same level. I exchange my level 8; Dark End Dragon for my level 8, Light End Dragon!"

**Light End Dragon: ATK 2600 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Dark End Dragon vanished from the field and shiny white dragon, with angel wings took its place.

"I attack with Light End Dragon…go Heaven's Light!"

Light End Dragon prepared to fire a blast of concentrated light energy from its mouth. As it was preparing to fire, Virgil started laughing.

"You Fool!" He yelled while he laughed. "My monster has far more Attack Points than your monster."

"I activate Light End Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi declared. "During the Damage Step, Light End Dragon can lower the Attack and Defense Points of the monster its attacks by 1500 points. All it has to do is lower its own Attack and Defense Points by 500 points."

"What…?" Virgil said in shock.

**Light End Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600**

**Armed Dragon LV10: ATK 1500 DEF 500**

Takashi's Light End Dragon fired its blast of light at Armed Dragon LV10, destroying it on impact.

**Takashi: 200 LP**

**Virgil: 2100 LP**

"I end my turn!" Takashi said.

Virgil anger grew to the point that Takashi and Nico could see the veins in his head.

"You…BASTARD!" He yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He then shoved a card into his Duel Disk and soon a Monster Reborn card appeared on his field. "Monster Reborn; revive my Red-Black Dragon!"

**Red-Eyes Black Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

Red-Eyes appeared back on Virgil's field.

"Destroy him Red-Eyes!"

Red-Eyes prepared to fire a fireball at Light End Dragon; however Takashi was ready and placed a card from his hand into the Graveyard.

"I activate the Special Ability of Honest!" He said. "By discarding him, I can increase the Attack Points of one Light Attribute monster on my side of the field, by the Attack Points of the monster it's battling against!"

**Light End Dragon: ATK 4500**

"NO…!" Virgil yelled.

Red-Eyes fired its fireball at Light End Dragon; however Takashi's dragon easily shook off the attack and fired its Heaven's Light at Virgil's Dragon, destroying it completely.

**Takashi: 200 LP**

**Virgil: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Once the holograms faded Takashi walked over to Virgil. He then proceeded to beat the living crap out of him. When he was done, he walked over towards Nico.<p>

"Are you ok?" He asked with a smile on his face.

Nico slowly nodded her head and smiled. "Yeah…I'm ok."

The two of them quickly headed back to Takashi's house. When they got there, the first person that they saw was West, who ran over towards his older sister and gave her a big hug.

"You're…you're ok…" He said while he was crying.

Nico stayed silent and simply held her brother in her arms. The two of them, along with Takashi went inside the house. Once inside, Takashi walked towards Klaus and looked his grandfather in the eyes.

"Klaus…" He said. "I know you're upset with me…, but I did what I had to do."

Klaus stayed silent for a few minutes before turning his back towards his grandson. He then began to walk away, but not before saying something to him.

"Stay out of your room until Nico and West fall asleep. When that happens go inside it…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview <strong>_

_Why did Klaus forbid Takashi from entering his room and what does have in mind for his grandson? Whatever it is, one thing is for sure. Takashi Nakamura's world will never be the same again. _

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 8: Goodbye…Crash Town_


	8. Chapter 8

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 8: **_Goodbye…Crash Town_

* * *

><p>As he waited for both Nico and West to fall asleep, Takashi spent his time looking at his right arm. During the final moments of his Duel against Virgil, Takashi has been feeling a small irritation coming from his arm. During the heat of the Duel, he didn't really notice it. But now, even though the pain is going away, he can feel the pain.<p>

"What's going on…?" He thought. "I don't remember hurting my arm during the Duel. So why does it hurt now?"

Before he could examine his arm some more, he saw that Nico and West were sleeping on the couch. He walked over towards them and proceeded to wrap a blanket around them both. Once he was sure that they were asleep, Takashi left them and headed for his room.

"I don't get it…" He thought. "Why did Klaus tell to wait until Nico and West were asleep before I entered my room? I mean…they've been in my room before and I'm not hiding anything of real importance in there. Right…?"

Once he reached his room, Takashi slowly opened the door and walked inside. He took a look around and saw that Klaus was sitting on his bed. The old man looked at his grandson for a few minutes before getting up and walking towards him.

"Takashi…" He said.

"Yes Klaus…?" The young man replied.

"Before you left to help Nico you said that we would continue our conversation about your parents." The old man explained. "Well…now is a good time to continue where were left off."

"Um…ok." Takashi said. "But I don't understand something."

"What would that be?" Klaus asked.

"Why couldn't we finish our conversation back into the kitchen?" Takashi said.

Klaus walked over to Takashi's bed and pressed a button that was on the side of it. The bed started moving away from its previous spot, revealing a staircase.

"Oh…that's why."

"Follow me Takashi…" Klaus said.

The old man walked down the staircase and his grandson slowly followed him. As they walked down the steps, the area behind them was becoming darker and darker. When they reached the bottom, they couldn't see anything. However Klaus flipped a light switch, illuminating the entire area. Takashi looked around and was shocked at what he saw. On the ground was a black Duel Runner. He walked up to it and was amazed on how it looked. Sure it was beat up and old, but with a little hard work it could be good as new.

"This was Sakura's Duel Runner…" Klaus explained.

"Sakura…?" Takashi asked. "Who's that?"

"Your mother…" Klaus explained. "This was the first Duel Runner that she ever had."

"I see…" Takashi said. "That's cool."

Klaus stayed silent for a couple of minutes before sighing to himself. He then looked over towards his grandson, who was busy looking at his mother's Duel Runner.

"Takashi…I've never really explained to you on how your parents passed away." He said.

Takashi looked over towards his grandfather. For some reason, Klaus didn't tell him how his parents died. The only thing that he told him was…he'll know when the time is right. And I guess that time is right now.

"As I explained before…" Klaus continued. "Your mother was the best Duelist of her generation. She would win championship over championship and no one defeat her. She believed that she achieved everything that she would achieve. However there was 1 thing she gained that was far more valuable than any amount of fame or fortune could bring."

"What was that?" Takashi asked.

"You…" Klaus explained. "When Sakura was about 25-years-old, about a year after she became the World Queen, she met your father. The two of them fell in love with one another and not long after that, Sakura became pregnant with you. I was very happy to know that I was going to have a grandson and she was happy to know that she was going to become a mother. Your father however…didn't seem as happy though."

"What do you mean…?" Takashi asked. "Are you saying that my father didn't want me?"

"No…no…" Klaus said. "He was happy; your father just had a hard time expressing his emotions."

"I see…" Takashi said.

"Anyway…now that she was going to become a parent, Sakura was planning on retiring as a Turbo Duelist." Klaus explained. "However…a lot of people, especially her rivals, were upset at this announcement. Your father…I don't know if he was predicting his own end, but before he and Sakura died, he came up to me and handed me a couple of Duel Monster cards. One of which was Stardust Dragon."

Takashi pulled out his deck and took out Stardust. He then began to look at it before looking back at Klaus.

"Your dad told me that if anything were to happen to him and Sakura, then I must hand over those cards to you." Klaus explained. "I didn't understand, but I told I would. Shortly after that, Sakura gave birth to you and she said that you were the most handsome boy she'd ever seen. However…she wouldn't get to the chance to raise you."

"What happened…?" Takashi asked out of curiosity. "How did she and dad die?"

"The two of them dropped you over here and headed back to New Domino City, so that they could go get some other things." Klaus said. "However…they never came back. The two of them died in Duel Runner accident. Security looked all over for their bodies, but they couldn't find them. All that remained was their wreck Duel Runners."

"I see…so that's why you didn't want me to Turbo Duel." Takashi said. "You didn't want me to end up like my mother and father."

"Yes…" Klaus said as he tried to hold back his emotions. "However…things are different now."

"What do you mean?" Takashi asked.

Klaus walked over to the Duel Runner. He then began to flashback to the time when Sakura would spend endless hours working on it.

"_One day dad…"_ She said. _"I'm going to become the greatest Turbo Duelist who ever lived!"_

When the short flashback ended, Klaus looked over at Takashi and saw Sakura standing by him. She proceeded to nod her head at her father, which he replied with his own nod. Seeing his grandfather nodding at him for no reason confused Takashi.

"Klaus…" He asked. "Are you ok?"

"Yes…" Klaus answered. "I'm ok Takashi…anyway let's get to the matter at hand. Takashi…I know you did the right thing by saving Nico. However your actions will have dire consequences if you remain here in Crash Town."

"What are trying to say Klaus…?" Takashi asked.

"I'm saying that you need to leave Crash Town…and Never Return." Klaus said firmly.

Upon hearing his grandfather say that to him, Takashi's entire body was shaken to its core. He always wanted to leave Crash Town, but not like this. It was like he was being exiled from his home.

"I know you're shock by this Takashi…" His grandfather said. "In truth I don't want you to leave and I know that you don't want to leave Nico and West alone. However since you defeated someone from the Radley family, everyone from in that faction is going to be after you. The only way to protect yourself is to leave."

"But…but where I'm supposed to go…?" Takashi asked. "It's not like I have a one-way ticket to New Domino City."

"Well…it's a long shot." Klaus said. "But I do have a way for you to get to the city."

"How so…?" Takashi asked.

"The first thing you'll need to do is head to Satellite." Klaus started to explain. "After that I want you to find my mechanic; Blister. Tell him that I want you to get to New Domino City and he'll help you."

"But what about Nico and West…?" Takashi asked. "I promised their dad that I'll be there for them. I can't just leave!"

"I'll worry about the kids…" Klaus proclaimed. "Besides…if you stick around here, then they'll become endangered. Do you really want that to happen?"

"…No." Takashi said. "I don't want that for them."

"Good…" Klaus said. He proceeded to walk over to a desk and opened one of the cabinets. Inside of it was a punch of cards and notes. "You'll be leaving in 3 days. In that time, I want you to learn everything is to know about Turbo Dueling, and the cards you need to Turbo Duel with."

Takashi walked over towards his grandfather and looked at him for a few moments. He then proceeded to hug him tightly. Klaus was filled with all sorts of emotions by Takashi's action. He tried to hold them back, but he couldn't do it. The old man spent about 1 hours crying as his Takashi hugged him, failing to hold back his own emotions.

* * *

><p>2 and a half days, Takashi has spent his time trying to understand the concepts of Turbo Dueling. He learned that in Turbo Duels, a special Field Spell known as; Speed World 2 will be activated. He also learned that he couldn't use regular Spell Cards and that he had to use Speed Spells, which are Spell Cards that Turbo Duelist uses. In order to activate these cards, Takashi must have Speed Counter, special counters that Duelist gain at the start of each of their turns. All of these things confused Takashi a little, but he was able to understand it after reading the notes that his mother had about them.<p>

Once he was done studying, Takashi worked on building a Turbo Dueling Deck. It was a little harder than when he made his regular deck, as he never had to include Speed Spells before. However, he soon was able to complete it.

"All done…" He said proudly. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 11:34 pm. "I better get to sleep. Klaus said I had to wake up early."

With that the young man went to bed. As he slept he began to have the strangest dream. In it was his Stardust Dragon, allowed with other powerful looking dragons. Together, the powerful beast fought back an ancient evil. Takashi also started to dream about several different people. Certain ones were Toru, some of the members of Team Satisfaction, and one that really caught his interest. It was a girl, around his age, that had burgundy/violet-red hair and brown eyes. She was the most beautiful person that he ever seen before, but before he could know more about her…he woke up. When he did, he sighed quietly to himself.

"Damn it…" He said.

Early that morning, Takashi and Klaus were busy preparing for Takashi's journey. The two of them packed Sakura's old Duel Runner into Klaus's truck and the two of them proceeded to head over towards the secret entrance towards the Satellite. Once they were there, the two of them slowly brought the Duel Runner into the manhole. Once they were sure that the Runner was safely down, Takashi and Klaus looked at each other.

"Klaus…are you sure that you're ok with this?" The young man asked. "I mean…you'll be all alone now."

Klaus simply smiled and placed his hand on a Takashi's shoulder. He then looked his grandson in the eyes.

"Don't worry about me Takashi." He said confidently. "I'll be just fine."

Klaus soon pulled out 2 letters and gave them both to Takashi. When he looked at them, he saw that 1 of them was from Nico and West, while the other was from Toru.

"I almost forgot to give these too you." Klaus said while he was laughing a little.

Irritated, Takashi punched his grandfather on the top of his head. He then began to read the letters, the first being Nico's and West's.

"_Dear Takashi…"_The letter read. _"We heard from Klaus that you found a Duel Runner from out in the desert and that you're on your way to New Domino City. We're both happy for you and we wish you the best of luck. I know that we'll be sad now that you won't be here to play with us. However…this is your chance to fulfill your dream and we just can't let you pass that by. Please know that you'll always be in our thoughts and that we'll be praying for your success. Best Wishes; Nico and West…P.S. If you find Toru, tell him that we said hi."_

Takashi was crying somewhat as he put the kids letter away. He then pulled out Toru's letter.

"_Sup bro…"_ It read. _"What's it been…almost 3 years now? Wow, that sure is a long time. I hope you and the others are doing well. I'm doing pretty well for myself. I have won a couple of tournaments and have rented out a nice place here in New Domino City. However, there are a lot of people here who are on another level. People like the "Devil's Duelist" and the "Black Rose" are kicking ass, even though I haven't seen them Duel myself. Anyway I better wrap this up before I drag this letter on. If you come out here to New Domino City, then you can usually find me at my apartment. It's called; Poppo Time. Until we meet up again…Take care. P.S. If you do show up, let's Duel. I've wanted a rematch with you for long time now. Things will be different this time around._

"That's fine Toru…" Takashi said as he put the letter away. "It'll be good to face you in a Duel Again. Though…hopefully it'll be a Turbo Duel."

The young man proceeded to walk over towards Klaus and hugged him one more time.

"Thanks Kla…I mean grandpa. Thanks for everything."

Klaus smiled while he had a tear in his eyes. He then hugged Takashi.

"Not a problem, my boy." He said.

The two stopped hugging, before it became gay and Takashi proceeded to enter the manhole.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Having returned to the Satellite Sector, Takashi quickly makes contact with Klaus' friend Blister. After bring his Duel Runner over to him, the young man walks around the area and happens to come across some familiar faces. Just who are these people and will they remember Takashi?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 9: Friends within the Satellite – Part 1_


	9. Chapter 9

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 9: **_Friends within the Satellite – Part 1_

* * *

><p>"This is a pain in the ass…" Takashi moaned.<p>

The young Duelist was currently dragging his mother's old Duel Runner down the underground tunnel that connects Crash Town to Satellite.

"How the hell could people do this in the old days? It's insane!"

As the young man was busy complaining he began to unconsciously flashback to the girl from his dreams. For some strange reason, he just couldn't get the girl out of his head. This bothered Takashi a little. Normally he would like dreaming about beautiful girls, but this one seemed different. She seemed special.

"Just who is she?" He asked himself.

Soon he reached the end of the manhole and noticed someone looking down from the top of it.

"Hey…!" The man said. "Are you Takashi…?"

"…Yeah." The young man answered. "Are you Blister…Klaus' mechanic?"

"Yes." Blister answered. "Don't worry; I'll help you get that Duel Runner out of there!"

Blister walked away for a second, only to come back with a long cable. He threw it down the manhole and Takashi caught it before it hit the ground.

"Take that cable and wrap it around the Duel Runner." Blister explained. "As soon as you do that, attach it to handle bars."

Takashi nodded his head and proceeded to do what Blister wanted him to do. Once he was done, Takashi gave Blister the ok. With that, Blister walked away again and soon the Duel Runner started lifting off the ground. Soon the Duel Runner was outside with Blister.

"Nice…" Takashi thought. "That get rids of the problem of getting mom's Runner from off of the ground."

Takashi soon walked towards the nearby ladder and proceeded to climb out of the manhole. As soon as he got out, he saw Blister unwrapping his cord.

"Thank you." He said.

"No problem." Blister responded. "You're Klaus' grandkid after all."

The two of them proceeded to walk towards Blister house and as he walked, Takashi looked around the area. He saw that Satellite was even worse shape than it was 30 months ago. This confused the young man somewhat because he thought that Team Satisfaction was trying to make Satellite a better place.

"Excuse me…?" He asked. "What happened to Team Satisfaction?"

"…..They broke up." Blister said. "I'm not too sure on the details, but they decided to break up after a certain incident 2 years ago."

"I see…" Takashi said.

The two of them walked over towards Blister's garage and they began working on the Duel Runner. It was pretty hard as they had to replace all of the old parts with new ones. Once that was done, they adjusted it so that Takashi could ride on it comfortably. After that, Takashi gave the Runner a paint job. He added blue and white colors so that his Duel Runner matched the colors of his Stardust Dragon. The last thing that they did was hook the engine up.

"Ok…" Blister said to him. "It's going to take a couple of hours before your Duel Runner is fully operational. So until then I might as tell you how you're going to make it to New Domino City."

"Alright…" Takashi said.

"As you know…you traveled through an underground tunnel that connected Crash Town to Satellite." Blister explained. "You'll do a similar thing here. However instead of an underground tunnel, you'll use an underground pipeline."

"A pipeline…?" Takashi said in confusion.

"Yes…" Blister continued. "You see there is a pipeline that connects New Domino City with the Satellite. Once a month, the city ceases the pipeline's operation so that they can do internal maintenance. During that time, you'll use your Duel Runner to ride through the pipeline and make it to New Domino City."

"That doesn't sound too difficult." Takashi said. "There got to be a catch."

"There is." Blister said. "You'll only have a 3 minute interval and as you make your way to the pipeline, Sector Security will be on your ass faster than Klaus getting on you for cursing."

Takashi flashed back to all the time he cursed around Klaus and each memory caused him to rub the back of his head.

"I see…" He said. "Then I better make sure that they don't get me."

Blister looked Takashi and saw him grinning with eagerness. This reminded him of Sakura as she had the same look on her face when she was faced with new obstacles. This brought a smile onto his face.

Takashi soon walked out of the garage. "I'm out of here…" He said. "I'll be back before it's time for me to leave."

The young man decided to walk around to see what type of places Satellite had to offer him. As he walked around, he saw something that really caught his interest. He saw a boy with white and green eyes, defending a group of children from some thugs.

"Move it kid!" One of the thugs said. "You're in our way!"

The white headed boy stuck his middle finger out at the thug who spoke to him.

"Why don't you make me?" He said in confident tone of voice.

"You cocky Bastard…!" The thug yelled as he attempted to punch the boy.

"Too weak…" The boy said as he blocked the punch. He then threw him to the ground before looking at the others. "C'mon is that all you guys have to throw at me?"

The thugs became pissed at the boy's comment so that all pulled out knives that they had in their pockets. One of them attempted to stab him, but before his hand could come down Takashi grabbed it.

"Hey…haven't your mom ever told you that you're not allowed to play with sharp objects." The young man said as he tossed the knife away."

"Who the hell are you?" The white hair boy asked.

Takashi turned to him and smiled. "The name's Takashi Nakamura and I'm here to help you."

"I don't need your help!" The boy said. "So stay out of our business!"

As the two boys were arguing, the thugs attempted attack them. However both Takashi and the boy saw them and started kicking all of the asses. Once the last thug was defeated a little girl with pink hair walked over to Takashi.

"Thanks again." She said.

Takashi looked at her with a confused look on his face. He then started to scratch the back of his head.

"Again…?" He said. "I don't understand. Have we've met before little girl?"

The girl nodded her head and smiled. "Yeah…" She said. "It was almost 3 years ago. You helped me find my friend Crow when I was lost."

Takashi thought back to that time and soon realized that the girl was right. She had helped her almost 3 years ago.

"Saya…?" He said.

She nodded her head. "Yup…that's me."

Takashi smiled and walked over towards her. He then began petting her head.

"Wow…I hardly recognized you." He told her. "You've sure have grown up over these last 30 months."

"So what are you and your friends doing here?" Takashi asked. "Did you all get lost again?"

Saya nodded her head in disagreement.

"No…" She answered. "You see we were out getting some things for Martha."

"Martha…?" Takashi asked.

"She's our stepmom." A little boy said. "She's the one who takes care of us."

"I see…" Takashi said.

"What's going on here?" A young woman said from behind.

Takashi turned his head and saw that the woman had long, crimson red hair and purple eyes. He felt like he met her before so he tried his best to remember. As he was doing that, the kids ran up to the woman.

"Lilly…!" Saya said as she hugged her. "Look who I found!"

Lilly looked over to Takashi and tried to remember him. She soon saw the cross-shape on his left cheek and she suddenly realized.

"You're that guy from 3 years ago!" She said.

Takashi scratched his head for a few more minutes realizing who she was.

"And you're that girl from Team Satisfaction!" He said.

The two of them walked over to one another and shook hands before smiling.

"What are you doing here?" Lilly asked. "Did something happen back at your home?"

"You…you could say something like that." Takashi said. "To make a long story short; I did something and now I'm forced to leave home. I'm planning on riding the pipeline to New Domino City tonight."

"I see…" Lilly said.

"Yeah…" Takashi replied. "So what happened here? Satellite looks even worse than it was when I last came here."

Lilly looked down to the ground for a few minutes. Afterwards, she looked towards Takashi.

"Stuff happened." She said. "That's all."

Takashi looked at her and saw that there was pain in her eyes. Not wanting to bring up the subject anymore, Takashi decided to talk about something else.

"So what have you been doing?" He asked.

Lilly looked back at the young man. "I've been perfecting my very own Duel Runner." She said. "With it I plan on leaving Satellite through the pipeline too."

"Why are you leaving?" Takashi asked as he scratched the back of his head. "Did something happen?"

"You could say something like that." Lilly replied. "Let's just say I need to get something back that I lost. And the only way that I can get it back is for me to go to the city."

"I see…" Takashi said. "Then how about this. You join me while I head through the pipeline. Once we're out I'll help you get the thing that you lost."

"You would really do that…?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah…" Takashi said. "Remember when Gordon's thugs were about to kill me. You and the rest of Team Satisfaction appeared and saved my life. Since that time I felt like I really owed you something. I'll use that time to help you get it back."

Lilly smiled at him. "Thank you."

"No problem…" Takashi said with a smile.

As the two of them were talking, the boy with the white hair and green approached Lilly with a Duel Disk attached to his arm.

"Lilly…Duel me!" He proclaimed.

Lilly looked over to the boy and sighed. "Not now Toshiro." She said. "Besides didn't I beat you already today?"

"That was then and this is now!" Toshiro said as he clinched his fist. "I'm going to defeat you this time!"

Lilly sighed again and shrugged Toshiro off. This man the young man angry and he started to demand that she would Duel him. Soon Takashi walked over him.

"Why don't you Duel me?" He suggested. "I'm a pretty good Duelist."

Toshiro examined Takashi for a few minutes before replying to his suggestion.

"Sorry, but you don't seem very strong." He said. "I doubt that you would give me a challenge."

Takashi simply smiled. "Well, you won't know that until we actually Duel."

Lilly looked over Takashi and sensed a powerful aura surrounding his body. She could tell from the day that Takashi has grown significantly as a Duelist during these last 3 years.

"Duel him Toshiro." She said. "If you beat him, I might just decide to Duel you myself."

Toshiro lit up as soon as Lilly finished her sentence. He would then activate his Duel Disk and insert his deck into it. He then glared at Takashi.

"What are you waiting for?" He said. "Hurry up and let's Duel!"

Takashi smiled comically for a few seconds as he started rubbing the back of his head.

"And I thought he didn't want to Duel me." He thought. "Ah well."

The former resident of Crash Town activated his Duel Disk and inserted his deck into it. Then both he and Toshiro proceeded to step back until they were about 10 feet away from each other.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Toshiro: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Takashi said as he drew a card from his deck. He soon put the card in his hand and pulled another card, which he put on the Monster Card Zone of his Duel Disk. "I summon; Elemental Hero Ocean, in Attack Mode!"

**E-Hero Ocean: ATK 1500 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A blue seaman, who was holding a trident, appeared on Takashi's side of the field. Takashi would then insert a card into the Spell/Trap section of his Duel Disk and the hologram of the card appeared behind Ocean.

"I set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn…I Draw!" Toshiro yelled as he drew a card. He put the card into his hand and proceeded to take out another card. He would place it face-down, in a horizontal position, on his Duel Disk. He would then insert a card into his Spell/Trap section of his Duel Disk and the card appeared behind his face-down monster.

"I summon a monster card in Defense Mode and set 1 card face-down. With that, I end my turn."

Takashi looked at both of Toshiro's card before he drew a card from his deck.

"Ok…what could his face-downs be?" He thought. "Odds are that he's going to use his face-down monster or his Spell/Trap card to either destroy my monster or prevent me from attacking. So I better be cautious."

Takashi looked at his cards and began to think of what he should do this turn. Seeing his opponent not do anything really bugged Toshiro.

"Are you just going to stand there and do nothing or are you going to Duel?" He yelled. "In case you don't know, you're wasting time I could be using to Duel Lilly."

Lilly sighed when Toshiro said that. She knew that the young 16-year-old was very proud and stubborn. He always tried to defeat her in a Duel, but couldn't do it, no matter how many times he attempted to. It's because of this, that Toshiro sometimes becomes impatient when he Duels.

Takashi soon figured out what he was going to do this turn. So the first thing he did was place a monster on his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster: Dread Dragon, in Attack Mode!" He yelled.

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

Takashi's Dread Dragon appeared onto the field and stood next to E-Hero Ocean.

"I now Tune my Level 2 Dread Dragon with my Level 4 Elemental Hero Ocean to Synchro Summon; Iron Chain Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Iron Chain Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 1300 LVL 6**

Both monster jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summon. Once they were done, Iron Chain Dragon appeared and flew back towards Takashi. It gave a powerful roar that scared the kids a little. Takashi saw this and turned towards them. He then began to give them a warm smile.

"Oh…I'm sorry if he scared you."

The kids looked at Takashi smiling at them and quickly snapped out of their scared state of mind. They then proceeded to smile at Takashi, which in turn caused Lilly to smile.

"This guy sure knows how to deal with little kids." She thought. "I'm impressed."

Toshiro looked at Iron Chain Dragon and he wasn't impressed on how it looked.

"So what…?" He said. "You're dragon doesn't scare me!"

Takashi turned to Toshiro and focused his attention towards him.

"We'll see…" He said. "Iron Chain Dragon…attack his face-down monster with your Hell Chains!"

The chains around Takashi's monster started to catch on fire and proceeded to fly towards Toshiro's face-down monster. Once it got close enough Iron Chain Dragon started attack the card, causing it to flip up. Soon a monster wearing blue battling armor, and carrying a large sword, appeared and proceeded to block all of Iron Chain's attacks with his sword.

"Sorry…" Toshiro said in a cocky tone of voice. "But my X-Saber Pashuul can't be destroyed in battle!"

**X-Saber Pashuul: ATK 100 DEF 0 LVL 2**

Once it realized that it was pointless to try and attack Pashuul, Iron Chain Dragon flew back to Takashi.

"Nice monster you got there." The former Crash Town resident said. "I end my turn without doing anything else."

"Alright…Draw!" Toshiro said as he drew a card from his deck. When he looked at the card, a smile appeared on his face. He then proceeded to place the card on his Monster Card Zone. "I summon; XX-Saber Boggart Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**XX-Saber Boggart Knight: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A Beast-Warrior with blue armor and a red cape appeared on Toshiro's side of the field.

"I activate Boggart Knight's Special Ability! When it's successfully Normal Summon, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or below X-Saber Monster from my hand!"

Toshiro quickly pulled the card that he wanted to summon and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster; X-Saber Airbellum, also in Attack Mode!"

**X-Saber Airbellum: ATK 1600 DEF 200 LVL 3**

Another Beast-Warrior appeared on the field and stood next to Toshiro's other monsters. This looked like a lion that was wearing armor and had a pair of wolverine type claws on each of its hands.

"Next, I'll Tune my Level 3 X-Saber Airbellum with my Level 4 XX-Saber Boggart Knight to Synchro Summon; X-Saber Souza, in Attack Mode!"

**X-Saber Souza: ATK 2500 DEF 1600 LVL 7**

Toshiro's Aibellum and Boggart Knight jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summon. The monster that appeared was a Warrior, holding twin swords and wearing armor with a red cape. Takashi was impressed by the site of the monster.

"Nice Warrior you've got there." He said. "I haven't had the chance to face a Duelist using X-Saber monsters."

Toshiro smirked at Takashi's words. He then inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone and soon the card appeared. The card had the image of giant sword, falling towards the ground.

"You haven't seen anything yet." He told his opponent. "I activate the Equip Spell; Legendary Sword! With this card, I can increase the Attack and Defense Points of 1 Warrior-Type monster by 300 points. I choose my X-Saber Souza!"

**X-Saber Souza: ATK 2800 DEF 1900**

Souza's twin swords disappeared as a giant sword stuck the ground in front of him. Souza proceeded to pick up the sword and point it at Iron Chain Dragon.

"X-Saber Souza…attack Iron Chain Dragon with your Legendary Slash!"

Souza ran over to Iron Chain Dragon and killed it with one swing of his mighty sword.

**Takashi: 3700 LP**

**Toshiro: 4000 LP**

"I end my turn."

"My turn…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck.

As soon as Takashi drew his card, X-Saber Pashuul pointed its sword at Toshiro and slashed him in the chest, before going back to defending him. This shocked Takashi as he didn't expect his opponent's monster to do that to him.

"What happened…?" He asked.

"It's my Pashuul's Special Ability." Toshiro explained. "If he's face-up in Defense Mode, then I'll take 1000 points of damage on every one of your Standby Phases."

**Takashi: 3700**

**Toshiro: 3000**

"I see…" Takashi said. "So in exchange for not being destroyed, your monster takes away part of your Life. It's kinda like a double-edge sword."

"Look…!" Toshiro firmly stated. "You worry about you and I'll worry about me. Ok?"

"Fine…fine…" Takashi said.

He put the card that drew and put it into his hand. He then proceeded to take out another card, which he would insert into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a pot that had a very creepy smile. "I activate the Spell; Pot of Greed! Now I can draw two cards from my deck!"

The pot appeared from the card and started grinning at Toshiro. The kids were frightened by it, but were relieved when it vanished when Takashi drew his two cards. The young man would press a button on his Duel Disk, so that his face-down card would activate. When the card flipped up, it revealed itself to be Call of the Haunted.

"I activate the Trap; Call of the Haunted. Now I can revive 1 monster from within my Graveyard and the monster I choose is Iron Chain Dragon!"

From out of the Trap Card, Iron Chain Dragon appeared on the field. As the dragon roared, Takashi placed a card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now I summon the Tuner Monster; Magma Drago, in Attack Mode!"

**Magma Drago: ATK 1400 DEF 600 LVL 2**

A medium sized dragon with red scales appeared on Takashi's side of the field and it stood next to Iron Chain Dragon.

"Now, I Tune my Level 2 Magma Drago with my Level 6 Iron Chain Dragon. Clustering wishes will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Both of Takashi's dragons flew into the air and performed a Synchro Summon. Soon, Stardust Dragon appeared in a flash of light. The mere sight of this majestic beast impressed everyone; the kids, Toshiro, and especially Lilly.

"That…dragon…" She said as she held her right arm. "It's the same one…"

Lilly looked over to her side as if someone was talking to her. She then began nodding her head for some reason.

Meanwhile Takashi continued on with his turn, while trying to ignore the slight pain coming from his right arm.

"Stardust Dragon…!" He cried. "Attack X-Saber Souza…Shooting Sonic!"

A beautiful white veil surrounded Stardust Dragon as it flew over to Souza. Seeing this happening surprised Toshiro.

"What are thinking?" He asked. "My monster has more Attack Points!"

"Are you sure about that…?" Takashi stated.

Before his opponent could question him more, Takashi quickly inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared on the field and it revealed the image of a red boar.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Rush Recklessly! With this I can increase the Attack Points of one monster by 700 points. I choose Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 3200**

The veil that was around Stardust Dragon glowed brighter as it approached Souza. Soon the powerful dragon ran though the X-Saber monster, killing him instantly.

**Takashi: 3700 LP**

**Toshiro: 2600 LP**

"I end my turn by playing 1 card face-down. And since the effect of Rush Recklessly only last until my End Phase, Stardust Dragon's Attack Points return to normal."

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500**

A face-down card appeared behind Stardust Dragon.

"My turn…I Draw!" Toshiro said as he drew a card from his deck. As he placed the card into his hand, the white haired Duelist looked over at Takashi. "Whoa…this guy is pretty good, but I'll defeat him. I have just the monster to deal with his Stardust Dragon."

Toshiro pressed a button on his Duel Disk, activating the face-down that he placed on his first turn. The card flipped up and it had the image of a warrior pointing his sword at something.

"I activate the Trap Card; Gottoms' Emergency Call! Since I have an X-Saber monster on my side of the field, I can Special Summon two more X-Sabers from either of our Graveyards. I choose to revive X-Saber Airbellum and XX-Saber Boggart Knight!"

The Graveyard section of Toshiro's Duel Disk started glowing as both Airbellum's and Boggart Knight's cards popped out of them. The young Duelist then placed the cards into his Monster Card Zone and the two monsters appeared next to X-Saber Pashuul.

"I Tune my Level 4 XX-Saber Boggart Knight with my Level 2 X-Saber Pashuul to Synchro Summon; XX-Saber Hyunlei in Attack Mode!"

**XX-Saber Hyunlei: ATK 2300 DEF 1300 LVL 6**

Both Boggart Knight and Pashuul flew into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. In a flash of light, a warrior wearing blue and gold armor, wearing a red cape, and holding an energy sword, appeared on the field.

"I activate Hyunlei's Special Ability! When he's successfully Synchro Summoned I can destroy up to 3 Spell or Trap Cards. I choose to destroy the one you just placed!"

Hyunlei prepared to fire a beam from out his sword.

"I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi countered. "By sacrificing itself, Stardust can destroy a card that has the ability to destroy other cards!"

Stardust Dragon started glowing as bright as it could. The light was so intense that it consumed Hyunlei along with itself. When the light faded, both monsters were gone. Toshiro though, wasn't upset by this development. He just inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it was revealed to be Monster Reborn.

"I activate the Spell Card; Monster Reborn!" Toshiro stated. "With it, I revive XX-Saber Hyunlei!"

The Graveyard section of Toshiro's Duel Disk started glowing again as Hyunlei's card popped out of it. The white haired Duelist took the card and placed it on his Monster Card Zone; bring Hyunlei back on to the field.

"Bastard…!" Takashi thought. "He anticipated that I would use an ability to prevent Hyunlei's destruction effect from activating."

"Now…" Toshiro said. "I Tune my Level 3 X-Saber Airbellum with my Level 6 XX-Saber Hyunlei to Synchro Summon; XX-Saber Gottoms in Attack Mode!"

**XX-Saber Gottoms: ATK 3100 DEF 2600 LVL 9**

Both monsters performed a Synchro Summoning and Takashi was shocked by the sight of Toshiro's new monster. It was a giant warrior, wearing super high-tech armor, was holding a sword that was about the size of a large building.

"XX-Saber Gottoms…attack his Life Points directly!" Toshiro commanded.

**Takashi: 600 LP**

**Toshiro: 2600 LP**

Gottoms swung his sword at Takashi, slicing the young man in the chest. Takashi instinctively fell to one knee after Gottoms strike.

"I end my turn. Now what are you going to do?"

"I activate Stardust Dragon's second Special Ability!" Takashi said while still on the ground. "If Stardust successfully uses its Special Ability, it can come back during the End Phase."

The Graveyard section of Takashi's Duel Disk starting glowing as Stardust's card popped out of it. The young man then took the card and put it on his Monster Card Zone, allowing Stardust Dragon to reappear back on the field.

All of the kids were glad that Stardust was back on the field, as they liked how beautiful it looked. Meanwhile as Takashi got back to his feet he glared at Toshiro's powerful Synchro monster. He was amazed that his opponent was able to Synchro Summon a level 9 monster in just 1 turn. But he wouldn't let that stop him from continuing the Duel. He knew the old say; 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall'.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He took a look at the card before closing eyes. He soon imagined a flow chart filled with the cards that he had in his hand. He then began to image several possible moves that he could make.

Lilly saw Takashi thinking and knew that he was close to coming up with a strategy.

"This Duel is almost over." She thought.

Takashi opened his eyes and continued on with his turn. The first thing that he did was insert a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared on the field and it was revealed to be a Polymerization Card.

"I activate Polymerization!" He said. "With it, I fuse my Stardust Dragon with the Elemental Hero Bladedge that's in my hand to Fusion Summon; Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste: ATK 3200 DEF 2000 LVL 10**

An Elemental Hero incased in golden armor appeared next to Stardust Dragon. The two monsters fused together and a new, more powerful monster appeared to take their place. This monster was a dragon that was wearing blue and yellow armor. It had huge wings, a long purple tail and was holding a lance that was about the size of its own body.

"Nice play…" Lilly thought.

Toshiro was amazed at what Takashi just did. He thought he did something awesome when he Synchro Summoned his Level 9 XX-Saber Gottoms. But Takashi one-upped him he Fusion Summoned his Level 10 Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste in even easier fashion.

"I attack Gottoms with Dragon Knight!" Takashi declared. "Go, Dragon's Lance!"

Draco-Equiste raised its lance into the air and started charging energy into it. Once it was done, it charged towards Gottoms and stabbed him in the heart. Once he pulled out his lance, Gottoms exploded.

**Takashi: 600 LP**

**Toshiro: 2500 LP**

"God Damn it!" Toshiro cursed. "Oh well…I'll just have to play defense until I can find away to destroy his Dragon Knight."

As Toshiro was thinking to himself, Takashi inserted another card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it had the image of one monster splitting into two separate monsters.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; De-Fusion!" He stated. "With this card, I can return 1 Fusion Monster back into my Extra Deck. In exchange I can Special Summon the Fusion Material Monsters used to summon it. So be revived…Stardust Dragon and Elemental Hero Bladedge!"

**E-Hero Bladedge: ATK 2600 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste split apart and soon Stardust Dragon and Bladedge reappeared on Takashi's side of the field. Toshiro quickly realized that since Takashi summoned monsters during his Battle Phase, he can automatically attack with them.

"Stardust Dragon…!" Takashi said. "Cosmic Flare!"

The mighty dragon opened its mouth and fired a blast of cosmic energy at Toshiro. When the attack hit him, a small explosion surrounded Toshiro.

**Takashi: 600 LP**

**Toshiro: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>When all of the holograms disappeared and both Duel Disks deactivated, Takashi walked over to Toshiro. He then extended his hand out to him.<p>

"Great Duel…" He said.

Toshiro looked at Takashi's hand for a few moments before reluctantly shaking his hand. The kids walked over to the both of them and started to congratulate them. To them, it didn't matter who won or who lost. All that mattered is that they both had a great Duel.

Lilly soon walked up to the both of them and smiled at them both.

"Great Duel you two." She said.

"Thanks…" Takashi replied.

"….Yeah…" Toshiro said, not even looking her in the eyes.

Lilly proceeded to put his hand on Toshiro's shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up." She explained. "You tried your best and that's all that anyone can ask of you. I'm sure that you'll win your next Duel."

Toshiro looked at her before slowly nodding his head. Lilly smiled at him before walking towards Takashi. She looked down at him and saw that he was holding his right arm again.

"Hey…can you do me a favor?"

"Sure…" Takashi answered. "What would that be…?"

Lilly took off the backpack that she had with her and proceeded to unzip it. She then pulled out a Duel Disk and attached it to her right arm. The children and Toshiro were surprised by Lilly's actions because they knew what would happen if Lilly every pulled out her Duel Disk.

"Takashi…I challenge you to a Duel!" Lilly said with a smile on her face.

The young man looked at her and nodded his head. He then moved his hand from his arm and smiled.

"Alright Lilly…I accept your challenge."

The two of them made space for each other as they activated their Duel Disks.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Lilly said as she drew a card from her deck. She took a look at it and smiled. "Hello…Partner."

"Partner…?" Takashi questioned. "Who the hell is she talking to?"

Lilly proceed to insert a card into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of 2 swords, stabbing the Level Stars of a Duel Monster's card.

"I activate the Spell Card; Cost Down! By discarding 1 card, I can lower the level of all the monster cards in my hand by 2 until the end of my turn."

Lilly took a card from her hand and placed it into her Graveyard. She would then place a card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I summon; Dark Magician Girl, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 4**

The beautiful Dark Magician Girl appeared on Lilly's side of the field and Takashi was amazed to see her. He knew that Dark Magician Girl was an extremely rare card and that only a few Duelists owned one. In truth, he's never face a Duelist who owned one before.

"I activate Dark Magician Girl's Special Ability!" Lilly declared. "For every Dark Magician or Magician of Black Chaos that rests in our Graveyard, Dark Magician Girl receives 300 extra Attack Points."

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2300**

"Wait a minute…" Takashi said. "You don't have a Dark Magician or a Magician of Black Chaos in your Grave…Shit!"

"That's right…" Lilly said. "When I played Cost Down, the card I discarded was my Dark Magician!"

Takashi looked on in shock as he saw the spirit of the Dark Magician right beside his apprentice.

"Crap…!" He said, cursing himself.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Takashi faces his toughest challenge to date as he goes against Lilly Muto and her powerful Spellcasters. Can the former Crash Town resident overcome the odds will he suffer defeat by Lilly's hands?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 10: Friends within the Satellite – Part 2_


	10. Chapter 10

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 10: **_Friends within the Satellite – Part 2_

* * *

><p>Takashi looked on with a shocked expression on his face as he watched Lilly's Dark Magician Girl radiate with magical power. He soon calmed down and started grinning.<p>

"Awesome…" He said. "This is fucking awesome. I'm going to face Dark Magician Girl. This is going to be so sweet!"

Lilly looked at Takashi and saw him smiling, which caused her to smile. She would then insert a card into the Spell/Trap Zone of her Duel Disk.

"I place 1 card face-down and end my turn." She said. "And since it's my End Phase; Dark Magician Girl's level returns to 6."

**Dark Magician Girl: LVL 6**

As a face-down card appeared behind Dark Magician Girl, all of the kids began to debate on who would win the Duel.

"I got to go with Lilly." One boy said. "She's the best Duelist in Satellite and no one can defeat her."

"Maybe…" Saya said as she looked at the boy. "But Takashi is pretty good himself. I mean he was able to defeat Toshiro."

As the kids were talking, Toshiro looked on at the Duel with a great deal of interest. He wanted to see how Takashi would stack against Lilly.

"My turn…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He looked at it for a second before putting it into his hand. He then inserted a card into his Duel Disk and when it appeared onto the field, it turned out to be Polymerization.

"I activate the Spell; Polymerization! With it I'll fuse Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman to Fusion Summon; Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, in Attack Mode!"

**E-Hero Thunder Giant: ATK 2400 DEF 1500 LVL 6**

Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman appeared on Takashi's side of the field and fused together. Soon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant appeared and he stared down Dark Magician Girl.

"I activate Thunder Giant's Special Ability! By discarding 1 card, he can destroy 1 monster on the field whose original Attack Points is less than his own. I choose your Dark Magician Girl, whose original Attack Points were 2000!"

Takashi took a card from his hand and put it in his Graveyard. Thunder Giant would then prepare to fire a small electric blast from the palm of his hand. Lilly, however, was prepared for such a tactic so she quickly took a card from her hand and placed it in her Graveyard.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Effect Veiler!" She said. "By discarding her, I can negate the effect of 1 of my opponent's monsters!"

Effect Veiler appeared on the field and created a shield that surrounded Dark Magician Girl. Thunder Giant fired its electric blast, but it simply bounced off the shield, causing Takashi to grunt quietly to himself.

"Oh well…" He said. "I still have Thunder Giant's regular attack…Thunder Beam!"

Thunder Giant started to charge energy into the little orb that was on his chest. Once he was done he fired a blast of electricity at Lilly's magician. Once again though, she was prepared for this and simply pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This caused her face-down card to flip up and when it did, it revealed itself to be Negate Attack!

"I activate the Trap; Negate Attack!" She yelled. "With it, I can negate one of your attacks and end the Battle Phase!"

A small warp hole appeared in front of Dark Magician Girl and sucked in Thunder Giant's attack, sending it to another dimension.

"Damn it…" Takashi said. "She's thinking 1 step ahead me."

The young man took two cards from his hand and inserted them into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk.

"I play 2 cards face-down and end my turn."

Two face-down cards appeared behind Thunder Giant as Takashi waited for Lilly to begin her turn.

"Draw…!" She yelled as she drew card. She looked at for a second and proceeded to put it in her hand. She would then press a button to open the Field Spell section of her Duel Disk before placing a card in it. She would then close it up. "I activate the Field Spell; Secret Village of the Spellcasters!"

A holographic village filled with magical trees and small huts appeared. The kids, Toshiro, and Takashi were amazed on how life like the village actually was, even though it was only a hologram. Takashi refocused on the battle and looked at Lilly.

"So what does this card do?" He asked. "I'm certain that you didn't play it just for show."

"You're right about that." Lilly replied. "Here's how Secret Village of the Spellcasters work. As long as I have Spellcaster-Type monsters on my side of the field and you do not. Then you can no longer activate your Spell Cards."

"What the fuck…?" Takashi said in a shocked tone of voice. "I can't play any Spell Cards?"

"No Spell Cards…" Lilly replied. "However…if I don't have any Spellcasters on my field, then I'm not allowed to activate Spell Cards."

"That doesn't really help…" Takashi thought. "She wouldn't play a card like that if, and only if, her deck wasn't filled with Spellcaster-Type monsters."

"I think I'll continue on with my turn…" Lilly said as she pulled a card from her hand. "I summon Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

Lilly placed a card onto her Monster Card Zone and quickly Magician's Valkyria appeared on the field, standing right next to Dark Magician Girl. Lilly would then take another card and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a spell book.

"I activate the Equip Spell; Magic Formula! With it, I can increase the Attack Points of Dark Magician Girl by 700 points."

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 3000**

A book appeared in front of Dark Magician Girl and she quickly started to read through it. As she read, Takashi saw that a pink aura was surrounding her body.

"This is not good…" He thought to himself.

"Dark Magician Girl, Attack Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" Lilly commanded. "Dark Burning…"

The beautiful magician finished reading her book and placed it under her left arm. She then flew over towards Thunder Giant fired a blast of pink mystic energy at him. When the attack hit, Thunder Giant instantly exploded.

**Takashi: 3400 LP**

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

"Magician's Valkyria…Attack his Life Points directly with Mystic Scepter Blast!"

Dark Magician Girl flew back to Lilly as Magician's Valkyria flew over towards Takashi. As she was about to launch a blast of green mystic energy at him, the young man quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk which activated one of his face-down cards. The card flipped up and it revealed itself to be 'A Hero Emerges'.

"I play a Trap; A Hero Emerges!" He yelled.

"A hero what…?" Lilly questioned.

"Emerges, you know…as 'emerges onto the field." Takashi answered. "Now you have to pick a card in my hand and if it's a monster I get to play it."

Takashi showed Lilly the back of all the cards that were in his hand. The young woman took her time and began to think of which card she should pick. After about 2 minutes, she finally made her decision.

"I choose…the card on the far left!" She said.

Takashi looked towards the card that she'd picked and smiled. He would quickly place the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Nice choice…" He said. "I Special Summon; Elemental Hero Neos, in Attack Mode!"

**E-Hero Neos: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

A powerful Elemental Hero that had white skin, with red and blue highlights, and a muscular frame appeared on Takashi's side of the field. As soon as Lilly saw Neos she knew that she had to pull back.

"Stop Valkyria…!" She yelled. "Don't Attack!"

Valkyria heard her master and proceeded to head back to her.

"That was close…" She thought. "I didn't expect he would have a powerful monster like that in his hand. I have to be more cautious."

She looked over her hand, trying to see if there were anymore moves that she could make this turn. She sighed when she couldn't find one.

"I end my turn."

Back in the crowd, Toshiro had a surprised look on his face.

"Wow…" He thought. "I knew that Takashi was good after he defeated me. But I didn't think that he would last as long as he has. Still…I can't see him betting Lilly. I bet that he won't be able to take out 1000 of her Life Points."

Back on the battlefield, Takashi was busy looking at him hand. He was trying his best to come up with something he could do.

"C'mon damn it…" He thought quietly to himself. "There has to be a way I can win without the use of my Spell Cards. There has to be a way…there's always is."

The young man closed his eyes and began to imagine a much larger flow chart, than the one he used when faced Toshiro. This flow chart contained all the cards that he and Lilly used during the Duel. Lilly saw him thinking and new that he was simulating several different moves within his head.

"He's about to do something…" She thought.

Takashi soon opened his eyes and placed his hand on the top of his deck. He then looked at Lilly.

"It's my move…I Draw!" He yelled as he drew the card that he was touching. He took a good look at it and smiled before placing the card onto his Monster Card Zone. "I summon the Tuner Monster; Flamvell Guard, in Attack Mode!

**Flamvell Guard: ATK 100 DEF 2000 LVL 1**

Flamvell Guard appeared on the field and started flying next to Elemental Hero Neos. Without even having to think about it, Lilly knew exactly what Takashi was going to do next.

"I tune my Level 7 Elemental Hero Neos with my Level 1 Flamvell Guard! Clustering wishes will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Both Neos and Flamvell Guard jumped air into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. Soon, in a flash of light, Stardust Dragon appeared on the field. While all the kids were glad that Stardust was back, they didn't notice something. They didn't see that both Takashi and Lilly were holding their right arms in pain for some reason. Toshiro noticed this, but he thought that they were both holding their arms because they kept them in the air for too long. Soon, Takashi stopped holding his arm and continued on with his turn.

"Stardust Dragon…attack Magician's Valkyria with your Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust fired a blast of cosmic energy at Valkyria and when the blast hit her, she was killed instantly.

**Takashi: 3400 LP**

**Lilly: 3100 LP**

Once Valkyria was gone, Takashi took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. He would then press a button on his Duel Disk, which activated his other face-down card. When the card flipped up, it was revealed to be Call of the Haunted.

"I place 1 card face-down and activate the Trap Card; Call of the Haunted!"

"Shit…" Lilly cursed. "Not that…"

"With this card, I can revive one of the monsters that rests in my Graveyard. I choose, Elemental Hero Neos!"

As a face-down card appeared behind Stardust Dragon, the Graveyard section of Takashi's Duel Disk started to glow as Neos' card popped out of it. The young man took the card and proceeded to place it on his Monster Card Zone. When he did, Neos returned and he took right next to Stardust.

"With that, I end my turn."

"He's much better than I thought…" Lilly thought. "In truth, I only wanted to Duel him because I wanted to face his dragon. But now…I'm actually having a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what he does next."

Lilly took the top card from the top of her deck and drew it. She put the card into her hand and proceeded to look at all of her cards. Once she was done looking, she took one card and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, everyone saw that it was Monster Reborn.

"I activate the Monster Reborn, Spell Card! With it I'll revive Dark Magician!"

**Dark Magician: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 7**

The Graveyard section of Lilly's Duel Disk started to glow as her Dark Magician card popped out of it. The young woman would take the card and place it in her Monster Card Zone. With that, the Legendary Magician stood right next to his apprentice and the both of them stared down both Neos and Stardust Dragon.

"Amazing…" Toshiro said. "Lilly has both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl on the field. She must be really enjoying herself if she's using the both of them at the same time."

Takashi was looking on with a combination of shock and amazement. He couldn't believe that he was about to take on both magicians at the exact same time. However, he did know that with Dark Magician back on the field, Dark Magician Girl's Attack Points would decrease by 300 points.

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2700**

"I don't get it…" He said to her. "Why bring back Dark Magician if you know Dark Magician Girl's attack power is going to drop?"

Lilly looked at Takashi and smiled. She would then insert a card into her Spell/Trap Zone and when the card appeared, it had the image of a knight's shield.

"I'll show you…" She said to him. "I activate the Spell Card; Knight's Title! With it I can sacrifice Dark Magician to Special Summon; Dark Magician Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Magician Knight: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 7**

Dark Magician started to glow a bright purple color. When the glow faded, he appeared in a knight's armor and his magic staff was replaced with a magic sword.

Takashi was amazed by the legendary monster's new form. However that amazement turned into shock when he realized why Knight's Title was played. Lilly saw the shock on his face and already knew that Takashi figured out her plan.

"That's right…" She said. "By playing Knight's Title to Special Summon Dark Magician Knight, the original Dark Magician gets sent to my Graveyard. And since the original Dark Magician is in my Graveyard, Dark Magician Girl regains the 300 points that she lost earlier."

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 3000**

"Damn it…" Takashi cursed.

"It gets only worse from here Takashi…" Lilly explained. "You see…Dark Magician Knight as a Special Ability. When he's successfully summoned onto the field, he can destroy one card that's on the field. I choose…Elemental Hero Neos!"

Dark Magician Knight placed his sword right in front of him and began making a chant. As he was chanting his sword started glowing a bright green color. Once he finished, he charged over to Neos and prepared to strike him.

"I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi yelled. "I sacrifice it, to negate Dark Magician's Knight Ability and destroy him!"

Stardust quickly grabbed Magician Knight's sword, by biting it. It then created a glow so massive that it consumed Magician Knight along with itself. Lilly, however, wasn't shocked by the sudden turn of events.

"Now that Stardust is out of the way…" She said. "Dark Magician Girl…attack Neos with Dark Burning!"

The female magician pointed her staff at Neos and prepared to fire her pink energy blast at him. Acting quickly, Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This activated his face-down which, when it flipped up, revealed the image of a large kunai knife that was attached to a large steel chain.

"I play a Trap; Kunai with Chain!" He said. "With it I can either have one of my monster gain 500 extra Attack Points or switch one of my opponent's monsters into Defense Mode!"

"What…?" Lilly said in a shocked tone of voice.

"I choose to switch Dark Magician Girl into Defense Mode!" Takashi said.

The same kunai knife appeared before Neos and the Elemental Hero quickly took it and threw the weapon. The knife knocked Dark Magician Girl's staff from her hand and, before she could react, the chain that was attached to the knife, wrapped around her. Neos would then pull on the chain, so that Dark Magician Girl wouldn't be going anywhere.

Lilly grunted with frustration as she looked at her hand. She pulled one card from that hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared behind the chained up Dark Magician Girl.

"I place 1 card face-down and end my turn." She said.

"Since it's the End Phase…" Takashi stated. "Stardust Dragon returns to the field!"

In a flash of light, Stardust return and it stood next to Neos.

"Shit…" Lilly cursed. "I thought that I would be able to take out 1 of your monsters by now.

"Well you thought wrong…!" Takashi said to her as he drew a card from his deck. "I'm in control because in case you haven't noticed…Dark Magician Girl is in Defense Mode and all the power ups you gave her only increase her Attack Points. That means her Defense Mode stayed the same since this Duel first began!"

**Dark Magician Girl: DEF 1700**

Takashi took the card that he drew and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon Red-Eyes Wyvern, in Attack Mode!"

**Red-Eyes Wyvern: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

The faithful Red-Eyes appeared on Takashi's side of the field and it stood next to Neos and Stardust. All three of Takashi's monster proceeded to glare at Lilly. All of the kids were shocked that she was on the ropes like this, especially Toshiro. None of them expected this to happen.

"Red-Eyes Wyvern…attack Dark Magician Girl!"

Red-Eyes opened its mouth and fired a giant fireball at Dark Magician Girl. The attack hit the defenseless mage, destroying her until nothing was left.

"I activate the secondary effect of Magic Formula!" Lilly stated. "When it's destroyed, I can regain 1000 Life Points!"

**Takashi: 3400 LP**

**Lilly: 4100 LP**

"Damn it…" Takashi said, cursing himself. "Stardust Dragon…attack her Life Points directly with Cosmic Flare!"

Lilly's arm started to hurt again as Stardust fired a blast of cosmic energy at her.

**Takashi: 3400 LP**

**Lilly: 1600 LP**

"I don't fucking believe this…" Toshiro said to himself. "Lilly…Lilly is about to lose…?"

"Elemental Hero Neos…!" Takashi yelled. "Attack Lilly's Life Points directly!"

Neos began gathering energy into his body. When he finished he fired an orange energy blast at Lilly. Thinking fast the crimson headed female pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This action activated her face-down card which, when flipped up, had the image of two cylinders.

"I activate the Trap; Magic Cylinder!" She yelled. "With it, I can negate the attack of one my opponent's monsters and inflict damage equal to that attack!"

"Crap...!" Takashi yelled.

Two cylinders appeared in front of Lilly as Neos' attack headed towards her. The first cylinder absorbs the attack while the second cylinder fired that attack back at Takashi!

**Takashi: 900 LP**

**Lilly: 1600 LP**

"I end my turn." Takashi said, knowing he had no more cards in his hand.

"Draw…!" Lilly yelled as she drew a card from her deck. She looked at the card and smiled before looking at Takashi. "Hey…this was one of the best Duels I've ever had. You're incredibly strong."

The former Crash Town resident looked at her for a minute before smiling back at her.

"Thank you…" He replied. "You're really strong yourself. The strongest Duelist I've ever fought against. Let's have a rematch again sometime in the near future."

"You've got it…" Lilly said.

The young woman proceeded to place the card that she drew onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I summon; Silent Magician LV4, in Attack Mode!"

**Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

The small magician appeared on Lilly's side of the field and stared at Takashi's monsters with an emotionless look on her face. Lilly would then insert a card into her Spell/Trap Zone and when the card appeared onto the field, it had the image of a Magician disappearing in one place and reappearing in another place.

"I activate the Spell; Instant Transmission! With this Spell, by paying 1000 Life Points I can have one of my monsters attack your Life Points directly as long as they have 1000 or fewer Attack Points. Luckily of me, Silent Magician has just enough!"

Silent Magician LV4 disappeared for a second and soon reappeared in front of Takashi.

"Silent Burning Attack!" Lilly yelled.

The young magician waved her wand and fired a blast of white light at Takashi, who instinctively flinched.

**Takashi: 0 LP**

**Lilly: 1600 LP**

* * *

><p>The holograms faded and the two Duelists walked over to each other. They shook hands and smiled. The kids ran over to them and congratulated them both for a great Duel. Toshiro walked over to Takashi and looked at him.<p>

"You're not angry that you lost?" He asked.

"No…" Takashi replied as he nodded his head back and forth. "Why would I be? I had a lot of fun."

"You had fun? Toshiro questioned. "But you lost."

"Yup…" Takashi said. "I wish I won the Duel, but sometimes you can't win every Duel. Besides, I'll just use this defeat to make myself stronger. That way, I might just defeat Lilly the next time we meet."

Takashi smiled at Toshiro who, in return, gave a small smile of his own. The two of them shook hands again.

"Well, I better go." Takashi said. "I got to get back to Blister."

Saya walked over towards him with a sad look on her face.

"Will you be back?" She asked him.

Takashi looked at her and, for a second, saw Nico right beside her. So he bent down and gently rubbed the stop of her head.

"Yeah…" He answered. "I'll come back to visit you and all of your friends."

Saya smiled and proceeded to hug Takashi, who hugged her back in return. Once they broke the hug, Lilly walked over to Takashi.

"Listen…I'm going to be at the junkyard at 11:00 pm." She explained. "I'll be waiting for you there. Ok…?"

"Ok…" Takashi said.

With that the young man said goodbye to his new friends and proceeded to head back to Blister's. Once he got there, he saw him putting some extra things into his Duel Runner.

"Is everything ready?" He asked.

"Yeah…" Blister replied. "You're Duel Runner is ready to go."

Takashi smiled as he walked over towards it. He then took of his Duel Disk and hooked it up to his Runner. After that, he pulled out his newly constructed Turbo Dueling Deck and pulled it into the card slot. Young man would then look at the clock and saw that it was 8:47 pm.

"2 hours and 13 minutes until I meet Lilly." He said as he put his helmet on. "3 hours and 13 minutes until I reach New Domino City."

With that Takashi thanked Blister and activated his Duel Runner. He then rode out of his garage.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With his Duel Runner now operational, Takashi meets up with Lilly so that the two of them can leave the Satellite for New Domino City. However, their plans are interrupted with the arrival of Sector Security. Can our companions escape the pursuers or will they be caught by the corrupted law?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 11: Race to the City_


	11. Chapter 11

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 11: **_Race to the City_

* * *

><p>It was 10:55 in the evening and almost everyone in the Satellite were inside their houses either sleeping or preparing to go to sleep. It was during this time that Lilly Muto was waiting for her new friend, Takashi Nakamura, to show up.<p>

"Damn it…" She said quietly to herself. "Where the hell is he…? It's almost time to go."

Lilly looked all around the area, trying to either Takashi's Duel Runner or see him walking his Duel Runner over to her. However she couldn't find him.

"For a guy who wants my help getting to New Domino City, he sure likes to take his sweet time."

The young, 19-year-old, woman stood by the junkyard's front gate and started to think about to her Duel against Takashi. The main thing that she was thinking about was his Stardust Dragon and how it made her arm hurt. She proceeded look at him arm for a moment before moving her jacket's right sleeve. There, it revealed that her arm had a crimson red birthmark and that birthmark looked like claw.

"Why did my arm hurt when I saw that dragon?" She thought. "Something like this hasn't happen before…so why now?"

As Lilly stared at her birthmark she began to her someone's voice.

"_Lilly…"_The voice called._"Lilly…"_

Lilly grabbed her deck and flipped through her cards until she found her Dark Magician Girl. Suddenly the card started to glow for a second and when it stopped, the spirit of the Dark Magician Girl appeared before her.

"What is it…?" The young woman asked. "I have a lot on my mind right now."

"_I know…"_Dark Magician Girl said. _"I could hear your thoughts, so I know that you have a lot on your mind right now. I'm here to tell you that I know the reason why your right arm began to throb when you saw that boy's dragon."_

"Really…?" Lilly said in a surprised tone of voice. "Then tell me?"

"_I can't tell you everything."_Dark Magician Girl said to her. _"However what I can tell you is that you, Takashi, his dragon, and several other individuals are connected."_

"Other individuals…connected…?" Lilly questioned. "What do you mean by that? How are we connected?"

"_I can't give you all the details now…"_Lilly spirit partner explained. _"However what I can tell you is this. You and other people who have birthmarks similar to yours…are destined to meet."_

With that, Dark Magician Girl vanished as she returned into her card. Lilly would look at the card for a few seconds before putting it away. After that, she looked at her birthmark again.

"Birthmarks that's similar to mine…?" She thought. "The only one who had a mark similar to this one is Alistair himself…., but he had wings instead of a claw."

Soon, at 11:07, Takashi found Lilly at the entrance to the junkyard and rode over towards her. Once he got there he took off his helmet, got off his Duel Runner and walked over to her.

"Sorry I'm late…" He said. "I wanted to test out my Duel Runner so I rode around Satellite for a couple of hours."

Lilly didn't respond to Takashi's statement as she just continued to look at her birthmark. Takashi looked at the mark and was amazed on how it looked because he's never seen a mark like that before in his life.

"Wow…cool looking birthmark." He said to her.

Lilly looked over at Takashi for a few seconds before looking down at his right arm.

"Takashi…" She said. "Can I take a look at your right arm? There something I want to confirm."

"Um…ok." The young man agreed.

Takashi presented Lilly with his right arm and the young woman slowly moved its sleeve. She was disappointed that there wasn't a mark like the one she has on his arm. What was on his arm was a big red rash.

"When did you get that rash?" She asked.

"Yesterday…" Takashi answered. "It just appeared after I had this strange dream. It was filled with dragons, monsters, and this beautiful red headed girl."

Lilly blushed for a few moments before pointing at herself. "Was that girl me?"

Takashi nodded his head back and forth. "No…hair was more of a dark burgundy to a red-violet color. Your hair is more of a crimson color."

"I see…" Lilly replied in slight disappointment. "Well let's drop the subject and get ready to head to the pipeline. It's going to take about 30 minutes to get there from the junkyard."

"Ok…" Takashi said. "I'm ready whenever you are."

The two Duelists walked over to their respective Duel Runners. Takashi was the first to reach his Runner and once he got on he put his helmet over his head and lowered his windshield. He then looked over at Lilly's Duel Runner and saw that it was a bright red color with purple highlights. Takashi could tell that Lilly has been taking good care of her Runner as there were no signs of damage to it. The crimson headed Duelist also wore a helmet that had the same color design as her Runner.

"That's a nice Duel Runner you have there…" The young man said. "Where did you find it?"

"I didn't find it this Duel Runner." Lilly explained as she was starting up her Runner. "I made it by using spare parts."

"Wow…that's impressive." Takashi replied. "You must be really good with mechanics."

"I get around." Lilly said. "Now let's get going. I have to explain what's going to happen now that we're about to enter the pipeline."

Takashi nodded his head and proceeded to activate his Duel Runner. The two Duelists then proceeded to enter the junkyard and as soon as they did, an extremely loud alarm sounded.

"What's going on?" The young man asked Lilly. "Is that Sector Security?"

"Yeah…" Lilly answered. "They don't allow anyone here because they know that people could escape through the city if they used the pipeline. So they set up an alarm so that they could tell if anyone was entering the junkyard without permission."

"I see." Takashi said.

As soon as the two of them finished talking, they heard loud sirens behind them. Lilly looked back and saw several Security officers' right behind them. She then looked back at Takashi.

"You go on ahead without me." She suggested. "Go straight from here and you'll make it to the pipeline. Once the clock reaches 12 the maintenance will begin. You'll three minutes to make it to the end before trash starts pouring into pipeline again."

"Ok…, but what about you?" Takashi asked.

"I'll be out as soon as you do." Lilly answered. "Now go!"

Takashi looked at Lilly for a few moments before moving on ahead of her. One of the security members attempted to follow him, but the female Turbo Duelist started to spin her Duel Runner around in circles. This caused dirt to fly all over the place and it hit most of the officers right in their helmets, blinding them in the process. Once she stopped spinning Lilly looked and saw only one Security officer left. She started to smile as she looked at him.

"Hello…Daisuke." She said. "Long time no see."

The officer, now known as Daisuke, looked at Lilly with a serious look on his face.

"I've got you now Lilly…you no good bitch!" He said firmly.

"My…my…" Lilly responded as her smile grew. "You really shouldn't call girls bitches."

She soon lost her smile and started to glare at him.

"Especially me…"

The two of them glared at each other for a few seconds before they started talking again.

"Wanna finish where we left off?" Lilly suggested.

"Let's…" Daisuke replied.

"Activating Field Spell; Speed World 2!" The both yelled at the exact same time.

"**Duel Mode Engage…!"** The computer from Lilly's and Daisuke's Duel Runner said as a purple field surrounded the area around them. The two Duelists would then activate their Duel Disks as they rode through the junkyard.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Daisuke: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Daisuke said as he drew a card from his deck.

**Lilly: SPC-1**

**Daisuke: SPC-1**

The Security officer placed the card that he drew into a small slot filled with 5 other cards, which acted has his hand. He then looked at the cards before grabbing two of them. One was placed on the Monster Card Zone while the other was inserted in the Spell/Trap Zone.

"I Summon; Blade Knight, in Attack Mode! I then place 1 card face-down and end my turn."

**Blade Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A knight, that was completely covered in armor and was holding a large sword, appeared on Daisuke's side of the field. Behind the knight was a face-down card, which quickly vanished.

"My turn…Draw!" Lilly yelled as she drew a card from her deck.

**Lilly: SPC-2**

**Daisuke: SPC-2**

Lilly placed the card that she drew onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon; Silent Magician LV4, in Attack Mode!"

**Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Silent Magician appeared by Lilly as started flying next to her. The young woman would then take two cards from her hand and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The cards appeared on the field for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I then place two cards face-down and end my turn!"

"Draw…!" Daisuke yelled as he drew a card.

**Lilly: SPC-3**

**Daisuke: SPC-3**

"Silent Magician LV4's Special Ability activates!" Lilly said as she was trying to reach the entrance to the pipeline. "For every card that my opponent draws from their deck, Silent Magician receives 1 Spell Counter and for each Spell Counter she gains 500 extra Attack Points!"

**Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1500**

"That power boost won't help you!" Daisuke told Lilly as he placed another card on his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon; Gearfried the Iron Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Gearfried the Iron Knight: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

Another knight that was completely covered in armor appeared by Daisuke. This knight's armor was almost all black while Blade Knight's armor was almost all blue. Daisuke would then take a card from his hand and insert it on the field. When the card appeared on the field it had the image of an angel that had a pair of cyber wings.

"I activate the Speed Spell; Summon Speeder! By removing 2 Speed Counters I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. The cost is that the selected monster cannot attack this turn!"

**Daisuke: SPC-1**

Daisuke took a card from his hand and placed on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon the Tuner Monster; Chaos-End Master, in Attack Mode!"

**Chaos-End Master: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

An angel, wearing white armor, appeared on Daisuke's field and started flying by him and his other two monsters.

"I Tuner my Level 4 Gearfried the Iron Knight with my Level 3 Chaos-End Master to Synchro Summon; Lightning Warrior in Attack Mode!"

**Lightning Warrior: ATK 2400 DEF 1200 LVL 7**

Both monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished, a new Warrior-Type monster appeared and started flying by Blade Knight. This monster had blonde hair and was wearing a shiny white armor. He also had red scarfs around his neck and waist. Lilly looked at Daisuke's new monster, but she wasn't impressed by it.

"Bringing out Lightning Warrior already…" She said. "You must really be desperate."

"Shut up!" Daisuke yelled as he pressed a button on his Duel Runner. The button activated his face-down card so it reappeared on the field and flipped up. The image on the card was 3 rockets, tied together by some chain. "I activate the Trap Card; Blast with Chain! When activated, this card acts as an Equip Card that can give one my monsters 500 extra Attack Points. I choose to equip it to Blade Knight!"

**Blade Knight: ATK 2100**

A small rocket back appeared on Blade Knight's back.

"Blade Knight…attack Lilly's Silent Magician LV4!"

The rockets on Blade Knight lit up as the Warrior-Type monster headed for Silent Magician. Lilly, acting quickly, pressed a button on her Duel Runner. One of her face-down cards reappeared on the field and flipped up. The card revealed itself to be Magic Cylinder.

"I activate the Trap Card; Magic Cylinder!" The young woman yelled as she turned her Duel Runner around towards Daisuke. "With it, I can negate your attack and inflict damage to you equal to Blade Knight's Attack Points!"

"What…?" Daisuke said in shock.

The Magic Cylinders appeared in front of Silent Magician as Blade Knight got sucked into one of them. The Warrior-Type Monster would then get blown out of the other Cylinder and collided with Daisuke.

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Daisuke: 1900 LP**

The collision with his own Monster caused Daisuke to lose his balance for a few seconds. This gave Lilly the chance to widen the distance between him and herself. The young woman would press a button on her computer screen and quickly Takashi's face appeared.

"Takashi…are you at the pipeline?" She asked.

"Yeah…" The young man answered. "It's about to be 12:00 in about 5 minutes. You need to hurry up and get your ass down here!"

"I know that…" Lilly stated. "But I'm being delayed."

"Want me to come over there and help you?" Takashi asked.

"No…" Lilly answered. "Just stay where you are and wait for the clock to hit 12."

Takashi nodded his head as Lilly hung up. As soon as she did, Daisuke caught up to her and he was extremely pissed.

"You…Bitch!" He yelled. "You're going to pay for that. Lightning Warrior, attack her Magician!"

As Lightning Warrior approached Silent Magician, Lilly pressed another button on her Duel Runner. This caused her other face-down card to appear on the field and when the card flipped up, it had the image of a box. Inside this box was the Pot of Greed.

"I activate the Trap Card; The Gift of Greed!" She said. "With this, you have to draw two cards from your deck!"

"I don't know what the hell you're planning." Daisuke said as he drew two cards from his deck. "Are you're doing is giving me cards…."

The Security Officer stopped talking when he finally realized what Lilly was up to. She wanted him to draw more cards because Silent Magician's Special Ability allows her to gain Spell Counters whenever Daisuke draws cards. Since he drew two cards, Silent Magician Attack Points increase by 1000.

**Silent Magician LV4: ATK 2500**

"Damn you Lilly…I fell right into your trap."

"Sure did…" The young woman said in agreement. "Now are you going to end your turn or what…?"

"….Shit." The officer cursed. "I end my turn."

"Draw…!" Lilly yelled as she drew a card from her deck.

**Lilly: SPC-4**

**Daisuke: SPC-2**

The young woman inserted a card into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared it had the image of a ramen cup with the word 'fusion' on the label.

"I activate the Speed Spell; Instant Fusion! When I have 3 or more Speed Counters, I can give up 1000 of my Life Points to Special Summon a level 5 or lower Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck!"

**Lilly: 3000 LP**

**Daisuke: 1900 LP**

A card popped out of Lilly's Extra Deck as her Life Points decreased. She would take the card and place on her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon; Musician King, in Attack Mode!"

**Musician King: ATK 1750 DEF 1500 LVL 5**

A musician with blonde hair and was holding a guitar appeared beside Lilly. The young woman would then take another card from her hand and would also place it on her Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster; Arcane Apprentice, in Attack Mode!

**Arcane Apprentice: ATK 1000 DEF 400 LVL 2**

A small magician, who was covered in purple robes, appeared on Lilly's side of the field and starting flying next to Musician King.

"Now, I tune my Level 5 Musician King with my Level 4 Arcane Apprentice to Synchro Summon; Arcanite Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

A powerful Magician with shining blue robes appeared beside Lilly and started flying by her Silent Magician. In the magician's left hand was a staff, similar to that of Dark Magician's.

"What's the point of summoning a monster with only 400 Attack Points?" Daisuke asked as he slowly got closer to her.

"He won't have 400 Attack Points for long." Lilly stated. "I activate Arcanite Magician's Special Ability! When successfully Synchro Summoned, my magician receives 2 Spell Counters and for each Spell Counter, his Attack Points are raised by 1000 Points!"

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 2400**

"Silent Magician LV 4 attacks your Lightning Warrior while Arcanite Magician will attack your Blade Knight!"

Both of Lilly's Magicians turned and attacked Daisuke's monsters. Silent Magician cut Lightning Warrior's head off with a slash of her magic staff. While Arcanite Magician incernerated Blade Knight with a powerful fire spell.

**Lilly: 3000 LP**

**Daisuke: 1500 LP**

As both of her monsters flew back over to her, Lilly took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared on the field for a split second before disappearing.

"I play one card face-down and end my turn!"

Lilly looked over at her opponent and saw that Daisuke was glaring at her with a fierce look on his face.

"DRAW…!" The Sector Security officer yelled as he drew a card from his deck. "You're going to pay for this Lilly! I'll make sure you receive a life sentence at the Facility!"

Because Daisuke drew a card Silent Magician received a 4th Speed Counter, increasing her overall Attack Points.

**Silent Magician LV4: ATK 3000**

"You know better not to mention that place to me Daisuke!" Lilly spat. "Now hurry up and make your move!"

"Fine…" Daisuke said.

**Lilly: SPC- 5**

**Daisuke: SPC-3**

The Security officer inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it looked like a new version of Monster Reborn.

"I activate the Speed Spell; Monster Reincarnation! Now by discarding 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can bring a monster from my Graveyard to my hand! I choose to discard my Cliff the Trap Remover to retrieve my Lightning Warrior!"

Daisuke removed Lightning Warrior from his Graveyard and placed it back into his Extra Deck, since Synchro Monster can't go player's hands. He then placed the Cliff the Trap Remover card into his Graveyard instead.

"I now remove my Blade Knight and Cliff the Trap Remover from the Duel to Special Summon; Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, Attack Mode!"

**Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

A powerful Knight, wearing dark blue and black armor appeared on Daisuke's side of the field. Lilly looked at it with a shocked expression on her face. She then looked at the clock and saw that it was already 12:00am.

"Damn it…I got to take care of that thing in less in 3 minutes!" She thought.

The two Turbo Duelist reached the pipeline and as Lilly was riding inside of it, she saw that Takashi was already half way through it.

"I've have to hurry."

Daisuke continued on with his by inserting a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it had the image of monster, covered in a surge of energy.

"I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell; Speed Energy!" Daisuke stated. "By discarding 1 Speed Counter I can increase my Black Luster Soldier's Attack Points by the number of Speed Counters I have remaining, times 200!"

**Lilly: SPC-5**

**Daisuke: SPC-2**

**Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning: ATK 3400**

"Black Luster Soldier, attack Silent Magician LV4 with your Chaos Blade!"

Black Luster Soldier flew over towards Silent Magician and sliced the young mage in half with his sword.

**Lilly: 2600 LP**

**Daisuke: 1500 LP**

"Black Luster Soldier's Special Ability activates! When he successfully destroys one of your monsters in battle, he can attack again!"

"What…?" Lilly said in shock.

The powerful knight turned his attention to Arcanite Magician and sliced him in half too.

**Lilly: 1600 LP**

**Daisuke: 1500 LP**

As soon as her mage was killed, Lilly pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This activated the face-down card that she set earlier. The card reappeared and flipped up, when it did it had the image of a shining light coming out of the clouds.

"I activate the Trap; Miracle's Wake!" She yelled. "When one of my monsters is destroyed by battle this turn, I can Special Summon it. I choose Arcanite Magician!"

From out of the Miracle's Wake card, Arcanite Magician appeared and started flying by her master again. Seeing the monster that he just destroy didn't frighten Daisuke.

"Don't get your hopes up Lilly…" He said in a confident tone of voice. "Because you didn't Synchro Summon Arcanite Magician to bring him back to the field, his Attack Points stay at the original level."

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 400**

"That's fine Daisuke…" Lilly stated as she pointed at Black Luster Soldier. "But don't forget that when your turn ends, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning's Attack Points drop down to their original level!"

"I know that you bitch!" He said. "I end my turn!"

**Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning: ATK 3000**

Lilly looked at the clock and saw that it was 12:02. She then looked over at the end of the pipeline and saw that Takashi was waiting for her to get out. Realizing that it was her last chance to win, she put her hand on her deck and closed her eyes for a few seconds. She then opened them as the clock hit 12:03 and the trash started flowing back into the pipes.

"Draw…!" She yelled as she drew a card from her deck.

**Lilly: SPC- 6**

**Daisuke: SPC- 3**

Lilly looked at the card that she drew and smiled for a second, but before she played it she placed a card on her Monster Card Zone first.

"I summon Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

Magician's Valkyria appeared on the field as trash started flying past Lilly and Daisuke. The female Turbo Duelist would then insert the card that she drew into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of Dark Magician, the Flame Swordsmen, and the Dark Flare Knight.

"I activate the Speed Spell; Speed Fusion! When I have four or more Speed Counters, I can perform a Fusion Summon. I fuse my Arcanite Magician with my Magician's Valkyria to Fusion Summon; Supreme Arcanite Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Supreme Arcanite Magician: ATK 1400 DEF 2800 LVL 10**

Both of Lilly's Spellcasters fused to form one powerful magician. This magician was very similar to the regular Arcanite Magician in terms of appearance. The only differences were that his robes were blue instead of white and that his staff changed slightly.

"What's that thing going to do Lilly?" Daisuke questioned. "It's not powerful enough to handle my Black Luster Soldier!"

"I know that you fool!" The young woman spat at her opponent. "But you should know that Supreme Arcanite Magician carries the same ability of Arcanite Magician! He now receives 2 Spell Counters and for each Counter he receives he gains 1000 extra Attack Points!"

**Supreme Arcanite Magician: ATK 3400**

"However Daisuke, even though my monster now surpasses you I'm not going to attack you with him yet. I'm instead going to activate his second Special Ability! By removing 1 of his Spell Counters, my Magician can destroy 1 card on the field and the card I choose is Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning!"

**Supreme Arcanite Magician: ATK 2400**

"No…!" Daisuke yelled in disbelief as he watched Supreme Arcanite Magician blast Black Luster Soldier with a lightning blast from his staff.

Lilly reached the exit to the pipeline and reached the outside. She then turned around and said one last thing to Daisuke before leaving.

"Supreme Arcanite Magician, Attack Daisuke's Life Points directly…!" She yelled.

Her powerful Spellcaster complied with her order and blasted Daisuke with a powerful blast from his staff.

**Lilly: 1600 LP**

**Daisuke: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the all the holograms faded, Daisuke's Duel Runner slowed down. This caused most of the trash to crash into him as Lilly and Takashi looked on.<p>

"Ouch…" The young man said. "That had to hurt."

"Yeah…" The young woman replied. Now let's hurry up and go."

Takashi nodded his head as he and Lilly rode towards the city. As they looked on with amazement, Lilly soon realized something so stopped moving. Takashi saw this and stopped too.

"What's wrong…?" He asked.

"Well…something just came to me." Lilly answered. "Now that we're in New Domino City, where are we going to stay?"

Takashi thought about Lilly's question for a couple of minutes before realizing something himself. So he quickly went into his backpack and pulled out the letter that Toru sent him.

"We can go to Poppo Time." He said.

"What the hell is a Poppo Time?" Lilly questioned as she started rubbing the back of her head.

"It's the name of an apartment that my friend Toru lives at." Takashi explained. "I'm sure if we asked we could live there with him."

"I see." The young woman said. "That sounds like a plan. So where is it?"

Takashi stood still with a dumbstruck look on his face. He then looked over at the letter and noticed that Toru only gave the name of the apartment, not the location of it.

"We're going to have to find it ourselves."

Lilly sighed to herself. "Of course we will…"

With that the two Turbo Duelist rode off, trying to find the location of Poppo Time. Meanwhile, inside one of New Domino's largest buildings, a young woman was busy staring out at the city. Her face body was covered in darkness, due to the fact that no lights were on. Suddenly a man came into the room and like the young woman; he body was also covered in the darkness.

"Sayer…" The young woman said as she looked outside. "I'm going out tomorrow to cause some trouble…"

The man, now known as Sayer, smiled as he looked at the girl. He then proceeded to talk to her.

"That's fine…Akiza."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Having finally arrived in New Domino City, Takashi and Lilly reach Toru's apartment. However, upon learning that he's not there, the two of them decide to go out and find him. Unfortunately, when they do find him, the see something that they wish they hadn't._

_Next time of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 12: Black Rose's Assault – Part 1_


	12. Chapter 12

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 12: **_Black Rose's Assault – Part 1_

* * *

><p>"Finally…we're here!" Takashi said excitedly.<p>

"Yeah…" Lilly replied with a small smile on her face.

After spending most of the day looking around New Domino City, Takashi and Lilly have finally made it to Poppo Time; the apartment that Toru has been living in since he moved to the famous city.

"So…are you sure that this Toru guys is here?" Lilly asked as she looked at Takashi. "I mean it doesn't really look like an apartment."

Takashi looked at the building and realized that her friend had a good point. Poppo Time looked more a like a clock store than an actual apartment. However the young man knew that looks could be deceiving.

"Let's go inside." He proposed. "We can find out if this really is the place."

Lilly nodded her head and the two Turbo Duelists parked their Duel Runners by the building. They then walked inside and saw an old lady sweeping the floor with a broom. The lady had grey hair, which was tied in a bun, and was wearing glasses.

"Um…excuse me." Takashi said. "Are you the owner of this place?"

The old woman looked at Takashi and Lilly before putting her broom away. She then walked up them and smiled.

"Why yes I am." She answered. "My name is Zora and I'm the owner. What may I do for you two?"

"My name is Takashi Nakamura…" The young man said. "And the young woman beside me is Lilly Muto. We're here because we heard that is place is also an apartment."

"We were wondering if we could rent one of the ones here." Lilly finished.

"Well of course you can rent one ones." Zora said. "Unfortunately you'll going to have to share it with someone else."

"Who would that be?" Lilly asked.

"A lazy young man named Toru Ishida." Zora explained. "He never pays for rent on time and always seems to be up to something odd. Just today he skipped out on paying rent just so he could Duel somebody called the 'Black Rose'."

Takashi remembered that in Toru's letter he mentioned a Duelist named the 'Black Rose', but he also remembered that Toru had never seen this person Duel before.

"Mrs. Zora…" He said. "Do you know exactly where Toru is? You see…he's my best friend and it's been almost 3 years since I last saw him."

"I see…" Zora replied while looking at Takashi. "I can't be sure where Toru went, but I think he's at the Southern District."

The young man smiled and gently nodded his head at her.

"Thank you…" He said.

With that Zora led Takashi and Lilly back outside of the apartment. They then walked down a small hill which led to a garage. Zora pressed a switched to open the garage door and when it did open, Takashi and Lilly were shocked by what they saw. The inside was huge and it looked like it could hold about 5 people.

"You two can hold your vehicles in here." Zora said to the two of them. "Your rooms are upstairs and there is a bathroom at the end of the hall."

"Holy shit…" Lilly thought.

Zora left the two of them to do their own thing while she went back to clean the front of apartment. Takashi was the first to go inside and Lilly soon followed after him.

"Wow…" Takashi said. "Toru must have a lot of money to rent out a place like this."

"No joke…" Lilly agreed. "But how much do think this place costs? According to Mrs. Zora, your friend has been late on his rent a couple of times."

"When can ask Toru himself when we meet up with him." Takashi replied. "According to Mrs. Zora he might be at the Southern District. We can go there once I'm finish doing something."

"Ok…" Lilly said.

The young woman put all of her things into the garage and placed them by one of the sofas. She then started to relax on it while Takashi was sitting down on one of Toru's desks. He pulled out his deck and started pulling out cards that related his Elemental Heroes. After he did that he pulled a box from his backpack. He opened the box and inside were the cards that his mother used in her duels. With these cards he built a new deck for his Elemental Heroes and a new deck for his dragons. After he finished he put his Dragon deck back into his deck box while he brought out a new box and put the E-Hero inside of it. Takashi would then begin writing a letter. It read.

"_Dear Klaus…it's me, Takashi. I hope you and the others are doing well. I just made it to New Domino City and I'm staying in the apartment that Toru lives in. I'm sending you this letter just to let you know that I'm ok and that you don't have to worry about me. Also along with this letter is a Dueling Deck. I want you to give it to West. It's my gift to him. Anyway I better finish this before I start dragging on. I hope you have a nice life and I promise I'll find a way to bring you and everyone else here too."_

Once he finished writing, Takashi put the letter and the new E-Hero deck inside of an envelope. He then wrote his house address and Klaus' name before walking towards Lilly, who was busy flipping channels on Toru's big screen.

"Wow…" She said. "Over 5000 channels and nothing good is on."

Takashi sighed and slapped Lilly on the backside of her head, causing her to grab him by the collar.

"I'm done Lilly." Takashi said calmly as he looked at his friend. "We can go find Toru now."

Lilly continued to glare at Takashi for a few more moments before letting go of him and walking outside. The young man followed her, but before he got back on his Duel Runner Takashi did a couple of things. The first thing was cutting off the T.V., the second thing was closing the garage door, and the third and final thing was putting the letter he wrote into the mailbox. Once he finished those things those things, Takashi got back on his Duel Runner and proceeded to head for the Southern District with Lilly close behind him.

After about 2 hours of searching, Lilly and Takashi made it to the Southern District. Once they got there though, a large explosion sounded.

"What the hell…?" Lilly said in shock. "What just happened?"

Before the young woman could say anything else she saw that her birthmark was glowing a bright crimson red color. As she looked on at her birthmark, Lilly suddenly sensed something in the distance and decided to walk over towards it. Takashi saw her walking and decided to follow her.

Soon the two of them reached an open space and Takashi saw something that he really wished he hadn't seen. Toru was on the ground and he was in a critical state. In front of him was a black dragon with red rose petals all over its body and beside this dragon was woman with long dark burgundy hair. She was wearing clothes that covered most of her body and was wearing a faceless mask.

"Who is she…?" A puzzled Lilly asked.

Takashi didn't answer her and just ran over to where his friend was. Once he got there he started to shake Toru slightly.

"Wake up…Wake up Toru!" He said to him in a worried tone. "Toru wake up!"

Toru didn't answer Takashi. So the young man glared at the woman, who was busy looking at him.

"You did this!" He declared was glaring at her.

"Yes…" The woman said. "He challenged me and this is the result of his actions."

Hearing the woman say that just made take angrier. As his anger grew, Lilly's birthmark started glowing some more.

"Takashi…" She thought. "What are you?"

Toru slowly started to wake up and the first thing that he saw was Takashi putting on his Duel Disk and activating it.

"Ta…Taka...shi…" The young Duelist stuttered. "Don't…fight…fight her. She's the…Black…Rose."

Takashi looked back at Toru before watching him pass out again. He then looked over at the Black Rose and saw her make her dragon disappear.

"It doesn't matter if she is or she isn't!" He declared. "I'm going to destroy her!"

"Just try it." The Black Rose said.

Both Duelists inserted their decks into their Duel Disks and caused them to shuffle. Once the decks were shuffled, they both drew 5 cards from them.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Black Rose: 4000 LP**

"Ladies first…Draw." The Black Rose said calmly has she drew a card from her deck. She put the card in her hand before taking another card and placing it on her Monster Card Zone. "I summon Bird of Roses, in Attack Mode."

**Bird of Roses: ATK 1800 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

A bird with leafs for its wings and body, along with roses on the tips of its wings and the top of its head, appeared on the Black Rose's side of the field. She then inserted a card into the Spell/Trap Zone and that card appeared behind Bird of Roses.

"I then set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw…!" Takashi yelled as he firmly and swiftly drew a card from his deck. He looked at the card for a quick second before placing it on his Monster Card Zone. "I summon Luster Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Luster Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

A shining blue dragon appeared on the field and it stood next to Takashi.

"Luster Dragon…destroy her abomination with your Shining Breath!"

Takashi's dragon shot a blast of shiny blue energy which destroyed bird of roses until nothing was left of it.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Black Rose: 3900 LP**

"I activate Bird of Roses Special Ability!" The Black Rose stated. "When destroyed while in Attack Mode, I can Special Summon 2 Plant-Type Tuner monster from my deck in Defense Mode."

The mysterious individual's Duel Disk started glowing as a holographic checklist of all the Plant-Type Tuner monster in her deck appeared before her. She would press to cards before the checklist disappeared and her Duel Disk ceased glowing. Then, the cards that she selected popped out of her deck and she proceeded to place them both on her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon the Tuner monsters; Cherry Inmato and Naturia Cherries!"

**Cherry Inmato: ATK 700 DEF 400 LVL 2**

**Naturia Cherries: ATK 200 DEF 200 LVL 1**

Two monsters appeared on Black Rose's field. The first one was a figure with a cherry for a head. The other was simply a cherry with eyes and a mouth. Takashi wasn't intimidated by his opponent's monsters and simply glared at her.

"I end my turn…" He said firmly. "Now…make your move you Bitch!"

Lilly walked over to Toru and moved him away from the Duel. As she did, Lilly started to have a bad feeling about the Black Rose.

"Why…?" She asked. "Why do I sense a strange power coming from her?"

The young woman looked at her birthmark on her arm and saw that it was still glowing. She then looked at the Black Rose and saw that her right arm also had a slight glow to it.

"Could she…"

Back at the Duel the Black Rose drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. She then took a card from her hand and placed it on her Monster Card Zone.

"I summon Botanical Lion, in Attack Mode!" She declared.

**Botanical Lion: ATK 1600 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

A lion with a flower petal mane and leafs coming out of its legs appeared on the Black Rose's field and stood by her other monsters.

"Next, I Tune my Level 4 Botanical Lion with my Level 2 Cherry Inmato to Synchro Summon; Splendid Rose, in Attack Mode!"

**Splendid Rose: ATK 2200 DEF 2000 LVL 6**

Both of the Black Rose's monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished a woman with blonde hair, green and black clothes, and had rose petals on her ankles appeared. The new monster also carried to thorn whips in both of her hands.

"Splendid Rose…attack that fool's Luster Dragon!"

Splendid Rose nodded her head and proceeded to whip Luster Dragon repeatedly, causing it to die due to its injuries.

**Black Rose: 3900 LP**

**Takashi: 3700 LP**

"Now you foolish boy…you will know pain." The Black Rose said to Takashi.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Takashi shouted.

"I'll show you…" The Black Rose replied as she pressed a button on her burgundy colored Duel Disk. Her face-down card flipped up and it revealed the image of exploding flower petals. "I activate the Trap Card; Blossom Bombardment. Now, since I just destroyed one of your monsters with a Plant-Type I can inflict damage to you equal to Luster Dragon's Attack Points!"

"What…?" Takashi yelled in shock.

Toru slowly woke up as he saw several flower petals surround his friend.

"Ta…kashi…" He stuttered. "Watch Out!"

Before the young man could react to Toru's warning one of the flower petals exploded by Takashi's arm. Soon the rest of the flower petals exploded all around Takashi and when the explosions finally ended Takashi fell to the ground, bleeding.

**Black Rose: 3900 LP**

**Takashi: 1800 LP**

"NO!" Toru yelled.

"Takashi!" Lilly yelled.

The Black Rose started laughing like she just saw something extremely funny.

"See….I told you that you would experience pain!" She proclaimed.

"You…witch…" Takashi said while he was on the ground.

Hearing him say the word witch woke something up in the Black Rose.

"What…the fuck…did you just call me?" She asked. "You asshole!"

Takashi tried his best to get to his feet. "I called…you a witch!" He declared.

"BASTARD!" The Black Rose screamed as a powerful gust of wind suddenly came from her body. "You're going to pay for that you little shit! I activate Splendid Rose's Special Ability! By removing a Plant-Type monster in my Graveyard I can half Splendid Rose's Attack Points and have it attack again!"

**Splendid Rose: ATK 1100**

Splendid Rose grabbed Takashi with her thorn whip, causing him to bleed more. She then lifts him in the air before slashing him twice in the chest, leaving a giant X-shaped scar on his chest. As he fell to the ground the Black Rose looked at his new scar and the old one that was on his face. She then started laughing again.

**Black Rose: 3900 LP**

**Takashi: 700 LP**

"What the hell is she?" Lilly asked. "How can she make actual Battle Damage?"

"She's…she's a Psychic…Duelist." Toru explained. "A person who…can turn Duel Monster holograms…into real things."

"No…" Lilly said silently as she watched Takashi slowly struggle to his feet.

"I end my turn." The Black Rose said. "Now Splendid Rose's Attack Points return to normal."

**Splendid Rose: ATK 2200**

"…Draw." Takashi softly said as he drew a card from his deck. He put the card in his hand before taking another card and placing it on his Monster Card Zone. "I…summon…Red-Eyes Wyvern, in Attack Mode!"

**Red-Eyes Wyvern: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

Red-Eyes appeared on Takashi's side of the field, prepared for battle. The young man then struggled to insert a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he got the card in there, it appeared on the field and it was Half Shut.

"I activate the Quick-Play…Spell; Half Shut! Now I can cut…Splendid Rose's Attack back in half for a turn, in exchange it can't be destroyed."

**Splendid Rose: ATK 1100**

Red-Eyes Wyvern fired a fireball at Black Rose's monster, which easily shook off the attack since it was actually there and Red-Eyes' attack wasn't.

**Black Rose: 3200 LP**

**Takashi: 700 LP**

Black Rose looked on as Takashi set 2 cards face-down and ended his turn. As he did that, he fell to one knee and started breathing hard.

"Accept your fate." She said to him. "Stop trying to fight and let me kill you."

The young man looked at the mysterious woman for a few seconds before giving her the middle finger.

"Fuck…you..." He said slowly.

"Fine!" The Black Rose yelled. "I Draw!" She drew a card from her deck. "I tune my Level 6 Splendid Rose with my Level 1 Naturia Cherries. Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Both of the Black Rose's monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished the rose dragon appeared again and it roared so loud that the ground started to shake.

"I activate Black Rose Dragon's Special Ability! When successfully Synchro Summoned, it can destroy all the cards on the field. Go…Black Rose Gale!"

Black Rose Dragon created a giant hurricane that not only destroyed itself and the cards that were on the field, but it destroyed most of the area that was around Takashi. Once the field was empty, Black Rose inserted a card into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the destroyed field it turned out to be Monster Reborn.

"I activate the Spell Card; Monster Reborn! So return…Black Rose Dragon!"

The huge gust of wind returned as Black Rose Dragon reappeared and stood by its master.

"It's been fun fool, but I'll see you in Hell! Black Rose Dragon, end him with your Black Rose Flare!"

The powerful dragon fired a huge black flame covered in purple flower petals at Takashi. Acting on his instincts alone, the young man took a card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard. Suddenly the spirit of a regular Kuriboh appeared in front of him.

"I activate…Kuriboh's Special Ability. By discarding it to the Graveyard, I can reduce the damage of this attack to 0."

Kuriboh took the hit for Takashi, protecting him from Black Rose Dragon's flames. However the shockwaves sent him crashing back down to the ground. The Black Rose would the insert another card into her Spell/Trap Zone and it appeared behind Black Rose Dragon.

"I play 1 card face-down and end my turn!" She said.

"Takashi!" Lilly called in a worried tone of voice.

The Black Rose turned her head towards the young woman and the first thing that she noticed was Lilly's glowing birthmark. The mere sight of it made her arm glow more and it soon revealed a birthmark too. It looked similar to Lilly's but it was a much larger claw mark.

"You…you also have a mark!" She said. "I'll kill you! Black Rose Dragon, destroy her!"

As the mighty beast prepared to fire its attack at Lilly, Takashi attempted to get back up.

"Leave…leave…her alone." He stuttered.

"Shut up!" Black Rose yelled.

Black Rose Dragon fired its attack and even though Lilly moved Toru and herself from it, the shockwaves sent them flying into a wall. The impact knocked them both out.

"NO!" Takashi screamed.

Black Rose Dragon prepared to fire another blast at Lilly; however it stopped when it sensed something powerful. It turned its head and saw that Takashi was on his feet and that his arm was glowing red. Black Rose noticed this too and saw that Takashi suddenly gained a birthmark himself. This mark looked a lot like a dragon's head.

"You have a mark too?" She said in shock.

Takashi didn't answer her. All he did was glare at her while a powerful blue aura surrounded his body. The aura healed Takashi's wounds, shocking the Black Rose even more.

"Who…who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Takashi Nakamura…" The young man answered. "And…I'm your Death!"

The young man drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then took another card and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, since you have monsters and I don't I can Special Summon my Vice Dragon in Attack Mode!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

As soon as Vice Dragon appeared Takashi placed another card on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster; Dragunity Darkspear, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragunity Darkspear: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

Next to Vice Dragon, a black dragon with a metal spear face appeared on the field.

"I tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Dragunity Darkspear. Clustering wishes will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Both of Takashi's dragons flew high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Stardust appeared and stood beside its partner. It then roared at Black Rose Dragon.

"Stardust Dragon; attack Black Rose Dragon….Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust complied and fired a blast of cosmic energy at Black Rose Dragon, creating a small explosion.

**Black Rose: 3100 LP**

**Takashi: 700 LP**

The force of the explosion caused Black Rose's mask to break. As it was falling off of her, she pressed a button on her Duel Disk. The activated her face-down which, when flipped up, turned out to be Call of the Haunted.

"I activate the Trap; Call of the Haunted!" She declared. "With it, I can revive one of my monsters and the one I choose is…Black Rose Dragon!"

Once again as huge gust of wind suddenly appeared as Black Rose Dragon reappeared. However that wasn't on Takashi's mind. What was on his mind was the Black Rose's face. When all the pieces of her mask fell from her face, the young man noticed something shocking about her appearance.

"You…you're the girl… from my dreams." He said as the blue aura that was surrounding him faded.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As he tries to make sense of the situation, Takashi continues his Duel with the Black Rose. Is he strong enough to overcome this powerful foe? And what's this strange feeling he has about her?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 13: Black Rose's Assault – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader:**_Hey guys, I hope you like Chapter 12. I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you have a great time during this special occasion. Please remember to review the story as it helps me see what I'm doing right and wrong, and please keep sending me OC's._


	13. Chapter 13

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 13: **_Black Rose's Assault – Part 2_

* * *

><p><strong>Black Rose: 3100 LP<strong>

**Takashi: 700 LP**

Takashi's brain started flickering back and forth in between girl he's seen in dreams and the girl he's looking at now. There were some minor differences, like the Black Rose had longer hair and the girl in his dreams had a metal clip in her hair, but no were mistakes about it. Both the girl and the Black Rose…were one in the same.

"This…this can't be…" He said in disbelief. "There's no way you could be her…"

The young man didn't want to believe that a beautiful woman like her, who looked so kind in his dreams, can be causing all this destruction. It was something that he just couldn't comprehend.

Meanwhile, the Black Rose continued to glare at Takashi. Her eyes were solely focused on him and him alone. Someone, in her twisted and corrupted mind, she saw Takashi as an enemy that she must kill. No matter what may happen to her, she must take his life. With that frame of mind her psychic powers created another gust of wind, more powerful than the one before.

"Kill…" She thought. "Kill…Kill…Kill…..KILL!"

A dark aura covered her body as the ground shook beneath her and Takashi's feet.

"Stop it!" Takashi yelled. "If you keep this up you're going to destroying everything and everyone that's around you!"

"I won't stop!" The Black Rose replied with an evil tone in her voice. "I will not stop until your dead!"

The Black Rose's powers continued to increases as building started to crumble. Takashi saw that some of the debris falling next to Toru and Lilly. Seeing his friends in danger woke something within Takashi as his birthmark started glowing even brighter than it was before. As his mark glowed, the blue aura that surrounded his body reappeared. However the aura was a lot different than before. It started to expand and it kept expanding until it covered both Takashi and the Black Rose. The mere sight of this frightened the all powerful female, as she has never seen anyone with powers like Takashi's.

"I…won't." Takashi said as his aura glowed brighter.

"You won't what…?" The Black Rose questioned as she slowly took one step back.

"I…won't….allow you to cause allow you to cause….ALL THIS DESTRUCTION!" The young man yelled at the stop of lungs. A huge energy exploded from Takashi's body and it covered the area where he, the Black Rose, Toru and Lilly were at. When the energy faded, all the damage that the Black Rose caused disappeared and the land was back to where it once was. Also Lilly's and Toru's wounds from before were healed and they started to wake up.

"Wha…what the…?" Lilly questioned as she was the first to open her eyes. She looked around and the first thing she saw was a glowing Takashi. The mere sight of him caused her to blush. "Takashi…he's…he's beautiful."

As the crimson headed woman looked on with amazement, Toru started to open his eyes and, like Lilly before him, the first thing that he saw was Takashi.

"Awesome…" Were the only word that the young man could say.

Meanwhile the Black Rose wasn't as amazed as Toru and Lilly were. She was starting to become more intimidated the longer she looked at Takashi. Because of her Psychic Powers, she could sense that Takashi's abilities surpassed hers.

"Tell me your name…" Takashi told her.

Black Rose was shocked a bit as she listened to Takashi's words.

"Tell me your name…and I mean that alias of yours. I want to know your real name."

"Why…?" She asked. "What good will it do you...?"

Takashi simply smiled at her as the glow around him started to fade. He then started to rub the back of his head as he replied to her question.

"Well…" He said. "You're a beautiful girl. So I'm assuming that you have a beautiful name that matches your appearance. That's the only reason why."

As Lilly cursed the Black Rose, because Takashi called her beautiful, the mysterious woman was hesitant to answer Takashi request. However she eventually gave in.

"Akiza…" She said. "My name is Akiza Izinski."

"Akiza huh…?" Takashi replied. "I was right; you do have a beautiful name that matches your appearance."

Black Rose, whose real name is Akiza Izinski, started to blush. As he face was becoming red, Takashi continued talking to her.

"Akiza, why are you causing all of this destruction? What did we do that made you want to try and kill us?"

"Your mark…" She replied as she looked at hers. "It's your mark. I was told to stay away from anyone who has a mark similar to mine. That's why."

Takashi looked at his mark for a few minutes before looking over at Lilly's mark. Once he was done with that, he looked over at Akiza's for a few before looking back over at his.

"What's with these marks?" He asked himself. "I mean, I can tell that they have some type of strange power. But where did they come from and why do we have them?"

He looked back over to Akiza again and noticed that she had a lot of pain and suffering within her brown eyes. For some reason, all the pain and anger that he felt towards her earlier faded. Now…instead of wanting to kill her, Takashi wanted to help her. He looked over at his Stardust Dragon and he felt that he wanted to the same thing to. So, after taking a nice deep breath, Takashi looked over at Akiza once more.

"Let's finished our Duel." He proposed.

Akiza was shocked by his request. "You…want to continue?"

The young man nodded her head. "Yes I do." He replied. "I want to help you and…I think I can do that if we continue Dueling."

Again, Akiza was shocked by Takashi's words. For something she could tell that he really meant what he said. However she nodded her head from side to side and looked towards the ground.

"You can't…" She said. "You can't help me."

"You don't know that." Takashi said to her as he placed the remaining cards that were in his hand into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, 3 face-down cards appeared in front of him. "We won't know until I try. Besides, you're the strongest Duelist I ever faced before and I really want to test my skill against yours. So what do you say…?"

The young woman looked at him for a few moments before replying to his request.

"…Fine." She said. "It won't do you any good, but I'll continue to Duel you. Just don't take it personally when I hurt you again."

"Don't worry I won't." Takashi said with a friendly smile on his face. "Now…as you saw I placed 3 cards face-down. With that I end my turn and hand everything over to you."

Akiza nodded her head. "Draw…!" She yelled as she drew a card from her deck and quickly placed it in her hand. The young woman would then pull out another card and placed it on her Monster Card Zone. "I summon; Lonefire Blossom, in Attack Mode."

**Lonefire Blossom: ATK 500 DEF 1400 LVL 3**

A small plant with a glowing plant bulb appeared on Akiza's side of the field.

"I activate Lonefire Blossom's Special Ability. By sacrificing it I can Special Summon 1 Plant-Type Monster from my Deck."

As Akiza's plant disappeared a checklist appeared before her with all the Plant-Type Monsters that she was allowed to choose from. As the young woman was making his selection, Toru was trying to figure out what card that she would choose.

"Which card…?" He thought. "Which card will she pick?"

Lilly had the same thoughts as Toru, only she had almost figure out which Monster Akiza will select.

"If I were Black…no… Akiza." She thought. "If I were her…I already know which Plant-Type Monster I would select. And if I'm right, then Takashi is going to have a tough time on his hands."

After thinking for a few more minutes Akiza made her decision and selected the card that she wanted to Special Summon. As she did that the checklist disappeared and the card she chose popped out of her deck. She pulled the card out and had her Duel Disk reshuffle her deck before placing the card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon; Tytannial, Princess of Camallias in Attack Mode!" She yelled.

**Tytannial, Princess of Camallias: ATK 2800 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

A woman who looked like a combination of a plant and a human appeared on Akiza's side of the field and stood next to Black Rose Dragon. Seeing this new monster causes Lilly to curse out loud for a few seconds.

"God…damn it!" She cursed. "I knew it!"

Takashi wasn't afraid of Akiza's new monster. In fact he was amazed on how she was able to summon a Monster with 2800 Attack Points so easily. But, despite being impressed he wasn't going to let her win. So he pressed a button on his Duel Disk, activating one of his 3 face-down cards. The card flipped up and it had the image of a monster getting its energy drained while an Obelisk Blue Student was drawing a card from his Duel Disk.

"I activate the Trap Card; Alchemy Cycle!" He declared. "Now, for the remainder of this turn Stardust Dragon's Attack Points are dropped to Zero."

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 0**

Lilly, Toru, and especially Akiza looked on in shock as Stardust's energy was being drained.

"…Why?" The Psychic Duelist asked. "Why did you drain your dragon's Attack Points?"

Takashi looked at her before smiling. "I'll tell you, once you destroy Stardust Dragon."

The young man's words shocked Akiza some more. Why the hell would Takashi want his Stardust Dragon to be destroyed? Does Alchemy Cycle have another ability that requires the destruction of Stardust to activate? Or does Stardust have an ability of its own that can only be activated when its Attacks Points are low. All of this and several other things ran through Akiza's mind and it wasn't until a few minutes later that she decided to make her move.

"Tytannial, Attack his Stardust Dragon!" She declared.

Tytannial fired a barrage of razor sharp several razor sharp flower petals at Stardust. However before the attack landed, Takashi pressed two buttons on his Duel Disk. This action activated his remaining face-down cards. The first one that flipped up was call of Call of the Haunted, while the other one had the image of a monster exploding while its Duelist drew a card from his deck.

"I activate the Trap Cards; Defense Draw and Call of the Haunted!" He declared. "With Defense Draw I can reduce the damage I would've taken to zero and draw a card. Then with the power of Alchemy Cycle, I draw a card since you destroyed a monster who's Attack Points were drained by it. Lastly with the power of Call of the Haunted, I can bring back Stardust Dragon."

Stardust Dragon got hit by Tytannial's attack and fell to the ground, but thanks to Call of the Haunted it was able to get back up. Once it did, Takashi drew two cards from his deck.

"Nice move…" Toru said. "Now, Black Rose will have to end her turn since she doesn't have any monsters who's Attack Points are greater to Stardust Dragon's."

Akiza looked at the only card she had left in her hand before inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared behind Black Rose Dragon in a face-down position.

"I play 1 card face-down and end my turn." She said.

"Now that she's ended her turn, Stardust Dragon's Attack Points return to their original value." Lilly stated.

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500**

"Draw…" Takashi stated as he drew a card from his deck. He looked at it for a few seconds before inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it had the image of two men looking up as gold coins were falling on them. "I activate the Spell; Card of Sanctity. With this, we both have to draw until we have 6 cards in our hands."

Takashi drew 5 cards while Akiza drew 6. Once their hands were filled, Takashi inserted another card within his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it turned out to be Reincarnation of Hope.

"I activate another Spell Card; Reincarnation of Hope. By discarding 2 Monsters into the Graveyard I can add a new one into my hand during my 2nd Standby Phase!"

Takashi placed two Monster Cards from his hand and inserted them into the Graveyard portion of his Duel Disk. After doing that Takashi took another card from his hand and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster; Junk Synchron in Attack Mode!"

**Junk Synchron: ATK 1300 DEF 500 LVL 3**

A small, orange colored, robot appeared on the field and stood next to Takashi.

"I activate Junk Synchron's Special Ability; when successfully Normal Summoned I can Special Summon a Level 2 or below Monster from my Graveyard."

A card popped out of the young man's Graveyard and he proceeded to place it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon; Sonic Chick in Defense Mode!"

**Sonic Chick: ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL 1**

A pink road runner appeared and stood next to Junk Synchron.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of the Quillbolt Hedgehog that resides in my Graveyard. When I have a Tuner Monster on my field I can Special Summon it!"

**Quillbolt Hedgehog: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

Another card popped out of Takashi Graveyard and like before the young man placed it on his Monster Card Zone. With that a hedgehog with metal bolts, coming out of its back, appeared on the field.

"What the…?" Toru said in confusion. "I thought Takashi used Dragon-Type cards. So why summon Monsters that aren't related to those dragons?"

"Let's wait and see what he'll do." Lilly said to him. "Takashi's a good Duelist, so he wouldn't be making these moves unless he had a plan."

The two teenagers looked on as Takashi continued on with his turn.

"I Tune my Level 1 Sonic Chick with my Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog and my Level 3 Junk Synchron to Synchro Summon; Junk Gardna, in Defense Mode!"

**Junk Gardna: ATK 1400 DEF 2600 LVL 6**

Takashi's tiny Monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished a green machine with two large arms appeared and fell to the ground. It then placed its arms against each other to make a shield.

"Now…Stardust Dragon attack Black Rose Dragon with Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust complied with its masters orders and fired a stream of cosmic energy at Black Rose Dragon. However Akiza was prepared for it this time and quickly pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This activated the face-down card that she set earlier which, when it flipped up, turned out to be Negate Attack.

"I activate the Trap Card; Negate Attack!" She proclaimed. "With it I can negate Stardust Dragon's attack and forcefully end your Battle Phase."

A small black hole appeared in front of Black Rose Dragon and it sucked in Stardust's attack. As the hole faded Takashi had a nice smile on his face, confusing Akiza even more.

"Why are you so happy?" She asked. "Aren't you mad or upset that I block your attack?"

"Well…I would be lying if I was mad that I wasn't able to destroy your dragon again." Takashi answered. "But bitchin about that isn't going to help me win this duel. So I see no real point in complaining about it. Also…if I get frustrated then I'm bound to make mistakes. It was because of my anger that I let so many Life Points already and at this rate I can't afford to lose anymore. You're too skilled an opponent for that."

As Akiza was amazed by Takashi's words, the young man placed 1 card into his Spell/Trap Zone and it appeared, face-down, behind Junk Gardna.

"I place 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn…Draw!" Akiza yelled as she pulled the top card from her deck. She looked at it for a few moments before looking back at Takashi. She then started thinking to herself. "I don't understand. He's isn't mad or upset like before. Why is that? He's not like the others, he's different. But…but…it isn't a bad type of different. It's a good different."

Takashi looked at her and saw that the young woman was entranced by her own thoughts. He wanted to say something to her, but he knew that he should let her be and let her handle it herself.

Soon, Akiza made her move and the first thing that she did was place a card onto her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I summon; Elemental Hero Knospe, in Attack Mode!" She declared.

**E-Hero Knospe: ATK 600 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

A small plant-man appeared on Akiza's side of the field and stood next to her other monsters. The sight of the creature caught Toru's attention.

"I don't get it." He said. "Why summon Knospe? It only has 600 Attack Points."

"It's because of Tytannial." Lilly stated.

Toru looked at her with a confused look on his face. However it didn't take him long to figure out why Lilly said what she said.

"Tytannial…she has a Special Ability that requires Knospe to be on the field."

"Bingo…" Lilly replied.

"I activate Black Rose Dragon's second Special Ability!" Akiza declared as a card popped out of her Graveyard. "By removing a Plant-Type Monster from my Graveyard, Black Rose Dragon can switch one of your monsters into Attack Mode and make its Attack Points zero! I choose your Junk Gardna!"

**Junk Gardna: ATK 0**

Black Rose Dragon roared, causing the ground to shake a little bit. It then release several vine at Junk Gardna, causing it to forcefully switch into Attack Mode.

"Black Rose Dragon, attack Junk Gardna with Black Rose Flare!"

Purple flames started to appear from Black Rose Dragon's mouth and it prepared to fire the attack at the defenseless Junk Gardna.

"I activate Junk Gardna's Special Ability!" Takashi yelled. "Once per turn, I can switch one of your Monsters into Defense Mode! I choose, Black Rose Dragon!"

"I don't think so Takashi!" Akiza responded. "I activate Tytannial's Special Ability! By sacrificing a Plant-Type Monster on my side of the field, I can negate the activation of a card that targets one of my cards and destroy it!"

Knospe disappeared from the field as Tytannial prepared to attack Junk Gardna before it could switch Black Rose Dragon into Defense Mode.

"I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability; Victim Sanctuary!" Takashi countered. "By sacrificing itself, Stardust and negate the effect of a monster that destroys other cards and destroy it!"

Stardust Dragon got in front of Tytannial and wrapped its body around it. The mighty dragon then vanished along with Akiza's strongest monster. And, since Tytannial is gone, Junk Gardna's ability can activate. This action forced Akiza's Ace Monster into Defense Mode.

**Black Rose Dragon: DEF 1800**

"Damn it…" Akiza thought. "I almost had him that time." Soon a kind smile appeared on her face. "Still…this…this is fun. I can't wait to see what he'll do next."

Takashi saw her smiling which, in turn, caused him to smile too. He then pressed a button on his Duel Disk, which activated the face-down card that he set earlier. The card flipped up and it revealed the image of an electric cyclone.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Super Polymerization!" He declared. "Now usually, I can only perform a Fusion Summon with my own Monsters. However, with Super Polymerization, I can perform a Fusion Summoning with my Monster and your Monster. All I have to do is discard 1 card from my hand."

Akiza was in shock as Takashi took a card from his hand and placed it in his Graveyard. Then, a cyclone appeared in the middle of the field.

"I fuse your Black Rose Dragon with my Junk Gardna to Fusion Summon; Dragon Knight – Draco Equiste, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragon Knight – Draco Equiste: ATK 3200 DEF 2000 LVL 10**

Both Junk Gardna and Black Rose Dragon jumped into the vortex and fused together. In a flash of light, Draco Equiste appeared and stood by Takashi. Akiza was amazed that Takashi was able to outwit her in that one exchange. She looked at her hand and she saw that she had no cards she could play that could prevent Takashi from winning the Duel.

"I end my turn." She said softly.

In a flash of light Stardust Dragon reappeared and stood next to Dragon Knight – Draco Equiste.

"Stardust Dragon's second Special Ability allows it to revive itself at the End Phase, if it successfully uses its first Special Ability."

"I see…" Akiza said as she had her head down. "That's an impressive ability."

The young man looked at the young girl and didn't feel the happiness that he usually feels win he's about to win a Duel. He felt sad if anything else.

"Hey…" He said. "Don't feel sad, it was a good Duel and you tried your best."

"Just end it…" Akiza said softly. "I've lost and you know it…"

"….I know." He replied. "But, tell me something. During the Duel…did you have fun?"

Akiza's eyes widen as she remember the fun and excitement she felt as Dueled Takashi. She looked at him and gave him a small, but noticeable smile. She then proceeded to nod her head a little.

"Good…" Takashi said with a smile on his face. "Dragon Knight – Draco Equiste…attack Akiza's Life Points directly!"

Draco Equiste threw its lance at Akiza, who didn't even flinch when the virtual attack hit her body.

**Takashi: 700 LP**

**Akiza: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>The holograms faded and both Duelists Duel Disks deactivated. Akiza grabbed her mask and prepared to walk away. However Takashi ran up to her before she got too far.<p>

"Hey…do you think we'll meet up again?" He asked.

Akiza turned to him with a shocked look on her face.

"You…you want to meet me again?" She said. "Even though…I'm a witch..."

"Oh…" Takashi said as he recalled when he called her witch earlier in the Duel. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you that. A beautiful girl like you can't possibly be a witch."

Akiza looked at him and saw how sorry he was. This surprise her even more as she never seen anybody like him before. Takashi looked at her for a few moments before looking at her hair. This caused him to remember his dream about her and how her hair was much shorter.

"Hey…um…can I give you a piece of advice?" He asked. "You should cut your hair."

"Why…?" She asked him.

"Well…it could get in your eyes…" He said. "No…that's not the reason. It's just…I really think that you would look even more beautiful with shorter hair."

The young woman blushed as she looked at him. She then proceeded to turn his back towards him and started to walk away.

"Hey…we'll meet again…right?"

Akiza kept walking as she listened to Takashi's words. She didn't turn to him, but she did raise her hand towards him. As she left, Toru and Lilly walked towards Takashi.

"Hey man…" Toru said. "Nice job!"

Takashi turned to him and smiled. The two friends then bumped fist for the first time in almost 3 years.

"Thanks for saving me Takashi. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it…" Takashi replied. "I'm just glad you're ok now."

The old friends smiled, but that didn't last long as Lilly kicked Takashi in the balls; causing to him to pass out in pain. The young woman then grabbed him by the foot and dragged him across the floor. Toru looked on in a combination of shock and fear as she saw Takashi, comically, passed out on the floor.

"What…what did you do that for?" He asked her.

Lilly turned to him and gave him an evil glare. The glare was so fierce that Toru passed out too; So Lilly dragged him across the ground too. As she did, she glared at Takashi.

"Bastard…calls her beautiful." She thought. "Takashi…you bastard."

After about an hour, the two boys woke up back at Poppo Time. They looked around and that their Duel Runners, along with Lilly's were there with them.

"Jesus Christ…!" Toru said as he got to his feet. "Who is the chick?"

"Our roommate." Takashi said as he also got to his feet.

"Our roommate…?" Toru said in confusion. "You mean…?"

"Yup…" Takashi replied as he proceeded to go upstairs. "We're roommates."

The young man headed to bathroom, but as he went inside the first thing that he saw was Lilly's naked body. This caused him and her to blush a bright red color. The next that happen was Takashi being thrown out of the room and back downstairs to the concrete floor. Lilly, who now had a towel wrapped around her body, walked out and started yelling at him.

"COME IN AGAIN TAKASHI AND YOU'RE DEAD! YOU GOT THAT, YOU BASTARD!"

With that, the young woman walked back into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. As Toru looked at the newly passed out Takashi, the first words that came out of his mouth were.

"Lilly…she's scary."

Later that night, in a large building, Akiza was busy cutting her hair so that it would be much shorter. As she did, Takashi's words entered her brain.

_I really think that you would look even more beautiful with shorter hair._

Those words caused her blush as she continued to cut her hair.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Takashi rests, after his long ordeal, Toru appears before him and suggest they have a Turbo Duel. Seeing it as the perfect time to try out his Duel Runner, Takashi accepts the challenge. Meanwhile, Sayer decides to set his plan into motion._

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 14 – The Mission_


	14. Chapter 14

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

Special Thanks to: **Lord Belphegor**

**Chapter 14: **_The Mission_

* * *

><p>Finally able to enter the bathroom, thanks to Lilly finally getting out of it, Takashi was busy taking a shower. As he let the water fall on his body, his mind started to wander.<p>

"A lot has been happening in the last few days." He thought. "I mean, one minute I'm Crash Town living my life in a boring western town with Klaus. But things weren't always bad with him. I mean, besides the fact that he would always get on me for cursing. Though, it is his fault that I curse in the first place."

_14 years ago_

Takashi: Age 4

A young Takashi was busy in the pup that Klaus owned back in Crash Town. The young boy was busy drinking some apple juice when some tough looking men from the Malcolm family sat down and ordered some beer. Once Klaus gave them their drinks the two men got drunk rather quickly and started cursing nonstop. Takashi, who would say or do anything he saw or told, was intrigued by the new words. Once the men left, Takashi started tugging Klaus by his shirt. The old man looked towards his grandson with a smile on his face.

"Yes Takashi…?" He said.

"What does the fuck mean?" The young boy asked.

_Back in the present_

Takashi started laughing as he got out of the shower and started drying himself off.

"From that day on Klaus would always get on my ass whenever I cursed." He said. "Good thing he's not here to do that."

The 18, turning 19, year-old boy headed towards his room where he saw that Toru set it up with all type of things that he would need. Such things like; computers, Duel simulators, and other type of things.

As he sat on his bed Takashi was busy looking through all the cards that his mother had. Some cards were really common like Sonic Chick or Speed Warrior, so the young man only assumed that those were the first cards that she owned. However he found a lot of really rare cards that Dueling Legends like; Zane Truesdale, Alexis Rhodes, Jaden Yuki, Yugi Muto, and some many others. Such cards were the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. Others were Buster Blader and Cyber Dragon.

"Wow…mother must have won a lot of important Duels to own cards like these." He thought. "And now all these cards belong to me now."

Takashi pulled out his deck and spent most of night improving his deck. He tried to maintain the dragon base style, but tried to make some improvements. He wanted his style to have an equal level of power and speed, rather than just power. He felt that a power duel wasn't going to help him become a Pro Duelist because his opponents could just easily avoid his moves. But with some speed he might just have a better chance, or…at least that what he thought.

As he worked on his deck, Toru let himself into Takashi's room.

"Hey bro…" He said. "So how do you like the digs?"

Takashi didn't notice Toru entering the room as he was to focus on working on his deck. This didn't bother him because Toru knew that Takashi was very serious when it came to Duel Monsters. However…he wanted to say something important to him so he got to Takashi ear and took a deep breath.

"TAKASHI!" He yelled.

The young boy jumped from his bed and fell to the floor. He quickly got up though and glared at Toru.

"What the Fuck?" He asked in an angry tone of voice. "What do you want?"

"Takashi…I challenge you to a Turbo Duel!" Toru declared with a smile on his face.

"Huh…?" Takashi said in confusion. "A Turbo Duel…?"

"Yeah…" Toru said. "Now that you're in New Domino City, it's about time you get used to way people Duel here. You'll be spending less time Ground Dueling and more time Turbo Dueling."

Takashi looked at Toru for a second before pulling out his Turbo Dueling deck.

"Alright Toru…I'll accept your challenge." He said. "Besides…I've been waiting to kick your ass again."

Toru got an evil smirk on his face as he glared at Takashi. He then proceeded to pull out his own Turbo Dueling deck.

"Things won't end like it did 3 years ago, you little shit!" He said. "I'll defeat you this time."

The two friends glared at each other for a few moments before they started laughing. Toru then left and Takashi went back to working on his deck.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile back in the giant building on the other side of New Domino City. The man named Sayer, who revealed himself to have brown hair and eyes of the same color, was busy looking at a video. On the video he was looking at Takashi, who just releasing his power against Akiza. He was very interested that Takashi was able to fix the landscape that Akiza destroyed and still have enough energy to continue the Duel against her.<p>

"This boy…I can use him…" He said quietly to himself.

As Sayer was thinking a man snow-white hair, which tied into a long ponytail, walked into the room. He had green eyes and a very mature look on his face. Without even turning his head, Sayer already knew who the person was.

"Recuk…." He said. "How is she?"

The man, known as Recuk Revajik, went to one knee and put his down. He then started talking.

"Master…" He said. "Akiza seems to be almost back to normal. However I can tell that she's has something on her mind. Do you want me to deal with her again?"

"No…" Sayer answered. "I'll deal with her. Having you talk to her will only cause her to have more distractions. In the meantime I have a mission for you."

"What would that be…?" Recuk asked.

Sayer pressed some buttons on the computer that was in front of him and a picture of Takashi appeared. Under the picture were smaller images of both Toru and Lilly. Sayer then turned towards Recuk.

"I want to capture this boy." He said. "If you're able to capture his friends then go ahead, but make capturing this boy your top priority."

"Yes Master Sayer…" Recuk said without even flinching. He then got up and began to walk out of the room, but not before saying one more thing. "I'll have him before nightfall."

Sayer smiled as he watched Recuk leave the room. He then looked over to the computer and played the image where Takashi unleashed his power. He then looked at his birthmark.

"I need to get him and make him mine…before Godwin is able to."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_It's always been Takashi's dream to one day compete in a actual Turbo Duel. Now he has the chance to do so when he faces his best friend Toru in a friendly match. Can our hero earn his first victory or will Toru's experience be too much for him. _

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 15 – Ambush_


	15. Chapter 15

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 15: **_Ambush_

* * *

><p>Early the following morning Takashi, along with Toru and Lilly, was at the Mountain Pass which was just outside of New Domino City. While he was there, Takashi was making sure that everything was ready for his upcoming Turbo Duel against Toru.<p>

"Speed Spells can only be used when you have Speed Counters." He thought. "Certain Speed Spells requires you to remove Speed Counters while others do not. Also each Duelist gains 1 Speed Counter during the Standby Phase of either players turn.

As he was review the rules within his mind, Toru and Lilly were busy talking to one another.

"Why are you here?" He asked. "This is just a match between Takashi and me."

"I know." Lilly answered. "But I want to see how well you Turbo Duel and to see how well Takashi does during his very first Turbo Duel."

"I see…" Toru said as he put his helmet on his head. "You must know a lot about Turbo Dueling then."

"Of course I do." The young woman stated. "I wouldn't have built my own Duel Runner if I didn't know about Turbo Dueling."

Toru smiled. "That's true."

The young man got on his Runner and rode over to Takashi, who was now getting on his own Duel Runner.

"You ready?" He asked.

Takashi put his helmet on his head and pressed the button on the side to lower his windshield. He then looked over towards Toru and nodded his head.

"Good…" He then pointed over to the mountain's road. "Now listen, Takashi…During a Turbo Duel the Duelist who is able to make reach the first corner first, is allowed to make the opening move. Understand?"

"Pretty much…" Takashi replied.

"Good." Toru said.

Both Duelists pressed a button on their Duel Runners, activating their Speed World 2 Field Spells. Their Runner released a purple energy that covered the area around them. With that they both rode off, towards the first curve. For the most part it looked like Toru was about to make it their first, but in the end Takashi was able to cross it. Lilly sighed when she saw this and walked over to her Duel Runner.

"Toru slowed down at the last minute…" She thought. "He wants Takashi to go first."

The young woman activated the display screen of her Duel Runner, thus showing her the Duel. As she looked on, a mysterious figure appeared behind her. She sensed that something was behind her, but she felt something hard hit her back. The resulting blow knocked her out as the mysterious figure walked up to her. The person glanced over at the display screen and saw Takashi and Toru.

"There you are…" He said.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Toru: 4000 LP**

"Since I made the turn first, I'm allowed to go first!" Takashi said, stating the obvious. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC- 1**

**Toru: SPC- 1**

The young man drew a card from his deck and slowly placed it into his hand. He then took another card and placed it on the Monster Card Zone of his Duel Disk.

"I summon Blizzard Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Blizzard Dragon: ATK 1800 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A blue dragon appeared next to Takashi and started flying next to him while he was riding on the road. The young man then took two more cards from his hand; however he placed these in his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards appeared face-down on the field for a second before disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn."

"Blizzard Dragon…?" Toru questioned. "I've never seen you use that card before."

"Well…it has been 3 years since we last Dueled." Takashi stated. "Of course I'm going to have new cards."

"True enough…" Toru said with a smile. "It's my turn…Draw!"

The young Turbo Duelist swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand.

**Takashi: SPC- 2**

**Toru: SPC- 2**

"Since your showing new Monsters, let me show you mine. I summon Cyber Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

Toru placed a card onto his Monster Card Zone and, in a flash, a metal dragon with yellow eyes appeared next to him. The mere sight of the monster shocked Takashi.

"I can Special Summon Cyber Dragon when my opponent has Monsters on the field, while I do not."

"Crap…" Takashi silently said.

Toru would then insert a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card quickly appeared on the field and it revealed the image of mage, summoning 2 monsters.

"When I have 2 or more Speed Counters I can activate the Speed Spell; Double Summon!" He stated. "With this Spell, I can Normal Summon twice this turn."

Toru quickly took a card from his hand and placed it on his Monster Card Zone. When he did, his Scrap Beast appeared and started running next to him.

"I summon the Tuner Monster; Scrap Beast, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Beast: ATK 1600 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

"I now Tune my Level 4 Scrap Beast with my Level 5 Cyber Dragon, to Synchro Summon; Scrap Twin Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Twin Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2200 LVL 9**

Both Scrap Beast and Cyber Dragon jumped high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished a two headed Scrap Dragon appeared next to Toru. The mere sight of the beast shocked Takashi as he's never seen Toru Synchro Summon that monster before. As he watched his friend look on at his newly summoned monster, Toru took another card from his hand and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I summon the Tuner Monster; Scrap Worm, also in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Worm: ATK 500 DEF 100 LVL 2**

A small worm, which made out of pieces of scrap metal, appeared on Toru's side of the field and stood next him.

"Damn it…" Takashi cursed. "I knew that Toru has gotten better, but I didn't think he would progress this far. I mean, in just one turn, he Synchro Summoned a Level 9 monster like it was a level 1 monster. I'm going to have to Duel at full strength if I'm going to stand a chance against him."

"I activate Scrap Twin Dragon's Special Ability!" Toru declared. "I can select 1 card I control and 2 cards my opponent controls. By destroying the card that I control, I can return the two cards that my opponent controls back into their hand!"

"Shit!" Takashi yelled in frustration.

"I choose to destroy my Scrap Worm, to return your face-down cards back into your hand!" Toru declared.

Takashi reluctantly took his two face-down cards and placed them back into his hand. He then looked back as he watched Scrap Twin Dragon devour Scrap Worm.

"I activate Scrap Worm's Special Ability!" Toru said. "When it's destroyed by the effect of a 'Scrap Monster' and sent to the Graveyard. I can bring 1 Scrap Monster from my Graveyard and add it to my hand. The monster I choose is my Scrap Beast!"

Toru went to his Graveyard and pulled out his Scarp Beast, before putting it back into his hand.

"Scrap Twin Dragon; attack Blizzard Dragon!"

The metal dragon fired a laser beam from both of its mouth. The attack struck Takashi's Blizzard Dragon, killing it instantly.

**Toru: 4000 LP**

**Takashi: 2800 LP**

The shockwave from the impact caused Takashi to lose his balance for a moment. However he was able to quickly straighten himself out, though Toru was able to pass him.

"With that Takashi, I end my turn!" Toru said.

"Draw…!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck.

**Takashi: SPC- 3**

**Toru: SPC- 3**

The young man looked at the card that he just drew a smiled. He, however, placed in his hand first and re-set the two cards that Toru put back in his hand. Like before, the cards appeared on the field for a second before disappearing again. Takashi would then insert the card that he just drew into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it had the image of an old mummy, tying bandages on a new mummy.

"When I have 3 or more Speed Counter I can activate the Speed Spell; Tribute to the Doomed!" He said. "By discarding 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy 1 monster on your side of the field. The card I choose is your Scrap Twin Dragon!"

Takashi took a card from his hand and placed it in his Graveyard, as Toru's dragon imploded.

"Nice move Takashi…" His friend said to him. "However when Scrap Twin Dragon is destroyed, I can revive a non-synchro Scrap Monster from my Graveyard. I choose to bring back my Scrap Worm, in Defense Mode!"

From the remains of Scrap Twin Dragon, Toru's Scrap Worm appeared on the field. However, Takashi wasn't impressed by Toru's move as he was already prepared for it.

"I activate the Special Ability of the Regene Warrior that I discarded!" He said. "When it's sent from the hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon it to the field!"

**Regene Warrior: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 4**

A man with fire on the top of his head and on both arms appeared on the field, next to Takashi. The young man then inserted another card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it revealed itself to be Summon Speeder.

"When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can activate the Speed Spell; Summon Speeder! With it, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or below Monster from my hand!"

Takashi quickly took a card from his hand and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon Masked Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Masked Dragon: ATK 1400 DEF 1100 LVL 3**

In a flash of light, Masked Dragon appeared and started flying next to Regene Warrior. Takashi then took another card and also placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster; Dread Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

With that action, Dread Dragon appeared and flew next to Takashi's other Monsters. Toru looked on and already knew Takashi's plan. He was planning to Synchro Summon.

"I Tune my Level 2 Dread Dragon with my Level 3 Masked Dragon with my Level 4 Regene Warrior to Synchro Summon; Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

**Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: ATK 2700 DEF 2000 LVL 9**

All of Takashi's Synchro Monster jumped high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished a giant ice dragon with 3 heads appeared beside him and it roared at Toru.

"Nice Monster Takashi." Toru said.

"Thanks…" Takashi replied. "And if you're impressed by it now, then you'll be even more impressed by its Special Ability. You see, when successfully Synchro Summoned Trishula can remove from the game a card in your field, hand and Graveyard!"

"What…?" Toru said in shock.

"I remove from the Duel; Scrap Twin Dragon, Scrap Worm and a random card from your hand!" Takashi declared.

In a flash of light, Toru's Scrap Worm was sucked into a small vortex created by Trishula. The young Turbo Duelist took the cards that were removed from the Duel and placed them in his pocket. He then looked on in horror as his field was empty.

"Trishula…attack Toru Life Points Directly!"

The might ice dragon fired a frozen beam from each of its 3 mouths. All of the beams hit Toru, causing him to spin out of control for a few minutes.

**Takashi: 2800 LP**

**Toru: 1300 LP**

"I end my turn!" Takashi said as he passed Toru and continued through the Mountain Pass.

Toru soon straighten out and headed for Takashi.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card from his deck.

**Takashi: SPC- 4**

**Toru: SPC- 4**

He looked at the card that he just drew for a few seconds before inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a Turbo Duelist passing other Turbo Duelists.

"When I have 4 or more Speed Counters I can activate the Speed Spell; Speed Boost. With it, I gain 4 more Speed Counters. During my End Phase though, my Speed Counters will drop to zero."

**Toru: SPC- 8**

**Takashi: SPC- 4**

Toru then inserted another card within his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it had the image of a huge windstorm and it was blowing everything within its path.

"Next, by removing 6 Speed Counters I can activate the Speed Spell; Heavy Storm! With it I can destroy all the Spell or Trap Cards that reside on the field!"

**Takashi: SPC- 4**

**Toru: SPC- 2**

A huge gust of wind popped out of the card and surrounded both Takashi and Toru. The wind revealed both of Takashi's face-down cards and destroyed them. Forcing the young man to take the cards and insert them into his Graveyard. Once the wind died down, Toru inserted another card onto his Spell/Trap Zone. When it appeared onto the field, it turned out to be Speed Fusion.

"Now for my last Speed Spell!" He declared. "When I have 2 or more Speed Counters I can activate the Speed Spell; Speed Fusion! With it, I fuse the Cyber Dragons that are in my hand to Fusion Summon; Cyber Twin Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Cyber Twin Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

As Toru placed his two Cyber Dragon cards into his Graveyard, the image of those two dragons appeared on his side of the field. The two Machine-Type monsters then fused together. When they finished fusing, a giant Cyber Dragon with two heads appeared and it stared down Trishula.

"Damn it…" Takashi cursed.

"Cyber Twin Dragon…attack Trishula!" Toru ordered.

The new Cyber Dragon fired a high density laser beam from one of its mouths, destroying Trishula on contact.

**Takashi: 2700 LP**

**Toru: 1300 LP**

"I activate Cyber Twin Dragon's Special Ability! It can attack twice in the same Battle Phase!"

Cyber Twin Dragon's other mouth fired the same type of laser at Takashi!

**Toru: 1300 LP**

**Takashi: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As soon as his Life Points hit zero, Takashi's Duel Runner stopped on its own and it started spewing out steam. Soon all the holograms faded and Toru rode over to his friend, who was busy taking his helmet off.<p>

"Damn it…" He said. "I thought I had you."

"You almost did…" Toru said in agreement. "But I was just a couple of steps ahead of you this time."

"Yeah…" Takashi said. "Oh well, that just means I need to train harder so that I can kick your ass next time!"

Toru looked at Takashi for a minute and smiled, happy that his old friend still retained the desire to get stronger even after losing. Soon the two of them headed over to where Lilly was. However, when they got there, the only thing that they saw was Lilly's Duel Runner.

"Where did that girl go?" Takashi questioned.

As he looked around for her, Takashi's birthmark started to glow. The young man looked at it for a second before something hard hit his back. He fell to the ground and tried his best not to pass out. He turned his body around and saw someone looking at him. However he wasn't able to get a good look as he soon passed out from his injuries. Toru ran over towards his fallen friend, but he suffered the same fate.

As the two boys layed on the ground, a truck soon appeared and parked right beside them. The back of the truck opened and inside it was Lilly, who still unconscious. The man, who knocked out Takashi and Toru, placed the two boys into the truck and closed the door. He then pulled out his Cell Phone and proceeded to make a call.

"Master Sayer…I've got them." He said.

"_Excellent Recuk…"_Sayer said over the phone. _"Excellent…"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Taken against his will, Takashi his brought to Sayer's liar, the Arcadia Movement. Just what is it that the evil mastermind want and how does it involve Takashi and his friends?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 16 – What you can show, but can't see_


	16. Chapter 16

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 16: **_What you can show, but can't see_

* * *

><p>"<em>So he's the one who defeated Lady Akiza…"<em>A faint female voice said.

"_He doesn't seem all that strong."_An equally faint male voice replied. _"He wouldn't last two seconds against me."_

"_What's he doing here…?"_Another female voice asked.

"_Master Sayer instructed me to bring him."_A heavier male voice answered. _"He wants to see if he will be of any use to us."_

All of these voiced ran through Takashi's head as he slept in a small room with a bed and no windows. The young man slept for about 2 hours until he finally woke up. When he did, he noticed that his hands were handcuffed by a strange yellow energy. He tried his best to break free, but no matter how many times he tried he just couldn't break the cuffs. He soon gave up and sat by the bed, trying to make sense on what was happening.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked himself. "One second I looking around for Lilly, the next my head's throbbing while I'm in a strange room."

Takashi tried to break free of the cuff again; however his efforts were again futile.

"Damn it…"

After about another hour, someone entered Takashi's room and it was Recuk. The two young men looked at each other for a couple of minutes before one of them said anything. Recuk was the one who spoke first.

"Come with me…" He said.

Takashi glared at Recuk for a second before responding to him. The young man smirked and stuck his tongue out at him.

"Fuck you, asshole." He said.

With that said, both Takashi and Recuk started fighting one another. Though he tried his best to win, and was able to get a few good kicks in, Takashi wasn't able to defeat Recuk and was dragged from out of the room. Soon the two of them entered a large dining hall and Recuk forced Takashi into one of the seats. The young looked around the room and saw that Sayer was looking at him from across the dining room table.

"Welcome…Takashi Nakamura." He said with a smile on his face. "My name is Sayer and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Takashi didn't respond to Sayer's welcome and spent his time trying to find a way out of the room. However there were guards all around the place, thus making any escape attempt impossible. He then started to glare at Sayer.

"Where am I?" He asked in angry tone of voice.

"Your new home…" Sayer replied as he snapped his fingers.

Takashi's cuffs magically disappeared, causing him a great amount of confusion. However he quickly snapped out of it and quickly charged towards Sayer. He was about to punch him in the face, but two fireballs hit him in the back. The force of the attacks knocked Takashi to the ground, causing the young man to be in an extreme amount of pain. He was about to fall to the ground, but Recuk grabbed him by his hair. Sayer would then walk over to Takashi as the young man started to pass out again.

"Don't worry Takashi…you'll get used to things here." He said. "However…your friends might not be so fortunate."

"Lilly….Toru…." Takashi softly spoke as he fell unconscious.

"_Which one should we test first…?"_One male voice said. _"How about this red-headed woman?"_

"_Nah…let's test the one who defeated Lady Akiza."_Another male voice said.

"_Do not touch him!"_A girl yelled. _"I'll be the one who deals with him…"_

"_No you won't, woman…"_Recuk said. _"Our Master has plans for him…Now place him in the observation deck and make sure you don't remove his cuffs!"_

Takashi slowly regained consciousness as he started to smell something within the room that he was in.

"Roses…?" He thought.

The young man tried to get back to his feet and the first thing that he saw was Akiza, who was looking out a glass window. He was about to say something to her, but she cut him off at the last second.

"Shut your mouth and watch!" She said while not even turning her head towards him.

Takashi turned and looked through the glass window. He then looked on in shock as Toru walked onto the Duel Field that was below him. He continued to look on and saw Recuk appear, carrying his and Toru's Duel Disks. He then tossed Toru's his device as he put his on his right arm. Once they were both ready the two of them separated from each other and activated their Duel Disks. Takashi then turned to Akiza again.

"What the hell is going on here?" He asked.

The young woman ignored Takashi's question and continued to look as Toru and Recuk began their Duel.

"DUEL!"

* * *

><p><strong>Toru: 4000 LP<strong>

**Recuk: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move…" Recuk said. "Draw…!" The white-haired Duelist swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then took a card and placed it on his Monster Card Zone. "I summon Fabled Gallabas, in Attack Mode!"

**Fabled Gallabas: ATK 1500 DEF 800 LVL 4**

A green monster that had green arm, a mask that covered its face, armor that was covering its body, and was carrying a giant mace appeared on Recuk's side of the field.

"With that…I end my turn."

Takashi looked on with a confused look on his face. For some reason Recuk's monster bothered him, but he didn't know the reason why.

"Fabled…?" He thought. "I heard that name before…why can't I remember it?"

As Takashi was trying to figure out Recuk's monster, Toru proceeded to begin his turn.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card from his deck. The young man looked at it and smiled before looking back at Recuk. "Look I don't know who the hell you are, but I'm not going to stand here and let you get away with that you're doing! I'm going defeat you and get Takashi and Lilly out of here!"

Recuk gave a smile smirk as he glared at Toru. "Then you better defeat then!"

Takashi's eyes widen at Toru's and Recuk's words. He then started banging his head against the glass wall.

"Toru!" He yelled at the top of lungs. "I'm up here!"

"It's no use…" Akiza explained. "This is a special one-way window. We can see and hear them, but they can't see or hear us."

Takashi glared at her and cursed himself for letting himself and his friends to enter the situation that they were in. He then started to bang his head against the window again. Meanwhile Toru took the card that he drew and placed it in his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it revealed itself to be Foolish Burial.

"I activate the Spell Card; Foolish Burial!" He declared. "With it I can send one card from my deck and send it to the Graveyard. I choose to discard my Scrap Goblin!"

Toru's Scrap Goblin card popped out of his deck and the young man pulled it out. As his Duel Disk reshuffled his card, Toru placed Scrap Goblin in the Graveyard before placing a card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon Scrap Chimera, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Chimera: ATK 1700 DEF 500 LVL 4**

In a flash of light, Scrap Chimera appeared on Toru's side of the field and started roaring.

"I activate Scrap Chimera's Special Ability! When successfully Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Scrap Tuner Monster from my Graveyard. So be revived…Scrap Goblin!"

**Scrap Goblin: ATK 0 DEF 500 LVL 3**

In the same flash of light, Scrap Goblin appeared and stood next to Scrap Chimera.

"Now, I Tune my Level 4 Scrap Chimera with my Level 3 Scrap Goblin to Synchro Summon; Scrap Archfiend, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Archfiend: ATK 2700 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Both of Toru's Scrap Monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When the finished, Scrap Archfiend appeared in a giant flash of light. The mighty Fiend-Type Monster roared at the top of its lungs; however Recuk wasn't intimidated by the beast.

"Scrap Archfiend…attack Fabled Gallabas!"

The mighty Scrap Monster raised its giant fist before proceeding to punch Fabled Gallabas into a pulp.

**Toru: 4000 LP**

**Recuk: 2800 LP**

Toru smiled with confidence when he saw that Recuk's Life Points dropped.

"So how you like that?" He said confidently.

Recuk looked at him with a disappointed look on his face as he took Gallabas' card and placed it in his Graveyard.

"Just as I thought…" He said. "You don't have it…"

"Have what?" Toru questioned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'll show you soon enough…" Recuk replied. "Just finish you turn."

Toru glared at his opponent as he took a card from his deck and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared behind Scrap Archfiend in a face-down position.

"Fine you prick…I set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw…!" Recuk yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He took the card and looked at it for a second before placing it in his Graveyard. "By discarding 'Fabled Monster' from my hand I and Special Summon; The Fabled Nozoochee, in Attack Mode!"

**The Fabled Nozoochee: ATK 1200 DEF 800 LVL 2**

A small yellow worm, with a tiny blue beast connected to it, appeared on Recuk's side of the field.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of The Fabled Krus that I just discarded! When it's discarded to the Graveyard I can Special Summon a Level 4 of lower Fabled Monster from my Graveyard. So I Special Summon; Fabled Gallabas, in Attack Mode!"

In a flash of light, Gallabas reappeared on the field and stood next to Nozoochee.

"After that, I activate the second Special Ability of The Fabled Nozoochee! When it's Special Summoned by its first Special Ability, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower Fabled Monster from my hand."

Recuk took a card from his hand and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon the Tuner Monster; The Fabled Chawa, in Attack Mode!"

**The Fabled Chawa: ATK 200 DEF 100 LVL 1**

In a flash of light a yellow demon, who was riding a chiwawa appeared on Recuk side of the field and it stood next to his other monsters. As he looked on, Takashi finally figured out the type of Monsters that Recuk is using.

"Fabled…The Demonic Roar Gods!" He thought.

"I Tune my Level 4 Fabled Gallabas with my Level The Fabled Nozoochee with my Level 1 The Fabled Chawa to Synchro Summon; Fabled Sevvuh, in Attack Mode!"

**Fabled Sevvuh: ATK 1900 DEF 1400 LVL 7**

All three of Recuk's monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished a demon with yellow skin and red and black clothes appeared on the field and stared down Scrap Archfiend. The mere sight of Fabled Sevvuh caused Takashi's birthmark to glow a bright red color, stinging the young man's arm.

"Sevvuh…attack Scrap Archfiend!" Recuk commanded.

As Sevvuh ran over towards Scrap Archfiend, Toru looked at Recuk with a confused expression on his face.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked. "I can tell you're not retarded so why are you having your monster attack mine?"

Recuk ignored answering Toru's question as proceeded to talk to him again.

"I activate Fabled Sevvuh's Special Ability! During the Damage Step, Sevvuh gains Attack Points equal to half of the Attack Points of the Monster it battles!"

"What?" Toru said in shock.

Toru attempted to press his Duel Disk, so that he could activate his face-down card. However before he could a giant windstorm blew him against the wall. The force the impact caused him to cough up blood. Takashi looked on with a shocked look on his face and saw that Recuk activated his Quick-Play Spell Card; Mystical Space Typhoon. This allowed him to destroy Toru's face-down card before he got the chance to activate it. However, what surprised him more is that Toru made the power of Mystical Space Typhoon real.

"TORU!" He yelled at the top of lungs. "RUN AWAY!"

However, because of the special room that he was in, Takashi's request went unanswered. Meanwhile back at the Duel, Recuk continued his turn.

"Fabled Sevvuh…!" He said. "Attack his Scrap Archfiend!"

Sevvuh attack ran over Scrap Archfiend as a black aura surrounded its body.

**Fabled Sevvuh: ATK 3250**

The demonic roar god pierced through Archfiend's body, causing the metal monster to implode on itself.

**Toru: 3450 LP**

**Recuk: 2800 LP**

The explosion devastated the battlefield that both Duelists were standing on. When the smoke settled, Toru was face down on the ground while Recuk was standing there like nothing happened.

"NO!" Takashi yelled as a blue aura surrounded his body.

"I activate Fabled Sevvuh's second Special Ability!" Recuk explained. "When it destroys one of my opponent's monsters, I can make that monster into an Equip Card and have it Equip to Sevvuh."

All the pieces of Toru's Scrap Archfiend started assemble on its own and soon the metal fiend was back on its field. However it was now on Recuk's side of the field and it stood behind Fabled Sevvuh.

"With that, I end my turn."

Recuk looked on for a few moments as he watched Toru lie on the ground. He soon shifted his attention to the mirror and started to sense Takashi's aura.

"Master was right." He thought. "That boy is powerful."

Back in the observation deck, Akiza looked on as Takashi's aura lit up the entire room. However, unlike before, she wasn't too impressed by his power and just continued look at the Duel.

"Give up…!" Recuk said to Toru as the young man got to one knee. "You cannot defeat me and you know this to be true. So surrender! I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have."

"…Fuck…off…!" Toru said as he started coughing up blood. The young man started to flashback to all the times that Takashi would defend him or other people. No matter how many times he got injured or could've been killed, Takashi stood his ground not caring about his own safety. "…My…friend is in trouble…and I'm…not going to stop until…I beat you…and save him!"

Toru got to his feet and started screaming at the top of his lungs. He then swiftly drew a card from his deck and, without even looking at it; he inserted it into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk. When the card appeared on the field, it turned out to be Polymerization.

"I activate the Spell Card; Polymerization! With it I Fuse the 3 Cyber Dragons that are in my hand to Fusion Summon; Cyber End Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Cyber End Dragon: ATK 4000 DEF 2800 LVL 10**

3 Cyber Dragons appeared on Toru's side of the field and proceeded to fuse together. When they finished, a giant Cyber Dragon with 3 heads appeared on Toru's side of the field and proceeded to roar at Recuk.

"Cyber End Dragon…Attack Fabled Sevvuh with Eternal Evolution Burst!"

All three heads of the mighty Cyber Dragon fired a fireball from their mouths and all of them proceeded to head towards Fabled Sevvuh. However Recuk wasn't worried.

"I've warned you…fool." He said. "I activate Fabled Sevvuh's 3rd Special Ability! If it were to be destroyed, the Equipped Monster is destroyed instead!"

Toru's Scrap Archfiend got in front of Sevvuh and took the hit for it. An explosion covered the field, blowing Toru back into the wall. When the smoke faded, Scrap Archfiend was gone and Fabled Sevvuh was still on the field. Toru was shocked at what just happened and slowly came to the realization that he couldn't do anything else, since had no more cards in his hand.

"I…I end my turn." He said reluctantly.

Recuk drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then looked at Toru one more time.

"I'm going to ask you one more time." He said. "Give up…if this keeps up you're going to die."

Toru looked at his opponent as his mind started to wander back into the past.

_8 years ago_

Takashi: Age 13

Toru: Age 14

While walking back to their houses, Toru was trying to help Takashi get back home as the young boy's right arm and left leg were broken.

"Takashi…" Toru said. "Why…?"

"…Why what?" Takashi asked as he tried to look at his friend.

"Why do you always do this…?" Toru asked him. "Whenever I'm in trouble you try and save me and every time you end up getting hurt. Why do you do it? I mean…I know you don't like getting hurt."

Takashi thought about his friend's question for a few moments before finally giving him an answer.

"You're my friend…" He said. "And friends look out for each other. That's why."

"But…" Toru said before Takashi cut him off.

"What can you show, but cannot see?"

Toru looked at his friend with a confused look on his face. When he didn't answer, Takashi answered it for him.

"Friendship…you can't see friendship but you can express it with your actions. Listen Toru, I help you because you're my best friend and because of that I'm willing to get hurt just to protect you. "

"…Takashi." Toru softly said as he carried his friend home.

_Present Day_

"What can you show, but cannot see?" Toru asked Recuk.

"What do you mean?" Recuk asked.

"Friendship…" Toru answered as he got back up to his feet. "You can't see friendship but you express it with your actions! Listen, you bastard…Takashi is my best friend and I'm willing to sacrifice my life in order to protect him! So you can go to hell because I'm not giving up!"

Recuk closed his eyes as he pondered Toru's words. He then flashed back when he was younger and how he protected his little sisters. No matter how bad he got beat up; he would protect his sisters like they were his daughters. After coming out of his flashback and wiping his eyes a bit, he looked at Toru.

"What is your name?"

"Toru Ishida…" The young man answered.

"Toru Ishida…you're a good man and you've won my respect." Recuk said.

With that, Recuk took the card he just drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a Junk Warrior monster.

"I activate the Spell Card; Synchro Blast Wave! Since I have a Synchro Monster on my side of the field, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field!"

A colorful energy beam shot from the card and destroyed Cyber End Dragon on contact. As the shockwaves knocked Toru down to one knee, Recuk placed another card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When it appeared on the field, it had the image of a Synchro Monster splitting apart into the monsters used to form it.

"Next, I activate the Spell; De-Synchro! With it I can return a Synchro Monster back into my Extra Deck and Special Summon the monsters used to summon it. So I return Sevvuh back into my Extra Deck to bring back Fabled Gallabas, The Fabled Nozoochee, and The Fabled Chawa."

Fabled Sevvuh started glowing a bright white color and, in a flash, all of the monsters that were used to Synchro Summon it appeared back on Recuk's side of the field. Once they were on the field, Recuk took his final card and placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon Fabled Kushano, in Attack Mode!"

**Fabled Kushano: ATK 1100 DEF 800 LVL 3**

Another Fabled Monster appeared on Recuk's side of the field. This one had blue hair, green wings, and was wearing dark colored clothes.

"Kushano, Nozoochee, and Gallabas have a total Attack Point total of 3800." Recuk explained. "And you have no cards on your field to defend you. Toru Ishida…you know what this mean."

Toru sighed. "I do…, but I refuse to run away."

"Alright then…" Recuk said. "Go my Fabled Monsters…Attack his Life Points directly!"

The 3 Fabled Monsters ran over to Toru and proceeded to attack him.

**Recuk: 2800 LP**

**Toru: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>When the holograms faded, and Toru was falling towards the ground, Takashi couldn't take it anymore and finally snapped. He broke free from the psychic handcuffs and punched through the one-way mirror. Recuk looked on as Takashi, who glowing like the sun, jumped down from the window and proceeded to run towards him. The young man, unconsciously, transferred all of the energy into his right arm and it started to glow a bright red color. He was a second away from punching Recuk in the face, but the white haired individual said something to him before he got the chance too.<p>

"He's not dead."

Hearing those words froze Takashi in his tracks as all the energy that was in his arm faded.

"Re...Really?" He questioned.

Recuk pointed his finger at Toru and Takashi saw that his friend was still alive; he was gravely injured, but alive none the less. Takashi ran over to his friend and tried to get him to talk, but Toru was too injured to speak. Soon Sayer's voice could be heard from the room.

"_Very interesting…"_ He said. _"Very interesting indeed…"_

Takashi started become angry as his birthmark started glowing again. As it did, the blue arm slowly reappeared around his body.

"Where are you, you Bastard!" He yelled. "Where are you hiding?"

"_Recuk…throw that piece of trash out of here." _Sayer instructed. _"Akiza…take our guest to the next room."_

"Yes Master." Recuk said.

The white-haired psychic walked towards Toru and Takashi prepared to stop him. However a sharp vine wrapped around his body and proceeded to lift him in the air. As the thorns pierced his skin, Takashi looked on and Akiza be surrounded by a purple aura. Her hair was a mess and behind her was her Splendid Rose Synchro Monster, who was the one who lifted Takashi up in the air.

"_I wonder how you'll react when Lilly is the next one to be tested."_

"Leave her alone!" Takashi yelled at the top of lungs. "SAYER….SAYER!"

Akiza had Splendid Rose take Takashi away as Recuk took Toru away. Meanwhile in a secret room Sayer looked on as Lilly was being shocked by a machine. As the young woman was screaming in pain, her birthmark was glowing so brightly that it lit up the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Takashi tries to break free from Akiza's grip, Lilly is force to Duel against one of Sayer's Psychic Duelist. Will she fare better than Toru or will she end up suffering the same fate?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 17 – The Swarm of Light_


	17. Chapter 17

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks: **_Blue Eyes White Knight-BEWK_

**Chapter 17: **_The Swarm of Light_

* * *

><p>"Let me go you bitch!" Takashi yelled as he was being dragged on the floor by Akiza's Splendid Rose.<p>

Akiza didn't respond to Takashi. The only thing that female psychic did was snap her fingers. This action caused Splendid Rose to slam Takashi repeatedly on the ground. This happened for about a minute until she snapped her fingers again, causing Splendid Rose to stop. Akiza then grabbed Takashi by his hair and glared at him. As she did, her body was covered by a purple aura.

"What did you call me…you little shit!" She said in an angry tone of voice.

Takashi glared at Akiza, all the while trying to figure out what happened to her. By the end of the first Duel, she seemed to be more opened. But now things are different.

"Say something!"

"Why'd you cut your hair?" He asked.

Akiza looked at him some more as she recalled what he said to him before.

_I really think that you would look even more beautiful with shorter hair_

"No reason…" The psychic said.

"Akiza…" Takashi replied. "You're a lying bitch."

Akiza snapped and had Splendid Rose attack Takashi again. As she watched her monster beat up the young man, Akiza began to lose herself within her own thoughts.

"What is with this bastard…? Why the hell is he always on my mind? It's annoys me to no end…yet…yet why can't I shake the feeling that he's a good person? Why?"

Meanwhile, within the secret room, Lilly was still being subjected to Sayer's electrical shocks. Like before, the young woman was in an incredible amount of pain. However, unlike before, she was able to speak a little.

"Bas…tard…" She stuttered. "I'll…kill…you!"

Sayer looked on from another room and was prepared to turn a knob that would increase the power of the electrical shocks. However, before his hand even reached it, a young woman with blonde hair and green eyes walked into the room.

"What is it…Bianca?"

"Master…" The young woman said. "Lady Akiza and that boy have entered the second observation deck."

"I see…" Sayer said. He looked over at Lilly and saw that while her birthmark was glowing, she wasn't releasing any other power. "Bianca…retrieve your Duel Disk and head over to the second arena."

"Of course Master." Bianca replied. "But may I ask why?"

Sayer stayed silent for a few seconds before finally speaking again.

"I want to test out a theory that I have and I'll need your help with it."

Bianca smiled a little before smiling a little bit. Without saying another word the blond haired woman left the room while Sayer continued to look at the tortured Lilly.

_1 hour later_

Takashi and Akiza were in the second observation deck and were waiting for someone to enter the Duel Arena. As they waited, both of their birthmarks started to glow fainting. This indicated to Takashi that Lilly was either about to enter the arena or join him in the observation deck. He also noticed something about Akiza. The young woman was glaring at her birthmark and clinching it with her left hand. She clinched it so hard that Takashi couldn't tell whether or not she was going to rip the skin off her arm.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked her. "Why do you hate that birthmark?"

Akiza glared at him and prepared to snap her fingers. "Nothing is wrong with me! Now shut the fuck up!"

Takashi sighed. "The fact that you were quick to deny it is proof that you know it in your heart that something is wrong with you. Your emotions have revealed the truth."

The young woman's glare became much fiercer as the purple aura that surrounded her body became much more powerful. She then kicked Takashi with enough force that he was sent flying into the glass window. Akiza then proceeded to talk to him as she slowly walked over towards him.

"What makes you think that?"

"It's easy to see." Takashi said as blood dripped down from his lip. "Your actions towards me and Lilly a couple of days ago, you telling me that you hate people with birthmarks like ours. It's like you're trying to escape from your own suffering by inflicting torment onto others."

"Shut your fuckin mouth!"

Akiza kicked Takashi across the room.

"If you don't ease up on yourself and stop hurting others, your hatred will only hurt the people who you consider your friends" Takashi explained. "Akiza…I know how you feel."

The young woman kicked him in the gut.

"No you don't!" She screamed. "You have no idea on what I had to go through, so don't you lie to my face and tell me that you do!"

Takashi laid face-down on the floor and started to remember something from his past. When he finished reliving his flashback, he slowly lifted his body up by pushing his head from the ground. He then looked at Akiza, with a lot of compassion and understanding in his eyes.

"You're right…I have no idea on what you went through and probably never will. Even so, I do know what it's like to suffer and expressing your anger onto others. However…do you honestly believe that what you…no…what Sayer is making you do, is right?"

Akiza looked at Takashi. Her purple aura faded and her Splendid Rose disappeared. She was about to say something to him, but before she got the chance the door to the Duel Arena opened and Lilly walked in. Takashi looked on and saw that his friend looked really weak, and tried his best to keep his emotions in check. However, this was an extremely difficult action for him to do.

As Lilly walked through the room her birthmark started glowing again. She looked towards the wall and stared at it.

"Takashi…" She thought. "He's in there…"

Soon, Dark Magician Girl appeared and started floating next to her.

"_He's not the only one up there."_She said to her partner. _"I sense an extremely powerful aura coming from where Takashi is."_

"I know…" Lilly said as she closed her eyes a little. "She's in there too…"

The young woman put her Duel Disk on her arm and inserted her deck into it. Just as she did that someone entered from the other side of the Duel Arena and it was Bianca.

"Who the hell are you?" Lilly asked.

"My name is Bianca Saotome." Blonde haired woman stated. "I've been sent by my master to test you."

"Test me…?" Lilly questioned. "What are you talking about? Test me on what?"

"You don't need to know." Bianca said as she activated the Duel Disk that she had on her arm. "All you do need to know is that I'm going to make you see the light."

Lilly was confused by her statement, but she just put it aside and activated her own Duel Disk.

"_Be careful Lilly."_Dark Magician Girl said as she faded away. _"This girl is stronger than she appears."_

Lilly didn't respond to her because she already that without Dark Magician Girl having to tell her.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Bianca: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move." Lilly proclaimed. "I Draw…!" She swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. She then grabbed another card and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. "I summon Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

In a flash of light, Valkyria appeared on the field and stood next to her master. Lilly would then insert a card into her Spell/Trap Zone and the card appeared face-down on the field, behind Valkyria.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn…Draw!" Bianca yelled as she drew a card from her deck. She smiled when she looked at the card and proceeded to place it on her Monster Card Zone. "I summon Card Trooper, in Attack Mode!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 400 DEF 400 LVL 3**

A small robot with a red top and a blue bottom appeared on Bianca's side of the field. The sight of the monster made Takashi really confused.

"Why summon a monster with only 400 Attack Points?" He said thought.

Akiza looked at him and saw the expression on his face. Though she knew that she shouldn't, the young woman decided to explain the reason to Takashi.

"It's because of Card Trooper's Special Ability."

The young man looked at her as she explained Card Trooper's ability to him. Meanwhile Bianca was about to explain her monster's ability to her.

"I activate Card Trooper's Special Ability!" She declared. "I can send up to 3 cards from the top of my deck to Graveyard and for each card I discard, Card Trooper receives 500 extra Attack Points until the End Phase."

"What..?" Lilly said in shock.

Bianca gave Lilly a sly smile as she took the first 3 cards from her deck and inserted them into her Graveyard. Once she did that a blue aura surrounded Card Trooper for about a second.

**Card Trooper: ATK 1900**

"Card Trooper…attack Magician's Valkyria with your plasma beams!"

The small robot fired two lasers from the tips of its arms and both attack connected with Valkyria, incinerating her until nothing was left.

**Bianca: 4000 LP**

**Lilly: 3700 LP**

The impact for the attack shook the ground a little, causing Lilly to fall to one knee. However the young woman regained herself and was able to get back up.

"With that, I end my turn." Bianca said.

**Card Trooper: ATK 400**

"It's my turn…Draw!" Lilly yelled as she drew a card and placed it in her hand. She looked at all of her card for a few seconds before one onto her Monster Card Zone. "I summon Silent Magician LV4, in Attack Mode!"

**Silent Magician LV4: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Lilly's tiny Spellcaster appeared on her side of the field.

"Silent Magician's attacks your Card Trooper!"

The silent mage made her way over to Card Trooper and was about to attack it. However it was at that moment that Lilly pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This activated her face-down card which, when it flipped up, had the image of a stone platform and on the platform was a magic circle.

"I activate the Trap; Magician's Circle!" The young woman stated. "With this, we can Special Summon a Spellcaster-type monster with 2000 or lower Attack Points from our deck. I choose, Dark Magician Girl!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

In an instant, the beautiful Dark Magician Girl appeared on the field. However it was at that same instant that Bianca summoned her own Spellcaster.

"I choose, Lyla, the Lightsworn Sorceress!"

**Lyla, the Lightsworn Sorceress: ATK 1700 DEF 200 LVL 4**

A female mage with long black hair, fair skin, and was wearing yellow and white clothes appeared on Bianca's side of the field. Lilly was shocked that her opponent had a Spellcaster-type monster of her own. However she didn't let that stop her from continuing her attack.

"Dark Magician Girl…" She said. "Attack Lyla!"

Dark Magician Girl fired a blast of pink energy from her wand. As the attack headed for Lyla, Bianca grabbed a card from her Graveyard. This caused the spirit of a man, with a large grey shield, to appear in front of Lyla and took the hit for her.

"I activate the Special Ability of Necro Gardna!" Bianca explained. "I can remove it from the game to negate one of your attacks."

As he watched from the observation room, Takashi was impressed with Bianca. She used Card Trooper's ability to send Necro Gardna to the Graveyard and used her newly discarded monster's ability to block Dark Magician Girl's attack. To Takashi, Bianca was manipulating her cards as if they were her arms and legs.

Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, Lilly continued on with her turn.

"Silent Magician, attack Card Trooper!"

The child magician waved her wand and fired a blast of pure white energy from it. The blast hit Card Trooper, causing the robot to explode.

**Lilly: 3700 LP**

**Bianca: 3400 LP**

"I activate Card Trooper's Special Ability!" Bianca stated. "When it's destroyed I can draw a card from my deck."

The young woman swiftly drew a card and looked at it.

"I activate Silent Magician's Special Ability!" Lilly declared. "When you draw a card, she gains a Spell Counter and for every Spell Counter she gains Silent Magician receives 500 Attack Points."

**Silent Magician LV4: (SC-1) 1500 ATK**

A blue aura surrounded Silent Magician as Bianca placed the card that she just drew onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I summon Watapon!" She said.

**Watapon: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

A small and pink puff ball appeared on Bianca's side of the field.

"I can Special Summon Watapon when I drew it from outside of my Draw Phase."

Lilly grunted with frustration as she took two cards and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The two cards appeared face-down behind her Spellcasters.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn." She said.

"It's my turn…Draw!" Bianca declared as she drew a card from her deck.

**Silent Magician LV4: (SC-2) 2000 ATK**

The blonde haired woman placed the card that she just drew into her hand before placing another card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner monster; Chaos-End Master, in Attack Mode!"

**Chaos-End Master: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

A young man with white armor and white angel wings appeared on Bianca's side of the field and stood next to her other monsters. It didn't' take Lilly long to discover what Bianca was about to do next.

"I Tune my Level 1 Watapon with my Level 4 Lyla, the Lightsworn Sorceress with my Level 3 Chaos-End Master to Synchro Summon; Avenging Knight Parshath, in Attack Mode!"

**Avenging Knight Parshath: ATK 2600 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

A large light blue man with a horse's body appeared on the field. He was carrying a sword and had wings on his side.

"Parshath!" Bianca called. "Attack Silent Magician LV4!"

Parshath charged towards Silent Magician and prepared to cut the young woman down with his sword. However, Lilly had other ideas so she quickly pressed a button on her Duel Disk. With this action, one of her face-down cards flipped up revealing itself to be The Gift of Greed.

"I activate the Trap Card; The Gift of Greed!" She stated. "With this you have to draw two cards!"

Bianca cursed herself as she drew the two cards, knowing that Silent Magician gains Spell Counters for ever card that she drew. Since she drew two cards, the magician gained 2 more Spell Counter as well as 1000 extra Attack Points.

**Silent Magician LV4: (SC-4) 3000 ATK**

Knowing that Parshath would only get himself killed if he fought against Silent Magician, Bianca decided to go after the next best thing.

"Parshath, switch your target to Dark Magician Girl!" The young woman ordered.

Parshath turned away from Silent Magician and made his way towards Dark Magician Girl. However Lilly was once again prepared and pressed another button on her Duel Disk. This activated her other face-down card which, when it flipped up, had the image of 4 hats with large question marks on them.

"I activate another Trap; Magical Hats!" She said. "With this I can switch Dark Magician Girl into Defense Mode and summon 3 hat tokens. I can hide Dark Magician Girl within one of the hats and for this one turn, you have to figure out where she's hiding!"

Lilly's Spellcaster took a defensive position as the hats appeared from the sky. One of the hats covered Dark Magician Girl before merging together with the other hats. After a few seconds, the hat split back into 3 separate hats.

In the observation deck, Akiza wasn't impressed by Lilly's move.

"What a fool." She said.

Takashi looked at her. "What are you talking about? Your friend now has a 33% chance of finding Dark Magician Girl now."

"I know…" Akiza said calmly. "That's why she's a fool."

Back on the battlefield Bianca started laughing like she saw something really funny. Watching her opponent laugh really irritated Lilly to no end.

"Hey…!" She yelled. "Just what the hell are you laughing at?"

Bianca looked at her as she tried contain her laughter.

"I'll show you why I'm laughing." She said. "Parshath, attack the hat on the far right!"

Parshath looked towards the hat that his master wanted him to hit. His blade started glowing a light blue color as it swung. The weapon then released a wave of energy that cut through the hat. Luckily for Lilly, the hat didn't contain Dark Magician Girl. However the attack kept going and eventually hit the young woman in the chest. As blood poured from her body, Lilly fell face first to the ground.

**Bianca: 3400 LP**

**Lilly: 1100 LP**

"NO!" Takashi yelled at the top of lungs as his body exploded with power. "Lilly!"

Bianca started laughing some more as her opponent struggled to get back to her feet. As she made this attempt, she started to breath really hard.

"You…bitch." She struggled to say. "How…how…did you…drain my Life…Points?"

"Parshath as the Piercing Ability." Bianca stated. "He can deal damage to your Life Points even if your monster is in Defense Mode. For someone who uses Spellcasters you should know that when you play Magical Hats, the hats themselves act as monsters with 0 Attack Points and 0 Defense Points."

"Damn…damn it." Lilly grunted.

The young woman started coughing up blood as she finally made it to her feet. Bianca saw this and started to laugh some more.

"So you still want to keep battling…fine." Bianca said. "I end my turn."

"My…turn." Lilly struggled to say as she drew a card from her deck. She slowly placed the card in her hand before placing another card onto her Monster Card Zone. "First…I summon the…Tuner Monster…Effect…Veiler in…Attack Mode."

**Effect Veiler: ATK 0 DEF 0** **LVL 1**

Effect Veiler appeared on the field and stood next to Silent Magician and Dark Magician Girl, who just recently emerged from one of the Magical Hats.

"I Tune…my Level 6…Dark Magician Girl with…my Level 1 Effect Veiler…to Synchro Summon…; Arcanite Magician, in…Attack Mode."

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Both of Lilly's Spellcasters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Arcanite Magician appeared and stood next to Silent Magician.

"Arcanite Magician…Special…Ability activates. When successfully…Synchro Summoned it gains…2 Spell…Counters. For each Counter it…gains…Arcanite Magician receives…1000…extra Attack Points…"

**Arcanite Magician: (SC-2) ATK 2400**

As Arcanite Magician increased in power, Takashi started to become extremely worried about Lilly. He could tell that she was losing a lot of blood and that it was simply a struggle just to keep standing. He attempted to break out of the room, but Akiza had other plans. She used her powers to materialize Black Rose Dragon and have it grab Takashi. As the young man was struggling to break free, Akiza walked up to him.

"You're not leaving until the Duel ends." She said to him. "I'll make sure of it."

Takashi's hair started to become spikier as his eyes became hollow. He then continued to look at the Duel, praying for Lilly's survival.

"Silent…Magician…" Lilly said softly. "Attack her…Parshath."

Silent Magician LV4 fired a wave of energy at Parshath, destroying the warrior in an instant.

**Bianca: 3000 LP**

**Lilly: 1100 LP**

"Arcanite Magician…attack…attack…ATTACK THAT BITCH DIRECTLY!"

A pink aura surrounded Lilly's body as she suddenly received a burst of energy. Somehow, some of that energy transferred to Arcanite Magician as he made his way over to Bianca. When he released his attack, the shockwave sent the blonde haired woman crashing into the nearby wall.

**Lilly: 1100 LP**

**Bianca: 600 LP**

"I end my turn…" Lilly said as the aura faded and she fell to one knee.

Bianca got back to her feet and she had an extremely irritated look on her face.

"You bitch!" She yelled. "I'll make you pay for that dearly! Draw…!"

**Silent Magician LV4: (SC-5) ATK 3500**

The young woman drew a card from her deck and looked at it. She then looked at the other cards that were in her hand before finally inserting the card that she drew into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a hand throwing away a bunch of cards.

"I activate the Spell; Card Destruction! With this, we both have to discard all the cards that are currently in our hands. Then we have draw cards equal to the number of cards that we discarded."

Both Duelists took the cards that were in their hands and discarded them to the Graveyard. They then drew cards equal the number that they discarded. For Lilly it was 3, while for Bianca it was 5. Once she finished drawing her cards, Bianca quickly took one and placed it firmly onto the Monster Card Zone of her Duel Disk.

"Since I have 4 Lightsworn monsters in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon; Judgment Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Judgment Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

A large white dragon appeared on Bianca's side of the field. As her dragon stared down Lilly, Bianca took another card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a woman with green hair. In the woman's had was a shining orb.

"I activate the Spell Card; Dian Keto the Cure Master! With this card, I can increase my Life Points by 1000."

**Bianca: 1600 LP**

**Lilly: 1100 LP**

As she watched her opponent receive Life Points, Lilly's vision started to become blurry. She tried rubbing her eyes, but nothing was working.

"Damn…it…" She said as she coughed up more blood.

"I activate Judgment Dragon's Special Ability!" Bianca declared. "By sacrificing 1000 Life Points, Judgment Dragon can destroy all other cards on the field!"

**Lilly: 1100 LP**

**Bianca: 600 LP**

Judgment Dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs. The dragon's roar not only destroyed Lilly's monsters, but it also sent the young woman crashing into a wall. The impact from the crash created a small creator. She then fell back towards the ground as Judgment Dragon stopped roaring.

"Judgment Dragon…make her see the Light!" Bianca ordered.

Judgment Dragon prepared to fire a blast of light energy at Lilly, who was still trying to get back to her feet. When the dragon finally fired its attack, Lilly took a card from her hand and placed it in her Graveyard. When she did, the spirit of a Kuriboh appeared on the field and took the attack instead.

"I activate…Kuriboh's…Special Ability." She said as she started to fall back to the ground. "With it…can reduce this attack…to…zero."

Lilly fell back to the ground as the life began to fade from her eyes. Bianca cursed herself because she wasn't able to defeat Lilly this turn.

"I end my turn." She said. "And this it's my End Phase, Judgment Dragon's second Special Ability is activated. I must now send the top 4 cards from my deck and place them in my Graveyard."

As Bianca placed 4 cards into her Graveyard, Takashi's body started to glow and he eventually broke free from Black Rose Dragon. Akiza attempted to have her Synchro Monster grab Takashi again but it was too late. Takashi already busted out of the room and ran over to Lilly. He started rubbing her body, trying to get some reaction from her. However Lilly didn't move and simply continued to lie down on the floor as blood poured from her body.

"…Lilly…" Takashi said softly. "No…"

As the young woman was dying, she started to have a flashback.

* * *

><p><em>13 years ago.<em>

_Lilly: Age 6_

Lilly was talking to her mother, who busy lying on her bed.

"Mommy…" She cried. "Mommy you can't die! You promised we be together forever."

Her mother was too tired to say anything and the only thing she did was give her some cards. After that she died. The lost of her mother shook Lilly to her core and for a couple of months; she stayed in a comatose state. Her eyes had no life in them and she even thought about committing suicide. On the day that she finally decided to take her life, someone started talking to her.

"_Lilly Muto…"_The voice said. _"It is not your time to die yet."_

Lilly turned her head and she saw the spirit of a giant blue dragon with green hair, fairy-type wings, and human hands, appeared.

"Who are you…?" Lilly asked.

"_My name is…"_The dragon said. _"Ancient Fairy Dragon..."_

The dragon released a power light from its body and for an instant Lilly's mind was sent to another dimension. When the light faded, life returned to Lilly's eyes. She then walked over to the cards that her mother gave her and saw that one of them had a picture of Ancient Fairy Dragon.

"Mother…thank you."

_11 years later_

_Lilly: Age 17_

"What do you mean that you're going to New Domino City?"

Lilly was busy working on a Duel Runner while Crow was talking to her.

"Alistair tricked me and stole my Ancient Fairy Dragon." Lilly said as she worked on the Runner. "I'll make him pay for that!"

"But you know that people from Satellite are forbidden to go there. If you do then you're going to be sent to the Facility for life." Crow explained. "Lilly it's just a card."

The young woman punched Crow in the face and proceeded to grab him by his collar. She then gave him a menacing glare.

"IT'S NOT JUST A CARD!" She yelled. "It belonged to my mother and it's really important to me. I don't care what may happen to me, but I refuse to die until I get Ancient Fairy Dragon back!"

_Present._

* * *

><p>Life slowly returned to Lilly's eyes as she remembered two more things.<p>

_I refuse to die until I get Ancient Fairy Dragon back!_

_Then how about this, you join me while I head through the pipeline. Once we're out I'll help you get back the thing that you lost._

"I can't die yet…I can't!" The young woman thought.

Lilly's birthmark started glowing brighter as she soon got to her feet. She looked over at Takashi and saw him about to confront Bianca.

"Takashi…!" She yelled. "I'll be the one to take her down!"

The young man turned to her and saw the look in her eyes. He saw that Lilly had the desire to win no matter what it took, but he also saw that she had no intention to die. Seeing that, Takashi nodded his head and back away.

**Lilly: 1100 LP**

**Bianca: 600 LP**

"It's my turn…Draw!" The young woman drew a card from her deck and quickly inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it revealed itself to be Pot of Greed. "I play the Spell; Pot of Greed! With it, I can draw two cards from my deck!"

Lilly drew the first card and quickly added it to her hand. When she was about draw the second card, the pink aura returned and covered her body. When she drew the card she looked at it for about a minute before placing it into her hand. She then took another card and placed it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it revealed itself to be Monster Reborn.

"I play; Monster Reborn!" "With it, I revive Arcanite Magician in Defense Mode."

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

As the made reappeared on Lilly's side of the field, the young woman took two more cards from her hand and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone as well. Those cards stayed face-down and they were behind Arcanite Magician.

"I end my turn by placing 2 cards face-down."

Bianca looked on at Lilly as she drew a card from her deck. She saw that Lilly wasn't the same as she was before. It was like she was a completely different person. However she wasn't going to let that stop her from making Lilly seeing the Light. The blonde haired girl proceeded to take a card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I summon; Garoth, the Lightsworn Warrior in Attack Mode!" She declared.

**Garoth, the Lightsworn Warrior: ATK 1850 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

A dark skinned man with blue hair appeared on Bianca's side of the field. The man had yellow and white armor, blue hair, and was holding a halberd.

"Garoth, attack her Arcanite Magician!"

The Warrior-type monster ran over to Arcanite Magician and prepared to attack the Spellcaster with his halberd. However before the weapon struck, Lilly pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This activated her face-down card, which revealed itself to be a Duelist holding a card in the air and yelling. The mere sight of the card caused Lilly's, Takashi's, and Akiza's birthmarks to glow.

"I activate the Trap: Assault Mode Activate!" Lilly yelled. "With it I can sacrifice Arcanite Magician to Special Summon; Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode, in Attack Mode!"

**Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode: ATK 900 DEF 2300 LVL 9**

Arcanite Magician's body started glowing a bright red color. The glow was so bright that it stopped Garoth from continuing with his attack. When the light eventually faded Arcanite Magician was wearing new clothes. It was red and purple and had a more vicious look to it.

"I activate Arcanite Magician's Special Ability! When successfully Special Summoned, he gains 2 Spell Counters and for every Counter he receives, Arcanite Magician gains 1000 extra Attack Points!"

**Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode: (SC-2) ATK 2900**

"Assault Mode…?" Takashi questioned as he's never heard of that type of form before.

Bianca was in shock by the new monster. She felt a strange pressure coming from it, as if she was in the bottom of an ocean and the water pressure was about to crush her body to bits.

"Bianca!" Akiza yelled. "Attack!"

As soon as she heard Akiza's voice, Bianca snapped out it and prepared to continue to her attack.

"Judgment Dragon…attack Arcanite Magician!" She yelled.

Judgment Dragon fired a blast of light energy at Arcanite Magician. However Lilly pressed a button on her Duel Disk, revealing her second face-down card. When the card flipped up, it revealed itself to be Negate Attack.

"I play the Trap Card: Negate Attack!" She declared. "With it, I can negate your dragon's attack and forcibly end your Battle Phase!"

A vortex appeared in front of Arcanite Magician and Judgment Dragon's attack went inside of it.

"Damn it!" Bianca yelled. "Damn you!"

"Shut up." Lilly said calmly as she glared at her. "Hurry the hell up and end your damn turn. You told me that you were going to make me see the Light. Well, I'm going to make you experience the Darkness."

Bianca looked at Lilly for a second before decided to end her turn.

"I end my turn." She said. "With that Judgment Dragon's forces me discard 4 cards from my deck."

The young woman took another 4 cards from her deck and placed them in her Graveyard. As she did that, Lilly began her turn.

"Draw…!" She yelled as she swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. "I activate Arcanite Magician second Special Ability! By removing his 2 Spell Counters, he can destroy all of the cards that my opponent currently controls!"

"No!" Bianca yelled in horror.

**Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode: (SC-0) ATK 900**

Arcanite Magician released a blast of energy from his body, which destroyed both Judgment Dragon and Garoth. The mage then glared at Bianca as there was nothing standing in his way.

"It's over…" Lilly said. "Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode…attack her Life Points directly!"

The Spellcaster quickly made his way towards Bianca. When he finally got to her, he placed his hand in front of her faced and released a blast of dark energy. The blast hit Bianca, knocking her out in the process.

**Lilly: 1100 LP**

**Bianca: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>When the holograms faded, the aura around Lilly faded and the young woman finally passed out for her previous injuries. Takashi caught his friend and gently placed her on the ground. He then took off some of her clothes before taking his shirt and jacket off. Takashi then tied his shirt around Lilly's chest before placing his body on his jacket. Once he finished doing that he looked up and glared at Akiza, whose body was pouring energy.<p>

"You're next." He said. "Get your bitch-ass down here…NOW!"

"_Now now…you shouldn't be using that type of language with a young woman."_Sayer said over an intercom.

Takashi's body glowed.

"Where are you?" Takashi asked. "Bastard…"

A door suddenly opened as Sayer started talking again.

"_Go inside…"_

Takashi didn't respond to him. He walked over to Lilly and wrapped his jacket around her. He then carried her on his back. He then walked over to Bianca and grabbed her by her hair. Before he walked towards the room, he looked at Akiza one more time.

"If you continue to walk down the path you're walking…then I'm going to end you." He said in a sympathetic tone of voice. "Please know that…"

Akiza looked at him as he walked away. As she did she took the metal clip from her hair and yanked it off.

After about 10 minutes of walking Takashi made it to another Duel Arena. Inside the arena was a man with black hair and blue eyes.

"Greeting…my name is Romeo." The man said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Takashi ignored him and put the girls that he was carrying by the wall. Once he did that, Takashi activated his Duel Disk.

"Let's get this over with." He said in a lone tone of voice. "I'm in a hurry."

Romeo looked at him and started to become afraid of Takashi, However he activated the Duel Disk he had with him.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Romeo: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move…" Romeo stated. "Draw…!" The young man drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then took another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I summon a monster in face-down Defense Mode and end my turn."

A horizontal face-down card appeared on Romeo side of the field as Takashi began his turn.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He put the card into his hand before taking another card and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. "Since you have monster on your side of the field and I do not I can Special Summon; Vice Dragon in Mode!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000-1000 DEF 2400-1200 LVL 5**

Vice Dragon appeared on Takashi's side of the field as the young man placed another card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon; Totem Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Totem Dragon: ATK 400 DEF 200 LVL 2**

"However, I'll sacrifice it to Special Summon; Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2400 LVL 10**

In a flash, Totem Dragon disappeared and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon appeared to take its place. Romeo was amazed that Takashi was able to summon 3 monsters in 1 turn, but he would soon find out that the young man wasn't done yet.

"I activate Red-Eyes' Special Ability! I can Special Summon a Dragon-type from either my hand or Graveyard. I choose the Tuner Monster; Delta Flyer, in Attack Mode!"

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

Takashi placed another card onto his Monster Card Zone and in a flash; Delta Flyer appeared on the field.

"I Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Delta Flyer to Synchro Summon; Dark End Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark End Dragon: ATK 2600 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Both dragons flew into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Dark End Dragon appeared and it stood next to Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.

"I activate Dark End Dragon's Special Ability! By reducing its Attack and Defense Points by 500, it can destroy 1 monster that my opponent controls. I choose your face-down monster!"

**Dark End Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600**

Dark End Dragon fired a blast of dark energy from the mouth on its stomach. The attack hit the face-down monster, destroying instantly. With his only monster gone, Romeo looked on in horror as he stared down Takashi's dragons.

"Dark End Dragon, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, attack this dumbass's Life Points directly!"

Both monsters fired dark energy blasts from their mouths and both attacks hit Romeo.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Romeo: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Once the holograms faded away, Takashi slowly made his way to Romeo. As he did, Romeo became more afraid of Takashi and proceeded to run away. However he didn't get too far as a sword sliced the young man into several pieces. As Takashi looked on in a slight take of shock, a huge gust of wind appeared. Soon Akiza showed up and Takashi saw that her hair was messier than ever.<p>

"Now that this dumbass is out of the way…" She said in a cold tone. "We can get to the main event."

The blue aura covered Takashi as his, Akiza, and Lilly's birthmarks started glowing some more.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_The awaited rematch between Takashi and Akiza is about to commence. Can our young hero convince the beautiful Psychic Duelist stop continuing down the path she's walking? Or will he die as a result?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 18 – The rematch: Takashi vs. Akiza_


	18. Chapter 18

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 18: **_The Rematch: Takashi vs. Akiza_

* * *

><p>"<em>Monster…! Get the hell away from me!"<em>

"_Witch…!"_

"_Join up with me and I promise that your suffering will end."_

"_Don't be with anyone with marks like yours. They'll only try to hurt you."_

"_I really think that you'll look even more beautiful with shorter hair."_

"_Do you honestly believe in what Sayer is forcing you to do?"_

"_If you continue down the path that you walk, then I'll end you."_

All of these thoughts ran through Akiza Izinski's brain as she glared at Takashi. These thoughts were confusing her and she really disliked that. She disliked that so much that she decided to release all of her confusion, frustration, and anger onto Takashi Nakamura, the man who caused these thoughts to enter her brain in the first place.

"_How can a beautiful girl like her be with a bastard like him?"_

"_Why am I getting so worked up about her? She's been attacking me and my friends ever since I met her."_

"_Yet…I feel that I really need to help her."_

"_Does that mean…that I…"_

Many thoughts ran through the brain of Takashi Nakamura as she stared down at Akiza Izinski. He was truly conflicted on how he felt about her. He knows that what Akiza's doing is wrong and a portion of him hates her for attacking him and his friends. However, his hatred is greatly overpowered by his desire to save Akiza. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't try to save her from her downward path to destruction. To Takashi...this desire to save Akiza, unconsciously to him, is turning into Love.

As the Duelists looked at each other 3 things happened. The first thing is that both Akiza's and Takashi's birthmarks were glowing; the glow was stinging their arms as if 10 bees stung them at the exact same time. However, they simply ignored the pain as it wasn't on their mind at the moment. The second thing is that both Duelists bodies were surrounded by powerful auras. However the aura that surrounded them was different. For Akiza; her aura was dark and cold. If normal humans were near her, they probably die just by being near it. For Takashi; his aura was bright and warm. If normal humans were near him, they would probably feel protected from anything that was currently bothering them. The third and final thing is that both Takashi and Akiza did was shuffle their respective Dueling Decks and activated their Duel Disks. They both knew, whether they were conscious of it or not, that is Duel was going to be the toughest that either them would have to face. This Duel would affect them physically as well as emotionally.

"Before we begin, I have something to say to you." Takashi said as he looked at the young woman.

"I don't want to hear anything that comes out of your mouth!" Akiza replied firmly. "You are my enemy and I will eliminate you!"

"Just what makes you think that I'm your enemy?" Takashi asked. "And don't say "Because Sayer told me that you are" he's isn't thinking for you!"

"…Yes he is." Akiza stated. "Sayer does all my thinking for me…All I need to do is Live and Feel."

"If that's true…" Takashi said to her. "Then you either have the maturity of a child or you're dependant on one man that you forgot to move forward on your own. I feel sorry for you Akiza. I really do."

The young Psychic Duelist bit her lip in frustration as she listened to Takashi words. It was like she was being stabbed in the heart with a sharp knife because, somewhere deep in her soul, she knew that Takashi was right. From within another room, Sayer looked on and saw the look of anger and confusion in Akiza's face. He soon decided to intervene.

"_Enough talk Nakamura!"_He said over the intercom. _"You're here to Duel…so Duel!"_

The young man ignored Sayer's demand and simply picked up a rock that was next to his feet. He soon looked all around the Duel Arena for the intercom and was soon able to find it. Takashi threw the rock at the intercom, destroying it in the process. He then looked back at Akiza.

"Thank God…" He said. "I was so sick and tired of listening to him talk. I have no earthly idea how you can listen to him. Anyway…back to our talk. You said that Sayer does all your thinking for you and that all you need to do is to live and feel. Sorry Akiza, but that isn't how the world works."

"What…?" Akiza said in a slightly shocked tone of voice.

"People have to make their own decisions." Takashi explained. "Though it's good to have opinions from other people, it is you who decides on what you should do or not do. Having Sayer think for you and make all of your decisions only makes you his tool.

"Shut up…" Akiza said softly.

"Think about it…" Takashi continued on. "Why do you think he brought me and friends here? For some reason, Lilly and I have this mysterious power. If we didn't have this power, we wouldn't even be here. That same reasoning applies to every other Psychic here Akiza…including yourself!"

"I said shut up!" The young woman said in a louder tone of voice.

"Sayer…" Takashi said. "Doesn't give a damn about you and he never will! He'll easily dispose of you the moment you cease being useful to him!

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Akiza yelled at the top of her lungs. The wind that her powers created began blowing at much stronger force; however it didn't bother Takashi much as he simply stood his ground. "Sayer isn't like that! He cares about me unlike everyone else in my life and I won't stand here let you say things about him that aren't true!"

"I'm only telling you the truth." Takashi said as he closed his eyes and started to remember his time in Crash Town. "I've seen his kind before and I know from experience that Sayer is nothing but a person who manipulates people's emotions so that they come to his side. If continue to follow him then you're going to hell with him!"

"I SAID, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Akiza screamed as her powers erupted from her body. "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU, I'LL KILL YOU!"

"You'll do no such thing Akiza." Takashi said calmly. "Because I'll save you before you ever get the chance."

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

"Ladies first…Draw!" Akiza swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. She then took another card and placed onto the Monster Card Zone of her Duel Disk. "I summon the Tuner Monster; Twilight Rose Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Twilight Rose Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

A small female knight with blue hair, green eyes, and black armor appeared onto Akiza's side of the field. The female knight pointed her sword at Takashi, who didn't seem too concerned.

"I activate Twilight Rose Knight's Special Ability! When she's successfully Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant-type monster from my hand. With that, I Special Summon; Lord Poison, in Attack Mode!"

**Lord Poison: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Next to Twilight Rose Knight, a brown abomination with claws all over its body appeared on Akiza's side of the field. Takashi instantly knew what Akiza was going to do and ready for it.

"I Tune my Level 4 Lord Poison with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight. Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Both of Akiza's monsters flew high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Black Rose Dragon appeared.

"I'm impressed…" Takashi said with a smile on his face. "You Synchro Summoned your Ace Monster in one turn and on your first turn no less. That's impressive."

"I don't give a rat's ass if you're impressed or not!" Akiza said as she inserted two cards into the Spell/Trap Zone of her Duel Disk. The two cards appeared face-down on the field, right behind Black Rose Dragon. "I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn. Now hurry up and go!"

"Fine…fine…" The young man replied while still smiling. "Draw…" Takashi drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. After about 20 seconds he took one card from his hand and placed it on his Monster Card Zone. "Since you have a monster on your side of the field and I don't I can Special Summon; Vice Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000-1000 DEF 2400-1200 LVL 5**

In an instant Vice Dragon appeared and it stared down Black Rose Dragon. As it did, Takashi placed another card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster; Delta Flyer, in Attack Mode!"

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

Just as fast as Vice Dragon appeared onto the field, Delta Flyer appeared and stood next to its fellow Dragon-type monster.

"I Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Delta Flyer. Clustering wishes will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Both dragons flew into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Stardust Dragon appeared and stood next to its master. With that move both Takashi and Akiza had summoned their Ace Monsters in just 1 turn of each other.

"Your dragon makes me sick." Akiza said as she looked at it.

"What makes you say that?" Takashi asked.

"You're dragon is like you." Akiza explained. "It's bright and hopeful. And just like you it's willing to sacrifice itself to protect others."

"I still don't see how that's a bad thing." Takashi stated.

"Sacrificing your life for others is so pointless." Akiza said. "In the end, you're dead and their still alive. You should make protecting yourself your own priority."

"You may be right about that." Takashi said to her. "However if it's something you really need to save, then you should be willing to give up your life in order to protect it."

"That makes no fucking sense!" Akiza yelled.

"I don't expect you to understand…" The young man replied. "Stardust Dragon, destroy Black Rose Dragon with Cosmic Flare!"

Takashi's mighty beast fired a giant blast of cosmic energy at Black Rose Dragon. However Akiza was ready for such a move. She pressed a button on her Duel Disk that activated one of her face-down cards. When the card flipped up, it was revealed to be Negate Attack.

"I activate the Trap; Negate Attack!" The young woman declared. "With this, I can negate your attack and forcibly end your Battle Phase!"

A giant vortex appeared in front of Black Rose Dragon and it sucked in Stardust Dragon's attack. Takashi was upset that Akiza blocked his attack, but he didn't show it on his face. He wanted to help Akiza and knew he couldn't do that if he got angry. If he did then it would be like he was following the path that Akiza was walking and he didn't want to go there. He ended his Battle Phase and inserted a card from his hand into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a shining wing.

"I activate the Equip Spell; Silver Wing!" He stated. "I'll equip this card to my Stardust Dragon. Now, you only destroy it if you battle it 3 times."

Stardust Dragon's wings started to glow a bright silver color.

"With that Akiza, I end my turn."

"Finally…now let me show you how a really Duelist makes an attack!" The young woman said with a lot of confidence. "Draw…!" Akiza drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. However instead of placing a card from her hand onto her Duel Disk. She first pressed a button on the device, activating her other face-down card. When the card revealed itself, it had the image of a monster and a Duel Disk. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card; Limit Reverse! With this card, I can revive a monster from my Graveyard that has 1000 or less Attack Points. I choose to revive, my Twilight Rose Knight!"

**Twilight Rose Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

Twilight Rose Knight's card popped out of Akiza's Duel Disk and the young woman placed it back onto her Monster Card Zone. With that, Twilight Rose Knight reappeared and stood next to Black Rose Dragon. Next, Akiza took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it revealed itself to be Double Summon.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card; Double Summon! With this card, I can Normal Summon twice this turn." The Psychic Duelist took another card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. "I Normal Summon; Dandylion, in Attack Mode!"

**Dandylion: ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL 3**

A flower that was standing and had a lion for a face appeared on Akiza's side of the field. The young woman then took another card and also placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Now I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster; Witch of the Black Rose, in Attack Mode!"

**Witch of the Black Rose: ATK 1700 DEF 1200 DEF 4**

The next monster that Akiza summoned was a little girl with dark purple hair, green eyes, and black and white clothes. In the girl's left hand was a stick with a blue rose on the top of it.

"3 monster's in one turn." Takashi thought. "It's obvious that Akiza is going to Synchro Summon with them. However it depends on which Tuner she uses. If I were her, I would probably Tune Dandylion with Twilight Rose Knight to Synchro Summon; Splendid Rose. However, that still leaves Witch of the Black Rose." The young man looked over at Dandylion, who was busy glaring at Stardust Dragon. "Dandylion…it must have an effect that can summon another monster. That's the only reason I see that Akiza would summon 2 Tuner Monsters this turn."

"It's time!" Akiza stated. "I Tune my Level 3 Dandylion with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight to Synchro Summon; Queen of Thorns, in Attack Mode!"

**Queen of Thorns: ATK 2200 DEF 1800 LVL 6**

Both monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished a new Synchro Monster appeared on Akiza's side of the field. This one was a female human/plant hybrid. Takashi looked at the monster before looking back at Witch of the Black Rose.

"It's not Splendid Rose, but I was right…she did Synchro Summon." He thought. "But now what…why summon Witch of the Black Rose?"

"I activate Dandylion's Special Ability!" Akiza declared. "When it's sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon two Level 1 Fluff Tokens!"

**Fluff Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Fluff Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

Takashi looked on in shock as the two Fluff Tokens appeared on Akiza's field. The young woman saw this and smiled evilly.

"I Tune both of my Level 1 Fluff Tokens with my Level 4 Witch of the Black Rose to Synchro Summon; Splendid Rose, in Attack Mode!"

**Splendid Rose: ATK 2200 DEF 2000 LVL 6**

Both of the Fluff Tokens and Witch of the Black Rose jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Splendid Rose appeared and stood next to her fellow monsters.

"Damn it…" Takashi cursed. "Two Synchro Summons in only 1 turn?"

Akiza looked at Takashi again and noticed that he was still shocked. This caused her to laugh evilly for a few moments before she finally decided to talk to him.

"Since the day you defeated me, I've been training like you've never dreamed of. I told myself that I wasn't going to lose to you again and I'll make sure of that! Now, I activate Splendid Rose's Special Ability! By removing a Plant-type monster from my Graveyard, I can cut the Attack Points of one of my opponent's monsters by half! I choose Stardust Dragon!"

Splendid Rose wrapped one of her thorn whips around Stardust Dragon's body, immobilizing Takashi's Synchro Monster.

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 1250**

"Stardust Dragon…!" Takashi yelled in a state of shock and disbelief.

"Splendid Rose…attack Stardust Dragon!" Akiza ordered.

Splendid Rose took her other whip and began slapping Stardust Dragon repeatedly. However thanks to Silver Wing, Stardust remained on the field.

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Takashi: 3050 LP**

"Queen of Thorns…attack Stardust Dragon!"

Queen of Thorns was next monster to launch an attack. She fired a blast of purple energy from her flytrap hands. The attack hit Stardust, weakening the beast. However, thanks again to Silver Wing, it wasn't killed.

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Takashi: 2100 LP**

"Finally…Black Rose Dragon, destroy Stardust Dragon with Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon fired a mixture of sharp rose petals and flames at Stardust. This time Silver Wing's effect didn't activate and Stardust Dragon was destroyed instantly. When it was destroyed, some of flames hit Takashi; causing the young man to fall to the ground.

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Takashi: 950 LP**

As Takashi was lying on the floor, in pain, Akiza was busy laughing at him.

"How you liked that?" She asked. "You enjoy your pain and suffering because I simply love it. And don't you worry; they'll be plenty more where that came from. I end my turn."

Takashi slowly got back to his feet and looked at Akiza who looked like she enjoyed watching him being hurt. It was then that the young man finally figured out something about Akiza.

"Split Personalities…" He thought. "She's the same when I first fought her the other day. This personality enjoys watching people suffer as it's her way of escaping her pain. The other personality, the one I met during the later portion of first duel, is scared and is in desperate need of friend. I have to reach that Akiza…otherwise not only that I'll die, but she'll be gone forever. I can't let that happen!"

Takashi swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed that card in his hand. After doing that, he closed his eyes and visualized a flow chart within his mind. In that chart were all of the cards that were in Takashi's hand and all of the monsters that Akiza currently had on the field. Soon electricity started flowing through the chart in multiple directions. When it stopped, Takashi opened his eyes and decided to make his play. The first thing he did was insert a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it turned out to be Tribute to the Doom.

"I activate the Spell Card; Tribute to the Doom!" He declared. "Now, by discarding 1 card from my hand, I can destroy one monster on the field! I choose Queen of Thorns!"

In an instant, several bandages shot from out of the Tribute to the Doom card and wrapped Queen of Thorns like a mummy. The card then sucked in the Plant-type monster before disappearing. Next, Takashi inserted another card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When that card appeared on the field, it revealed itself to be Monster Reborn.

"Next, I activate the Spell; Monster Reborn! So be revived, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

In a flash of light, Stardust Dragon appeared and it stared down all of Akiza's Synchro Monsters.

"Now, since I discarded my Regene Warrior to activate Tribute to the Doom. I can Special Summon him to the field!"

**Regene Warrior: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 4**

In a burst of hot flames, Regene Warrior appeared and stood next to Stardust Dragon. After that happened, Takashi took another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster; Dragunity Darkspear, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragunity Darkspear: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

Darkspear appeared on the field and stood next to Takashi's other monsters.

"Now, I Tune my Level 4 Regene Warrior with my Level 3 Dragunity Darkspear to Synchro Summon; Exploder Dragonwing, in Attack Mode!"

**Exploder Dragonwing: ATK 2400 DEF 1600 LVL 7**

Both Regene Warrior and Dragunity Darkspear flew into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Exploder Dragonwing appeared in a burst of flames and stood next to Stardust Dragon. Akiza was amazed that Takashi was to not only reduce the number of monsters on her side of the field, but also revive and summon two Synchro Monsters.

"Akiza…" Takashi called. "The way you are now…you'll never defeat me, no matter how much pain you try to inflict. Stardust Dragon, attack Splendid Rose with Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust fired its attack at the Plant-type monster, destroying it completely. The resulting shockwaves from the attack sent Akiza crashing down on her ass.

**Akiza: 3700 LP**

**Takashi: 950 LP**

"Exploder Dragonwing, attack Black Rose Dragon!"

Dragonwing took flight and prepare to attack Black Rose Dragon, confusing Akiza greatly.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked. "Our monsters have the same Attack Points so they'll just end up killing each other."

"If that's the cause then I'll activate Exploder Dragonwing's Special Ability!" Takashi replied with a confidence smile on his face. "When it battles a monster who's Attack Points are equal or less than its own, then that monster is destroyed and you take damage equal to your destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

"No!" Akiza yelled in shock.

Dragonwing fired a stream of red flames at Black Rose Dragon before it could counter with its purple flames. The flames consumed Akiza's monster before it consumed her.

**Akiza: 1300 LP**

**Takashi: 950 LP**

As the flames continued to cover Akiza's body, Takashi started talking to her again.

"Listen Akiza…" He said. "I told you that the way you are now, you'll never defeat me. Now…snap out of it and Duel me because you want to. Not because that bitch Sayer told you to!"

"Don't call Sayer a…BITCH!" Akiza yelled at the top of lungs.

The flames that covered her were blown away by her powers. The young woman then glared at Takashi as the purple aura that was surrounded her became more powerful.

"I refuse…I refuse…"

"Refuse what…?" Takashi interrupted. "Refuse to realize the truth about Sayer or refuse to grow the fuck up! Akiza you're a strong and beautiful woman, you can't let Sayer's influence control you!"

"I refuse…I refuse…TO LOSE TO YOU!" Akiza screamed as he powers continued to explode from her body. "I don't care if your right! All I want to do is defeat you!"

Takashi looked at her has she glared at him. As he did he gave her a small smile that Akiza didn't really notice.

"There we go…" He thought. "I just need to push her a little more."

The young man took the last card that he had in his hand and inserted it into his Monster Card Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field, behind Exploder Dragonwing.

"I set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw…!" The young woman yelled as she drew a card from her deck. Without even thinking, Akiza inserted the card into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a black hole. "I activate the Spell Card; Dark Hole! With this card, I can destroy all the monsters that are on the field!"

Takashi looked up at the ceiling and saw that a small black hole was forming. He also noticed that all the debris that was on the ground was flying into the hole.

"Oh shit…!" He said. Takashi looked around as the black hole was become bigger and stronger. He saw that Lilly and Bianca, who were both still unconscious, were sliding on the ground. He soon realized that if didn't stop Dark Hole then not only will everyone in the Duel Arena would die, but everyone else within inside the building. "I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability! By sacrificing itself, Stardust Dragon can negate Dark Hole's effect and destroy it!"

Stardust Dragon roared at the top of its lunges before flying straight into the Black Hole. Once it was inside, Stardust started glowing and soon the Black Hole disappeared. Akiza smiled at this development as it was all a part of her plan. The young woman would then insert another card onto her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a giant lightning bolt, striking the ground.

"I activate the Spell Card; Raigeki!" She declared. "With this card, all monsters on your side of the field are destroyed!"

From the sky, a giant lightning bolt struck the ground. The attack not only killed Exploder Dragonwing, but shocked Takashi. However, the young man's was able to stay on his feet after the lightning bolt disappeared. When that happened, Akiza inserted one more card into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it revealed itself to be Monster Reborn.

"Now, I activate the Spell Card; Monster Reborn! Now appear, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

In a flash, Black Rose Dragon appeared onto the field and started down Takashi.

"Black Rose Dragon, attack Takashi's Life Points directly with Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon complied with its master's wishes and fired a stream of purple flames and flower petals at Takashi. As the attack was heading towards him, the young man simply smiled as she pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"She said my name…" He said softly. Takashi's face-down card flipped up and it had the image of 3 different colored Stardust Dragons. "I activate the Trap; Stardust Flash! With this card, I can Special Summon Stardust Dragon since it used its Special Ability this turn!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 1800 LVL 8**

A blast of light popped out of the Stardust Flash card and from that light appeared Stardust Dragon. Realizing that her monster would be destroyed if the attack went on, Akiza did the only thing she could do.

"Black Rose Dragon…Stop!" She yelled.

Black Rose Dragon directed its flames so that it hits the wall. Once the attack ended, Akiza looked at Takashi.

"Damn you Takashi…" She said with less anger in her voice.

"Sorry…" Takashi said with a smile on his face. "I can't let our Duel end now. Not when we're having so much fun."

"Fun…you think this is fun?" Akiza asked in a confused tone of voice.

"Of course I do…" Takashi said. "I'm battling one of, no, the strongest Duelist I've ever faced. How can I not have fun? Don't you feel the same way?"

Akiza thought about Takashi's question for a few minutes. For the first time in her life, she's never been in an intense Duel like the one she's in now. The excitement of Takashi's moves countering her moves brought something that she never felt before. To Akiza, to was really good feeling of excitement.

"…Yes." She said. "I do feel the same way."

Takashi smile on Takashi face became bigger as he tried his best to ignore his injuries and stay on his feet. He soon fell to one knee and looked towards the ground for a few minutes. As he did that Akiza felt somewhat concerned, but knew that Sayer wanted her to win and that what she was going to do. So she took a card from her hand and inserted it onto her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field, behind Black Rose Dragon.

"I set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

Takashi fell to both knees as his breathing started to become harder.

"My whole body is heavy…" He thought. "It's just a chore to stand up. But I need to keep dueling. I have to pull Akiza away from Sayer, I'm so close."

Using all of his strength, Takashi managed to pull himself back to his feet.

"Draw…" He said as he drew a card.

As soon as he did that, Akiza pressed a button on her Duel Disk, activating her face-down card. When the card revealed itself, it turned out to be Threatening Roar.

"I activate the Trap; Threatening Roar!" She declared. "With this, you can't conduct your Battle Phase this turn."

From the card, a large roar was unleashed which caused Stardust Dragon to become timid. The roar also caused Takashi to fall back to both of knees. He then looked at the card that he drew a realized that it wouldn't do him any good.

"I end my turn…" He said.

Akiza looked on at Takashi as his breathing became rough. She also saw that Takashi's eyes were starting to lose life.

"Give up…" She suggested. "It's obvious that your body cannot take much more. Just give up Takashi…"

The young man swung his head from side to side before finally replying to her suggestion.

"No…I won't give up Akiza….so please, start your turn…"

The young woman looked at him for a few moments before finally complying.

"Draw…!" She yelled as she drew a card from her deck. She looked at the card for a moment before inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it had the image of a bunch of green thorns. "I activate the Equip Spell; Thorn of Malice! With this card, Black Rose Dragon gains 600 extra Attack Points!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 3000**

Several black thorns appeared on Black Rose Dragon's body.

"Black Rose Dragon, attack Stardust Dragon with Thorn of Hatred!"

Akiza's Synchro Monster obeyed her orders and began to whip Stardust Dragon's body with its newly acquired thorns. One of thorns hit Takashi chest, cutting him up. The young man struggled to look up and was surprised that Stardust Dragon was still on the field, though it had several marks on its body.

**Akiza: 1300 LP**

**Takashi: 350 LP**

"Thanks to Thorn of Malice, Stardust Dragon can't be destroyed as a result of battle." Akiza explained. "In exchange though, Stardust Dragon loses 600 Attack and Defense Points."

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1400**

"With that Takashi, I end my turn. Now give up…I do admit that you're different from anyone else that I've ever met before, but you're wrong about Sayer. He's very kind and he cares about me…and I'm sure that if you give him the chance, you'll think so too."

Takashi didn't reply to Akiza as he just closed his eyes and started to think to himself. As he did, Takashi tuned out everything that was around him.

"Akiza…" He thought. "I'm thankful that you're now caring about my safety, as its proof that you're starting to walk down the right path. However, I will not follow Sayer and I won't allow you to continue following him too." He touched the top card from his deck. "Please…let this be a card that can help not only to win, but help me save her too."

With that Takashi's birthmark and blue aura became much brighter. He then got back to feet and opened his eyes, which had regained all of its life.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew the card. Without even looking at it Takashi inserted that card and the other card that held into his Spell/Trap Zone. Those two cards appeared face-down on field, right behind Stardust Dragon. "I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn!"

Akiza looked at him for a few seconds before glaring at him. She then firmly drew a card from her Duel Disk and placed it in her hand.

"You know…I tried, but you refused to listen!" She said to him. "Experience pain Takashi. Black Rose Dragon, attack Stardust Dragon!"

Black Rose Dragon released several more thorns at Stardust. However, before the attack reached its target, Takashi quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This caused his face-down card to flip up and it revealed itself to be Assault Mode Activate.

"I play the Trap Card; Assault Mode Activate!" Takashi declared. "With it, I can sacrifice Stardust Dragon to Special Summon; Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, in Attack Mode!"

**Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 10**

A bright light covered Stardust Dragon just before Black Rose Dragon's thorns touched its body. Takashi's Ace Monster started to change form as the light that surrounded became brighter. When that light finally faded, all of Stardust's injuries were healed, it was slightly bigger, and it was wearing a blue and white armor.

Akiza was amazed at Takashi's new monster, but she soon realized the situation that she was currently in. If she had Black Rose Dragon attack Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, then Black Rose Dragon would be destroyed. And…because of Thorn of Malice, Stardust would remain on the even though its Attack and Defense Points would drop by 600. With this in her head, Akiza did the only thing that she could do.

"I end my turn." She said.

"Then it's my turn…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck. "Stardust Dragon, attack Black Rose Dragon with Super Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust's body started glowing like the sun as it was gathering energy within its body. As it was doing that, Black Rose Dragon fired several thorns at its foe. It was at that moment that Stardust Dragon fired its Cosmic Flare, which was twice the size as it usually is. The two attack hit their respective targets, but just as Akiza feared, Black Rose Dragon was destroyed while Stardust Dragon remained in a weaken state.

**Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 2400 DEF 1900**

"Akiza…" Takashi said.

The young woman looked at him and noticed that he was smiling at her.

"This was a fun Duel, but now it's over."

"What do you mean?" She asked him. "Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode was the only monster you have, so you can't attack me anymore this turn."

"That's true…" Takashi stated. "I can't attack you anymore with Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode. However who said I was going to attack you with him?"

As the young woman looked at Takashi with a confused look on her face, the young man pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This activated his face-down card which revealed to have the image of warrior attacking 2 goblins.

"I activate the Trap Card; Assault on GHQ!" Takashi declared. "With this Trap, I can destroy one monster on my side of the field to send 2 cards from the top of your deck to the Graveyard!"

Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode exploded as several tiny stars appeared all over the field. Akiza looked on in a state a state on confusion as she took the top two cards from her deck and placed them into her Graveyard.

"I don't get it?" The Psychic said. "Why destroy your own monster?"

"I'll show you…" Takashi replied. "I activate Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability! When it's destroyed I can Special Summon Stardust Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

All of the stars that were on the field came together and soon formed Stardust Dragon, who stood next to its master.

"Since I Special Summoned Stardust Dragon during my Battle Phase, I'm allowed to attack with him. So Stardust, attack Akiza's Life Points directly with Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust Dragon fired its attack at Akiza. When the attack hit her, the young woman didn't feel any pain though she did feel something.

**Takashi: 350 LP**

**Akiza: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms started to fade, Akiza suddenly became extremely tired and started falling towards the ground. However Takashi caught her before she hit the ground.<p>

"Are you ok?" He asked her.

"….Yes." Akiza replied.

"That's good." Takashi said. "Get some sleep."

Akiza smiled a little as she fell asleep. Takashi brought her over to Lilly before placing her by the wall. He then placed Lilly on his back before carrying Akiza in his arms. Before he left Takashi looked at the sleeping Psychic.

"She won't find true happiness if she stays here." He thought. "I have to get her out of here."

With that the young man left the arena with both girls in tow. Sayer looked from another room and he was outrage at what transpired. He quickly pressed a red button which sounded a loud alarm. Takashi heard the alarm and simply started to run as he carried to two girls.

"Bastard…" He thought. "He knows what I'm going to do."

Takashi kept on moving but started to succumb to his injuries and started lose his strength. He looked around for a room that he could hide in and soon found one. He went inside and placed both Akiza and Lilly by the wall. Once he did that, he fell face first on the floor as he no more energy to stand.

"Who are you…?" A small female voice asked.

Takashi used the remaining of his energy to lift his hand and soon saw a cute little girl with long dark blue hair and brown eyes.

"I'm Takashi Nakamura…" He answered. "Who are you?"

"Wendy…" The girl replied. "My name is Wendy Marvell."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With the help of the young Wendy Marvell, Takashi prepares to make his move and get everyone out of the Arcadia Movement. However, before they could escape, Sayer appears and prevents him from leaving. Now the two of them Duel a life and death battle and things only get more complicated when Akiza wakes up._

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 19 – Akiza learns the truth_


	19. Chapter 19

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 19: **_Akiza learns the truth_

* * *

><p>"Wendy…Marvell…"<p>

That was all Takashi could say as he finally passed out due to his injuries. The young girl, now known as Wendy, gently flipped Takashi until he was back-first on the floor. She then gently placed the palms of her hands together until they started glowing a light blue color. She then slowly moved her hands as a sphere of the same color was in between them. Wendy then placed the sphere next to Takashi's head and let go of it, letting the object absorb into his body. Once the entire sphere was inside of him, Takashi's body started glowing for a few seconds. As soon as the glowing stopped, the young man quickly opened his eyes and got back up to his feet. He then looked at himself with a confused look on his face.

"What the hell is going on…?" He asked himself. "None of my wounds are healed, yet I feel great."

"That's because I gave you an energy boost." Wendy explained to him.

Takashi turned to the little girl as she continued explaining what she just did to him.

"I'm a Psychic Duelist…" She said. "However unlike the rest of the Psychics here, I can heal instead of destroy. However my powers aren't fully developed, so the best I could do for you is give you a sudden boost of energy. Though there are some drawbacks to it."

"What kind of drawbacks?" Takashi asked.

"It can only trick your body into thinking that you are healed." Wendy explained. "Also…once the boost fades away…you're probably going to feel 5xs worse than what you were before you got the boost."

"I see…" Takashi said as he looked over his body again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The young girl replied as she fell to one knee. Takashi saw this and tried to help her back up, but she just shook her head. "It's fine…I'm just a little bit tired. Using that technique takes a lot out of me."

Wendy soon gets back to her feet as Takashi continued to look at her. As he did, a thought crept into his mind.

"What's a little girl like her doing here?"

Wendy looked at him and guessed what he was thinking about. So she decided to explain her situation to him.

"Do you know that mean man named Sayer?" She asked him.

The mere mention of Sayer's name caused Takashi's blood to boil. He started gritting his teeth as he nodded his head towards the blue haired girl.

"He somehow knew about me and my abilities so he decided to come to my home to try and persuade my parents into letting me come with them. My parents refused immediately however, Sayer wasn't going to take no for answer. So….so…he killed my parents and kidnapped me from my home."

"That bastard…!" Takashi thought as he continued listening to Wendy's story.

"He then brought me to the Arcadia Movement, which is the place we're in now." She continued on. "Once we were there, he started to do a lot of painful test on me. Trying to get me to unleash my full power. I tried to escape from here several different times, but each time they would find me. I was about to escape again, but they sounded the alarm."

"I see…" Takashi said. "So you hid in here so that they wouldn't find you."

Wendy nodded her head. She then looked at Akiza and Lilly, as both redheads were still sleeping against the wall.

"Are they going to be ok?" She asked.

"Yeah…they need to head back to my apartment so that they can get healed though." Takashi answered as he tried to come up with a plan. Once one came to mind, he walked over to Wendy and gently placed both hands on both of her shoulders. "Wendy…can you show me where you were trying to escape too. Sayer kidnapped me and my friends and I want to bust us out of here. If you help me, then you can come live at my place."

"Really…?" Wendy asked.

Takashi smiled at her as he nodded his head; this action caused the young girl to smile in response. With that, Takashi walked over to Lilly and placed her back on his back again. He then picked up Akiza and carried her in his arms. Once he had both girls, he opened the door and checked to see if anybody was coming. When he didn't see anyone, he signaled over to Wendy who walked over to him. The two of them then ran out of the room as fast as they could.

As they ran, Takashi soon realized that he needed to get Toru as he hasn't seen him since he lost his Duel against Recuk. He wanted to believe Recuk that Toru was going to be ok, but he had to make sure. So he pulled out his cell phone and tossed it to Wendy.

"Why are you giving me your phone?" The young girl asked in confusion.

"I need you to make a call for me." Takashi explained. "I can't do that if carrying these girls."

Wendy nodded her head and opened the phone. "So who do you want me to call?"

"Go to contacts and scroll down until you see the name Toru Ishida!" Takashi said. "He's the person that I want you to call."

Wendy complied with Takashi's instructions. She quickly found Toru's name on the contact list and proceeded to call him. After about 2 minutes, the phone clicked.

"_Takashi…! Takashi is that you?"_Toru said from the other line.

Wendy took the phone from her ear and looked at Takashi. The young man looked back at her as they continued running down.

"Tell him who you are and that I'm ok."

Wendy nodded her head and put the cell phone back to her ear.

"Listen…" She said. "My name is Wendy and I'm with your friend Takashi."

"_Really…how is he?"_Toru asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"He's injured, but ok." Wendy answered. "The two of us are trying to make our way out."

"Wendy…" Takashi called. "Ask him where he is?"

"Takashi wants to know where you are right now." Wendy said.

"_I'm just outside the building."_Toru explained. _"I'm by the dumpster and I'm covered in bandages."_

Wendy took the phone from her again. "He says that he's covered in bandages and that he's by the dumpster. We're about to head over there too, since that's our exit."

"I see…" Takashi said as he started to think. "Tell Toru to stay where he's at. We'll be there in no less than an hour. Once you do that, hang up the phone."

Wendy nodded her head again and put the cell phone back towards her ear.

"Takashi wants you to stay where you are." She said. "He also says that we'll be there in about an hour."

"_Ok…"_Toru replied.

With that, Wendy hung up the phone and put it back into Takashi's pocket. The two of them kept running for about 10 minutes until they reached a certain room.

"Is this the place?" The young man asked.

"Yeah…" Wendy replied. "Inside is a garbage shoot that leads to the dumpster."

"Alright…" Takashi said softly.

Wendy opened the door and went inside first. Takashi followed after her and saw that he was in the computer room. He looked on in amazement as Wendy started looking around for the garbage shoot. As she did that, Takashi placed Lilly and Akiza down by the main computer and started typing on the keypad. He soon found several personal files on everyone in the Arcadia Movement. He skimmed through some of the stuff until he found Akiza's file. He took great interest in her so he decided to read it.

"It says here." He thought. "That Akiza is 17 years old and that she joined the Arcadia Movement when she was 12. Apparently she developed her Psychic powers at a young age and that he parents were really shaken about it. They, along with several other people that she met, considered her to be a monster. Sayer found out about her and decided to use her anger and loneness to manipulate her into not only killing her parents, but also joining him. Once she was a part of the Arcadia Movement, Akiza started to do things as the Black Rose."

The young man skimmed down her bio as he took a flash drive that he had by his house key and inserted it into the computer. He copied the file onto the drive.

"Looks like Sayer planed on using Akiza as a weapon." He thought. "And with her state of mind, she probably would have done it. Well that's not going to happen."

Takashi took the flash drive out of the computer and started to delete the information from the computer. As he did that, Wendy soon found the garbage shoot and started to drag Lilly and Akiza over to it. However, before she could get either person in the shoot, Sayer appeared and glared at both of them.

"What do you two think you're doing?" He asked.

Takashi quickly turned around, only to be hit in the chest by a fireball. Though he felt the pain from the attack, Wendy's energy boost allowed him to get back to his feet rather quickly.

"I'll ask again…what do think you're doing?"

"Isn't it obvious…?" Takashi replied. "I'm taking my friends, including Akiza, out of here."

"Not on my watch…" Sayer said. "Akiza is a vital part of the Arcadia Movement and I won't allow you to take her from me!"

Sayer placed a card onto his Duel Disk as a fireball shot from it. Takashi avoided the attack, but it ended up hitting the wall near Wendy. The debris hit the young girl, knocking her out. Fortunately the impact also knocked her and Lilly down into the garbage shoot.

"Bastard…!" Takashi yelled. "What are you trying to do, kill them?"

"Their lives mean nothing to me at the moment." Sayer explained as Takashi activated his Duel Disk. "You and Akiza are the only ones I want. It's clear from your Duel with her that your powers rival hers. Once I have the both of you, nothing will be able to stop me!"

"Listen you asshole, unlike the rest of the people here I'm not going to become your puppet!" The young man said. "However, if you want me, then Duel me!"

"Very well…" Sayer complied. "I rather break your spirit before I have you join the Arcadia Movement. That way you won't be able to resist me."

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Sayer: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move…" Sayer suggested. "Draw…!" He drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then took another card from that hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I summon; Mind Protector, in Attack Mode!"

**Mind Protector: ATK 0 DEF 2200 LVL 3**

A small yellow and purple robot appeared on Sayer's side of the field.

"With that, I hand it over to you Nakamura."

Takashi looked over at Sayer's monster and began to wonder why he summoned a Monster with 0 Attack Points in Attack Mode. It would have made more sense to play it in Defense Mode. It didn't take the young man to realize that Mind Protector obviously had a Special Ability to protect itself. However he needed to confirm what other abilities it had.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He looked at the card that he drew before placing onto his Monster Card Zone. "I summon; Hunter Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Hunter Dragon: ATK 1700 DEF 100 LVL 3**

A silver and orange dragon with sharp claws and wings appeared on Takashi's side of the field.

"Hunter Dragon, attack Mind Protector!"

The dragon prepared to attack Sayer's Monster. However, before it could start moving, Mind Protector summoned a sphere that surrounded Hunter Dragon.

"Sorry Nakamura, but I activate Mind Protector's Special Ability." Sayer said. "As long as it remains on the field, non-Psychic monsters with 2000 or less Attack Points can't declare an attack."

"I see…" He said softly. "I was expecting it to have a protective ability and fortunately for you, I don't have any Psychic monsters in my deck. However, that just means I'll just have to attack with more force next time!" Takashi took a card from his hand and inserted it onto his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down, behind Hunter Dragon. "I place 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn…" Sayer said as he drew a card from his deck. "Mind Protector's Special Ability activates. By paying 500 Life Points, I can keep it on the field."

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Sayer: 3500 LP**

After his Life Points were drained, Sayer took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it revealed itself to be Mystical Space Typhoon.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Mystical Space Typhoon! With it, I can destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card that resides on the field. The card I choose is your face-down card!"

Sayer's Psychic powers made the power of Mystical Space Typhoon real as tornado appeared and destroyed Takashi's face-down. The young man was able to hold his ground against the typhoon, by holding on to the computer that was next to him.

"That was pretty strong." He thought. "Though compared to Akiza, his powers are very weak."

The Psychic Duelist continued on with his turn, by pulling out another card from his hand. This time though, he placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster; Psychic Jumper, in Attack Mode!"

**Psychic Jumper: ATK 100 DEF 1500 LVL 2**

A blue man, wearing a brown trench coat appeared on Sayer's field and stood next to Mind Protector. Takashi already knew what was coming next.

"I Tune my Level 3 Mind Protector with my Level 2 Psychic Jumper to Synchro Summon; Magical Android, in Attack Mode!"

**Magical Android: ATK 2400 DEF 1700 LVL 5**

Both of Sayer's monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, a flash of light appeared behind him as a brown haired female, wearing electronic like clothes appeared beside him. Takashi looked on an amazement as he never seen a Synchro Monster like Magical Android before.

"Now Nakamura…I'll have my Magical Android attack your Hunter Dragon!" Sayer proclaimed.

The Psychic monster fired an electric blast from the weapon that she had in her hand. The attack destroyed Hunter Dragon as the shockwave brought Takashi to one knee. As he got back to his feet, Takashi suddenly started feeling dizzy.

**Sayer: 3500 LP**

**Takashi: 3300 LP**

"Crap…" He thought. "Wendy's energy boost is starting to wear off. I have to end this before I lose my strength again."

"I end my turn Nakamura…" Sayer stated. "And since it's my End Phase, Magical Android's Special Ability activates. I now gain 600 Life Points for every Psychic-Type monster that I currently control."

**Sayer: 4100 LP**

**Takashi: 3300 LP**

"It's my turn…Draw!" Takashi declared as he drew a card from his deck. He took a look at it for a couple of seconds before inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it had the image of a giant city. Above that city was a large spiral. "I activate the Continuous Spell; Future Fusion! Now, by sending the right Fusion Material Monsters from my deck to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon their Fusion Monster on the 2nd Standby Phase since this card activation!"

A holographic keyboard, which contained all the Fusion Monsters that Takashi had in his Extra Deck, appeared before the young man. He pressed the card that he wanted to summon, which caused the Material Monsters to pop out of his Main Deck.

"I choose to send to the Graveyard; Dark Magician Girl and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"

As his Duel Disk reshuffled his cards, Takashi took the monsters and placed them into his Graveyard. After doing that, He took a card from his hand and placed it horizontally on his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon; Blockman, in Defense Mode!"

**Blockman: ATK 1000 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

A solider made out of different colored blocks appeared on Takashi's side of the field in a defensive position. The young man then took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared behind Blockman.

"I place 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn…Draw." Sayer said calmly as he drew a card from his deck. As soon as he did that, Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This activated his face-down card which, when it flipped up, revealed itself to be Threatening Roar.

"I activate the Trap; Threatening Roar!" Takashi declared. "With this Trap, you can't declare an Attack this turn!"

"No matter Nakamura." Sayer said, not really paying attention to his opponent's Trap Card.

The Arcadia Movement Leader took two cards from his hand and inserted them both into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the two cards appeared both of them had the same image or fireballs raining down from the sky.

"I activate the Spell; Hintotama! With this Spell, I can inflict 500 points of damage onto my opponent. Since I have 2 Hinotama cards out on my field, you receive 1000 points of damage!"

Several fireballs shot from out of Sayer's Spell Cards and all of them hit Takashi. The force the impact sent the young man crashing against the wall, falling next to Akiza.

**Sayer: 4100 LP**

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

As Takashi struggled to get back to his feet, Akiza slowly opened her eyes and saw him coughing up blood.

"Ta…Takashi…?" She silently said as she got to her feet. She looked up and saw Sayer looking down at his opponent. "Sayer…what's going on? Why are you Dueling Takashi?"

Sayer looked at her for a second before coming up with a story.

"I'm just testing his abilities Akiza." He said with a fake smile. "Don't worry about it. You should head back to your room, you had a long day and you need to rest."

"That's bullshit!" Takashi yelled as he started coughing up more blood. "He's Dueling me…because he trying to make me stay here! He's trying to make me into…his weapon. Just like you!"

"Make me…his weapon…?" The female Psychic questioned.

"Don't listen to him Akiza…!" Sayer demanded. "He's only telling lies!"

"Shut up!" Takashi yelled at him. "Akiza it's the truth, you have to listen to me!"

Both men started telling Akiza that they should listen them instead of the other. The conflicting sides of both men caused Akiza to suffer a small mental breakdown. She then started to hold her head in pain.

"Both of you…SHUT UP!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

Akiza's powers created a huge blast of wind, which caused by Takashi and Sayer to crash into the wall. The computer that was next to her also fell to the ground and, as the screen started to fade in and out, Akiza saw the objective that Sayer had for her.

"No…no…this can't be true…" She said in disbelief.

Seeing the information brought tears to Akiza's eyes as he powers started to go haywire. Takashi looked at her and saw that Akiza's mental breakdown was becoming worse. So he ran up to her and punched her in the stomach, knocking the Psychic out. This caused her powers to stop as all the wind quickly faded. He then gently placed her on the ground as Sayer started to get up. Takashi looked at him as his aura covered his body.

"Get your ass off the floor Sayer!" He yelled. "Get up so that I can beat back down to an inch of your life! It's your fault that Akiza's like this! It's your fault that my friends got hurt! And it'll be your fault that you'll die here!"

Sayer looked at Takashi as the young man's aura continued to grow. The caused the Arcadia Movement Leader to grow a smile on his face.

"Your powers…" He said. "I must have them…" He proceeded to take a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared behind his Magical Android. "I place 1 card face-down. With that I end my turn and as you know Magical Android increases my Life Points by another 600 points."

**Sayer: 4700 LP**

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

"My turn…Draw!" Takashi declared as he swiftly drew a card from his deck. He quickly put the card into his hand before taking another card and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it had the image of a cup, holding a red liquid. "I activate the Spell; Red Medicine! With this, I regain 500 Life Points!"

**Sayer: 4700 LP**

**Takashi: 2800 LP**

"Next, I activate Blockman's Special Ability! By releasing him, I can Special Summon Blockman Tokens equal to the number of turns that it was on the field. This is Blockman's second turn on the field, so I can Special Summon two Blockman Tokens!"

**Blockman Token: ATK 1000 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

**Blockman Token: ATK 1000 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Blockman started to shrink slightly as it began to split into two. Once it finished splitting, Takashi took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I sacrifice both Tokens to summon; Light and Darkness Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Light and Darkness Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2400 LVL 8**

Both Blockman Tokens disappeared as a new Dragon-type monster appeared on Takashi's side of the field. Half of this dragon's body looked like Dark End Dragon while the other half of its body looked like Light End Dragon.

"Light and Darkness Dragon, attack Magical Android with Dark Cosmic Wave!"

Takashi's beast fired a blast, that contained both Light and Dark energy, from its mouth. The attack hit Magical Android, destroying her until nothing left remained.

**Sayer: 4300**

**Takashi: 2800**

Was his opponent's monster was gone; Takashi quickly inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it revealed itself to be Mystical Space Typhoon.

"Now I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Mystical Space Typhoon! With it, I destroy your face-down card!"

A small cyclone popped out of card and headed towards Sayer's face-down. When it got to it, it was ripped to pieces.

"Thank you Nakamura…" Sayer said with a smile on his face. "You destroyed my Kozaky's Self Destruct Button, a Trap Card that can only be activated when it's destroyed while it's face-down on the field. You now receive 1000 points of damage."

"I don't think so, you Bastard!" Takashi replied. "I activate Light and Darkness Dragon's Special Ability! By lowering its Attack and Defense Points by 500, it can negate the activation of any Spell, Trap, or Monster Effect!"

**Light and Darkness Dragon: ATK 2300 DEF 1900**

Light and Darkness started to roar as it power was drained.

"I end my turn you Bastard!"

Sayer drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. He then took another card and inserted it into his Graveyard.

"Your Dragon's ability is troublesome, Nakamura." He said. "So I discard my Effect Veiler so that it can't activate it this turn."

Effect Veiler appeared on the field and started to fly over to Light and Darkness Dragon. She then sprinkled some dust onto the dragon, causing it to lose its Special powers. Once that happened, the tiny monster vanished as Sayer took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it had the image of a robot appeared from out of nowhere.

"Now I activate the Continuous Spell; Teleport! Once per turn; I can give up 800 Life Points to Special Summon a Psychic-type monster from my hand!"

**Sayer: 3500 LP**

**Takashi: 2800 LP**

Sayer took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon; Master Gig, in Attack Mode!"

**Master Gig: ATK 2600 DEF 1400 LVL 8**

A round, green and black, robot appeared on Sayer's side of the field and stared down Light and Darkness Dragon.

"Next, I activate Master Gig's Special Ability! Bu giving up 1000 Life Points; I can destroy monsters on my opponent side of the field, based on the number of Psychic-type monsters that I have on my side of the field. Master Gig is the only Psychic Monster I currently have, but that's fine because you have only 1 monster of your field!"

**Takashi: 2800 LP**

**Sayer: 2500 LP**

Master Gig fired several missiles from the tips of its arms, all of which hit and destroyed Light and Darkness Dragon. The resulting explosion from the attack, knock Takashi down to the floor.

"Now Nakamura, I attack you Life Points Directly with Master Gig!"

The Psychic monster pointed its hand at Takashi and proceeded to fire a powerful electric blast at him. The attack was so powerful that the young man nearly passed out as he fell; face first, to the floor.

**Sayer: 2500 LP**

**Takashi: 200 LP**

Takashi attempted to get back up, but Wendy's energy boost finally wore off and he no longer had the strength to move his body.

"It's over Nakamura…" Sayer said. "Now give up and accept your fate. You and Akiza are going to remain here. It is your destiny."

Takashi began to lose consciousness and began to close his close his eyes. However before they shut completely, he saw Akiza and she was crying in her sleep. Seeing this woke something up in the young man and he suddenly found the strength to get back up.

"You're wrong Sayer…" He said. "I won't allow myself…, or Akiza, to stay here with you. I just won't let something like that happen!"

Sayer looked on in a sudden state of shock as he saw Takashi's aura turned from blue to yellow. He soon started to feel a sudden sensation coming from the boy.

"What…what is this feeling…?" He asked himself.

As he pondered the sensation that he was feeling, Takashi firmly touched the top card on his deck and glared at the Psychic Duelist.

"This…ends…NOW!" He yelled as he drew the card that he was touching. "It's been 2 turns since Future Fusion was played. So now I can Special Summon; Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!"

**Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight: ATK 2600 DEF 1700 LVL 8**

In a blinding flash of light, Dark Magician Girl appeared in a blue a yellow armor and she was riding Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.

"I activate Dragon Knight's Special Ability! She now gains the Special Abilities of the Dragon-type Monster that she was fused with!"

"What…?" Sayer said in shock.

"That means I can Special Summon a Dragon-Type Monster from either my hand or Graveyard!" Takashi continued on. He took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Special Summon; Vice Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

Vice Dragon appeared on the field and stood next to Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight. Once that happened, Takashi took another card from his hand and also placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster; Delta Flyer, in Attack Mode!"

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

Just as fast as Vice Dragon appeared onto the field, Delta Flyer appeared and flew next to its comrades.

"I now Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Delta Flyer to Synchro Summon; Dark End Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark End Dragon: ATK 2600 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Vice Dragon and Delta Flyer flew into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, a flash of light appeared behind Takashi as Dark End Dragon appeared onto the field. The powerful Synchro Monster stood next to Dark Magician Girl as she continued to ride Red-Eyes.

"I activate Dark End's Special Ability! By reducing its Attack and Defense Points by 500 Points, I can destroy one card on the field. I choose your Master Gig!"

**Dark End Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600**

Dark End Dragon's second mouth opened and released a blast of black energy at Master Gig. The blast completely covered the Psychic Monster. When it finally faded, Master Gig was nowhere to be found. Sayer had a frightened look as he stared down not only Takashi's monsters but also Takashi himself.

"No…this…this can't happen…" He said in a frightened tone of voice. The Arcadia Movement Leader already knew that defeat was inevitable, so he decided to do something drastic. He took a card from his deck and placed on his Duel Disk. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a color meteor on it. "TAKE THIS NAKAMURA!"

The meteor on the card appeared onto the field and headed straight for Takashi. The young man took the blast as a small explosion covered his body. Sayer started laughing as soon as he saw this.

"So you're not only as Bastard…you're also a cheater." Takashi said calmly.

Hearing Takashi's voice brought Sayer chills as he turned and saw that the attack didn't injure Takashi at all. All that did happen was that Takashi hair became blonde and that his eyes turned from cerulean blue to blue-green.

"You…you…should be dead…" Sayer stuttered. "Who…what…are you…?"

"You're death…" Takashi replied. "Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight…, attack Sayer's Life Points directly!"

Dark Magician Girl nodded her head as she summoned a sword from mid air. As she took hold of the sword and began charging energy into to it, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon opened its mouth and prepared to fire a dark energy from its mouth. When it finished charging, Red Eyes launched its attack while Dark Magician Girl fired a blue energy blast from her sword. Both attack combined and hit Sayer.

**Takashi: 200 LP**

**Sayer: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>The attacks created an explosion that consumed the Leader of the Arcadia Movement. The blast soon began to cover the entire room; luckily Takashi managed to escape down the garbage shoot along with Akiza.<p>

Outside of the building, Toru and Wendy looked on as they saw the explosion too.

"Takashi…!" Toru yelled.

The young man looked on in horror for a few seconds. He soon heard something coming from the garbage shoot. He, along with Wendy, looked on and saw Takashi and Akiza coming down from it.

"Takashi…! Takashi…" Toru said as he moved his friend's body, trying to get a reaction from his since he was knocked out.

Takashi woke up as his hair and eyes returned to their normal color. He then looked at Toru and smiled.

"Hell of a day huh…?" He said.

"Hell of a day…" Toru said with a small smile on his face.

Takashi began to fall back to sleep, however before he lost consciousness he pointed to Akiza.

"Bring…her with…us."

With that, Takashi finally fell asleep.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_After spending nearly a week, sleeping, Takashi wakes up and decides to talk to Akiza. Knowing that she's been through a lot, the young man tries his best to comfort her. _

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 20 – Adjusting to change_


	20. Chapter 20

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 20: **_Adjusting to change_

* * *

><p>It was a bright Saturday morning as Takashi slowly began to wake up and soon found himself back in his room. He attempted to sit up, but he was brought back down as he felt a sharp pain from all over his body.<p>

"God…I never felt this crappy before in my life." He thought quietly to himself as he lied down on his bed. He soon closed his eyes for a second and started to remember something from his past. "Well…if we count physical pain that is. I felt worse emotional pain before."

Before the young man could flashback to more of his past, Wendy appeared holding a small first aid kit. She noticed that Takashi was awake, which in turn brought a smile onto her face.

"Takashi…" She said in a happy tone of voice.

The young man looked at her. "Hey Wendy…How long was I out?"

Wendy put her first aid kit on Takashi's bed before she began counting with her fingers. When she was done, she looked back at him.

"For about 5 days…." She answered.

"5 days?" Takashi said in shock. "Geez…no wonder it feels like I haven't gotten up in awhile. So how's Lilly and Toru?"

"Well…out of the 3 of you, your injuries were the worse." Wendy explained. "Toru was already bandage when escape so even though he was in pain, he was able to move around. Lilly's injuries were pretty bad, but the cut she had on her chest wasn't as deep as I first thought."

"What do you mean…?" Takashi asked. "From my viewpoint I could had sworn that Lilly took the full blow of Bianca's Psychic attack."

"Well the keywords in your sentence are 'your viewpoint'." Wendy replied. "Something must've softened the blow of Bianca's attack, which is the only reason I see why Lilly isn't dead right now."

Takashi turned towards his arm and looked at his birthmark. As he stared at it, Wendy continued talking.

"Lilly was only unconscious for about 2 days until she finally woke up."

"That's good to know." Takashi said. The young man soon remembered something that he wanted to ask Wendy. "Wendy…how's Akiza?"

The blue haired little girl looked down for a few seconds before looking back up at Takashi.

"She's fine…" She answered. "Though…"

"Though what…?" Takashi asked.

"She's been distant…" Wendy explained. "She's hardly eaten anything and all she does is stay in the room that we've provided for her. It's like she's lost the will to go on living."

"….I know how she's feels." Takashi said quietly to himself. "I mean when you find out that the only person, who treated you like a normal person, turns out to be using you. I'm not surprised that she's upset. However…."

"However…?" Wendy asked.

The young man looked at the little girl and proceeded to gently rub the stop of her head. Then he slowly got out of bed and made his way out of his room.

"Where are you going Takashi...?" She asked. "You shouldn't be moving in your condition."

"I've been in bed too long." He responded. "Besides, I have to talk to my new friend. She and I need to have a nice and long conversation."

* * *

><p>With that Takashi left his room and made his way over to Akiza's room. Once he reached her door he gently knocked on it.<p>

"Akiza…" He said. "Please open up. I really want to talk to you."

The young man knocked on the door again and after a few minutes of waiting, Akiza finally opened the door and looked at Takashi. The two teenagers didn't say anything and just looked at each other for a few moments before they both went inside the room. They then sat a few inches across from one another on the bed and didn't make eye contact. After about 5 minutes, Akiza was the first one to speak.

"How are you feeling…?" She asked him while she continued to not look at him.

"I'm still pretty sore." Takashi responded. "But it's nothing I can't get over. So how are you feeling?"

"…..How would you feel when the one person, who treated you like a normal person, only helped you because of your powers?" She answered.

The young man looked at her with a sad look on his face.

"I see…I get it."

"I bet you had a great life Takashi…" She said. "Filled with friends, parents, and happiness…"

"My life isn't all as it's cracked up to be." He explained.

"What do you mean?" She asked him. "From what I can tell, you have friends who care a lot about you. When you were unconscious your friends Lilly and Toru, as well as Wendy were spending most of their time taking care of you. That must mean that they care a lot of about you."

"That's true…." He said. "But when I said that, I wasn't talking about my friends. I was talking about everything else. You see…my parents died shortly after I was born so I never had the pleasure of growing up with them. I really wished I could've met them."

"But what if your parents treated you like a monster, would you still want to live with them?" Akiza asked. "What if they sent you away because they didn't know what to do with you?"

"…Even if they still did that, I would still want to be with them." Takashi answered. "Besides, not having parents isn't the only bad thing that happened to me. You see…Toru's and my hometown is being taken over by two people. If we didn't leave then we would have been most likely be captured and made a slave by one of the two people."

Akiza's eyes widen as Takashi continued to explain part of his past to her. As she listened, she began to think about how a person like Takashi could exist. For what she could understand, most of his life was horrible and if it wasn't for his friends his life would be filled with pain and suffering.

"Aren't you angry at how shitty your life has been?" She asked him. "Don't you want to take it out on others?"

"Why the hell would I want to do that?" He asked. He then looked in the eyes. "If I did do that, then I would be no better than the people who made my life the way it is. Being angry is normal part of life, however if we let that anger take control of us then we'll be consumed by it. I mean…look at you."

Akiza pondered Takashi's words and realized that they had some merit to them. Sayer taught her to released her anger on other people, even if they did nothing wrong to her. However, according to Takashi, taking your anger on people who did nothing to you makes you the bad person. However there was one more thing that was still on her mind.

"If I can't take my anger out on other people…then who or what I'm I suppose to take it out on?" She asked him.

"….I can't answer that question Akiza." Takashi answered. "Because I don't have an answer for you." He gently touches her shoulder. "I can tell things have been extremely difficult for you and I know that you feel confused, abandoned and alone. But if you open yourself to everything that's around you, you'll notice that everything isn't all bad. Akiza…"

"Yes…" She said as she looked at him.

"Though I don't have an answer for your question, I do have a solution for you."

"And what's that?" She asked.

"All you really need is a friend who truly cares about you." He said with a warm smile on his face. "And if you want…I can be that friend."

As Takashi got up from the bed and prepared to head to his room he slowly turned and looked at Akiza one more time. As he did, he noticed that Akiza was pretty surprised by his proposal.

"Also…know one thing." He said. "Even if you don't want me to be your friend, know that I'll always be there for you."

With that, Takashi left and Akiza began to ponder everything that he said to her. As she did, a small blush appeared on her face, although she didn't really notice it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview <strong>_

_Two weeks pass and life, for the most part, seems to have returned to normal for Takashi and his friends. However when reports of Psychic Duelist attacking an area of New Domino. Realizing that it must be the work of Sayer, the young Duelist decides to check it out._

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 21- Sayer's Distraction_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcement<strong>_

**Spirit Reader:**_Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all have an enjoyable holiday season and I hope 2012 goes well for everyone. I know I haven't posted anything in the past month and for that I'm really sorry. But I really needed this hiatus to spend time with love ones and to refresh my brain. I know that this isn't my best chapter, but I promise that the next one will be much better than this. Please continue to review Over the Nexus, as they help motivate me to try even harder to make this the best Yu-Gi-Oh story ever._


	21. Chapter 21

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 21: **Sayer's Distraction

* * *

><p>Nearly two weeks have passed since the incident at the Arcadia Movement and at Poppo Time, Takashi and all of his friends were busy relaxing or doing their own things in order to entertain themselves.<p>

Lilly usually spends her time doing 1 of three things. The first of those three things was looking at the sky. According to her, she felt at ease when she did that. She enjoyed looking at the clouds above her while she also stared at the bright blue sky. If she wasn't looking at the sky then she was either working on her Dueling Deck or her Duel Runner. As a Duelist and Turbo Duelist, she always needed to maintain those two things so that they'll be working at 100 percent when she needed to use them. Out of all the current residents and Poppo Time, Lilly was obliviously the cool and collected type, even if she didn't think so herself.

As for Wendy, she spends her time at New Domino's Duel Academy. It's a school for students who want to become Duelists. Originally there was no plan to send Wendy there, but after Zora complained that a little girl like her needed to be in school, Takashi and the other gave up a portion of the money to allow her to enroll. Soon it became clear that doing that was the right thing to do. Wendy was a young girl and hanging out with a bunch of teenagers that were close to their 20's all the time wasn't very ideal. By going to the Academy, Wendy would make friends closer to her age group and also learn to become a better Duelist, since she wanted to become one like the others. Wendy is most the most innocent of the Poppo Time residents and, for as long as the group could help it; they planned on keeping it that way.

Toru, like Lilly, spends a lot of his working on his Duel Runner too. However, unlike Lilly, he does go out and compete in Dueling Tournaments. Ever since coming to New Domino City, Dueling was the only way Toru could make a living. He wasn't really good at doing any job related work as he would usually get fired within a week of employment. Despite that fault, Toru didn't let that get the best of him and continued to move forward until her found a good enough way to make money. Fortunately for him, he was able to do just that. Toru's the relaxed one within the group as he tries not to take things to seriously and goes at his own pace. However he can become serious when the time requires him to do so.

Takashi, much to his annoyance, is still recovering for the battles at the Arcadia Movement. Though most his outer injuries have healed up, except for the cross shaped scars on his left cheek and his chest, his internal injuries still bother him. Despite this he tries to get out and do stuff because in his own words.

"Sitting around and doing nothing sucks!"

Though, it wasn't all bad for Takashi. He would also spend a good portion of his time talking to Akiza, trying to help her to get out of her shell. For the most part it seemed to be working as Akiza is becoming more open with him and is able to have a long conversation with him. She is also becoming open to everyone else, though to a much lesser extent. However, despite that, Takashi is just happy that Akiza is getting better. Takashi, despite not portraying himself as one, is kind of the de-facto leader of the Poppo Time residents. His ability to trust, think, and Duel was what allowed the group to survive Sayer and the Arcadia Movement with their lives. Unknown to everyone though, Takashi doesn't believe that Sayer was killed in their Duel. He never had the chance to confirm his death and Takashi knows that if you can't prove anything unless you confirm it. So he hopes to get better so that he can finally see if Sayer is alive or dead.

Akiza, as stated before, is becoming more sociable with the group. However she is still haunted by what took place. Because of that, she spends most of her time in her room and doesn't come out unless she really needs to do so. She believes that she doesn't deserve to be happy after what happen. She nearly killed both Toru and Takashi and would have done so if the latter hadn't reached to her. Ever since then, Akiza's been grateful to Takashi and he sees her as the first true friend that she ever had. She's also starting to develop feelings towards him, though she doesn't want confess that she may be in love with him. This is mostly because of her guilt, but she's also afraid that Takashi might not return her feelings.

For the most part, life for the five became normal. Unfortunately for them, it isn't normal for things to be normal for very long.

* * *

><p>One afternoon, while Wendy was at school and Takashi, Lilly, and Akiza were doing their own thing, Toru was busy writing a letter to everyone back at Crash Town. He wanted to let everyone know what's been happening so far and all of the new friends that he made.<p>

"_We interrupt your regular schedule broadcast for the emergency news announcement!"_

Toru turned his head and saw that the T.V. in the kitchen was on. "Wendy…she must have forgotten to turn it off when she headed to school."

He dropped what he was just doing and walked towards the T.V. with the intent of cutting it off. However just before he could press the "Off" switch, the reporter said something that quickly grabbed his attention.

"_We have just received confirmation that a Psychic Duelist is causing damage in the Stratus section of New Domino City." _

Hearing the reporter say Psychic Duelist gave Toru immediate flashbacks of his Duel against Recuk. Once he brought himself back into reality, Toru quickly did the first thing that he knew he had to do. "Guys come to the kitchen, now!"

Takashi and Lilly made their way to the kitchen, with Akiza standing behind the door listening on. As the all listen in on the news report it soon became clear why the Psychic Duelist was attacking the Stratus section. So, without much thought, Takashi quickly attempted to make his way over there. However before he could get far, Akiza grabbed his wrist.

"Don't go!"

The young man turned towards her and saw that she was trembling.

"Don't go Takashi…you're not well."

"Don't worry about me Akiza…" Takashi replied as he gently moved her hand from his wrist. "Besides the only reason this Psychic is out here is to draw us out. Well if that's what he wants, then that's what he's going to get."

"But…"

"Don't be stupid Takashi!" Lilly said as she walked towards the both of them. "It just can't be that simple. Sayer must have some other goal to send that Psychic there. If you just go out there without a plan, then you'll be doing exactly what he wants."

"But while we're thinking, that Psychic is causing more trouble for the people in the Status section." Takashi countered. "The longer we wait, the more people are going to die!"

As the two teenagers started to argue on what to do, Toru soon realized something. "Guys, isn't Duel Academy in the Stratus section?"

Hearing Toru say that made Takashi think of Wendy who was currently at Duel Academy. Sayer's plan must have been to kidnap Wendy and bring her back to the Arcadia Movement and if that was his plan, Takashi couldn't waste anymore time. So he quickly made his way outside towards his Duel Runner and sped off towards the Stratus section of New Domino City.

As she watched him leave, Lilly clinched her right hand before quickly shooting a dagger like star towards Toru. "Don't just stand there, move!"

"What do you want me to do?" Toru asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Lilly said. "If the Psychic is near the Academy then he's after Wendy and once he gets her then he's most likely coming here to get Akiza! You need to go after Takashi and help him get Wendy. Then have both of you move your asses back here that we can protect Akiza."

"Ok." Toru nodded his head and quickly made his way towards his Duel Runner. He then rode his way to the Stratus section.

As soon as she couldn't see Toru anymore Lilly got herself ready for when Sayer, Recuk or any other Psychic Duelist will show up. As she got ready she noticed that Akiza was still looking out the window and that she was still trembling. She walked over towards her and gently placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry…I'll make sure nothing bad will happen to you."

"….I'm not concern about my own safety." Akiza said while still looking out the window.

"What do you mean?" Lilly asked.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at the Stratus section, the Psychic Duelist was busying riding around in an all black Duel Runner. He was busying using his powers to blast the side of all the building that he came across. Soon though, he came across Takashi, who was busy standing right in between him and his destination.<p>

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere!"

The Psychic looked at Takashi for a couple of seconds before smiling at him. Takashi didn't like his smile and quickly called him out on it.

"What are you smiling at? You see something you like?"

"You can say that?" The Psychic Duelist answered. "My name is Yusuke Naora and I've been waiting for you…Takashi Nakamura."

"How do you know my name?" The young man asked him. "Did Sayer send you here?"

Yusuke simply smiled and started up his Duel Runner. "I'll tell you, if manage to defeat me in a Turbo Duel." Yusuke rode away with Takashi following behind him. As he drove away he remembered something.

"_Stall him."_

Toru soon appeared and saw that Takashi and Yusuke were about to Turbo Duel. Takashi saw his friend looking at them and proceeded to move his head towards the direction of Duel Academy. Seeing that, Toru understood what Takashi wanted him to do and proceeded to leave them and make his way towards the Academy.

After driving for a few minutes Yusuke and Takashi both activated their Speed World 2 Field Spell and were quickly enveloped in Field Spell's glow.

"Let's Duel!" The two Duelists said at the exact same time.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Yusuke: 4000 LP**

* * *

><p>As the two Turbo Duelist began their Turbo Duel, Toru finally made his way to Duel Academy and quickly excused Wendy from the remainder of her classes. Once he did that, he brought her outside and proceeded to take her back to Poppo Time.<p>

"So Sayer's back?" She asked him.

"We don't exactly know for sure." He explained to her. "However since the Psychic Duelist was near the Academy we decided to come get you, just to be safe."

"I see…What about Akiza? If the Psychic was after me then I'm sure that Akiza is next on his list."

"She's back at the apartment with Lilly, so I'm going to assume that she's ok." Toru said. "Takashi on the other hand is busy Dueling the Psychic. We just have to hope that he manages to win and make his way back."

Back at Poppo Time however, Toru's assumption on Akiza's and Lilly's safety wasn't at all what he hope it would be. Lilly was busy Dueling Recuk, who came to the apartment in the attempt to get Akiza back. The young woman attempted to stall Akiza's escape by Dueling him, but the power of Recuk's Fabled Monster gave her an extremely hard time.

Meanwhile Akiza was in her room and she was still trembling. All of her friends were protect her from Sayer and she was afraid that they would get hurt or killed because of her.

"What should I do…?" She questioned. "If I do nothing then something bad might happen to them, but if do act I might make things worse for them. I just…don't know what to do."

"You should come back to me." Someone said from just behind her.

Akiza's eyes widen as she quickly recognize who the voice belong to. However before she could react, the person placed his hand on her should and gently said something within her ear. Once he did that, Akiza's eyes became hollow and lifeless.

* * *

><p>Back at the Duel, Yusuke made the first move.<p>

"Draw!" He yelled as he swiftly drew a card from his deck.

**Takashi: SPC- 1**

**Yusuke: SPC- 1**

He looked at the card that he drew and smiled. He then placed it onto the Monster Card Zone of his Duel Disk.

"I summon; Silent Swordsman LV3, in Attack Mode!"

**Silent Swordsman LV 3: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

A young man wearing blue and gray armor appeared next to Yusuke. He had blonde hair, with bright purple eyes and was also holding a large clad sword.

Once his swordsman appeared, Yusuke took a card from his hand and inserted into the Spell/Trap section of his Duel Disk. The card appeared face-down beside him before quickly disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Takashi yelled. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC- 2**

**Yusuke: SPC- 2**

The young Duelist took a card from his deck and quickly placed it in his hand. He then took another card and set it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon; Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4, in Attack Mode!"

**Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A white and metal bird with red eyes appeared and started riding next to Takashi.

"Horus, attack his Silent Swordsman now!"

Horus opened its mouth a fired a blast of fire from it. The attack caused Yusuke's monster to burn to death.

**Yusuke: 3400 LP**

Once he Life Points went down, the Psychic Duelist pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This action activated his face-down card which reappeared onto the field. It then flipped up and revealed the image of a black time machine.

"I activate my Trap Card, Time Machine! With this card, I can revive a monster that was just destroyed by battle in the same position it was in before it was destroyed."

The same Time Machine that appeared on the Trap Card appeared next to Yusuke and proceeded to open up. Once that happened, Silent Swordsman LV3 came out and stood next Yusuke again.

Takashi was annoyed that he wasn't able to get rid of his opponent's LV Monster since they can be annoying in the long run. However he didn't let that get the best of him and just continued on with his turn. He proceeded to take two cards from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards appeared face-down on the field before quickly disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn. However during the End Phase, Horus' Special Ability activates! When he successfully destroys a Monster in battle, I can Special Summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6!"

**Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6: ATK 2300 DEF 1600 LVL 6**

Horus enveloped itself it red-hot flame. After a few seconds it flapped its wings so the fire can come off it. Yusuke looked on as he noticed that Horus was twice has big as it was before.

"Draw!" He yelled.

**Takashi: SPC- 3**

**Yusuke: SPC- 3**

Yusuke took the card he just drew and placed it in his hand. He then took his time as he plotted what to do next. Once he figured that out he decided to make his move.

"First off, I'm activating my Silent Swordsman's Special Ability. During my Standby Phase I can sacrifice my LV3 swordsman to Special Summon; Silent Swordsman LV5, in Attack Mode!"

**Silent Swordsman LV5: ATK 2300 DEF 1000 LVL 5**

Silent Swordsman body started to glow as he started to grow a little. When the glow faded, he looked like a teenager and was carrying a much bigger sword.

Once his monster evolved, Yusuke continued on with his turn. His next move involved him taking a card from his hand and placing it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared on the field and it had the image of a monster becoming bigger.

"I activate the Speed Spell; Level Up! When I have 3 or more Speed Counters and LV monster on my side of the field, I can activate this card. With it I can increase the Level of my LV, ignoring its required summoning conditions. So Silent Swordsman LV5, Level Up and become Silent Swordsman LV7!"

**Silent Swordsman LV7: ATK 2800 DEF 1000 LVL 7**

Silent Swordsman started glowing again as he started to grow up again. When the glowing faded, Silent Swordsman was now an adult and was now holding a blade that was almost as big as his body.

Takashi kept his cool, but on the inside he was amazed that Yusuke was able to Level up his Monster twice in the same turn.

"Now…!" Yusuke said as he inserted another card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared, it revealed itself to be Mystical Space Typhoon. "I activate the Speed Spell; Mystical Space Typhoon! By removing 2 of my Speed Counters I can destroy a Spell or Trap Card. I choose the one on the right of your side of the field!"

A small typhoon shot from Yusuke's card and destroyed Takashi's face-down, Silver Contrails.

"Silent Swordsman, attack his Black Flame Dragon!"

LV7 nodded his head and proceeded to charge towards Horus. When he got close enough, he was able to kill the dragon with one powerful swoop of his sword.

**Takashi: 3500 LP**

The resulting shockwaves from LV7's attack caused Takashi to lose his balance a little. Luckily for him however, he was able to regain himself. He then pressed a button on his Duel Disk, which activated his face-down card. When the card flipped up, it revealed itself to be Call of the Haunted.

"I activate the face-down card; Call of the Haunted! With it I revive my Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6, in Attack Mode!"

Horus appeared from the card and stared down Silent Swordsman.

"Nice move Takashi." Yusuke said. "I end my turn."

"Well, if you liked that you're going to this! Draw!" Takashi yelled.

**Takashi: SPC- 4**

**Yusuke: SPC- 2**

Takashi took the card he drew and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster; Dread Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

Dread Dragon appeared next to Takashi and started flying next to Horus.

"Next, I Tune my Level 6 Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 with my Level 2 Dread Dragon! Clustering wishes will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Both of Takashi's Dragon flew high into the air and performed the procedure of a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished both dragons disappeared and in a beautiful flash of light, Stardust Dragon appeared and started flying next to his master.

Once Stardust was on the field, Takashi took one card from his hand and placed it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down for a second before disappearing.

"Next, I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw!" Yusuke yelled as he drew a card from his deck.

**Takashi: SPC- 5**

**Yusuke: SPC- 3**

The Psychic took the card he drew and placed onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon; Blade Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Blade Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Blade Knight appeared next to Silent Swordsman and prepared himself for battle.

"Silent Swordsman LV7, attack his Stardust Dragon!"

Silent Swordsman complied with his command and proceeded to make his way towards Stardust. However before he could get to it, Takashi quickly activated the card he set face-down. The card flipped up and revealed itself to have the image of two doors, one red and one blue. In between the doors was a little boy, not knowing which one he should take.

"I activate the Trap Card; Changing Destiny! With it I can force your attacking Monster into Defense Mode!"

Just as he was about to slice Stardust's head off, Silent Swordsman pulled back and took a defensive position by Yusuke.

"Now Yusuke, since I block your attack you now can choose one of the following effects. 1, you can gain Life Points equal to half of the Attack Points of your swordsman. Or 2, I lose Life Points equal to half of the Attack Points of your swordsman. Choose carefully."

Yusuke turned his head towards Takashi and saw that his opponent was smirking at him. But it wasn't an ordinary smirk. It was the type of smirk that made it look like that Takashi knew which choice he was going to make.

"What should I do?" He thought. "I was ordered to stall him so that they had enough time to make their move, but that look in his eyes bothers me. It…it…"

"Make your move coward!" Takashi yelled as the look in his eyes increased in fury. "Either gain life or take mine away!"

When Yusuke saw the look in Takashi's eyes again, he became afraid and acted without thinking.

"I choose to give you damage!" He yelled.

With that said, a red door appeared before Takashi. The door slowly opened and out from it, a blast of red energy appeared and shot at him.

**Takashi: 2100 LP**

Since the blast wasn't created by Yusuke, Takashi didn't feel any damage from the attack. So he was able to maintain himself on his Duel Runner. He then looked over at Yusuke again and proceeded to smirk at him again.

"Nice choice…" He said. "Now unless you have something else, end your turn."

Yusuke looked on with fear as he complied with Takashi's demand. Once that happened, Takashi gently placed his hand onto his Deck.

"Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC- 6**

**Yusuke: SPC- 4**

He swiftly drew the card and placed it into his hand. He then took a card from that hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"First, I summon; Totem Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Totem Dragon: ATK 400 DEF 200 LVL 2**

Takashi's Totem Dragon appeared and started flying next to his Stardust Dragon.

"Next, I sacrifice Totem Dragon to Special Summon; Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon in Attack Mode!"

**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2400 LVL 10**

As soon as it appeared onto the field, Totem Dragon quickly disappeared. In its place was Red-Eyes who was prepared for battle.

"Lastly I activate Red-Eyes' Special Ability! Once Per Turn, I can Special Summon a Dragon-Type Monster from either my Hand or Graveyard. I choose to Special Summon my Vice Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

Red-Eyes' eyes began to glow has he summoned Vice Dragon onto the field.

"Now, Vice Dragon attack his Silent Swordsman LV7!"

Takashi's dragon obeyed his commanded and proceeded to fly over towards Silent Swordsman. It easily broke the warrior's defense was able to claw it to death.

"Next, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon attacks your Blade Knight with Dark Metal Flare!"

Red-Eyes opened its mouth a fired a blast of red and black energy from it. The attack hit Blade Knight, destroying him completely.

**Yusuke: 2200 LP**

"This ends now! Stardust Dragon, attack Yusuke with your Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust nodded its head and fired a powerful blast of cosmic energy from its mouth. The attack covered Yusuke, causing him to lose control and crash.

**Yusuke: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Speed World 2's effect faded, causing the purple surroundings to disappear along with Takashi's dragons. The young man then quickly parked his Duel Runner and ran over towards Yusuke. Once he got to him, he slammed his body towards the ground and glared at him.<p>

"What's Sayer's plan!" He demanded. "You better tell me now or you'll regret it for the rest of your short and miserable life!"

Yusuke nearly pissed his pants as he looked at Takashi.

"He…he wanted me to stall you!"

"For what?" Takashi asked.

"He wanted to get someone and said that you would get in the way. So he ordered me to stall you long enough to get her."

Takashi's eyes widen for a moment before quickly punching and knocking out Yusuke. He then got back on his Duel Runner and drove back to Poppo Time.

"Please don't let it be too late!"

In less than 10 minutes Takashi made it back, only to find the place a mess and Toru and Wendy tending to Lilly's wounds. He soon saw a note of the floor and began to read it. As he did, Lilly saw him.

"Takashi…I'm sorry." She said. "They defeated me."

"They didn't just defeat you Lilly." Takashi replied. "We all were defeated by Sayer's Distractions!" He walked towards the window and stared through it as he clinched the note in his hand. "But just like this note says, The Final Battle is about to begin!"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22 Preview<strong>

_As night falls on New Domino City, both sides prepare themselves for the inevitable clash. When the battle finally begins, only one side will live to see morning. _

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter_ _22- First Round._

_It's time to see this conflict through the end._

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>

**Spirit Reader: **Hey guys, I know that I said that I would update on a weekly basis, but things have been happening. However, I'm now fully commited to the 4 day/weekly updates so get ready for that. Anyway please review the chapter and tell me how I did on it. Thanks.


	22. Chapter 22

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 22: **First Round

* * *

><p>The Arcadia Movement, an evil organization filled with Psychic Duelist. Their Leader, Sayer is hell bent on gather the world's most powerful Psychics and uses their powers so that he can rule the world. However he's plan has been derailed by the attempts of Takashi Nakamura and his friends. Because of him not only did Sayer suffer a major defeat, but lost his most prized Psychic; Akiza Izinski. Now, even though he successfully recaptured Akiza, Sayer must prepare himself because he knows that Takashi will do everything he can to get her back and his ambitions. The final battle in the long struggle will now begin.<p>

It was the dead of night and Takashi and Lilly were riding on their Duel Runners, quickly making their way over towards the Arcadia Movement Building. Both of them were eagerly determined to end this thing with Sayer. He not only took their friend, but also kidnapped them and attempted to bring them over to his side. They knew that if he wasn't stopped then more people would only suffer and that was something that they weren't going to let happen.

Once the two arrived, they parked their Runners by the building across from the building they were about to enter. After putting their helmets away and placing their Duel Disk on their arms, both Takashi and Lilly looked at the building. As she looked on, Lilly noticed that Takashi's right hand was balled into a fist and was trembling violently.

"Don't worry Takashi…" She said in an attempt to calm him down. "We'll get Akiza back."

"I'm not trembling because I'm worried." The young man stated as he walked towards the building. "I'm trembling because I'm angry!"

As he saw him walking, Lilly had a flashback of when they were kidnapped by Sayer. She could feel Takashi's presence from across the building and knew that he was angry. She also felt sudden burst of power coming from him when she and Toru was in their respective Duels against Sayer's Psychic Duelists. This power really took to the surface when she was struck down by Bianca's Psychic attack as, even though she was dying, could still feel his power. Even though Lilly unleashed a similar power like his, she knew that it wasn't even near to his. When she pulled herself from his flashback, Lilly proceeded to walk towards the building. As she did, she began thinking to herself.

"Don't lose control Takashi…at least, not until we face Sayer."

Once Takashi and Lilly made it inside the Arcadia Movement Building, they were quickly surrounded by several guards. Each of the guards looked similar to each other and had on the same clothes, green clothes with sunglasses. When the guards circled around them, all of them spoke the same exact line in unison.

"You are trespassing, leave now or suffer the consequences!"

Takashi was unfazed by the guards demand and countered with one of his own.

"I'm only going to say this once…where is Akiza Izinski? If you tell us now, then nothing bad will come to you."

"I suggest you comply." Lilly told the guards with a sly smile on her face. "We wouldn't want you guys to get hurt for not doing something so easy."

The guards didn't reply and just made their way over towards the two teenagers. As they did Takashi sighed to himself.

"Fools…"

The young man punched the first guard that got too close to him right dead in the face. The force of the blow not only gave the guard a bloody nose, but it knocked him unconscious. As he hit the ground, Takashi went for the next one.

* * *

><p><em>5 hours earlier<em>

Back at Poppo Time; Lilly and Toru were sitting on the couch, trying to think up a plan of attack against Sayer.

"So what do you think we should do?" Toru asked his friend. "Sayer is probably counting on us to try and rescue Akiza."

"There is no probably about it!" Lilly stated. "We are going to rescue her. The only problem is how are we going to go about it? We don't have the means to sneak inside and even if we did, Sayer would probably have precautions against such an attempt."

"That's true…" Toru replied. "Also…we have to be careful on how we manage this situation."

"What do you mean?" Lilly asked him.

"Think about it…" Toru replied. "For the past two weeks, Takashi has been saying that he didn't believe that Sayer was dead. Now that this has been proven true and that he now has Akiza, Takashi might let his hatred get the better of him. Once that happens, I have a feeling that Sayer might use it to his advantage."

Lilly pondered Toru's explanation for a few moments. She knew full well that something like anger could blind someone into making mistakes that they wouldn't normally make. However, after witnessing Takashi's abilities she came to somewhat of a realization.

"Or we could turn it into Sayer's disadvantage."

"Sayer's disadvantage…?" The young man questioned. "What do you mean?"

As the young lady explained to Toru what she was thinking about, Takashi was busy sitting on the stop of the stairs. His head was down and he was busy pondering how things ended up this way. He had promised Akiza that nothing would happen to her, but now she's kidnapped and most likely been brought back over to Sayer's side.

"Damn it…" He cursed quietly to himself. "I should have planned things out more."

As he was busy berating himself, Wendy appeared behind him.

"Takashi…" She said.

The young man looked towards the little girl and saw that she had a sad look on her face. Seeing that, Takashi stood up and proceeded to give Wendy a warm, but fake smile.

"Don't worry Wendy…" He said to reassure her. "Everything will be fine."

Wendy wasn't fooled by his fake smile, but knew that he only did it so that she wouldn't be more sad then she already was. The only thing that she believed that she could do was go into her pocket and pull out a card. She then gave it to Takashi.

"What this…?" The young man asked as took the card from her and looked at it.

"I may not be a powerful Psychic as Akiza." She said to him. "But I do have some Psychic powers. I managed to transfer some it into that card. When you see Akiza, please use it."

Takashi looked at the card closely, especially at the name. After doing that, his fake smile turned into a real one. He then put the card into his deck and gently rubbed the stop of Wendy's hair.

"Thanks…I'll be sure to use it."

As she watched him leave, Wendy smiled. Takashi then walked into Akiza's room and began to inspect it. He saw that the room was in fairly good condition. This led him to this conclusion; Akiza was brainwashed. Otherwise she would have put up more of a struggle. With that conclusion burned into his mind, Takashi body was covered in his blue aura and his hair started to become spikier.

"Don't you worry Akiza" He said "I'll get you back…no matter what!"

* * *

><p><em>Back in the Present<em>

Takashi knocked out the last of the guards with a powerful roundhouse kick to back of his head. Once the guard hit the ground, Takashi turned and saw Lilly finishing off the guard that she was dealing with. Once she took him down, she looked over at her friend.

"Well that was fun…" She said. "But when are we going to get some real action."

"Probably up top." Takashi said. "If I know Sayer, he probably has Akiza on one of the top floors of this place. Odds are if we go continue to go up, well run into more goons."

"Alright then…" Lilly said with a smile on her face. "Let's go."

The two noble intruders walked towards the first elevator that they saw and made their way inside of it. Once the doors closed, Lilly pressed that had the number 10 on it. With that, the elevator started going up. However, instead of taking them to the tenth floor, the elevator took them to the seventh floor.

"What the hell is going on?" Lilly questioned. "Why did this thing take us here?"

Takashi pondered that very same question, although he didn't let his face show it. He just walked out and proceeded to go forward.

"It doesn't matter." He said. "It's obvious that Sayer wants us to come here. Let's let him have his fun tonight. It will be the last night he'll ever have fun…or anything else in that bastard's life!"

Lilly nodded her head and walked with him. After about ten minutes, the two of them entered a very large room which resembled that of a Duel Arena. Across the room was a young woman with jet black hair, which was placed in a long pony, and dark blue eyes. She had on a white dress, with highlights which were the same color as her hair, and had a black Duel Disk on her left arm.

"Greetings intruders…" The young woman said to them in a polite tone of voice. "My master has been waiting for you two to show up. I'm Haruka Fujiyama and it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Cut the crap, you Psychic Bitch!" Takashi demanded as he glared at her. "You better tell me where Akiza Izinski is, otherwise you're not going to like what I'm about to do to you."

Haruka brushed off Takashi's demand and simply looked at him.

"You know, it's been my experience that men who talk big usually aren't able to back up their words."

Takashi was about snap and attack her, but Lilly grabbed him by the shoulder and shook her head.

"Calm down…" She said. "I'll handle her. Save that anger when we meet up with you know who."

After thinking for a second the young man nodded his head and calmed down. He then let Lilly pass by him as she walked up to Haruka.

"That was nice how you were able to calm your friend down like that." Haruka said. "Seems to me that you're the leader of the group, otherwise the other two people of your team would be right there with you."

"I don't consider myself a leader." Haruka explained. "And for your information, the reason why Toru and Wendy aren't here is because Takashi decided that it would be better for them to stay. Just in case we might fall here tonight, they can continue the fight."

"I see…then I'll make sure to go after them as soon as I defeat the two of you." Haruka activated her Duel Disk and inserted her Dueling Deck into it.

"You'll do no such thing!" Lilly declared as she did the exact same thing.

As both girls prepared themselves to Duel, Takashi looked on with a look of intensity in his eyes.

"So…the first round is about to start." He thought.

* * *

><p>"Let's Duel!" Both girls yelled at the exact same time.<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Haruka: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move…Draw!" Lilly declared as she drew from her deck and placed it in her hand. She then took from card from that hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. "I summon; Rapid-Fire Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Rapid-Fire Magician: ATK 1600 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A magician appeared on Lilly's side of the field. He had dark clothing on, purple hair with eyes of the same color, and was holding two staffs with claw-like ends on them.

Once her magician appeared, Lilly took another card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a blue and yellow sarcophagus.

"Next I play the Spell; Different Dimension Capsule! With this card, I can select one card from my deck and remove it from the Duel for two turns. After those two turns the card that I remove can be sent straight to my hand."

Lilly's entire deck appeared before her on a holographic keyboard. After looking through each of them and looking at the cards that were in her hand, the young woman nodded her hand before picking her card. As soon as she made her choice, but one card on the keyboard disappeared. It was at that moment that the yellow and blue sarcophagus on Lilly's Spell Card appeared onto the field. The card that she picked went inside the sarcophagus and the item closed up before moving behind Lilly.

"Now, since I activate a Normal Spell Card my Rapid-Fire Magician's Special Ability activates!" Lilly explained. "You now lose 400 Life Points!"

Several colorful orbs appeared in front of Rapid-Fire Magician. Soon the mage took the orbs and placed them in his staff before throwing them at Haruka. Each orb that hit her created a small explosion, how since Lilly wasn't a Psychic the explosions weren't real and just holographic.

**Haruka: 3600 LP**

Once she saw that her opponent's Life Points went down, Lilly took two cards from her hand and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The two cards appeared face-down behind her magician.

"I now end my turn by setting two cards face-down."

As the smoke from the final explosion disappeared, Haruka looked unfazed by the attack as she just simply began her turn.

"Draw…" She said as she drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. She then took another card and placed it onto the Monster Card Zone of her Duel Disk. "I summon; Dragunity Militum, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragunity Militum: ATK 1700 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A monster that was covered with green and blue armor, a helmet that covered its entire face, had brown hair, steel wings on its back, and was carrying a steel sword appeared on Haruka's field.

"Militum, Attack her Rapid-Fire Magician!"

As Haruka's Winged Beast Monster approached her Spellcaster, Lilly quickly pressed a button on her Duel Disk. This activated one of face-down cards which, when it flipped up, had the image of two child mages. The difference between them is that one mage had black clothing on while the other had white clothing on.

"I activate the Trap Card; A Rival Appears!" The young woman declared. "With this, I can Special Summon a monster from my hand that has the same level as your Dragunity Militum!"

Lilly looked at the cards that were in her hand and quickly found the one that she wanted to summon. She took the card and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone!

"I Special Summon; Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

Lilly's magician appeared onto the field and stood next to her Rapid-Fire Magician.

"Now that Magician's Valkyria is on my field, her Special Ability now activates." Lilly explained. "As long as she remains on the field, you can't target any of my other Spellcaster-Type monsters besides her."

Dragunity Militum stopped before its sword hit Rapid-Fire Magician. It then turned towards Magician's Valkyria and became mesmerized by her beauty.

"Fine then…" Haruka stated. "Since I can't attack your Rapid-Fire Magician, I'll just attack your Magician's Valkyria! Go Dragunity Militum!"

Haruka's monster obeyed its orders and charged towards Valkyria. It then proceeded to cut and kill Lilly's magician with one swing of its sword.

**Lilly: 3900 LP**

Once she saw Lilly's mage disappear, Haruka took two cards from her hand and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The two cards appeared face-down behind Dragunity Militum.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again…I Draw!" Lilly stated as she drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. She then proceeded to take one card from her hand and place it onto her Spell/Trap Zone. "I summon; Tuned Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Tuned Magician: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

Female Magician with green, white, and yellow clothes appeared onto the field and stood next to Rapid-Fire Magician. As soon as she did that though, Haruka pressed a button on her Duel Disk which activated her face-down card. When the card flipped up it had the image of a Winged Beast monster that was being zapped by lightning.

"I activate the Trap Card; Icarus Attack!" She stated. "By sacrificing my Winged Beast monster, I can destroy two cards that are on the field. I sacrifice my Dragunity Militum to destroy your Rapid-Fire Magician and Tuned Magician!"

The sky above Lilly and Haruka quickly became cloudy. Suddenly a powerful bolt of lightning shot down from it zapped Militum, which caused the monster to explode. The explosion was big another to destroy both of Lilly's Spellcasters and the force of the explosion sent Lilly crashing towards the ground.

"How did you like that?" Haruka asked as she turned towards Takashi. "Don't worry; you'll get your fair share of pain too."

Takashi ignored the Psychic Duelist as he watched Lilly get back to her feet. The young man quickly shook off the pain she was feeling from falling hard onto the ground and continued on with her turn. She pressed a button on her Duel Disk, which activated her second face-down card. When the card flipped up, it had the image of two Kuribohs, the normal Kuriboh and the Winged Kuriboh. In the middle of the Kuribohs was a pan flute.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!" She declared. "With this, I have two choices. The first choice; I can add either one Kuriboh or Winged Kuriboh from my deck and add it to my hand. The second choice; I can Special Summon one of either of those Kuribohs from my deck. I choose to Special Summon Winged Kuriboh, in Defense Mode!"

**Winged Kuriboh: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

Winged Kuriboh appeared on the field and took a defensive position in front of Lilly. As soon as it did that, Haruka pressed another button on her Duel Disk so that her other face-down card could be activated. When the card flipped up, it revealed itself to be Call of the Haunted.

"I activate the Call of the Haunted Trap Card!" Haruka stated. "With it I can revive my Dragunity Militum!"

From out of the Call of the Haunted card, Dragunity Militum appeared and stared down both Lilly and Winged Kuriboh.

Lilly looked at her cards and saw that she didn't have any other moves that she could currently play this turn. So she did the only thing that she could do now.

"I end my turn." She said in a slightly disappointed tone of voice.

"Then it's my turn again!" Haruka stated. "I Draw…!" The young Psychic drew a card from her deck. When she looked at it she smiled before inserting the card into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it had the image of a knight defending with a giant X in front of him. "I activate the Spell Card; Stop Defense! With this card, I can force one your monsters in Defense Mode and force it into Attack Mode. So switch into Attack Mode, Winged Kuriboh!"

Winged Kuriboh complied and switched itself into Attack Mode. Once it did that, Haruka took another card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster; Dragunity Phalanx, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragunity Phalanx: ATK 500 DEF 1100 LVL 2**

A brown and blue dragon appeared on Haruka's side of the field and stood next to Dragunity Militum.

"Now, I Tune my Level 4 Dragunity Militum with my Level 2 Dragunity Phalanx to Synchro Summon; Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana: ATK 1900 DEF 1600 LVL 6**

Both of Haruka's monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished a large red dragon appeared to take their place. On the back of the dragon was a knight wearing red armor and was holding a large claymore.

"Next, since my Dragunity Knight was successfully Synchro Summoned, I can activate its Special Ability." The Psychic Duelist explained to her opponent. "I can choose one Level 3 or lower Dragunity monster in my Graveyard and equip it to Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana. I choose my Dragunity Phalanx!"

Haruka took Phalanx's card from the Graveyard and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the Dragon-Type Tuner Monster reappeared onto the field, it hooked itself onto Vajrayana.

"So what…?" Lilly asked in a unimpressed tone of voice. "What good will it do you, now that your Dragon equipped to your Synchro Monster?"

"You'll really want to know?" Haruka asked. "Then I'll tell you…right now! I activate Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana's second Special Ability! Once per turn, I can discard one card from Vajrayana to double its Attack Points!"

"What…!" Lilly said in disbelief.

Dragunity Phalanx unhooked itself from Vajrayana's body and disappeared. When that happened, Dragunity Vajrayana's body started glowing with a dark red color.

**Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana: ATK 3800 **

"Now…Dragunity Vajrayana will destroy your Winged Kuriboh!"

Vajrayana flew towards Kuriboh with great speed. The dragon opened its mouth and proceeded to eat Winged Kuriboh whole before flying back towards its master.

**Lilly: 400 LP**

"I end my turn and since it's my End Phase, Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana's Attack Points return to normal."

**Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana: ATK 1900 **

"You might as well give up…" Haruka suggested. "With only 400 Life Points remaining there is no way you'll win!"

Lilly took in Haruka's suggestion, but she simply looked her dead in the eyes with an undying determination.

"Listen here Haruka!" She told her. "As long as I still have Life Points, this Duel isn't over yet. And that means I still have a chance to win." The young lady then closed her eyes for a couple of seconds before opening them up again. "Besides…I have a friend here who's waiting for me. I can't afford to lose to you!"

With that said, Lilly began her turn.

"I Draw!" She swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. "Now, it's been two turns since I played Different Dimension Capsule. So the card I removed from the game can be placed in my hand."

The sarcophagus, which was behind Lilly, opened up and released the card that was kept inside it. The card flew into her hand materialize into the card she picked a few turns ago. Once the sarcophagus vanished, Lilly took a different card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it revealed itself to be Cost Down.

"I activate the Spell Card; Cost Down! By discarding one card from hand to the Graveyard, I can lower the Level of all the Monster Cards in my hand by 2."

Lilly took a card and placed it in her Graveyard. She then took another one and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I now summon; Chaos Command Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Chaos Command Magician: ATK 2400 DEF 1900 LVL 4**

A magician in mostly green clothing appeared on the field. He was holding a long green staff and looked very similar to the Dark Magician.

"Now, Chaos Command Magician…attack her Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana!" Lilly commanded.

The mage complied with his master's orders and pointed his staff at the dragon. Soon a bright green energy gathered at the end of the staff. When enough energy was gathered, Chaos Command Magician fired his attack which proceeded to destroy both the dragon and the knight that was riding it.

**Haruka: 3100 LP**

As soon as she saw her opponent's Synchro Monster be destroyed, Lilly took one card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card would appear face-down on the field, right behind her magician.

"With that I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Haruka looked at her foe and started to feel annoyed that she hadn't given up. She decided that she needed to show Lilly that continuing this Duel was the worst mistake she ever made.

"I Draw!" She yelled as she swiftly drew a card from her deck. Once she saw the card she immediately placed it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once the card appeared onto the field, it revealed itself to be Monster Reborn. "I activate the Spell; Monster Reborn. With it, I revive my Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana!"

The Monster Reborn card started glowing as previously destroyed Synchro Monster appeared from it. Lilly however wasn't worried and simply pressed a button her Duel Disk. This activated her recently set face-down which, when it began to flip up, revealed another sarcophagus. Only this time, the sarcophagus was attached by several steel chains.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell; Magical Dimension!" She declared. "With this Spell, I can sacrifice the Spellcaster I have on the field to Special Summon one from my hand."

The sarcophagus from the card appeared on the field behind Chaos Command Magician and began to open up. Resigned to his fate, the mage closed his eyes and folded its arms. Once he did that he put himself in the sarcophagus as the item began to close. Once it did, it glowed with a bright purple color as Lilly placed the Spellcaster-Type Monster she picked onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon; Dark Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Magician: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 7**

Once the glowing faded, the sarcophagus opened up and released the newly summoned Dark Magician who began to face Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana!

"Now the second ability of my Magical Dimension activates!" The young woman stated. "When I'm successfully able to Special Summon my selected Spellcaster, I can select and destroy one monster on the field. I choose to destroy your Dragunity Knight!"

Haruka looked on in shock as she watch Dark Magician point his staff at Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana. With one blast of his magical staff, the legendary magician was able to completely destroy the monster with little effort.

Takashi smiled as he looked on at the Duel. He saw that even though she was down on Life Points, Lilly clearly had the upper hand over her opponent.

Haruka however was becoming more annoyed at the pace this Duel was going. She proceeded to look at her cards with a annoyed look on her face.

"Damn it…" She thought. "I don't have the card yet. All well, I'll just use this combo."

The Psychic Duelist took one card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster; Dragunity Aklys, in Attack Mode!" She declared.

**Dragunity Aklys: ATK 1000 DEF 800 LVL 2**

When Aklys appeared onto the field, Lilly saw that the Tuner Monster was a red dragon with then still metal body on the middle of it. Onto top of the dragon's wings, she saw a sharp spear.

"Next, I'll activate Dragunity Aklys' Special Ability!" Haruka declared. "Since it was successfully summoned to the field, I can Special Summon one Dragunity Monster from my hand and equip it to my Dragon."

The young lady took a card from hand and placed it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I Special Summon; Dragunity Dux!"

**Dragunity Dux: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Haruka's new Dragunity Monster appeared behind Aklys and attached itself to it. The new monster had on a helmet that covered its face, wore white and yellow robes with chainmail, and had steel wings on its back.

"With that I end my turn!"

As Takashi looked at Aklys he silently pondered Haruka's plan. Since he uses Dragon cards, he was somewhat familiar to the style of Dragunity Monsters and their powers. However he didn't want to give Lilly any information. Despite the fact that Haruka was their enemy, Takashi didn't have the right to reveal the reason why she played Aklys to Lilly. He believed that she would figure it out, without having him to tell her.

"It's my turn…I draw!" Lilly stated as she drew a card from her deck. When she looked at it she smiled and quickly placed it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

When it appeared onto the field, Takashi smiled when he saw that the card she just played was Knight's Title!

"I activate the Spell; Knight's Title!" The young woman declared to her Psychic foe. "With it I can transform Dark Magician into the Dark Magician Knight!"

**Dark Magician Knight: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 7**

A beam of light shot from Lilly's Spell Card and hit her magician. The light gave Dark Magician his sword and armor. Once the light faded, the knight proceeded to point his weapon at Haruka's Dragunity Monsters.

"Now that my Magician Knight has been successfully Special Summon to the field, his Special Ability can now activate!"

"And what would that be?" Haruka asked.

Lilly smiled. "I'll be glad to tell you. His ability allows me to destroy one card on the field. And just in case you're wondering, the card I'm choosing is your Dragunity…Dux!"

"Crap!" Haruka thought in anger.

"Good choice Lilly." Takashi thought. "Dragunity Aklys' Special Ability can only be activated when it is sent to the Graveyard while equipped to a monster. If you had chosen it instead of Dux, then it could destroy one card on the field. However…since you did pick Dux, Aklys' power won't work!"

Dark Magician Knight started chanting in a ancient language as his sword started to glow brightly. Once he finished, he swung his blade and energy blast shot from it. The blast went past Dragunity Aklys and proceeded to cut down Dux with one strike.

"Dark Magician Knight!" Lilly said. "Attack Haruka's Dragunity Aklys!"

The Magician Knight complied with his orders and ran over towards Aklys. Once he was close enough, he cut the dragon down into two pieces.

**Haruka: 1600 LP**

"It's your move Haruka. I end my turn."

The Psychic glared at her opponent with great intensity and vowed to make her pay for what she just did.

"Draw!" She yelled as she drew a card and placed it in her hand. She then took another card and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. "I summon another Dragunity Aklys, in Attack Mode!"

A second Aklys appeared on the field and stared down Lilly's Dark Magician Knight.

"Now I activate its Special Ability. I can Special Summon my second Dragunity Phalanx and equip it to Aklys!"

Phalanx reappeared onto the field and hooked itself onto Aklys. Once that happened, Haruka took the last card in her hand and placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"I now activate the Special Ability of the Dragunity Arma Leyvaten that's in my hand!" She said. "When I have a monster that's equipped to a Dragunity Monster, I can Special Summon it by sacrificing those two monsters!"

**Dragunity Arma Leyvaten: ATK 2600 DEF 1200 LVL 8**

When both of Haruka's Dragunity Monsters disappeared; a new, much more powerful, one took their place. This Dragunity Monster was a large and orange colored dragon, who held a large sword in its right hand.

Lilly looked on at the monster and tried her best to hold in the shock she felt when she saw it staring down both her and her Magician Knight.

"I now activate Arma Leyvaten's second Special Ability!" Haruka declared. "With it, I can Special Summon one Dragon-Type Monster from my Graveyard and equip it to Leyvaten! I choose…Dragunity Phalanx!"

Dragunity Arma Leyvaten roared at the top of its lungs. The roar created shockwaves that sent both Takashi and Lilly crashing to the floor. The roar also brought Dragunity Phalanx back onto the field, who proceeded to equip itself to Leyvaten.

"Next, I activate Dragunity Phalanx's Special Ability!" Haruka said. "When it's equipped to a monster, I can Special Summon it to the field!"

Phalanx unhooked itself from Arma Leyvaten and began to stand by its side.

"Now…, Dragunity Arma Leyvaten, destroy Dark Magician Knight!"

Arma Leyvaten obeyed its orders and began to swing its sword towards Dark Magician Knight. Lilly's monster attempted to block the strike with its sword, but the strength of the dragon was simply too much for him to overcome. Dark Magician Knight's sword was cut in two, along with his body.

**Lilly: 300 LP**

"Now that your Knight is gone, I end this Duel right now!" Haruka stated with a confident look on her face. "Dragunity Phalanx, attack her Life Points Directly!"

Phalanx flew over towards Lilly and got ready to slice her with its claws. However, the young Duelist was prepare as she took a card from her hand and placed it in her Graveyard. When she did that, the image of the regular Kuirboh appeared and took the attack from her.

"What the hell just happened?" Haruka asked in confusion as her monster flew back to her side of the field.

"It was Kuriboh's Special Ability." Lilly explained as she got back to her feet. "Since I discarded it from my hand and sent it to the Graveyard, the Battle Damage I would have taken is reduced to 0."

The Psychic Duelist gritted her teeth as she glared at Lilly.

"You only delayed your destruction for one turn." She said. "Hurry up and make your move."

Lilly looked at the two cards that were in her hands and examined them.

"Damn…" She thought. "The two cards I have now won't do any good. This Duel comes to my next Draw."

Lilly slowly placed her hand on the top of her deck. Once she did she closed her eyes and cleared her mind of all thoughts. When she did, Akiza appeared in her mind.

"I cannot afford to lose!" She yelled as she opened her eyes and drew the card that she was touching.

When she looked at it she smiled and proceeded to insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it was revealed to be Pot of Greed.

"I activate the Spell; Pot of Greed! With it, I can draw two cards from my deck!"

Lilly swiftly drew took cards from her deck and looked at them. Her smiled grew bigger as took one of the cards that she drew and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field it had the image of two mages, who spiritual energies collided with one another.

"I activate the Spell; Double Spell!" She declared. "Now, by discarding one Spell Card from my hand I can select one Spell Card from your Graveyard and activate it for my own use. The Spell Card I choose is your Monster Reborn!"

As Lilly discarded one Spell Card to the Graveyard, her Double Spell Card turned into Monster Reborn.

"With the power of Monster Reborn, I revive my Dark Magician!"

Lilly's mage appeared from the card and stood by her again. Once the happened, the young lady took another card from her hand and placed it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When it appeared onto the field, it revealed itself to Polymerization.

"Now I activate my Polymerization card! With it I fuse my Dark Magician with the Buster Blader that's in my hand to Fusion Summon; Dark Paladin, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Paladin: ATK 2900 DEF 2400 LVL 8**

Lilly's Buster Blader appeared onto field and fused with Dark Magician. Once that happened, a new magician appeared onto the field. This mage looked similar to Dark Magician, only that its clothes were spikier and it had a green and yellow coloring to them. As the staff he was holding had a bladed spike on the end of it.

Haruka was shocked at the sight of Lilly's Fusion Monster while Takashi was impressed. He's never seen Dark Paladin before, so this was like a dream come true for him.

"I now activate my Dark Paladin's Special Ability!" Lilly declared. "For every Dragon-Type Monster in either of our Fields or Graveyards, he gains 500 extra Attack Points. You have six Dragon-Type Monsters, two on your field and four in your Graveyard. That gives Dark Paladin 3000 extra Attack Points!"

**Dark Paladin: ATK 5900**

"5900 Attack Points…?" Haruka said in disbelief.

"That's right and all of those Attack Points are headed straight for your Life Points!" Lilly declared. "Dark Paladin, attack her Dragunity Arma Leyvaten!"

Lilly's Spellcaster obeyed and began to charge his magical powers into his staff. Once he was done, the staff started to glow and Dark Paladin threw it towards Arma Leyvaten. The staff pierced threw the dragon, killing it instantly.

**Haruka: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Once the holograms faded away Lilly sat down on the floor and deactivated her Duel Disk. As she was trying to catch her breath, Takashi walked over towards her. When she looked at him, she saw him smiling and proceeded to help her up from off the ground.<p>

"Good Duel." He said.

"Thanks…" She replied.

As the two were talking, someone started talking over the intercom.

"Congratulations on making it past the first round."

Both Lilly and Takashi recognize the voice that were talking to them and glared up into the air.

"Sayer!" The both yelled in unison.

"The very same." Sayer said. "I'm glad you were able to win your Duel Lilly. That just means that our game can continue."

"What game?" She asked. "Just what exactly are you planning your bastard!"

"It's just as I said." Sayer replied. "It's all a game. I want to see whether you and Takashi can make your way up to your goal or die trying. Just consider it my team against your team and seems like you were able to take out one of my team without much injury to yourself."

"Sayer…!" Takashi yelled. "Where is Akiza? Tell me now!"

"Make your way up Mr. Nakamura and you'll meet up with her." Sayer answered. "She's been wanting to meet up with you again, so don't let her down."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, not liking the tone of his voice.

"That's my little secret." Sayer told him. "But in the meantime, here's a gift for winning the first round."

The lights shut off in the room. Soon a bright holographic projection of Akiza appeared. When Takashi saw it, he noticed the lifeless look in her eyes. Seeing his friend like that, the young man became furious as his mark started to glow. Soon his whole body was covered in the same golden aura that he was covered in during his Duel with Sayer.

"YOU BASTARD!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Lilly looked on with shock as Takashi's aura not only turned his hair blonde, but lit up the room as well. All the while Sayer was laughing over the intercom, amused by what transpiring.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23 Preview<strong>

_As battle continues, our heroes make their way up to the 8__th__ floor where their next opponent awaits them. Takashi decides that he'll face the next Duelist, but can he handle his opponent powerful Jurrac Cards?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 23 – The Fiery Devastation of the Second Round. _

_It's only the calm before the storm._


	23. Chapter 23

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks to: **_Sky Dragon_

**Chapter 23: **The Fiery Devastation of the Second Round

* * *

><p>On the Arcadia's Movement's 10th floor Duel Arena, Akiza Izinski is sitting on the floor. As the young woman was sitting, she began to mumble softly to herself.<p>

"Where is he…?" She asked herself. "Where is he…?"

Akiza continued to mumble that same question to herself for the next hour, until someone entered the arena. As the person was walking closer to her, Akiza already knew who it was.

"What are you doing here…Recuk?" She asked him.

Recuk looked down at his fellow Psychic Duelist and saw that her eyes still had no life to them.

"Answer my damn question!" Akiza demanded.

"Master Sayer wants you to rest in your room." He answered. "He feels that there won't be any need for you to Duel."

"I refuse…" The young woman responded without even looking back at Recuk. "Takashi will come…and we will Duel!"

"Listen woman…!" Recuk stated with a hint of anger in his voice. "This isn't a request, this is a demand! You will go into your room! Otherwise you're to deal with me!"

Akiza looked at Recuk as a dark purple aura surrounded her body. Soon a gust of wind picked up in the room as her metal hairpin fell from hair, causing it to become very messy.

"Do you think I care what Sayer wants right now?" She asked him as she got up from off the floor. "All I care about is…Takashi! Anyone who gets in my way will be blown to bits!"

Both Psychics glared at one another and for a moment it looked like Recuk was about to make the first move. However he was able to keep his cool at the last moment. He then turned his back towards her and proceeded to walk way. Before he left the room though, he said something to her.

"I don't know why you're so fixated by that boy and personally, I don't really care. However he is an obstacle to our Master and he must be eliminated. You best remember that."

With that, Recuk left the Duel Arena. Once he was gone, Akiza sat back down on the ground.

"Hurry up…Takashi!" She mumbled to herself. "Stop taking so long."

* * *

><p><em>7<em>_th__ Floor_

"I'LL KILL YOU SAYER!" Takashi yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'LL SEND YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL!"

Lilly was barely able to hold her ground had the pressure coming from Takashi was just too strong and continuing to get stronger. She also saw that his power caused Haruka to faint.

"Takashi…!" She called. "Calm down…We're not going to be able to help Akiza if you let your emotions control you! Takashi…!"

Not entirely blinded by his anger, Takashi thought about what Lilly just said to him. He soon came to the conclusion that Lilly was right and he couldn't save Akiza this way. However he couldn't forgive Sayer and he was still angry to some extent. His powers read to his conflicted feelings and responded in the following way. The golden aura vanished from his body, but his hair remained spiky and golden.

He soon looked towards Lilly, and though the young woman was still somewhat shocked by his appearance, she was just happy that he was able to calm down. She soon walked up towards him.

"Feeling ok?" She asked.

"I don't really know how I'm supposed to feel right now." He replied. "I'll give you my answer once we find and rescue Akiza."

Lilly nodded her head and the two of them proceeded to head upstairs. After about 10 minutes the two of them reached the 8th floor. They quickly made their way towards the Duel Arena and made their way inside of it.

Once inside, both Takashi and Lilly gazed at their next opponent. It was a boy

"My name is Syaoran Illuser." The boy introduced. "And this is as far as you two go."

"We'll see about that you cocky bastard!" Lilly said as she activated her Duel Disk.

As she was about to walk over towards Syaoran, Takashi grabbed Lilly by her shoulder.

"Save your strength for the next round." He said to her. "I'll take care of him. Besides, I want to burn off some steam and taking care of him is a good way to do it."

Lilly looked over at her friend and saw that he was determined to fight this opponent. Seeing that, she deactivated her Duel Disk and back away.

"Just don't take too long." She told him. "I have a feeling that someone familiar is waiting for us on the next floor."

"Really…" Takashi questioned with a small smile on his face. "I have the same feeling."

As Takashi walked over towards him, Syaoran began to ponder who he was as he never saw him in his new form before. It was only after picturing him in his normal appearance that he was finally able to make the connection.

"So you're Takashi Nakamura…" He said.

Takashi stopped walking towards him and looked at his Psychic opponent.

"That's interesting…" He said. "I don't recall telling you my name."

"Everyone here knows who you are!" Syaoran answered. "You're the one who kidnapped Akiza and nearly killed our master."

"I didn't kidnap Akiza…I saved her." Takashi replied. "And by the way…I'm sorry for nearly killing your so-called master. I'll make sure kill him for real this time around."

Syaoran anger started to grow as he listened to what Takashi just said.

"You'll do no such thing you arrogant little prick…because you're about to die!" He angrily declared.

Both Duelists activated their respective Duel Disk and inserted their decks into them. They then pressed the button that caused their decks to be shuffled.

* * *

><p>"Duel…!" They both yelled in unison.<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Syaoran: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move…" Syaoran stated. "Draw…!"

He swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. After looking at all of his cards for a few seconds, Syaoran took one card and placed it onto the Monster Card Zone of his Duel Disk.

"I Summon; Jurrac Velo, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Velo: ATK 1700 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A small raptor with a red head, green body, and blue legs and arms appeared onto Syaoran's side of the field.

"With that I end my turn."

As she looked on at the Duel, Lilly gazed upon Jurrac Velo with a great amount of interest.

"Jurrac…" She thought. "I heard about those types of Monsters before. It's said their Fire-Type Dinosaur Monsters whose special powers revolve around swarming the field. Takashi better end this battle quickly…otherwise he's going to be outnumbered."

"It's my turn…Draw!" Takashi declared as he swiftly drew a card from his deck. He placed the card into his hand before taking another card and firmly placing it onto the Monster Card Zone of his Duel Disk. "I Summon; Blizzard Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Blizzard Dragon: ATK 1800 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

"Blizzard Dragon, attack Syaoran's Jurrac Velo now!"

Obeying his Master's orders, Blizzard Dragon took a deep breath before expelling a powerful blizzard from its mouth. The snowstorm was so great that instantly froze Jurrac Velo. After that, the dragon rushed over and smashed the frozen raptor into tiny pieces.

**Syaoran: 3900 LP**

As the holographic remains of his frozen monster began to disappear, Syaoran looked on with a smile on his face. Takashi saw this and became both confused and annoyed. He was about to ask him about his smile when Syaoran started talking.

"Thank you for destroying Jurrac Velo!" He said.

"Why thank me?" Takashi asked. "You not only lost one of your monsters, but some of your Life Points as well."

"In life I learned that you have to lose a little in order to gain a lot." Syaoran explained. "You may have cost me my Jurrac Velo, but its Special Ability activates when it's destroyed in battle! Now I can Special Summon one Jurrac Monster from my deck that has 1700 or less Attack Points!"

A holographic display of all the Jurrac Monsters that Syaoran could choose from appeared before him. Once he found the Monster he wanted, the young Psychic pressed it and its card popped out of his deck. He proceeded to pull it out as the holographic cards disappeared from his sight. His Duel Disk then started to shuffle his cards again as Syaoran placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Jurrac Guaiba, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Guaiba: ATK 1700 DEF 400 LVL 4**

Takashi looked on as a huge ball of fire appeared on Syaoran's side of the field. He watched the fire die down to some extent; he saw that inside of a red, yellow, and blue raptor. Not wanting to take a chance with Jurrac Guaiba, Takashi took a card from his hand and inserted it into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk. The card appeared face-down on the field behind Blizzard Dragon.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." He stated to his opponent.

"Then it's my turn…Draw!" Syaoran declared as he drew a card. He took a look at the card he just drew and smiled. He then pressed a button on the side of his Duel Disk so that his Field Spell Zone could be opened. Syaoran then placed the card into the Zone before closing it.

"I activate the Field Spell: Jurassic World!"

Takashi and Lilly looked on as the Duel Arena that they were in soon turned into a prehistoric jungle.

As she looked on, Lilly noticed something rub against her legs. When she looked down, she saw that it was just grass. Despite that though, the young woman was in a small state of shock.

"He has the power to make all of this real?" She thought to herself. "I can't really tell if I should be afraid or amazed."

Meanwhile, Syaoran was smiling as he gazed upon the Jurassic World.

"Ahh….it's beautiful, isn't it?" He said. "I believe that his place will be the excellent spot for your burial."

"That's a lot of talk for someone so small." Takashi replied. "You're already assuming that you have me beat."

"Because I do have you beat." Syaoran stated. "You see, inside the Jurassic World my Dinosaur-Type Monsters receive 300 extra Attack and Defense Points."

**Jurrac Guaiba: ATK 2000 DEF 700**

Everyone looked on as the flames that covered Jurrac Guaiba grew more intense. As that was happening, Syaoran grabbed a card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon; Uraby, in Attack Mode!"

**Uraby: ATK 1500-1800 DEF 800-1100 LVL 4**

From the bushes of the jungle, a brown T-Rex appeared and stood next to Jurrac Guaiba.

"Now…I think I'll have my Guaiba attack Blizzard Dragon!" Syaoran stated.

Roaring as loud as it could, Jurrac Guaiba fired a powerful flame from its mouth. The flames hit Blizzard Dragon, causing the monster to burn to death due to the intensity of the flames.

**Takashi: 3800 LP**

"Now…since my Jurrac Guaiba successfully destroyed one of your Monsters, its Special Ability can be activated." Syaoran explained. "I can now Special Summon one Jurrac Monster from my deck that has 1700 or less Attack Points!"

Once again the holographic display of the selectable Jurrac Monsters appeared before the Psychic Duelist. He quickly picked the card he wanted and pulled that card from his deck. Then, as the display faded and his card reshuffled, Syaoran placed the card that he picked onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Jurrac Brachis, in Defense Mode!"

**Jurrac Brachis: ATK 1000-1300 DEF 1000-1300 LVL 3**

Like Jurrac Guaiba before it, Jurrac Brachis appeared onto the field in a ball of fire. As looked on at the new Monster, Takashi saw that it was a red Long Neck.

"Now Uraby…attack his Life Points Directly!" Syaoran ordered.

Uraby roared and quickly made its way towards Takashi. Acting fast, the young Duelist pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This action activated his face-down card which, when it began to flip up, turned out to be A Hero Emerges. The card produced a bright light that blinded the oncoming Dinosaur as Takashi started to talk.

"I activated the Trap Card: A Hero Emerges!" He declared. "Now with this, you have to pick a random card from my hand. If it's a Monster, I can Special Summon it. If not, I have to discard it to the Graveyard."

"Fine then…I choose the card on the far left." Syaoran stated with a noticeable hint of annoyance in his voice.

Takashi looked on at the card his opponent picked and smiled. He then took that card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Dark Magician Girl, in Attack Mode!"

"What…?" Lilly yelled in confusion.

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

As the light from A Hero Emerges started to fade, both Syaoran and Lilly looked on and saw Dark Magician Girl standing before Takashi.

"What the hell?" Lilly yelled in confusion. "Since when did you have a Dark Magician Girl?"

Takashi turned his head towards Lilly and smiled a little.

"I'll tell you as soon as I kick this guy's ass." He said.

"You better!" The young woman demanded.

Meanwhile, Syaoran was pissed that he wasn't able to deal damage towards Takashi. Not wanting to lose Uraby, he called it back. He then took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." He said.

"My turn…" Takashi said as he brought his attention back towards the Duel. "Draw!" The young man swiftly drew his card and placed it in his hand. He then took a card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Luster Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Luster Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

A beautiful dragon that covered entirely in sapphire appeared on Takashi's side of the field, next to his Dark Magician Girl. Once that happened he took another card and inserted it onto his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, everyone saw that the image on it had the image of a magic book.

"Next, I activate the Equip Spell: Magic Formula!" He said. "When I equip this to Dark Magician Girl, she'll gain 700 extra Attack Points!"

When the book appeared onto the field, Dark Magician Girl took it and began reading at incredible speed. As she did that, a magical aura began to surround her body.

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2700**

"Dark Magician Girl, attack Jurrac Guaiba with your Dark Burning Attack!" Takashi ordered.

The female mage nodded her head and promptly closed her spell book. She then pointed her staff at the Jurrac Monster and fired a blast of pink energy. The blast swiftly connected with its Target and destroyed Guaiba.

**Syaoran: 3200 LP**

"Now Luster Dragon, attack his Uraby!" Takashi declared.

Luster Dragon roared as it flew over towards Uraby. Seeing this, Syaoran quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk. This activated the face-down he played earlier which, when it flipped up, revealed itself to be Urgent Tuning.

"I activate the Trap: Urgent Tuning!" Syaoran stated. "With it, I can perform a Synchro Summoning during the Battle Phase! So, I'll Tune my Level 3 Jurrac Brachis with my Level 4 Uraby to Synchro Summon: Jurrac Giganoto, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Giganoto: ATK 2100-2400 DEF 1800-2100 LVL 7**

Jurrac Brachis and Uraby both jumped into air and avoided Luster Dragon. The two Dinosaur Monsters then performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, a blue T-Rex with a flaming head appeared on the field.

"Jurrac Giganoto's Special Ability now activates!" The Psychic Duelist explained. "For as long as it remains on the field all of my Jurrac Monsters receive 200 extra Attack Points! This also includes Jurrac Giganoto!"

"And this he has 3 Jurrac Monsters; Giganoto gains 600 extra Attack Points." Lilly thought silently to herself.

**Jurrac Giganoto: ATK 3000**

Takashi looked at the cards that was in his hand and only saw one that currently caught his interest. So he took that card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of several golden swords.

"I activate the Spell: Swords of Revealing Light!" He declared. "With this, you can't attack for the next 3 turns!"

Syaoran looked on in annoyance as several golden swords shot down from the sky and surrounded his side of the field.

"Coward…hiding behind your swords!" He said.

"Shut up." Takashi replied. "I end my turn,"

"Draw!" Syaoran yelled as he drew a card from his deck. He placed the card in his hand before taking another card and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Jurrac Iguanon, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Iguanon: ATK 1700-2600 DEF 700-1000 LVL 4**

A small purple and blue raptor appeared onto Syaoran's side of the field and stood next to Jurrac Giganoto.

"I end my turn."

As Syaoran ended his turn, some of the Swords disappeared from his side of the field.

"Draw!" Takashi said as he drew a card from his deck. "I end my turn without doing anything else."

"I Draw!" Syaoran yelled as he once again drew another card from his deck. He looked at the card and smiled before placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon the Tuner Monster: Jurrac Monoloph, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Monoloph: ATK 1500-2400 DEF 1200-1500 LVL 3**

Another raptor appeared on the Psychic Duelist's side of the field. Only this time it had a bright blue body and a bright orange head with several red spots on its neck.

"I end my turn."

Once again, more of the swords disappeared from Syaoran's field. This caused some concern for Lilly as she didn't know what Takashi hoped to accomplished by stalling. She soon looked over at him and saw that he was still calm and that not a single drop of fear fell from his face.

"Takashi…what's going on inside that head of yours?" She asked herself. "What could you possibly be thinking?"

"It's my turn…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card and placed it into his hand. He then took one card from his deck and inserted it onto his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized, face-down, behind Dark Magician Girl. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"…Draw!" Syaoran declared as he drew. He looked at the cards that were in his hand and saw nothing that he could use this turn. "Like you, I end my turn without doing anything else."

Once he ended his turn, all of the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared from Syaoran's side of the field.

"Alright Takashi…" Lilly said. "If you're going to do something, then you need to do it now!"

"Draw!" The young man yelled as he drew a card and placed it in his hand. He then took another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. This time however, it materialized Luster Dragon. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Finally…Draw!" Syaoran stated as he drew a card. Once he looked at it a huge smile appeared on his face. He then looked over towards Takashi. "It's been fun, but now it's over!"

"What do you mean?" Takashi asked.

"I'll show you!" Syaoran replied as he placed the card that he drew onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Mammoth Graveyard, in Attack Mode!"

**Mammoth Graveyard: ATK 1200-1500 DEF 800-1100 LVL 3**

The grounded started to trimmer beneath everyone's feet as several bones appeared from the ground. The bones would quick assemble together until they formed a giant mammoth.

"Next, I'll Tune my Level 3 Jurrac Monoloph with my Level 3 Mammoth Graveyard and my Level 4 Jurrac Iguanon to Synchro Summon: Jurrac Meteor, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Meteor: ATK 2800-4100 DEF 2000-2300 LVL 10**

**Jurrac Giganoto: ATK 3400**

All three of Syaoran's Monsters flew up into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished however, no Synchro Monster appeared to take their place.

"What's going on here?" Lilly asked. "Where's your Monster!"

Syaoran looked at her and smiled before pointing his right index figure up into the sky. When Lilly looked up she noticed that the sky was starting to become dark as a red star started shining. She soon noticed that the star was quickly coming towards them.

"Jurrac Meteor isn't called that because it sounds cool!" Syaoran explained. "It's called Meteor because its Special Ability allows me to destroy all the cards on the field! When that happens, I can then Special Summon a Jurrac Tuner from my Graveyard!"

Lilly looked on in shock as she felt the pressure coming from the falling Synchro Monster coming towards them.

Takashi however was able to keep his cool as he predicted that Syaoran would make a move like the one he just did. Acting quickly, the young man pressed a button on his Duel Disk to activate one of his face-down cards. When the card flipped up, it revealed itself to be Starlight Road.

"I activate the Trap: Starlight Road!" He said. "I can only activate this Trap Card when either 2 or more of my cards are about to be destroyed by an effect. I can now negate and destroy the card and Special Summon: Stardust Dragon, from my Extra Deck!"

"What?" Syaoran said in shock.

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

A strong blast of light shot from out of Takashi's Trap Card and hit Jurrac Meteor. When the light made contact, the powerful Synchro Monster was exploded into several tiny pieces. Once that happened, Stardust Dragon appeared onto the field.

Syaoran was shocked that his most powerful Synchro Monster was destroyed before it could even do anything. However he wasn't going let such a setback get the best of him.

"So what if you summoned your Ace Monster!" He said. "Don't forget that for every Jurrac Monster that resides in my Graveyard, Jurrac Giganoto gains 200 extra Attack Points!

**Jurrac Giganoto: ATK 3600**

"Now Jurrac Giganoto, destroy his Dark Magician Girl!"

The super-powered Dinosaur roared as it ran towards Takashi's mage. However the young man was again prepared as he pressed another button on his Duel Disk. When his second face-down card began to flip up, it revealed itself to be Threatening Roar!

"I activate the Trap: Threatening Roar!" He said. "When it's you can't attack me or my Monsters this turn!"

Both Stardust Dragon and Luster Dragon roared as loud as they could. The powerful shockwaves coming from the dragons pushed Jurrac Giganoto back towards its master.

"Damn it…" Syaoran cursed. He looked at his hand and saw that he had no more cards that he could play. "I end my turn."

Hearing him say that allowed Lilly to blow a sigh of relief.

"That was close…" She thought. "But now how is Takashi going to get rid of his Jurrac Giganoto? None of his Monsters come close to matching it."

"It's my turn…Draw!" Takashi yelled as he drew a card from his deck. When he looked at the card, he smiled before looking back at his opponent. "It's over for you Syaoran."

"What makes you so sure?" The Psychic Duelist asked. "In case you didn't notice, all of your Monsters pale in comparison to mine!"

As he said that, Syaoran looked on and saw that the yellow aura covered Takashi's body again.

"I'll show you." He replied as he inserted the card that he drew into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it revealed itself to be Polymerization. "I activate the Spell Card: Polymerization! With it, I fuse my Dark Magician with my Stardust Dragon to Fusion Summon: Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!"

**Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight: ATK 2600 DEF 1700 LVL 8**

Both Stardust Dragon and Dark Magician Girl started glowing as the two of them fused together. When they finished fusing, Dark Magician Girl was covered in her armor as she road on top of Stardust Dragon.

"When Dark Magician the Dragon Knight is successfully Fusion Summoned, she receives half of the Attack Points of the Dragon-Type Monster that she riding. Stardust Dragon has 2500 Attack Points, so Dark Magician Girl receives 1250 Attack Points!"

**Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight: ATK 3850**

"Dragon Knight, destroy his Jurrac Giganoto!" Takashi declared as the aura around him grew brighter.

Stardust Dragon fired a blast of cosmic energy from its mouth as Dark Magician Girl fired a powerful magical blast from her sword. Both attacks combined with each other has they hit Jurrac Giganoto, obliterating it.

**Syaoran: 2950 LP**

The attack creating a shockwave that shook up Syaoran, causing him to fall to the ground. As his foe was getting back to his feet, Takashi quickly inserted his final card into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared onto the field, it turned out to be De-Fusion!

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: De-Fusion!" He said. "With it I spit my Dragon Knight into the two Monsters used to form it!"

Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight started to split apart. Soon Dark Magician Girl, now back in her mages' clothes, and Stardust Dragon stood back next to each other.

"Now; Stardust Dragon and Dark Magician Girl, Attack his Life Points Directly!"

Syaoran looked on in disbelief as he saw both of Takashi's Monster fire their respective attacks at him. When they connected, the force caused the young man to pass out.

**Syaoran: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As all the holograms disappeared, Takashi's aura began to disappear as he deactivated his Duel Disk. He then walked over towards Lilly, as his hair finally returned to normal.<p>

"Feel better…?" Lilly asked noticing the change in his hair color.

"…I guess." Takashi answered.

"Good…" Lilly smiled. She then punched him in the head. "Now keep your promise! When did you get a Dark Magician Girl?"

"Oww…" Takashi moaned.

_11__th__ Floor_

Sayer was in his lab, looking at Takashi and Lilly at the monitor.

"Interesting…" He thought. "Very Interesting…"

Soon, Recuk walked into the room and made his way towards Sayer.

"Master…" He said. "Akiza isn't responding to your orders. It seems all she wants to do is face Nakamura."

"I see…" Sayer replied as he kept his eyes on the monitor. "Then let's give her what she wants."

"What do you mean?" Recuk asked.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 24 Preview<strong>

_As our heroes make their way to the 9__th__ floor, they soon find themselves against Recuk. However he tells Takashi that he's allowed to proceed onward and that Lilly must defeat him to do the same. Realizing that Akiza only one more floor away, the two decided to agree with Recuk. But is that really the wisest move?_

_Next Time of Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's Over the Nexus: Chapter 24 – The Reason for Dueling_

_Everyone must do what they believe to be right._

* * *

><p><strong>Announcements<strong>

**Spirit Reader: **Hey Guys, wanted to thank you all for supporting me all this time because now I have over 100 reviews! Please continue to review as the Over the Nexus Story continues.


	24. Chapter 24

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks to: **_Thomas Drovin_

**Chapter 24: **_The Reasons for Dueling_

* * *

><p><em>11<em>_th__ Floor_

A young man with short hazelnut colored hair and dark brown eyes was sitting down on his bed with both of his eyes closed. While he was sitting, the young man activated his Duel Disk and placed 3 cards face-down on the Monster Card Zone.

"Show me…" He said quietly to himself. "Show me the images of the things to come…"

The boy's body was slowing being enveloped in a bright yellow aura. The aura was slowly becoming stronger and stronger until it suddenly stopped. The boy then started to breathe very violently as sweat started to quickly drip down his face.

"Holy…crap…" He said in shock. "That…that can't possibly…"

As the boy was trying to understand what he just saw in his mind, the images of it kept appearing in his head. It was at that moment that he knew what he had to do.

"I…I have to stop this, otherwise the whole world could be at risk."

Moving quickly, the boy raced out of his room and ran down the hall. After a few minutes, he saw Recuk preparing to head down the elevator.

"Recuk…!" He called. "Recuk stop…!"

Recuk heard the boy calling out to him and stopped before pressing the elevator button. He then turned to the young man as he was making the final steps towards him.

"Brad…" He said. "What do you want?"

Brad looked at Recuk while at the same time, trying to catch his breath. Once he regained himself, Brad started to talk.

"Recuk…we can't let Sayer get away with what he's doing." He said. "If we don't stop him, then he'll destroy everything. Please…we have to stop him now while there's still time."

Recuk looked at Brad and saw the look of fear and desperation in his eyes. The Psychic Duelist simply sighed before turning his head and pressing the button to the elevator.

"It's too late Brad. The plan can't be stopped."

"And why's that?" Brad yelled.

"Because…it's not up to us to stop it…" Recuk explained as the elevator doors opened. "It's up to fate to see whether or not the plan will succeed or fail."

As Recuk walked inside the elevator, the anger inside Brad quickly started to build up. He then put his hand in between the elevator, just stopping it from closing.

"How can you just stand there and let Sayer get away with what he's doing?" He asked. "You know what he's doing is wrong and could end up taking the lives of several people! How would your sisters feel if they saw what you're about to do?"

Recuk looked at Brad for a few short moments as he pondered his question. He then moved Brad's arm from the elevator. As the doors closed, he said something to his fellow Psychic Duelist.

"It's not up to me to do what's right or wrong anymore. You go on and do what you must, while I go on and do what I must."

With that, the doors closed thus leaving Brad all alone. The young man thought about what Recuk just said to him and decided on what he was going to do.

"I have to stop this…and the best way to do it is to stop the event from coming true."

He then started running, trying to make his way to the first set of stairs that he could find.

"I'm coming…Akiza."

* * *

><p><em>Stairway to the 9<em>_th__ Floor_

"Look…I'll say it one more time." Takashi said as he and Lilly ran up the flight of stairs. "Apparently, my mother left me with a bunch of these rare cards just before both she and my father died. That's how I got my very own Dark Magician Girl; I inherit it from my mother."

"I see…" Lilly responded. "But if that's the case, why didn't you use it during our Duel back at the Satellite?"

"Back then, I didn't know I had it at the time." Takashi answered. "It was only until we got to New Domino City that I learned about it and all the other cards."

Lilly wasn't sure how to make about what Takashi just said to her. It's not like she didn't trust what he just said. To her, Takashi was one of the few people that she could actually call her friend. But it was just odd how he also had a Dark Magician Girl card. Especially since the only copy in existence was in her hands.

Before she could ask another question, both Lilly and Takashi finally made it to the 9th floor. They then quickly, but cautiously found themselves at the entrance to the floor's Duel Arena. It was there that both of their marks started to glow brightly.

"This sensation…" Lilly thought. "It's him…"

Takashi took his right foot and kicked the door opened. It was at that moment, that both of Duelists saw the opponent that they were facing; Recuk…

"Welcome…" The Psychic Duelist said. "I'm not too surprised that the two of you made your way up here."

"Oh really…?" Takashi replied. "And what made you so sure?"

"Because…I know that the two of you are True Duelist." Recuk answered.

Lilly started to become slightly confused by Recuk. Every since she was first ambushed by him, she never felt any real evil intent coming off of him. It was like he was a good person doing bad things…

"Look, you Psychic bastard!" Takashi exclaimed. "You may have spared Toru's life the last time I met you, but things are different now! You were responsible for Akiza being brought back here and for that…I can't ever forgive you!"

"Akiza Izinski…" Recuk said. "Why are you so adamant on helping her? She's a Psychic Duelist just like me and Sayer. And just like us, she used her abilities to commit serious crimes…like murder. She even tried to take your life more than once. So why do you choose to help her?"

Takashi stayed silent as he thought about Recuk's question. After a few seconds, he found his answer.

"What you can show, but cannot see?"

"That question…" Recuk thought. "It's the same question that his friend said to me during our Duel."

"Friendship…" Takashi answered. "You can show friendship, yet you can't see it. Akiza is my friend and as her friend, I'm going to help her. She may not want my help…hell, she may not even need it. But I just couldn't call myself her friend if I wasn't there to support her when she might need me."

"Takashi…" Lilly thought.

"Besides…" Takashi continued. "I already lost someone close to me because I didn't do anything and I swore that I wouldn't make the same mistake twice!"

"I see…" Recuk said. "So that's your answer…"

The Psychic gave out a small smile, which came unnoticed to both Takashi and Lilly. As the smile faded, just as fast as it appeared, Recuk moved to his side and revealed the exit.

"Takashi Nakamura…go on ahead."

"What…?" Both Takashi and Lilly questioned in unison.

"You heard me…" Recuk said. "You're allowed to go on ahead Nakamura. However…Lilly Muto, you have to stay here and you must defeat me in order to join him."

"There's no way I'm going up without Lilly!" Takashi stated. "We both entered this damn place with the intent to rescue Akiza together. Do you think I'll just abandon her?"

"Under normal circumstances…no, you would leave her side." The Psychic Duelist answered. "However…what if Akiza Izinski was waiting for on the next floor?"

Takashi's eyes widen as he listened to Recuk. Lilly was also surprised by the revelation, but not much as her friend.

"Why are you telling us this?" She asked. "Sayer wanted us to Duel his Psychic minions until we made it to Akiza on our own. And now you're not only telling us that not only is Akiza on the next floor, but also that you're allowing Takashi to move on. Do you really think we'll believe that?"

"I don't really care whether you believe me or not." Recuk replied. "It's just what my Master wants, and what he wants is for Nakamura to move on to face Izinski."

As Lilly was trying to understand Sayer's overall objective, Recuk looked over at Takashi and saw that he wasn't sure what he should do.

"Nakamura…" He said. "You said that you lost someone very close to you and that you weren't going to let it happen to another one of your friends. Well…you have the opportunity to do just that. Or are you going let yourself become a hypocrite."

Whether he stayed or left…he would be a hypocrite either way. That's what Takashi thought. He knew that he had to go and rescue Akiza, but he also knew that he just couldn't leave Lilly behind and handle Recuk on her own.

Lilly sense the conflict coming from him. She didn't like what was going on, but it didn't matter what she liked or didn't like right now. Right now is doing what she felt was right.

"Takashi…go on ahead." She said.

The young man quickly turned towards his friend, but before he could say anything to her he was immediately slapped by Lilly.

"Look, the moment we hesitate is the moment we let Sayer win. I don't know what he's up to and I don't really give a damn! All I do know is that we must rescue Akiza and we must stop him. And if splitting up can help us do that faster then we should. Besides…if Akiza truly is in trouble…then only you can help her. Because you're the only one who can truly reach her."

Takashi took Lilly's words to heart. So he quickly punched himself in the face so that all the doubt and hesitation in him would go away. This work as the confidence returned to his eyes.

"Thanks Lilly…" He said as he ran towards the exit.

Once she saw Takashi leave the Duel Arena, Lilly turned her full attention towards Recuk. The young woman activated her Duel Disk and took her position on the Duel Arena.

"Listen here Recuk…" She said. "Things will be different this time around!"

Recuk didn't say anything. All he did was place his deck into his Duel Disk before activating it. After that he took his place on the Duel Arena.

"_Be careful Lilly…" _Dark Magician Girl telepathically said to her partner. _"I doubt that he'll be holding back this time."_

"I know…" Lilly responded. "But it doesn't change the fact…that I must win!"

* * *

><p>"Let's Duel!" Recuk and Lilly yelled at the same time.<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Recuk: 4000 LP**

Both Duelists drew five cards from their decks.

'I'll go first…Draw!" Lilly declared as she drew the sixth card from her deck. She looked at it for a moment before placing it onto her Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Gagaga Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A magician, wearing dark red and blue clothes appeared on Lilly's side of the field. The mage had most of his face covered by his clothing and a long steel chain was wrapped around neck, chest, and right leg.

Once here magician was out, Lilly took another card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized behind Gagaga Magician in a face-down position.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw..." Recuk calmly said as he drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then opened the Field Spell Zone of his Duel Disk and placed a card in it before closing it back up. "I activate the Field Spell: The Gates of Dark World!"

The Duel Arena around both Duelists grew very dark and cold. Suddenly, two large doors appeared onto the field. One stood right behind Recuk while the other stood right behind Lilly.

"What…what is this…?" Lilly questioned as she looked at her new surroundings.

"The Gates of Dark World…" Recuk answered. "In this special place, all Fiend-Type monster receive 300 extra Attack and Defense Points."

"What…?" Lilly said in shock.

Ignoring his opponent's shocked state, Recuk continued on with his turn by taking a card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: The Fabled Ganashia, in Attack Mode!"

**The Fabled Ganashia: ATK 1600 – 1900 DEF 1000 – 1300 LVL 3**

The doors on Recuk's side of the field slowly started to open up. As steam seeped out, a giant elephant, who was able to stand up right, walked out and stood next to Recuk. The elephant was dark blue and was wearing Arabian clothing.

"Ganashia, destroy her Gagaga Magician!" Recuk commanded.

Ganashia obeyed its master's orders and ran over towards Lilly's mage. Once it got close enough, the massive beast took its right foot and promptly squashed Gagaga Magician.

However, it was at that moment that Lilly activated her face-down card. When the card flipped up, it was revealed to be Defense Draw.

"I activate my Defense Draw Trap!" The young girl stated. "With it, the battle damage that I would've received is now reduce to zero. Also, I'm allowed to draw a card from my deck."

Lilly swiftly drew a card as Recuk looked at his hand. After a few seconds of looking, Recuk concluded that he didn't have any more moves that he could play this turn.

"I end my turn…" He said calmly.

"Then it's my turn again…Draw!" Lilly said as she drew another card. She then took one of the cards that was in her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Skilled Dark Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Skilled Dark Magician: ATK 1900 DEF 1700 LVL 4**

A new magician appeared on Lilly's side of the field. This one, like the others was covered in ancient robes and was wielding a magic staff. The key differences were; 3 orbs were on his clothes, one on each shoulder and the other on his neck collar, and that his clothes were hiding part of his face.

Once her magician was out, Lilly took another card from her hand and inserted it into the Spell/Trap Zone of her Duel Disk. When the card appeared onto the field, it had the image of a opened Spell Book.

"Next. I activate the Equip Spell Card: Book of Secret Arts! With it, Skilled Dark Magician's Attack and Defense is increased by 300. Also, thanks to its Special Ability, my magician gains 1 Spell Counter since a Spell Card was activated!"

**Skilled Dark Magician: ATK 2200 DEF 200 SC 1**

The spell book, from Lilly's Spell Card, appeared onto field. While Skilled Dark Magician was reading the book, the orb on his right shoulder started to glow a bright blue color.

"Skilled Dark Magician…" Lilly called. "Attack his monster now!"

The mage closed the book and hooked it under his armpit. He then took his magic staff and pointed it at Ganashia before firing a powerful magical blast. The blast struck Recuk's monster, causing the beast to explode.

**Recuk: 3700 LP**

The resulting explosion created shockwaves that went unfazed by Recuk, who didn't seem to care that his monster was just destroyed. This seemed to bother Lilly a little, though she tried not to show it on her face. The young woman continued on with her turn by taking two cards from her hand and inserting them both into her Spell/Trap Zone. The two cards materialized onto her side of the field, both of them being placed face-down behind Skilled Dark Magician.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn."

"Draw…" Recuk said as he drew another card and added it to his hand. He then took another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared, it was revealed to be Tribute to the Doom. "I activate the Tribute to the Doomed Spell Card. Now, by discarding 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy one monster on the field. I choose your Skilled Dark Magician."

As Recuk took a card from his hand and placed it in his Graveyard, several ropes appeared from out his Spell Card and wrapped themselves around Skilled Dark Magician. The ropes then pulled the magician inside the Spell Card, just before it disappeared.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Fabled Lurrie." Recuk stated. "When it's discarded to the Graveyard, it can be Special Summoned."

**Fabled Lurrie: ATK 200 – 500 DEF 400 – 700 LVL 1**

From out of the large doors, a small purple creature with blue hair and black bat wings appeared and sat on Recuk's shoulder. The Psychic then took another one of his cards and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Fabled Raven, in Attack Mode."

**Fabled Raven: ATK 1300 – 1600 DEF 1000 – 1300 LVL 2**

Also from the giant doors, another Fabled monster flew out of it. This one was around the same size as Recuk, was wearing black armor, and black wings on his arms and legs.

When the monster appeared onto the field, Lilly activated one of her face-down cards. When it flipped up, the card revealed itself to be A Rival Appears.

"I activate the Trap: A Rival Appears!" She declared. "With it I can Special Summon one monster from my hand that has the same level as one on your side of the field!"

The young woman took the card that she picked and placed it firmly on her Duel Disk.

"Since your Fabled Raven is a Level 2 monster, I'll Special Summon my Level 2; Witch's Apprentice, in Attack Mode!"

**Witch's Apprentice: ATK 550 DEF 500 LVL 2**

A young and beautiful witch appeared and started levitating right next to Lilly. The witch had scarlet red hair, white angel wings, was wearing blue clothing, and was holding a brown broomstick.

"Now, I'll activate my Witch's Special Ability!" Lilly declared. "As long as it remains on the field, all Dark Attribute monsters will gain 500 extra Attack Points while all Light Attribute monsters will lose 400 Attack Points."

**Fabled Lurrie: ATK 100**

**Fabled Raven: ATK 1200**

**Witch's Apprentice: ATK 1050**

"Good attempt in trying to decrease the attack points of my monsters…" Recuk said. "But it won't do you any good…because I'm activating my Fabled Raven's Special Ability. By discarding any number of cards from my hand to the Graveyard, Raven gains 400 extra Attack Points and as its level increase by 1."

"What…?" Lilly said in shock.

Recuk took two cards from his hand and placed them in his Graveyard, increasing Fabled Raven's Attack by 800 and its level by 2.

**Fabled Raven: ATK 2000 LVL 4**

"Now…I'll Tune my Level 1 Fabled Lurrie with my Level 4 Fabled Raven in order to Synchro Summon: Fabled Ragin, in Attack Mode!" Recuk stated confidently.

**Fabled Ragin: ATK 2300 – 2600 – 2200 DEF 1800 – 2100 LVL 5**

Both of Recuk's monsters flew up high into the air as they performed the sequence for Synchro Summoning. Soon both of the monsters disappeared and Fabled Ragin appeared to take their place.

"Ragin…go and destroy her Witch's Apprentice!"

Ragin complied with its orders and proceeded to fly over towards Lilly's monster. In one powerful punch, the Fiend-Type Synchro Monster destroyed its opponent.

**Lilly: 2850 LP**

**Fabled Ragin: ATK 2600**

The resulting shockwave coming from the attack knocked Lilly down to the ground. Fortunately, the young Duelist was able to get back up on her feet.

"Good…it would be disappointing if that little attack ended you." Recuk said to her.

"…Shut up…" Lilly replied.

"Alright…I end my turn."

"Draw…!" Lilly yelled as she drew another card from her deck. She then swiftly took a card from her hand and placed it on her Monster Card Zone. "I Summon the Tuner: Arcane Apprentice, in Attack Mode!"

**Arcane Magician: ATK 1000 DEF 400 LVL 2**

As her Arcane Magician made its way onto her field, Lilly took the card that she just drew and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down right beside her other face-down card.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw…" Recuk said as he drew again. He looked at the card for a moment before placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Fabled Dyf, in Attack Mode."

**Fabled Dyf: ATK 1400 – 1700 DEF 1700 – 2000 LVL 3**

The Gates of Dark World once again opened and released a man with white hair, wearing green clothes, and had huge dragon wings on his back.

"Now, I'll have my Fabled Dyf attack your Arcane Magician!"

"I don't think so…!" Lilly responded as she activated one of her face-down cards. The card quickly rose up and revealed itself to be Half Shut. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Half Shut! With it, I can cut the Attack Points of one monster on the field by half, at the cost of preventing that monster's destruction. I choose your Fabled Dyf!"

**Fabled Dyf: ATK 850**

Recuk's monster started to shrink in size as it headed towards Arcane Magician. The magician, however, was able to easily fend off the attack.

**Recuk: 3550 LP**

"Alright then…" Recuk said as his Fabled Dyf returned to his side of the field. "I'll have my Fabled Ragin attack your monster instead!"

Ragin looked towards Arcane Magician and quickly headed towards it. Lilly though, simply activated another one of her face-down cards. When this card flipped over, it had the image of a glowing circle with several magic seals.

"I play the Trap: Spellbinding Circle!" She said. "With it, your Fabled Ragin can't attack nor can it change its Battle Position!"

The magic circle shot from out of its Trap Card and placed itself onto Fabled Ragin. The circle then started to squeeze Ragin, preventing the Synchro Monster from attacking nor defending.

Recuk became slightly irritated by the current events, but the Psychic Duelist was able to keep his cool and simply insert a face-down card into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk. The card appeared face-down behind Fabled Dyf.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." He said.

"My turn…I draw!" Lilly declared as she drew from her deck.

The young lady placed the card into her hand before taking another card and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared, it revealed itself to be Mystical Space Typhoon.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon! With it, I destroy your Gates of Dark World!"

A powerful windstorm appeared and surrounded both Lilly and Recuk. In no time Recuk's Field Spell disappeared, bringing both him and Lilly back to the Duel Arena.

Once the Field Spell was gone, Lilly took another card and also inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When it appeared, it had the image of a robot that was covered in electricity.

"Next, I activate the Synchro Boost Equip-Spell! With, I can increase the Level of my Arcane Magician by one and boost its power by 500!"

**Arcane Magician: ATK 1500 LVL 3**

As Arcane Magician's body was covered by a powerful electric aura, Lilly took one more card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Now I Summon: Blast Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Blast Magician: ATK 1400 DEF 1700 LVL 4**

"Next, I tune my Level 4 Blast Magician with my Level 3 Arcane Magician to Synchro Summon: Arcanite Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

As soon as Lilly's Blast Magician appeared onto her field, both it and Arcane Magician flew into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they were finished both of them were gone and Arcanite Magician appeared to take their place.

"Now, I activate my Arcane Magician's Special Ability!" Lilly said. "When it's successfully used for a Synchro Summon, I can add one Assault Mode Activate to my hand! Also, when Arcanite Magician is successfully Synchro Summoned, it gains 2 Spell Counters and 1000 extra Attack Points for each one!"

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 2400 SC 2**

"Now, I think I'll have my Magician attack your Fabled Ragin!"

As Lilly was placing her Trap Card into her hand, Arcanite Magician pointed its wand towards Recuk's monster. However the wise Psychic was prepared for such a move, so he simply activated his face-down card. When the card revealed itself, it was shown to be Shift.

"I activate the Trap Card: Shift!" He declared. "With it, I can shift your Magician's attack over towards my Fabled Dyf!"

Lilly's eyes widen as Arcanite Magician fired its magical blast towards Fabled Dyf instead of the monster it was suppose to attack. The power of the attack was more than enough to incinerate Dyf.

**Recuk: 2550 LP**

"Why…?" Lilly wondered. "Why did you do that? You could have lost fewer Life Points if you would have let my Magician attack Ragin. So why…?"

Recuk looked at the puzzled Lilly for a few moments before giving a response.

"I have my reasons…" He explained. "Now continued on with your turn…"

Lilly was still puzzled by what Recuk just did as she just couldn't understand why he did that. Despite that, she knew that she had to continue on with her turn.

"I activate my Arcanite Magician's second Special Ability!" She said. "I can remove one of its Spell Counters to destroy one card on the field! The card I choose to destroy is your Fabled Ragin!"

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 1400 SC 1**

Lilly's magician fired another blast of magical energy from its staff. The attack, this time, hit Ragin successfully. Once the monster was destroyed, the young woman took one card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared face-down on the field, behind Arcanite Magician.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Good…then it's my turn…Draw!" Recuk said as he drew another card from his deck. When he looked at it, a small smile appeared on his face.

"What's so funny…?" Lilly asked, noticing her opponents smile.

"I'll show you…" Recuk answered as he inserted the card that he drew into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared, it turned into Monster Reborn. "I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Fabled Ragin!"

The Spell Card started to glow as Ragin reappeared onto the field. Once that happened, Recuk took another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I then Summon the Tuner Monster: Fabled Kushano, in Attack Mode!"

**Fabled Kushano: ATK 1100 DEF 800 LVL 3**

In the blast of dark blue light, Fabled Kushano appeared onto the field and stood next to Fabled Ragin.

"Now, I Tune my Level 5 Fabled Ragin with my Level 3 Fabled Kushano to Synchro Summon: Fabled Valkyrus, in Attack Mode!"

**Fabled Valkyrus: ATK 2900 DEF 1700 LVL 8**

Just like Lilly's previous monsters, Recuk's Fabled monsters jumped high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Valkyrus appeared and looked down towards Lilly with a meancing look in its eyes. The mere sight of Valkyrus shook Lilly to her absolute core.

"Valkyrus….!" Recuk called. "Destroy her Arcanite Magician!"

A powerful blast of energy, shot from Fabled Valkyrus' eyes. The power of the blast not only destroyed Arcanite Magician, but the shockwave sent Lilly flying towards the ground.

**Lilly: 1350 LP**

As the young woman was trying to get back to her feet, several fireballs were flying straight at her. Lilly noticed them, but was unable to react in time so every attack hit her, bring her back towards the ground.

"Sorry…" Recuk said. "But I just played the Hinotama Spell Card. Giving you 500 points of damage."

**Lilly: 850 LP**

As she coughed up blood, Lilly slowly lifted her head and looked towards her opponent. She saw that the look in his eyes was the look of someone who didn't want to hurt her, which just confused her even more than before.

"What's wrong with you…?" She asked. "Why are you doing this? I can see that you don't want to…so why? What is your real reason for Dueling me!"

Recuk looked at her for about a minute before responding.

"Alright then…" He said. "You want to know…Then I'll tell you my reasons for Dueling."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25 Preview<strong>

_As the Duel between Lilly and Recuk continues, Recuk explains his reason why he serves under Sayer. However, even knowing the truth about her opponent might now allow Lilly to walk away with her life. _

_Meanwhile, Takashi finally makes it to the 10__th__ floor where he finally meets up with Akiza. The two Duel and Akiza has every intention to kill her opponent. Can Takashi save Akiza one more time…can he even save himself?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 25 – The Dark Magic and the Blue Eyes_


	25. Chapter 25

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 25: **The Dark Magic and the Blue Eyes

* * *

><p><em>10 years ago.<em>

In small house, in one of the smaller residential sections of New Domino, a 10-year-old Recuk was standing in front of his little sisters; Maya and Robin. To the side of the 3 siblings were their parents who were lying on the floor…dead. Recuk was currently Dueling a losing battle against his parents murderer…Sayer, who wanted to kidnap Recuk for his Psychic abilities. Eventually, the Duel ended with a loss for Recuk and the force from Sayer's final attack sent the young boy flying into a wall. When they saw that, both Maya and Robin ran over towards their brother, who was extremely fatigued.

"Big brother…" Maya called, shaking his body. "Big brother you have to get up!"

"Please Recuk…" Robin responded. "Please…"

Recuk heard both of his sisters pleads and did try his best to get back up. However his injuries were simply too great and as soon as he got up he fell back to the ground.

As the sisters were trying to help their brother up, Sayer was deactivating his Duel Disk.

"It's over…" He said. "I've won…so now Recuk you now belong to me."

The evil Psychic Duelist slowly made his way over towards his prize. As he did so, he was confronted by Robin.

"Please…please leave my big brother alone!" She pleaded with tears falling rapidly down her face.

"Rob...in…" Recuk stuttered, trying to get up. "Don't get…closer…"

Robin stay firm, despite the fact that she did wanted to run away. Soon, Maya ran up towards her sister and bravely stood by her. The two of them knew that they had no chance in hell of defeating Sayer. However…they also knew that if they ran away they would lose their big brother. So, despite their fear, Maya and Robin stood their ground.

The sight of this act of bravery amused Sayer because he knew he could kill both of Recuk's siblings very easily. However an idea appeared in the deranged Psychic's head.

"Recuk…" He said, looking at the weakened boy. "Come with me now…or both of your beloved sisters will die here and now. Also from this day forward…if you disobey me in anyway, they will both die."

_Present Day_

**Lilly: 850 LP**

**Recuk: 2550 LP**

"That's the reason why I Duel for Sayer…" Recuk said to Lilly as the young lady was still on the floor. "If I don't then he'll kill my sisters, the only family I have left. I promised myself that I would also protect them and if that means that if I have to sell my soul to the Devil himself. So Lilly Muto…please know that it isn't personal why you have to die by my hands."

Lilly, while trying to get back up on her feet, listened carefully to Recuk's story. When she finally got back to her feet she looked at him, her eyes showing a combination of understanding and disappointment.

"You're a fool…" She said.

"What was that…?" Recuk questioned with a hint of anger in his voice.

"I said that you're a fool!" Lilly repeated. "If you truly wanted to protect your sisters then you should have just killed Sayer the moment you had the chance. Instead you just stood there, following his orders like a dog! "

"Shut up…!" Recuk yelled. "You have no idea what it was like for me back then!"

The two of them glared at each other for a few moments before Lilly started to speak again.

"It seems like we're not going to resolve anything with our words. So let's settle this with our cards!"

"Fine…" Recuk replied. "It's your turn…"

"Draw…!" Lilly yelled as she drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. She then took the card that she drew and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When the card materialized onto the field it was revealed to be the Monster Reborn Spell Card.

"I activate Monster Reborn! With it I choose to revive my Arcanite Magician!"

Lilly's fallen magician reappeared from the Spell Card and once again stood by her. Then, the young woman quickly took another card and placed it firmly onto the Monster Card Zone of her Duel Disk.

"Next, I Summon; Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode…!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

In a flash of light, Magician's Valkyria appeared onto the field and stood next to Arcanite Magician. Once both Magicians appeared Lilly quickly pressed a button on her Duel Disk, activating her face-down card! As the card flipped up, it was revealed to be Assault Mode Activate!

"I activate the Trap: Assault Mode Activate!" She yelled as her birthmark started to glow. "With it, I sacrifice my Arcanite Magician in order to Special Summon: Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode!"

**Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode: ATK 900 DEF 2300 LVL 9 **

A bright orange aura surrounded Arcanite Magician for a few seconds before it disappeared and the mage was in his Assault Mode clothing.

"Next, I activate Arcanite Magician Special Ability! When he's successfully Summoned, he gains 2 Spell Counters and for each Counter he gains 1000 extra Attack Points!"

**Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode: SC 2 ATK 2900**

"Now…Recuk!" Lilly said as she glared at him. "I'll have my Arcanite Magician attack your Fabled Valkyrus!"

As Recuk's eyes widen in shocked, both monsters started fighting one another. However since they both had the same number of Attack Points, their battle quickly ended with both of their deaths. This left Lilly with only one monster and Recuk with none.

"Next, I activate my Magician's second Special Ability!" Lilly said. "When it's destroyed and I bring back my regular Arcanite Magician from the Graveyard!"

In a huge blast of light Arcanite Magician reappeared on the field, once again wearing its normal clothing. He then stood by Magician's Valkyria and both mages points their wands at Recuk, who was defenseless.

"Now my Magicians…attack Recuk's Life Points directly!"

Obeying Lilly's orders, both of her mages fired a powerful magical blast from wands. The combined attack hit Recuk, sending the Psychic Duelist crashing into a wall.

**Recuk: 550 LP**

"Listen Recuk…" Lilly said as she watched her opponent slowly get back up to his feet. "Let's end this…I've come to realize that this Duel is pointless and holds no real meaning. Let's work together and stop Sayer."

"I can't…" Recuk replied as he finally got back up. "If I don't defeat you then my sisters are as good as dead. I can't let that happen Lilly Muto….I won't let that happen!"

As Recuk's determination and resolve began to grow, his Psychic powers created a green aura that gently surrounded his body. In response, Lilly's birthmark created a scarlet red aura which also surrounded her body. The two respective powers started to clash with each other as several electric sparks came in between the two Duelists.

"Fine then…" Lilly said as she grabbed a card from her hand. She then took the card and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone, where it would materialize, face-down, behind Magician's Valkyria. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

"My turn…Draw!" Recuk yelled as she swiftly drew a card from his deck. He then placed the card in his hand before taking another card and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card materialized, it had the image of a bottle that contained a red substance. "I activate the Spell Card; Red Medicine! With it, I receive 500 extra Life Points!"

**Recuk: 1050 LP**

Once his Life Points were restored, Recuk took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared it had the image of a monster trying to appear from out of the underworld.

"Next I play the Spell Card: Premature Burial! By giving up 800 of my remaining Life Points, I can revive one monster from my Graveyard! I choose my Fabled Valkyrus!"

**Recuk: 250 LP**

As Recuk's Life Points quickly started to decline, a dark vortex from another dimension appeared on the ground. From the vortex Fabled Valkyrus crawled out from it and once again stood by its master.

"Now Valkyrus…destroy Magician's Valkyria!"

Valkyrus nodded its head and quickly made its way over towards Magician's Valkyria. However, before it got to close, Lilly activated her face-down card. When the card flipped up, it was revealed to be Magical Hats.

"I play a Trap: Magical Hats!" Lilly stated. "Thanks to this, I can hide my monsters within 4 hats!"

Both of Lilly's monsters took to defense mode as 4 hats appeared onto the field, 2 of which covered them. The hats then merged for a moment before splitting apart again. Fabled Valkyrus went on to attack and destroy the hat that was on the far left and it revealed to contain Arcanite Magician.

"Damn…" Recuk said angrily. He then placed another card into his Spell/Trap Zone and when the card materialized onto the field, it was revealed to be another Hinotama card. "I play Hinotama, so say goodbye to another 500 of your Life Points!"

5 fireballs shot out from Recuk's Spell Card and all of them hit Lilly's body, two of which hit her in the face.

**Lilly: 350 LP**

The force of the blow sent Lilly crashing towards the ground again. As she started to cough up blood, Recuk started to taunt her.

"Get up you little bitch! Get up so that I can knock your little dumbass back down!"

As her opponent continued to taunt her, Lilly was trying her best to gather the strength needed to continue the duel. However it was proving more difficult than she thought as even the slightest twitch of her finger caused a powerful shock throughout her entire body. As she was about to faint, she heard a voice in the back of her head.

"So that's it Lilly…" The voice said. "Is that all the power you have? If so…then I was right to take Ancient Fairy Dragon! You don't deserve a card as rare as it!"

Hearing the voice brought a sudden burst of energy throughout Lilly's body as she quickly got back up on her feet. As she looked back up at her opponent, she started to see images of Alistar.

"You bastard…!" She thought. "I'll get it back and I'll make you pay for taking it!"

With renewed strength, Lilly quickly placed her hand on the top of her deck as she continued to look at her opponent, who now returned to being Recuk.

"I can't lose here!"

"You will lose here!" Recuk shot back at her. He then placed one card into his Spell/Trap Zone which quickly appeared face-down onto the field. "I set one card face-down and end my turn!"

"Draw…!" Lilly declared as she drew a card from her deck. She quickly took a look at it before placing it onto the Monster Card Zone of her Duel Disk. "I sacrifice Magician's Valkyria to Summon: Dark Magician Girl, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

As all the hats, including the one that contained Magician Valkyria, vanished, Dark Magician Girl appeared onto the field. She then looked towards Lilly and nodded her head before looking towards Fabled Valkyrus. Lilly then took another card from her and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When it appeared it had the image of a magical stone.

"Next I play the Spell Card: Sage's Stone! With it, I can Special Summon my Dark Magician since I have Dark Magician Girl out on the field!"

**Dark Magician: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 7**

In an instant, Dark Magician appeared out onto the field and stood next to his apprentice. However, despite the fact that two powerful monster were on Lilly's side of the field, Recuk remained unfazed.

"It doesn't matter if you have both Dark Magicians out on the field!" He said. "Neither of them have the strength to face my Fabled Valkyrus!"

"…Yeah, you're right." Lilly confirmed. "But they're not here to battle your monster. They're here so that I can summon one who can!"

"Enough! I know that you have no more monsters that have the needed attack power to face my Fabled Valkyrus!" Recuk stated.

"If you don't believe me then I'll just show you." Lilly said as she placed another card onto her Monster Card Zone. "I sacrifice both of my magicians to Special Summon: Sorcerer of Dark Magic, in Attack Mode!"

**Sorcerer of Dark Magic: ATK 3200 DEF 2800 LVL 9**

As Lilly's claw mark started to glow, a dark aura slowly consumed both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. Once both magicians were gone, a new one wearing dark robes and carrying a black magic staff, appeared onto Lilly's side of the field. The mere sight of this new magician's shocked Recuk.

"Behold my Sorcerer of Dark Magic, a monster so great that I must sacrifice two Level 6 or higher Spellcaster-Type monsters in order to summon it." Lilly stated. "Now you'll witness his power…Sorcerer of Dark Magic, destroy his Fabled Valkyrus with Amaterasu!"

Lilly's Sorcerer pointed its staff at Valkyrus as black flames shot out from it. As the flames headed towards its target, Recuk quickly activated his face-down card. When it flipped up, it turned out to be Mirror Force.

"Sorry, but I activate my Mirror Force Trap!" He said. "With it, I can negate your attack and destroy all of your monsters that are in Attack Mode!"

A magical mirror appeared in front of Fabled Valkyrus, but the flames of the Amaterasu simply consumed it as well as Valkyrus. As Recuk looked on with a shocked expression on his face, Lilly explained what just happened.

"Thanks to Sorcerer of Dark Magic's Special Ability, any Trap Cards that are activated are negated and destroyed!"

Fabled Valkyrus was burning alive from Sorcerer of Dark Magic's flames. Eventually it couldn't take it anymore and died from its burns, but even then the flames didn't stop. The flames only died out as soon as Valkyrus' body was reduced to ashes.

**Recuk: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, Lilly finally fell to her injuries and passed out. As her body hit the floor hard, Recuk looked at her with a surprised look on his face.<p>

_10__th__ floor_

Takashi finally reached the floor where Akiza was and quickly made his way over towards its Duel Arena. He noticed that he couldn't sense Lilly's presence anymore and was starting to become worried, but he knew that she would want him to keep moving forward. Eventually he reaches the Duel Arena entrance, but before he could go inside he saw someone standing in his way. That person was Brad, who was looking at him with resolve and determination.

"Get out of my way!" Takashi yelled. "Otherwise I'm going to move you myself!"

"I will not…" Brad said. "I cannot allow you to Duel Akiza…Takashi Nakamura."

Takashi was slightly surprised by the fact that this person knew his name, but his surprised quickly turned into anger as he started to walk towards him.

"And why not…?" He asked. "If you know my name then you must know why I'm here! Now let me through…I'm not going to ask you again!"

Brad stood his ground, determined not to let Takashi through. He then closed his eyes and saw images of the vision he had earlier. He saw Sayer, whose body was giving off powerful waves of Psychic energy, dueling Akiza. He also himself, Lilly, Recuk, and an unconscious Takashi in his vision too. Once he opened his eyes again he started to speak.

"Do you care about Akiza?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Takashi asked. "Why the hell would I even be here if I didn't care about her?"

"If that's the case…then I know now that I can't let you face her." Brad stated. "I saw a vision with my Psychic powers that involved Akiza dueling a super powered Sayer and I know that this vision will come true if you Duel her. If you truly care about her, then you'll leave and let me handle this."

"….What makes you think that you have the power to handle this?" Takashi asked Brad. "Do you truly believe that if I just go away you'll somehow gain the power needed to save Akiza and stop Sayer."

"I don't know…" Brad replied. "But I care about Akiza more than anything in this world…and I know that if does face Sayer, she wouldn't stand a chance."

"If you truly think that…then you're a fool." Takashi said as he walked towards the door of the Duel Arena. "Akiza is stronger than you give her credit for. And before this day ends…you'll see that strength yourself."

The young man opened the door and as soon as he did, a powerful gust of wind shot out from the room. Both he and Brad walked inside and both saw Akiza on her feet and looking at them.

"It's about time Takashi…" She said. "I was starting to worry that you wouldn't show up, but now that you're here the fun can finally get underway."

Takashi remained quiet as he looked at Akiza. Brad looked on at Akiza too and saw the evil look in her eyes. This caused him to become worried as he never expected to see her like this.

"She's far more powerful than I thought." He said to himself. "Her powerful are almost suffocating."

Brad was quickly losing his strength and was about to fall towards the ground. However, Takashi caught him as the young man's mark started to glow. The mark's glow created a small barrier that covered Brad, preventing him from feeling Akiza's power.

"Stay there and don't move." Takashi said, noting even looking at him. "You'll need all the strength you have left if I happen to fail."

With that said, the young man walked over towards Akiza as she did the same thing. Once they got to the center of the Duel Arena they activated their respective Duel Disk.

"It's time we end this Takashi…" Akiza said. "This fight…and all the fights we've have up until now!"

"…Yeah. You're right." Takashi replied.

"Let's Duel!" Both of them yelled at the exact same time.

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

"Ladies first…Draw!" Akiza stated as she drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. She then took one card and inserted it into the Spell/Trap Zone of her Duel Disk. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a giant tree. "I spell the Continuous Spell: The World Tree!"

A giant tree with bright green leaves appeared behind Akiza. She then took another card and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I then Summon the Tuner Monster: Spore, in Defense Mode!"

**Spore: ATK 400 DEF 800 LVL 1**

A small creature with light green/blue fur and big eyes appeared on Akiza's side of the field. She then took one more card and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down behind Spore.

"I end my turn by setting one care face-down! Now it's your turn Takashi and please try not to disappoint me."

"Draw…" Takashi said as he drew a card from his deck. He took a look at the card for a few seconds before placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon the Tuner Monster: Magma Drago, in Attack Mode!"

**Magma Drago: ATK 1400 DEF 600 LVL 2**

In burst of flames and lava, Magma Drago appeared and stood by Takashi.

"Drago…attack Akiza's Spore!"

Magma Drago opened its mouth a fired a powerful stream of fire at Spore. The flames instantly killed the Tuner Monster the moment it made contact with it.

"Thanks for that Takashi because you've activated the Special Ability of my World Tree." Akiza stated with an evil smile on her face. "It now gains 1 Flower Counter since a Plant-Type monster was destroyed."

**World Tree: 1 FC**

One of the leaves of the World Tree started to bloom until it became a flower. Takashi noticed this and knew that it would cause him trouble in the future, but he decided to put that thought in the back of his mind. He continued on with his turn by taking a card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down behind of Magma Drago.

"I end my turn by placing one card face-down!" He said. "It's your turn."

"Thank you…Draw!" Akiza said as she once again drew a card from her deck. She quickly placed the card into her hand before taking out another one and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Botanical Lion, in Attack Mode!"

**Botanical Lion: ATK 1600 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

A lion with a rose petal mane and a somewhat plant-like body appeared on Akiza's side of the field.

"I activate Botanical Lion's Special Ability! For every Plant-Type monster that's on my side of the field, it gains 300 extra Attack Points. This ability also includes itself!"

**Botanical Lion: ATK 1900**

"Now Botanical Lion…it's feeding time!"

Akiza's monster roared as it quickly made its way towards Magma Drago. To counter, Takashi quickly activated his face-down card which, when it flipped up, revealed itself to be Negate Attack.

"I activate my Negate Attack Trap Card!" He stated. "With it, I can negate your Lion's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

"Sorry Takashi…but I already knew that you would do something like that." Akiza said with a smile as she activated her own face-down card. When the card flipped up it had the image of a salesmen trying to bribe his customer. "I activate the Trap Card: Dark Bribe! With it, I can negate and destroy your Negate Attack!"

As Takashi's Trap Card imploded, Botanical Lion ran up to Magma Drago and quickly began to eat it. The mere sight of this scene shocked Takashi as he watched his monster being eaten alive.

**Takashi: 3500 LP**

"Don't be so shocked Takashi…the same thing will happen to you soon. Now since I successfully used Dark Bribe, you're allowed to draw a card."

The young man refocused himself and proceeded to draw a card from his deck. As he looked at it he noticed that it was the card that Wendy gave earlier. He then remembered what she said to him before he arrived at the Arcadia Movement.

"_I may not be as powerful a Psychic as Akiza, but I do have some Psychic Powers. I managed to transfer some of it into this card. When you see Akiza, please use it."_

As he looked at the card, Akiza took one from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down behind of Botanical Lion.

"I end my turn by placing one card face-down."

"My turn…Draw!" Takashi said as he drew another card. Once he looked at the card his eyes turned to the card that Wendy gave to him. He then closed his eyes and started to think.

"Hurry up!" Akiza yelled. "I haven't been waiting here all this time just so you can stand there and look retarded!"

As she continued to berate him with multiple insults, Takashi thought about to 2 weeks that they spent together and remembered to kind expression on her face. Once he finished thinking he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Akiza…" He quietly said to himself. "I promise I'll get you back to your normal self. Even if it means I have to sacrifice my life to do so."

After saying that, Takashi continued on with his turn. He first took one card in his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card materialized onto the field it revealed itself to be Cost Down.

"I activate the Spell: Cost Down! By discarding one card I can drop the level of all the monsters in my hand by 2 until the end of my turn!"

Takashi took the card that he drew at the beginning of this turn and placed it into his Graveyard. He then took another card from his hand placed it firmly on his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Genesis Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Genesis Dragon: ATK 2200 DEF 1800 LVL 6 – 4**

In a blast of black lighting, a dragon with burgundy scales and a mace tip tail appeared on Takashi's side of the field and stood by him. The sight of this new dragon however didn't impress Akiza in the slightest.

"What do expect to do with that weakling?" She asked her opponent.

"I'll show you!" Takashi replied. "Genesis Dragon, attack her Botanical Lion!"

Genesis Dragon opened its mouth as black colored lightning started to form inside of it. As that was happening though, Akiza activated her face-down card. When it flipped up it had the image a giant Venus Fly Trap trying to consume a plant-lady.

"I activate the Trap Card: Plant Food Chain!" She said. "By equipping it to a Plant-Type monster, it gains 500 extra Attack Points!"

**Botanical Lion: ATK 2400**

As Genesis Dragon's attack kept charging, Botanical Lion's body was covered it a bright green aura. All the plant-type features that were on its body started to grow as Takashi looked on in shock.

"Don't attack!" He called out to his monster.

Genesis Dragon complied as the lightning in its mouth began to vanish. Takashi then took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. Both of the cards materialized behind of Genesis Dragon in face-down position.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn. Back to you Akiza…"

"Finally…Draw!" She yelled as she drew a card from her deck. She then quickly inserted one card into her Spell/Trap Zone and when it appeared it was revealed to be Mystical Space Typhoon. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, so say good-bye to one of your face-down cards!"

Akiza's card shot out a giant tornado that not only destroyed one of Takashi's face-down cards, but also sent the young man crashing into the wall. The impact of the crash caused him to cough up some blood.

"What the hell…?" He thought as he slid back towards the ground. "Her powers weren't that strong the last time we fought. She's…she's getting stronger."

The sight of seeing her opponent of the ground in pain brought a smile on Akiza's face. She then continued on with her turn by taking a card from her hand and placing onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Nettles, in Attack Mode!"

**Nettles: ATK 1200 DEF 400 LVL 2**

4 small plant type creatures, each in a different color, appeared on Akiza's side of the field. The creatures had big eyes, stubby legs, arms, and a mouth.

"Now that I have another Plant-Type monster on my field, Botanical Lion gains another 300 extra Attack Points!"

**Botanical Lion: ATK 2700**

Botanical Lion's plant like features once again began to change. The flower petal mane started to grow sharp thorns and its eyes became bright green.

"Next, I activate the ability of my World Tree! By removing 1 of my Flower Counters, I can increase the Attack and Defense of one of my monsters by 400 points. I choose my Nettles!"

**Nettles: ATK 1600 DEF 800**

**World Tree: 0 FC**

The Flower Counter that was on the world tree fell, allowing the Nettles to consume it. Once it ate it, the monster became much bigger as a purple aura surrounded it.

"Now Botanical Lion, it's time to eat again!"

Akiza's lion roared as it ran over towards Genesis Dragon. It then jumped and bit down on the dragon's head, killing it instantly and allowing it to eat the rest of its body.

**Takashi: 3000 LP**

"Now Nettles, attack his Life Points directly!"

All 4 Nettles creatures made their way over towards Takashi, who was still trying to get back up. Seeing the creatures heading towards him, Takashi quickly activated his other face-down card. When it revealed itself, it turned out to be Call of the Haunted.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted!" He said. "With it, I revive my Genesis Dragon!"

As Nettles got closer towards Takashi, his Genesis Dragon reappeared on the field. The dragon then roared at the top of its lungs, pushing Nettles back towards its master.

"Good Takashi…" Akiza said with a smile. "But you'll need to do better. I end my turn without making any other moves."

**Nettles: ATK 1200 DEF 400**

Takashi slowly got back on his feet as he placed his hand on his deck.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card. He then took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dread Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

In a flash of light, Takashi's Dread Dragon appeared on the field and stood next to his Genesis Dragon.

"Next, I'll tune both of my dragons together to Synchro Summon: Light End Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Light End Dragon: ATK 2600 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Both dragons flew high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished Light End Dragon appeared in a giant burst of light. The light was so powerful that it blinded Akiza for a few moments.

"_Help me…" _A voice called out.

Takashi's eyes widen as he heard the voice. The voice sounded like Akiza's, but now the Akiza he was facing now. It was the voice of the Akiza he knew.

"_Takashi…please help me."_

As the light from Light End Dragon began to fade, the voice Takashi heard faded along with it. He then turned Akiza and saw that her eyes were still dark and lifeless.

"What was that?" He thought.

As he was trying to make sense of what just happened, Akiza was busy was a problem of her own. She was holding her head in pain, as if she was having a massive headache.

"_Give me back my body!"_ A voice in her head demanded.

"Shut up!" She yelled. "I this body is mine now!"

As she was holding her head, Akiza saw Takashi looking at her with a concerned look on his face. The sight of him looking at her like that caused her to suffer another headache.

"Akiza…" He said softly.

"Shut the hell up!" She yelled at the stop of her lungs. "Just make your damn move!"

As he watched her fall to his knees, Takashi was still wondering about the voice and about Akiza's current condition. However, despite this, he decided to continue on with his turn.

"I attack Botanical Lion with my Light End Dragon while at the same time activating its Special Ability. By sacrificing 500 of its Attack and Defense Points, I can decrease the Attack and Defense Points of Botanical Lion by 1500 points!"

**Light End Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 **

**Botanical Lion: ATK 1200 DEF 500**

Light End Dragon opened its mouth and fired a powerful blast of light energy. The blast hit Botanical Lion, destroying it completely.

**Akiza: 3100 LP**

**World Tree: 1 FC**

"With that, I end my turn."

"_It's pointless…" _The voice inside Akiza's head said to her. _"Takashi's too powerful a Duelist for you to defeat. Now accept defeat and give me back my body!"_

"This Duel isn't over yet!" She yelled. "I will defeat him and I don't care what I have to do to make that happen!"

Akiza then started yelling at the top of lungs as a powerful gust of wind shot from her body. The force of her powers was so strong that the Duel Arena was starting to crumble.

"…Amazing…" Brad said in shock while still protected inside of the barrier Takashi created for him. "I…I knew that she was powerful, but I didn't think that she was this strong."

"Akiza…" Takashi thought.

The young woman soon finished yelling before she started glaring at Takashi. She then placed her hand on her deck.

"I had enough of this!" She yelled. "I was going to play around with you, but now I had it! Behold Takashi Nakamura as I prepare to send you to Hell!"

Akiza drew a card from her deck and quickly placed it into her hand. She then took another card and slapped it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Twilight Rose Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Twilight Rose Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

In a flash of light Twilight Rose Knight appeared and stood next to her master.

"Next, I activate my knight's Special Ability to Special Summon: Mystic Tomato from my hand, also in Attack Mode!"

**Mystic Tomato: ATK 1400 DEF 1100 LVL 4**

In another flash of light, a new monster appeared on Akiza's side of the field. Like its name suggested it was a tomato, but only it had eyes and a mouth.

"Now Takashi…I Tune my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight with my Level 4 Mystic Tomato! Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Both of Akiza's monsters jumped high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When it was done, Black Rose Dragon appeared and proceeded to roar at Takashi. The force of the roar knocked him down to the ground.

"Now Takashi…I think I'll activate my dragon's Special Ability!" Akiza said to him. "When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, it can destroy all the cards on the field! Now go Black Rose Dragon!"

Black Rose Dragon roared once again as all the cards on the field started to implode. Once the other cards were gone, Black Rose Dragon finally imploded too and the force of the explosion created a hole in the ground.

"Now I activate the Special Ability of my Spore! By removing a Plant-Type monster that's in my Graveyard I can revive Spore and increase its level by the amount of the monster I removed. I remove my Nettles from the game to bring back Spore and level it up by 2!"

**Spore: LVL 3**

As Akiza pulled Nettles' card from the Graveyard, Spore reappeared on the field.

"I now return Spore to my hand to Special Summon: Fallen Angel of Roses, in Attack Mode!"

**Fallen Angel of Roses: ATK 2400 DEF 1300 LVL 7**

Spore left the field at the same speed at which it appeared. In its place a woman with purple armor, wings, and hair appeared on the field. The woman was also carrying a large rose whip which she was holding in her left hand.

"Now my angel…attacks your Life Points Directly!"

Fallen Angel of Roses started whipping Takashi with her weapon and each attack felt like a thousand needles was ripping at his skin. She then finished the attack by having the whip to pierce his stomach, causing him to pass to fall on the ground as blood poured out.

**Takashi: 600 LP**

"_TAKASHI!" _The voice yelled as more blood continued to pour out from his body.

The loud yell of the voice gave Akiza another headache and as she was holding her head again in pain, Takashi looked at her.

"She's…she's in so much pain…" He thought as his strength began to fade. "I…I have to help her…"

He attempted to get back up, but his injuries were just too much to overcome. He was about to close his eyes when he heard another voice in his head. Only this time it wasn't Akiza's…

"_Get up Takashi…" _The voice said to him. _"I know that you have the strength to continue fighting. I've seen you overcome even greater odds back at Crash Town. Now get up and fight! Didn't you promise your friends that you would bring her back and didn't you promise her that you would help her! If you die hear then everything you're negating everything you ever worked for! Get up Takashi Nakamura! Don't lose her like you lost me!"_

Once the voice faded, a new sense of strength appeared within Takashi as he slowly got back to his feet. His mark started to glow and his eyes returned to being golden.

"She's nagging me even when she's dead." He thought. "Even so…she's right."

Once he was up he looked toward Akiza and saw that her eyes were switching from having life to not having life. He then looked at the card Wendy gave him.

"Alright Wendy, let's see what this card of yours can do."

He quickly drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then took the card Wendy gave him and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card appeared on the field, it had the image of a little girl, standing by a swing while looking at the sunset.

"I activate the Spell Card: Swing of Memories!"

The card shot out a bright light that surrounded both Duelists. It then showed images of all the good times that the two had with each other. The sight of these memories caused more life to return to Akiza's eyes as Takashi continued on with his turn.

"With the effect of Swing of Memories, I can revive one Normal Monster from my Graveyard until the End Phase of this turn! The monster I choose is my legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

**Blue-Eyes White Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

In a greater blast of light, a powerful white dragon with beautiful blue eyes appeared on the field and glared at Fallen Angel of Roses.

"Blue-Eyes, attack Akiza's Angel with your White Lightning!"

The dragon fired a blast of white electricity at the angel. The force of the attack killed it, while the light coming from it blinded Akiza. She then started screaming again before falling towards the ground. Once the lights faded and Blue-Eyes disappeared, Akiza got back to her feet. When she opened her eyes, Brad saw that all the life had returned to them.

"Akiza…!" He called.

She turned towards him as she saw the barrier around disappear.

"Brad…" She said, trying to get herself together. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah…I'm fine." He replied. "Unfortunately…Takashi…"

Akiza's eyes widen as she turned from Brad and looked towards Takashi. To her horror he was on the ground, unconscious and more blood pouring out from his body. With tears in her eyes she ran up to him and proceeded to shake his body.

"Takashi…Takashi wake up!" She pleaded. "Please open your eyes!"

As looked at him and saw no change in his condition, the door from the other side of the Duel Arena burst open. Brad looked at and saw Sayer in the form that he saw in his vision.

"Oh no…" Those were the only words that he could say.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 26 Preview<strong>

_As the final battle approaches, the fate of all the people within the Arcadia Movement resides on the shoulders of Akiza Izinski. Does Akiza have the skills and power to defeat the super powered Sayer or will she be the first one to fall to his new might._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 26 – Severing the Ties_

_One must have both strength and courage if they which to move towards the future._


	26. Chapter 26

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 26: **_Severing the Ties_

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><p><em>Poppo Time<em>

As they waited patiently for their friends to return, Wendy and Toru were busy in the living room relaxing. Toru was helping Wendy work on her Dueling Deck as a way to help pass the time before she had to go the bed. As they were doing that, a sharp pain shot through the young girl's back, causing her to stand up straight. She then quickly walked towards the window and looked out with a surprised and frighten look on her face. When Toru noticed this he became worried, so he walked over towards her to see what was wrong.

"What wrong Wendy?" He asked. "It's like you saw a ghost or something." He then looked out the window and saw that she was looking at the Arcadia Movement Building. "Don't worry, I'm sure Takashi and Lilly have already found Akiza and are on their way back."

Toru's encouraging words didn't help make Wendy feel better. She could feel something thing powerful and destructive coming from the building. Only…she wasn't able to tell what it was or who was causing it.

_Stairway to the 10__th__ floor_

The same sharp pain shot through Lilly back as she quickly woke up from her unconscious state.

"What the hell was that?" She asked herself. "I've never felt anything like it before in my life."

"It's Sayer…" A voice said to her. "So…he finally did it."

Lilly recognized the voice to be Recuk's and quickly realized that she was on his back as he was carrying her up the stairs.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked him. "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm taking you…to the site of the final battle." Recuk calmly replied.

_10__th__ floor's Duel Arena_

As Takashi lied on the ground, still unconscious from his Duel, both Akiza and Brad looked on as they saw Sayer make their way over towards them. With each step he made, the ground beneath him was cracking.

"Well done Akiza…" He said in a sly and evil tone of voice. "You did well in taking down Nakamura. Now…if you please, deliver the final blow."

As the young woman's eyes widen at the prospect of Sayer's request, the barrier that surrounded Brad faded away. With the barrier gone, Brad felt all the power that Sayer was giving off and it was almost too much for him to stand. It took all the willpower he had just to keep himself from passing out.

"Sayer…." He said, struggling to get words to come out of his mouth. "You…bastard…you did it…didn't you…"

Sayer turned his attention to Brad and smile when he saw him in his pathetic state.

"Yes Brad…" He said. "Throughout the entire night, I've been able to absorb all of the Psychic energy from everyone here. Thanks to that…I've become the most powerful Psychic in the World!"

Several huge bursts of power shot from Sayer's body and each burst made Brad feel even weaker. However, as he was on the verge of passing out, Brad flashback to the vision he had and seeing all the things that Sayer might do brought some strength back into his body. With this strength, Brad placed a card on his Duel Disk. When the card materialized it turned into a powerful white wolf, which had its bright yellow eyes on Sayer. Despite that though, Sayer was unafraid.

"You think that you can defeat me with a beast of that level." He said in a sarcastic tone.

"Just wait and see you cocky son of bitch!" Brad yelled. "Go my wolf, destroy him now!"

The wolf howled loudly before charging towards Sayer. Unfortunately for it though, the mighty beast exploded into the nothingness before it even got close. The sight of this shocked Brad as Sayer simply looked on at him with a smile on his face.

"I love that look." He said. "I love the look in people faces. The look when they know that all hope is lost."

Sayer raised his hand and pointed it towards him. From his hand, an invisible shockwave shot from it and quickly made its way towards its target. The force from the impact hit Brad, sending him crashing into a nearby wall.

"I won't kill you now Brad. I you to live long enough to see me conquer this pathetic world."

"You won't conquer shit…!" A voice said to him.

Sayer turned his head towards the voice and saw Lilly and Recuk, who just finally made their way up to the Duel Arena.

"Well, well, look who's here." The Psychic said. "Recuk…I knew sooner or later that you would end up betraying me. Still…I'm grateful that you served me for all these years. To thank you I'll tell you a piece of information, sense you won't be alive long enough to discover it yourself."

"And what would that be?" Recuk asked as he placed Lilly on the ground by Takashi, knowing that she doesn't have the strength to stand up to Sayer.

"You sisters are alive, Recuk." Sayer told him. "However I set things up so that the coordinates to their location are always changing. I doubt that you could ever find them in your lifetime."

Hearing Sayer's words brought a combination of shock, anger, disbelief, and happiness to Recuk. In this conflicted state of mind, the only thing he did was ran towards his former boss as fast as he could and punched him dead square in the face. However, the punch didn't affect Sayer in the slightest. All the Psychic did was look at him as he clinched his right fist.

"When you see your mother and father…" He said. "Tell them…thank you, for bringing such a stupid son into this world."

Sayer punched Recuk and the sudden impact of the blow, crack his head opened. As blood poured out, Recuk was also sent flying into the wall. Sayer then turned his attention towards Lilly.

"What are you looking at…you asshole!" The young woman yelled.

"At a stupid woman, who clearly doesn't know her place in the world." He replied as he shot out another shockwave, which knocked out Lilly the moment it made contact with her. "And then there was one…"

Sayer turned his gazed towards Takashi, who was still unconscious from his injuries. He then slowly made his way over to him as Akiza continued to look over at his body.

"I could've have given you everything Nakamura, but like a fool, you through it all away. So…you'll die and join your mother in hell."

The Psychic raised his hand and pointed it at the fallen young man. A black energy quickly formed around the hand as Sayer was about to fire. However, as the attack was about to be launch, Akiza took her hand and deflected the blast into the air. As Sayer looked on at slight state of shock, the young woman glared at him with her eyes glowing a bright violet color.

"Don't you lay a finger on him!" She yelled.

A powerful burst shot from her body, but with Sayer's new power it was only enough to push him back a few feet. Meanwhile the rest of the area around them started to crumble.

"Temper, temper…I told you that you have to control your emotion otherwise things like this will happen." Sayer said to her calmly. "But…I like that side of you. It shows that your powers are still growing stronger."

"Shut up!" Akiza yelled. "You used me, Recuk, Brad, and all the other Psychic here just to make yourself stronger! You pretended that you cared about us while you laughed at us behind our backs! Did you actually think that you were going to get away with that?"

"….Yes." Sayer replied. "Yes, I did."

"You bastard!" The young woman growled as she activated her Duel Disk.

Sayer sighed as he brought a Duel Disk of his own and attached it to his arm. As he activated it, he looked at Akiza again.

"I loved you like a daughter Akiza…and it pains me that I now have kill you."

* * *

><p>"Duel!" They both yelled at the same time.<p>

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Sayer: 4000 LP**

"Draw…!" Akiza said as she swiftly drew the top card from her deck and placed it in her hand. "I Summon: Mystic Tomato, Defense Mode!"

**Mystic Tomato: ATK 1400 DEF 1100 LVL 4**

In a flash of light, Mystic Tomato appeared on the field and stood in front of its master.

"I then end my turn by setting one card face-down."

A face-down card appeared just behind Mystic Tomato as Sayer began his turn.

"Draw…" He said in a calm voice. "First, I think I'll activate the Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon. So say goodbye to your face-down!"

From out of Sayer's Spell Card, a giant tornado appeared and proceeded to cover Akiza's field. The force tornado was so strong that it not only destroyed Akiza's face-down card, but also sent the young woman flying towards the nearby wall. Luckily for her though, she was able to catch herself before she made contact. Despite that though, Akiza was amazed by Sayer's increased powers.

"Holy crap…" She thought. "I didn't think he could produce a windstorm of that kind of power."

"C'mon Akiza, don't tell me that you're out of it already." Sayer said to her. "I'm not even warmed up yet, as you'll soon see. I Summon: Pandaborg, in Attack Mode and equip it with the Spell Card: Fairy Meteor Crush!"

**Pandaborg: ATK 1700 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

In a flash of light, a mechanical panda appeared on Sayer's side of the field and proceeded to stare down Mystic Tomato.

"Pandaborg, destroy her Mystic Tomato and show her what true power is!"

The Monster complied with its orders and proceeded to open its mouth. From it a powerful laser beam shot out which not only destroyed Mystic Tomato, but also skinned the side of Akiza's waist. As she held her side, the young Psychic Duelist looked at her Duel Disk in surprise as she saw her Life Points go down.

**Akiza: 3400 LP**

"What the hell was that?" She asked Sayer. "How did your monster drain my Life Points when my Mystic Tomato was clearly in Defense Mode?"

"It's quite simple really…" Sayer replied. "You see, when a monster is equipped with Fairy Meteor Crush it gains to the ability to deal piercing damage. In other words, my Pandaborg can still deal you damage even if your monsters are set in Defense Mode."

"Damn you…" Akiza cursed. She then ripped off a piece of her shirt and quickly wrapped it around her wound so that she could stop the bleeding. "I activate my Mystic Tomato's Special Ability. When it's destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon a Dark Attribute monster from my deck that has 1500 or less Attack Points. The monster that I choose is my Revival Rose and I think I'll play it in Attack Mode!"

**Revival Rose: ATK 1300 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

In a flash, Akiza's Revival Rose appeared on the field. This monster was a pair of 3 roses that not only were connected to together but also had an eyeball in the middle of each of its rose petals.

"Nice move Akiza…" Sayer sarcastically praised. "I can't wait to see what you'll do next, so I'll end my turn by placing one card face-down."

One face-down card appeared behind Pandaborg as Akiza began her turn.

"Draw…" She declared. "I Summon the Tuner Monster: Cherry Inmato, in Defense Mode!"

**Cherry Inmato: ATK 700 DEF 400 LVL 2**

A small being with a cherry shaped head and was wearing light blue robes, appeared on Akiza's side of the field and stood next to her Revival Rose.

"Now, I'll Tune my Level 4 Revival Rose with my Level 2 Cherry Inmato to Synchro Summon: Splendid Rose, in Attack Mode!"

**Splendid Rose: ATK 2200 DEF 2000 LVL 6**

Both of Akiza's Plant-Type monsters jumped high into the air and quickly performed a Synchro Summoning. When the finished, Splendid Rose appeared and proceeded to stare down Pandaborg.

"Splendid Rose now attacks your Pandaborg and by removing a Plant-Type monster from the game, it halve its attack points!"

As Akiza took one of her Plant-Type monsters from her graveyard and removed it from the game, Splendid Rose proceeded to wrap Pandaborg with one of its thorn whips.

**Pandaborg: ATK 850**

The Synchro Monster then quickly started slashing Sayer's monster into several pieces with its other thorn whip.

**Sayer: 2650 LP**

Sayer wasn't bothered by the fact that not only did he lose his monster, but also a huge portion of his Life Points. He simply proceeded by activating the face-down card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap: Call of the Haunted!" He said. "And as you know, this card allows me to revive one of my fallen monsters. The monster that I choose to revive is my Pandaborg!"

Sayer's Trap Card started glowing for a few seconds until Pandaborg appeared from it. Seeing the monster that she just destroyed annoyed Akiza and saw that the others cards that she had couldn't destroy it a second time.

"Damn it…" She cursed silently. "I end my turn."

"Excellent…" Sayer said with a smile as he drew a card from his deck. He then quickly looked at the card for a moment before placing it onto his Duel Disk. "I Summon the Tuner Monster: Psychic Commander, in Attack Mode!"

**Psychic Commander: ATK 1400 DEF 800 LVL 3**

In a flash of bright light, a robot appeared on Sayer's side of the field. The robot wore clothing that resembled an army general and had the lower half of its body encased in a futuristic tank.

"Next, I activate it's Special Ability. By giving up 500 of my Life Points, I can have my Psychic Commander drain away 500 of your Splendid Rose's Attack and Defense Points."

As Sayer's Life Points started to drain away, Psychic Commander raised its right hand and quickly shot out a blast of green electricity. The attack struck Splendid Rose, effectively draining its power.

**Sayer: 2150**

**Splendid Rose: ATK 1700 DEF 1500**

Once that happened, Sayer then took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now I activate the Spell Card: Tune Up! With this, I can increase the Level of one monster I have on the field, by one. The monster that I choose is my Pandaborg, bringing its Level from 4 to 5."

**Pandaborg: LVL 5**

"Now Akiza, I think I'll tune my Level 5 Pandaborg with my Level 3 Psychic Commander to Synchro Summon: Thought Ruler Archfiend, in Attack Mode!"

**Thought Ruler Archfiend: ATK 2700 DEF 2300 LVL 8**

As Akiza looked up with a look of surprise on her face, both of Sayer's monsters jumped into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, a giant demon with green, grey, and yellow colored scales appeared. The beast was over ten feet tall and easily dwarfed Akiza and her monsters.

"Oh my god…" The female Psychic said quietly to herself. "It's gigantic."

"I see you're impressed by my monster's size." Sayer said. "But you'll quickly realize that size isn't the only thing that my Thought Ruler Archfiend has!"

Sayer's Archfiend quickly made its way over to Splendid Rose and grabbed it within its giant hands. The beast then proceeded to eat the Synchro Monster whole, much to Akiza's shock and disgust.

**Akiza: 2400 LP**

"Now would be a good time to tell you about my Archfiend's Special Ability. When it destroys a monster through battle, I can Life Points equal to the destroyed monsters original Attack Points."

"What…?" Akiza said in shock as she saw a bright blue aura cover Sayer's body as his Life Points started to increase.

**Sayer: 4350 LP**

"With that Akiza, I end my turn." Sayer told her. "Now I highly recommend that you destroy my monster on your next turn. Otherwise things are going to be even worse for you than they already are."

"Shut your mouth!" The young man replied as she drew a card from her deck. "I Summon: Reborn Tengu, in Defense Mode!"

**Reborn Tengu: ATK 1700 DEF 600 LVL 4**

A Beast Warrior-Type monster appeared on Akiza's side of the field and quickly made a defensive position in front of her.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Looks like you didn't want to listen to my advice…" Sayer said as he drew another card from his deck. "You're lost then. I have Thought Ruler Archfiend attack your Reborn Tengu!"

Sayer's monster started to make its way over towards Reborn Tengu, Akiza quickly activate her face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Force!" She declared. "With this, your attack is negated and your Archfiend is destroyed!"

The Mirror Force mirror surrounded Tengu as Thought Ruler Archfiend attempted to grab it. The powers coming from the Mirror were about to destroy it when Sayer decided to make his next move.

"I activate my Thought Rular Archfiend's second Special Ability!" He stated. "By giving up 1000 of my Life Points, my Archfiend can negate the activation of a Spell or Trap card that targets a Psychic-Type monster and destroy it."

**Sayer: 3350 LP**

Using its powers, Thought Ruler Archfiend was able to break through the Mirror Force and grab Reborn Tengu. It then quickly devoured the monster, allowing Sayer to regain Life Points equal to Tengu's attack points.

**Sayer: 5050 LP**

"I end my turn Akiza." Sayer said with a smile.

"Draw…!" The young woman shouted as she drew a card. Once she looked at the card a small smile appeared on her face as she placed it onto her Duel Disk. "I Summon: Lonefire Blossom, in Defense Mode!"

**Lonefire Blossom: ATK 500 DEF 400 LVL 3**

In a flash of light, Akiza's Lonefire Blossom appeared on in front of her on her side of the field.

"Next, I sacrifice my Lonefire Blossom in order to Special Summon: Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, in Attack Mode!"

**Tytannial, Princess of Camellias: ATK 2800 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

In the instant that Lonefire Blossom appeared onto the field, it disappeared and in its place was Tytannial. The sight of the new monster brought a small smile onto Sayer's face.

"Tytannial huh…" He said. "It's about time that you brought out your strongest monster."

"Yeah, you're right..." She said. "And now that I did summon her, I'm going to finally get rid of that damn Thought Ruler Archfiend!"

Tytannial moved its plant-like arms and proceeded to release a barrage of razor sharp flower petals. Every one of those petal quickly surrounded Sayer's Synchro Monster and began cutting it into several pieces.

**Sayer: 4950 LP**

"With that Sayer…I end my turn."

Sayer started his turn by once again drawing a card from his deck. Once he took a look at it, he starting laughing a little.

"What's so funny?" Akiza asked him. "In case you haven't realized yet, I just destroyed your Archfiend!"

"I know you did Akiza..., but the only reason why you were able to destroy it is because I let you. You see, before you die I want you to experience true despair!"

"True despair…?" She asked, not really understanding what she meant.

"Yes…as you'll now find out." Sayer replied. "I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn, to bring back my Thought Ruler Archfiend!"

In an instant, the powerful Synchro Monster reappeared onto the field and once again stood by its master.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Double Summon, which allows me to Normal Summon twice this turn! The first monster will be my Genetic Woman while my second will be my Mind Master Tuner Monster! I'll set both these monsters in Attack Mode!"

**Genetic Woman: ATK 1700 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

**Mind Master: ATK 100 DEF 200 LVL 1**

Two more monsters quickly appeared on Sayer's side of the field and stood by his Thought Ruler Archfiend. The first one, Genetic Woman, was a leopard/human hybrid who was wearing green and black armor and was wearing huge green gauntlet on her right hand. The second, Mind Master, was a brain in a jar with wired arms connected to its container.

"Now I'll tune my Level 8 Thought Ruler Archfiend with my Level 1 Mind Master to Synchro Summon: Hyper Psychic Blaster, Attack Mode!"

**Hyper Psychic Blaster: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 9**

As both Mind Master and Ruler Archfiend performed a Synchro Summoning, Akiza looked on in shock as she witness the results. Sayer's new Synchro Monster was around the same size as his Ruler Archfiend, but it had a new look. It was a robot and it was carrying two laser guns in each of its hands.

"Now, I think I'll have my Hyper Psychic Blaster demonstrate its power by destroying your Tytannial!" Sayer declared.

Blaster's pointed both of its guns at Tytannial and quickly fired them. The lasers proceeded to destroyed Akiza's monster and create a small explosion that sent the young woman crashing into the wall.

**Akiza: 2200 LP**

As she was trying to get back up on her feet, Akiza looked up and saw Genetic Woman in front of her. The Psychic-Type monster grabbed the young woman with its unarmored claw and quickly lifted her up in the air.

"Akiza…" Sayer said. "If you give up now and forever pledge your allegiance to me, then I'll let you live."

Akiza looked at him, her eyes still in a menacing glare. "You'll let me live…, but you won't let the others."

"Exactly…" Sayer replied. "They must be punished."

The young Psychic closed her eyes for one second before opening them up. She then took a deep breath and yelled.

"NEVER!"

"I see…" Sayer said. "THEN DIE!"

Genetic Woman proceeded to slash Akiza's body repeatedly with its armored claw. Each attack ripped the young woman's flesh as blood poured from the wounds. Once the attacks stopped, Akiza fell face first onto the hard floor. As the life started to leave her eyes, she could barely make out what Sayer was telling her next.

"I don't understand Akiza…" He said. "Even if you do manage to win, which you won't, what are you going to do? All of your life, people have rejected you because of your abilities. Do you honestly believe that things will change if you leave with Nakamura and his friends? Do you really think that you'll gain control over you powers if you're with them?"

"I don't know…" She softly replied as she tried to get back up. "I don't know if I'll still be hated or if I'll gain control of my powers if I leave with them. But there is one thing that I do know…"

"And what would that be…?" Sayer asked her.

Akiza remembered all the times that she spent with Takashi since the moment she met him and as she did that, several things that he said clearly went through her mind.

"_If you open yourself to everything around you Akiza, you'll see the good things too. All you really need is a friend who cares about you and if you want…I can be that friend. I'll always be there for you Akiza…always."_

A small smile appeared on her face as she slowly got back up on her feet.

"Even if you're right, I'll keep fighting you!" She said in a determined tone of voice. "Takashi is the first person in this world who saw me as Akiza Izinski and not some Psychic Duelist or the Black Rose! He's let me be his friend even though I didn't deserve to be one! It's also because of him that Lilly, Toru, and Wendy also became my friends as well. If I gave up and let you have your way with things, then everything that they ever done for me would've been for nothing and I couldn't live with myself if that happened! I'll stop you Sayer…even if it means sacrificing my life to do so, I will stop you!"

The moment Akiza finished her speech, her mark started to glow brightly as a bright purple aura surrounded her body. She then swiftly drew a card from her deck and when she looked at it she started to smile again.

"I start this turn by summoning my Rose Fairy, in Defense Mode!"

**Rose Fairy: ATK 600 DEF 1200 LVL 3**

A small fairy with red eyes and red hair appeared on Akiza's side of the field.

"Next, I sacrifice my fairy in order to Special Summon my Queen Angel of Roses, in Attack Mode!"

**Queen Angel of Roses: ATK 2400 DEF 1300 LVL 7**

In a flash, Rose Fairy vanished from the field and new monster appeared to take its place. This monster was a queen with beautiful blonde hair, wearing red clothing, had rose color wings on her back and was holding a white sword.

"Now my queen, attack his Genetic Woman!"

The beautiful angel of roses obeyed Akiza's orders and swiftly sliced Genetic Woman into several pieces. Once it was killed, the remains of Sayer's monster exploded around him. The Psychic was able to survive the explosion, but he was wounded and that surprised him.

"What the hell…?" He thought. "There's no way that her puny queen can produce an explosion strong enough to harm me. How is this possible?"

As Sayer wondered by his injuries, Akiza continued on with her turn.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn." She said as two face-down cards appeared behind her Queen Angel of Roses. "Now Sayer it's your turn…so show me what you got."

"You bitch…!" The evil Psychic said as he turned his attention towards her. "You'll regret saying that." He quickly drew a card from his deck as the Psychic energy coming off his body started to increase at a violent rate. "Hyper Psychic Blaster, destroy her queen and send her straight to hell along with her friends!"

Hyper Psychic Blaster complied and quickly fired both of its lasers beams at Queen of Roses. However, Akiza was prepared for such a much and quickly activated her face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Magic Cylinder!" She declared. "With this card, I can negate your Blaster's attack and deal you damage equal to its Attack Points!"

Two magical cylinders appeared in front of Akiza's Queen of Roses. The first cylinder quickly absorbed both laser blasts. The second then redirected the attack at Sayer, who was blown away thanks to Akiza's powers influencing the attack.

**Sayer: 1350 LP**

Sayer was left really bloodied by his attack and when he looked up he saw Akiza smiling at him.

"Does it hurt?" She asked him. "To feel the pain of your own attack…Well that's the same pain that everyone else that you hurt or killed has felt!"

"How is this possible?" Sayer asked himself. "How can she do this much damage to me…? I absorb the Psychic powers of everyone currently in this building and added it to my own. So how…?"

As the evil Psychic tried to make sense of the situation that he was facing, Lilly, Brad, and Recuk began to wake up. They looked on in amazement that even though Akiza had the least amount of Life Points, she was clearly in control of the flow of the Duel. It was then that the three of them knew who was going to win.

Meanwhile Sayer was able to snap out of his confused state of mind and continued on with his turn.

"I play the Spell Card: Nightmare's Steelcage!" He said. "With it, I can prevent the both of us from attack for 2 turns!"

A giant cage with sharp needles protruding from the ends of it surrounded Akiza and her Queen Angel of Roses.

"With that, I end my turn."

"This cage won't help you Sayer." The young woman replied without a hint of fear. She then drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. "Now, my Queen Angel of Roses' Special Ability now activates. During the Standby Phase of my turn, my queen must destroy the one monster on the field that has the least amount of Attack Points. And since my queen only has 2400 Attack Points, it is the one who is destroyed!"

Brad's eyes widen in shock as he watched Akiza's monster implode. Though he was glad that her powers protected her from the explosion, he didn't understand what Akiza would gain from having her own monster destroy itself. Recuk saw his confusion and quickly put them to rest.

"Don't worry…" He said. "Akiza knows what she's doing."

"Yeah…" Lilly replied. "I may not have seen it, but if I'm right then Queen Angel of Roses death is the beginning of Akiza's master plan."

As the three discussed this, Akiza continued on with her turn.

"I now activate the Special Ability of my Revival Rose!" She said. "When a Level 5 or higher Plant-Type monster that's on my side of the field is destroyed, I can Special Summon Revival Rose from the Graveyard!"

In a bright flash of light, Revival Rose once again stood by Akiza as the young woman quickly placed another card on her Duel Disk.

"I then Summon the Tuner Monster: Twilight Rose Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Twilight Rose Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

As Akiza's small, but loyal knight appeared on the field and stood by her Revival Rose.

"I now Tune my Level 4 Revival Rose with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight! Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate! With it, I can transform Black Rose Dragon into Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 2900 DEF 2300 LVL 9**

Both of Akiza's monsters flew up into the air as her Assault Mode Activate card flipped up. Once the monsters performed their Synchro Summoning, Black Rose Dragon appeared on Akiza's side of the field and was wearing armor plates on certain sections on its body. I then roared so loud that the entire Arcadia Movement Building started to shake even more violently then before.

"I now activate my Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability! When it's successfully Special Summoned it can destroy all the cards on the field and bring back Black Rose Dragon in its place!"

"No…" Were the only words that Sayer could say as he watch Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode not only destroy the Nightmare's Steelcage but also his Hyper Psychic Blaster. He then watch the dragon itself die, but also saw its regular form appear on the field and stare him down.

"It's over Sayer…" Akiza said. "Before you die…I want to say thank you for taking care of me up until now. If it wasn't for you, I doubt that I would even be here. So…thank you."

Sayer ignored Akiza's thanks and quickly made his way towards her, wanting to strike her before she had the chance to launch her attack.

"Black Rose Dragon….attack Sayer's Life Points directly with your Black Rose Flare!"

**Sayer: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>The powerful beast release its blast of purple flames at its target, causing Sayer to burn until nothing was left but ash. Once the attack ended, the Arcadia Movement Building began to come apart. Luckily, everyone was able to escape the building before it came crashing down.<p>

Afterwards, Recuk explained to the others about Sayer's objective and all of them were obviously shocked by them. However they quickly were able to come to terms with it since most of them were taken in against their will. The Psychics then decided to separate from each other and try and find their own paths in life. Once they left only Lilly, Brad, Recuk, Akiza, and a still sleeping Takashi remained.

"So Recuk…" Lilly said. "What do you plan on doing?"

"I'm going to try and find my sisters and make sure that they're ok." He explained. "Afterwards, I'm going to wander around the world. By doing this I hope I can find my own path in life."

"Ok…" Lilly said. "Good luck and I hope we can meet up again. I want to have the chance to Duel you one more time…this time, for fun."

Recuk smiled and nodded his head. He then shook hands with Lilly before getting on his own Duel Runner and riding away.

"Akiza…are you sure you don't want to come with me." Brad asked her. "I mean, I kept in contact with my parents and they're good people. I'm sure that they'll take you in."

"Yes Brad…I'm sure." The young woman replied. She then looked at Takashi and saw him sleep peacefully on the ground. "My life is here."

Brad looked at Takashi too and remembered what he said to him and how was able to defeat the Black Rose and bring Akiza back.

"He's special to you…isn't he?"

"Yes…" She answered as her face became slightly red.

Without saying another word, Brad shook his head and smiled. He then left with the peace of mind that Akiza will be fine with Takashi. Once he was gone, Takashi slowly began to wake up and once he did he was on the receiving end of a hug from Akiza. Not needing a recap on what happened when he was knocked out; the young man simply smiled and said only 3 words.

"Let's go home."

_1 month later._

At New Domino City's cemetery, Takashi, Toru, Lilly, and Wendy were standing several feet away from Akiza as the young woman was looking at two graves. As she looked at them several she started thinking to herself.

"I don't know whether or not I deserve to be here after what did to you, but I feel that I have to be here at least this one time. I want to say that I'm sorry for becoming what I am. If I didn't have these powers, then things could have ended differently for us. At the same time, I want to say thank you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have made the friends that I have now. And finally, I want to say good-bye. I promise that I'll come here at least once a year."

With that, she placed a couple of flowers on both of the grades before walking back to the others.

"You okay Akiza…?" Toru asked her.

"Yes Toru…" She replied. "For the first time in a while, I'm okay."

Everyone smiled upon hearing this and they began to leave the cemetery, Akiza took one last at the graves.

"I love you…Mom and Dad."

Lilly turned and looked at the graves too and she saw two spirits looking at Akiza and smiling. This made her smile too as both girls turned their heads around and continuing walking away.

"Your parents are happy that you came to see them Akiza…" She said.

"Really…I'm happy I got to see them too." Akiza replied as a tear dropped from her eye.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>

_While at Duel Academy, Wendy encounters a bully who takes away the rarest cards of those he defeats. Not able to sit back and let this happen, the young girl challenges the bully to a Duel. If she wins then the cards the bully took are returned to their original owners. If she loses, then her rarest card is taken from her. _

_Next Time of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 27: Wendy's School Day_

**Announcements**

**Spirit Reader: **Well, that takes care of the Arcadia Movement Arc. I hope you guys liked it. I'll story will now release 2 one-shot chapters while I come up with ideas with the next arc. Also, staring now the OC's are now reopened. You can either send OC's through PM or Reviews. Thanks for reading and please continue to review, review, and review.


	27. Chapter 27

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zezal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 27: **_Wendy's School Day_

* * *

><p>It was a bright and sunny morning in New Domino city as 12-year-old Wendy Marvell slowly woke up from her long slumber. As she sat up from her bed and let out a small yawn, the young girl looked outside and saw the scenery from her bedroom window. The mere sight of it brought a small smile onto her face as she got out of bed and walked towards the window. She then poked her head out and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.<p>

"That feels nice…" She said quietly to herself. "I can tell that today is going to be a very interesting day."

As she continued to breathe the morning air, a very loud shout echoed from throughout the apartment.

"DAMN IT!" The voiced said in a frustrated tone.

Wendy recognized the voice to be Takashi's, so she quickly ran out of her room to see what was wrong. Along the way she was accompanied by both Lilly and Akiza who also heard the shout from their respective rooms. The three girls made their way to the living room, which was where the shout came from. However when they got there, they saw something that annoyed them a little. They saw that Takashi was busy playing videogames with Toru and that he was losing.

"DAMN IT….!" He shouted again. "I hate videogames!"

"No you don't…" Toru replied. "You just hate getting ass kicked in videogames."

"Well it means the same thing to me!" Takashi said.

As the two boys continued to play, they were unaware of the girls behind them. One of them, Lilly, had a metal bat in her hand and was prepared to strike them both for making her get up early. Luckily for them though, both Akiza and Wendy grabbed the bat and brought Lilly back upstairs.

About an hour later the girls came back downstairs, now fully dressed. While Lilly had on a set of casual clothes to wear, both Akiza and Wendy had on Duel Academy uniforms. The uniform was burgundy in color, with the academy's insignia on the side of it, and had a white skirt with it.

Like with Wendy, the reason why Akiza went to Duel Academy was mostly for her benefit. Takashi realized that while the young woman was becoming better socially with him and the others, she was still a little nervous when it came to others. To help out with this problem, Takashi decided to have her enroll in the academy. By doing this not only would she be able to make new friends, but also increase her social skills.

Right now the girls, along with their male roommates, were all in the living room eating their breakfast, which most consisted of eating cereal.

"Oh…I see now." Takashi said as he was eating. "Sorry guys, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's ok." Akiza said. "I was already getting dress when you shouted."

"Yeah, it's fine." Wendy followed. "I just got up so your shout really helped me fully wake up."

"Well, I'm not ok with it!" Lilly said. "I was busy working on my Duel Runner last night so I wasn't able to get any sleep."

"Lilly it's been almost 3 months since you have been staying here with me and Takashi." Toru said to her. "Something like this shouldn't really bother you anymore."

"Shut up Toru before I blast your ass into next week." Lilly firmly replied.

Toru froze up and did what he was told. Seeing this brought a huge smile on Takashi's face, but he froze up too when he saw Lilly giving him an evil glare. The sight of this made Wendy laugh a little as she found it funny how easily frightened Takashi could get when he saw Lilly's glare, despite how brave he is when it came to other things.

Soon, the time came where both Wendy and Akiza had to leave for Duel Academy. After saying their goodbyes, the two girls made their way over there. Along the way, they came across a young girl who was around Wendy's age. The girl had short white hair, blue eyes, and had on the same uniform as them. As they walked towards her, Wendy smiled as she recognized her as Mira Hinamori.

"Hey Mira…" She called in an enthusiastic tone of voice.

Mira turned her head and saw Wendy and Akiza walking towards her. This caused her to smile as she waited for the two of them to get to her. Once they did, the two young girls happily hugged each other for a second before breaking apart.

"Morning Wendy…" Mira said in a happy tone. She then turned to Akiza and smiled at her as well. "Good morning Akiza."

"Good morning Mira…" Akiza replied with a small smile.

The girls walked together until they reached the campus. After that they separated with Wendy and Mira heading over to the freshman classes while Akiza made her way to the upperclassman classes. While that was happening, Mira asked Wendy a question.

"So…have you heard the rumor about Kazuya?" She asked.

"No…" Wendy answered. "What is it?"

Kazuya Fujiwara is a 13-year-old boy who attends Wendy's and Mira's class. He as bright blond hair, green eyes, and wore the boys' version of the Duel Academy uniform, which looked similar to the girls only that it was blue and that he got to wear pants instead of a skirt.

"Well I've never seen him do it, but I've heard that for the past couple of weeks Kazuya has been taking the rarest cards of the opponents that he defeats." Mira explained. "They say that he's already taken the cards of over 20 students already."

"Why would he want to do that?" Wendy asked. "Doesn't he know that doing that is against the rules?"

"I think he knows…" Mira replied. "But I think he doesn't care. Remember Kazuya's the type of guy who isn't really bothered of what people might think of him."

"That's true…" Wendy said.

As they walked into the classroom and sat down at their seats, Wendy recalled a conversation that she had with Takashi a couple of weeks ago. She asked him, as a Duelist, what he thought of the cards that he owns. After thinking about it he gave her this answer.

"_As a Duelist, I think of my cards as a part of my soul."_

Upon thinking about that statement and what Kazuya is rumored to be doing, Wendy decided to investigate and see whether or not that the rumor was true or not.

_4 hours later_

During the recess period, Wendy was busy walking around campus trying to find some information about Kazuya. She asked several classmates, both from her class and the upper-class. However despite the number people that she did ask, the answer was always the same.

"_I don't know."_

Hearing that answer over and over again gave Wendy the impression that the rumors about Kazuya were false. As she was making her way back to class, she saw Mira sitting down on the floor with her head. Wondering what her friend was doing all alone, Wendy decided to check up on her.

"Hey Mira…did something happen?" She asked.

Mira looked up at her and much to Wendy's shock she was crying. She then hugged Wendy tightly and explained to her what happened. Once she finished, Wendy had Mira sent to one of her other school friends before leaving them both. As she left them, the young girl's eyes had a fierce look in them as she made her way towards the back of the Academy.

Once she got there she managed to find Kazuya, who had just finished defeating another Academy student. In his hand he was holding a card and as he looked at it he was laughing.

"Are you serious…?" He asked. "Is this the rarest card you have? This card isn't fit enough to be a coaster, let alone a part of my deck. It's useless!"

Kazuya proceeded to rip the card into pieces, much to the student's horror. Seeing this made brought a huge amount of anger into the usually calm and collected Wendy. She then ran over towards Kazuya and proceeded to grab him by the collar.

"What did you do that for?" She asked him. "It's one thing to just take his card, but to rip it up too!"

Kazuya glared at the young girl as he knocked her hands off of him.

"Look, first of all it's my card now!" He said. "Second, that card was just too weak and I can't stand weak cards!"

"Just because a card is weak doesn't mean you can just rip it up and toss it aside like it some garbage." Wendy told him. "Besides, we were taught that every card has there only unique value."

Kazuya looked at Wendy for a few seconds and saw that fierceness in her eyes remained unchanged. Annoyed by them, Kazuya came up with an idea.

"Let's Duel…" He suggested. "If you win then I promise that I'll return all of the cards that I've taken back their original owners."

"…Do you mean it?" Wendy asked.

"Yes…" Kazuya answered. "However, if you lose then I'll take the rarest card that you have."

Wendy pulled out her deck and looked at her cards for a few moments before looking back at Kazuya.

"Fine…I accept those terms."

Kazuya smiled and proceeded to walk away. Once he was gone, Wendy walked over towards the person that Kazuya defeated and helped him back to his classroom.

About an hour later, as the day was coming to an end, Miss Bartlet, Wendy's teacher, decided to end class by having a Duel between the students. Seeing this as a chance for them to have their Duel, both Wendy and Kazuya asked Miss Bartlet if they could Duel one another and the young teacher agreed to let them do so. The class then headed for the Academy's Duel Arena, which is the place where all the students Duel one another. Once they were there Kazuya and Wendy walked over to the field and proceeded to place their decks in the Duel Disks.

"I hope you're ready to lose." Kazuya said, confident that he'll be able to defeat Wendy easily.

"I hope you're ready to return all the cards you took." The young girl countered.

The two students activated their Duel Disk as they took several steps back from one another.

* * *

><p>"Duel!"<p>

**Wendy: 4000 LP**

**Kazuya: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Kazuya said as he swiftly drew a card from his deck. "I Summon: Solar Flare Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Solar Flare Dragon: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

In a blast of red hot flames, a medium sized dragon, with flames all over its body, appeared on the field and stared down Wendy.

"Next, I set one card face-down and end my turn. Now that it's the End Phase, the Special Ability of my dragon activates. You now lose 500 of your Life Points!"

As a face-down card appeared in front of Kazuya, his Solar Flare Dragon fired a small fireball from its mouth. The attack hit Wendy and the holographic flames surrounded her body for a few seconds before disappearing.

**Wendy: 3500 LP**

"My turn…Draw!" Wendy declared as she drew a card. "I Summon: Shining Angel, in Defense Mode."

**Shining Angel: ATK 1400 DEF 800 LVL 4**

In a small flash of light, Wendy's Shining Angel appeared on her field and took a defensive position in front of her. The angel was a man in white robes, had blonde hair, and had a set of large angel wings.

"Next, I set one card face-down and end my turn."

As a face-down card appeared behind Shining Angel, Kazuya began his next turn.

"Draw…!" He declared. "I Summon: Blazing Inpachi, in Attack Mode!"

**Blazing Inpachi: ATK 1850 DEF 0 LVL 4**

In another blast of flames, another monster appeared on Kazuya's side of the field. This monster was a wooden figure who was completely covered in flames and had the number 18 marked on its body.

"But before I attack with my Inpachi, I'll have my Solar Flare Dragon destroy your Shining Angel!"

Solar Flare Dragon opened its mouth and released a power stream of fire from its mouth, which quickly consumed and destroyed Wendy's monster.

"I activate Shining Angel's Special Ability!" The young girl declared. "When it's destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon a Light Attribute monster with 1500 or less Attack Points. The monster that I choose is my Wattgiraffe, and I'll place it in Attack Mode!"

**Wattgiraffe: ATK 1200 DEF 100 LVL 4**

In a blast of light, a giraffe with electrical spark radiating from its body appeared on the field and stood in front of Wendy.

"A weak monster like that won't protect you for long." Kazuya stated. "Blazing Inpachi, attack her Wattgiraffe!"

Inpachi pointed its arm towards Wattgiraffe and proceeded to fire a large fireball at the Thunder-Type monster.

"No you don't!" Wendy shouted. "I activate the Trap: Negate Attack! This card not only negates your attack, but also forcibly ends your Battle Phase!"

A large vortex appeared in front of Wattgiraffe and proceeded to suck in Blazing Inpachi's fireball. Seeing this caused Kazuya to curse himself, since he wasn't able to deal any Battle Damage towards his opponent.

"I end my turn." He said. "And that that moment, Solar Flare Dragon's ability activates again. You now lose 500 more Life Points!"

Solar Flare Dragon opened its mouth again and fired another fireball at Wendy, which caused her to be covered in flames again.

**Wendy: 3000 LP**

"My turn…Draw!" The young girl declared as she drew another card. "I Summon: Wattwoodpecker, in Attack Mode!"

**Wattwoodpecker: ATK 1000 DEF 100 LVL 3**

Just like with Wattgiraffe, Wattwoodpecker appeared onto the field in a bright flash of light and its body was also covered with electricity.

"Next, I equip my Woodpecker with the Spell Card: Mist Body, which prevents it from being destroyed in Battle. Now, Wattwoodpecker attack his Blazing Inpachi!"

"What?" Kazuya said in shocked.

All of the other students looked on in a state of confusion as Wendy's Wattwoodpecker, who was clearly the weaker monster, proceeded to attack Kazuya's Blazing Inpachi. The battle didn't take long as Inpachi was able to knock back Wattwoodpecker with only one blow.

**Wendy: 2150 LP**

"I activate Wattwoodpecker's Special Ability!" Wendy declared. "If it successfully attacks a monster, then it can't change its Battle Position! Also, my woodpecker can also attack twice in the same Battle Phase. So I think I'll have it attack your Solar Flare Dragon!"

Again, everyone was shocked by Wendy's move as she had her Wattwoodpecker attack second time. And, like with what happened against Blazing Inpachi, Solar Flare Dragon was able to knock back the Thunder-Type monster with little to no effort.

**Wendy: 1650 LP**

"Next, I'll have my Wattgiraffe attack…" Wendy said.

"Let me guess…you're going to have it attack one of my monsters." Kazuya said.

"No…Wattgiraffe's Special Ability allows it to Attack my opponent's Life Points Directly!" Wendy explains.

Wattgiraffe charged towards Kazuya and proceeded to zoom past his monsters before attacking him.

**Kazuya: 2800 LP**

Once her monster returned to her, Wendy took two cards from her hand and placed them in her Duel Disk. The two cards appeared face-down on the field behind her monsters in a face-down position.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Look…I don't know what you're trying to do, but your weak monsters won't help you win this Duel." Kazuya said

"We'll see about that…" Wendy countered.

"Yes…we will see. Draw…!" Kazuya swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed the card in his hand. "I Summon: Volcanic Rocket, in Attack Mode!"

**Volcanic Rocket: ATK 1900 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

As another burst of flames appeared on Kazuya's side of the field, a new monster appeared. This monster was red and yellow in color and looked like a combination of fighter jet and a dragon.

"Now, I'll have it destroy your Wattgiraffe!"

Volcanic Rocket took the sky and quickly made its way over towards the Thunder-Type Monster. However, before the attack could take place Wendy activated one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Force!" She declared. "With this Trap, I can destroy all of your monsters that are in Attack Mode!"

Kazuya's eyes once again widen in a state of shock as a mirror surrounded Wattgiraffe. Once Volcanic Rocket collided with the mirror, it exploded into several pieces, two of which hit Solar Flare Dragon and Blazing Inpachi as well causing them to explode too. As this was going on, Miss Bartlet looked on with a smile on her face.

"Nice play Wendy…" She thought. "By having your Wattwoodpecker attack Kazuya's monster you made sure that they couldn't change their Battle Modes. And since Mirror Force only works against monsters in Attack Mode, you were able to destroy 3 monsters instead of just one."

The sight of seeing all of her monsters destroyed made Kazuya furious as he angrily activated his face-down card.

"I'll make you pay for that you little weakling!" He said. "I activate the Trap Card: Secret Barrel! With this card, I can deal you 200 points of Damage for ever card that you on your field and on your hand. You have 9 cards in total, so that means you'll receive 1800 Points of damage!"

All of the cards that were in Wendy's hand, as well as the one of her field started to glow a bright purple color. They then release a beam of purple energy that made its way towards the young girl. However, before it could connect, Wendy activated her second face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Mystical Refpanel!" She stated. "This allows me to change the target of your Secret Barrel Trap from me to you. And since you have 7 cards in total, you take 1400 Points of Damage!"

A female spirit carrying a large mirror appeared in front of Wendy and proceeded to absorb the energy blast that her cards were giving off. The spirit then started to absorb the energy coming off of Kazuya's cards before firing that same energy back at him.

**Kazuya: 1400 LP**

As Kazuya was recovering from the attack on his Life Points, Wendy looked at her hand and saw something that caught her attention. After thinking about it for a few moments she got an idea on how to end this Duel.

"Draw…!" She declared as she drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. "Say Kazuya…you told me that you didn't like weak cards right?"

"That's right…I can't imagine any real Duelist wanting to have any type of weak cards in their deck."

"I see…well, as I told you before, every card as their own unique value. And I'll show you what I mean by Summon the Tuner Monster: Wattberyx, in Attack Mode!"

**Wattberyx: ATK 300 DEF 0 LVL 3**

In a flash of light, an orange fish with an electrical aura surrounding its body appeared onto the field.

"I then Tune my Level 3 Wattwoodpecker with my Level 3 Wattberyx in order to Synchro Summon: Wattchimera, in Attack Mode!"

**Wattchimera: ATK 1400 DEF 1200 LVL 6**

The two monsters that Wendy selected flew up into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. As all the students looked on in amazement, an electrical chimera appeared on Wendy's side of the field and proceeded to stare down Kazuya.

"I now activate the Special Ability of my Wattchimera." She said. "Though it's not the strongest Synchro Monster, its Special Ability allows it to attack your Life Points directly!"

Wattchimera roared at the top of its lungs as it quickly took to the air and made it way over towards Kazuya. Once it got close enough, the Thunder-Type monster proceeded to slash its target with its electrical claws.

**Kazuya: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>While all the holograms started to fade away, Wendy deactivated her Duel Disk and proceeded to make her way over to Kazuya. Once she got close to him she extended her hand out to him and smiled.<p>

"That was a fun Duel." She said.

Kazuya was surprised that she wanted to shake her hand, but he eventually decided to go along with it and shake her hand.

"…Yeah." He replied.

After that, the young boy kept his end of the deal and proceeded to return all the cards that he took from the others students, including the one he took from Mira earlier during the day. Once he did that, Kazuya then walked over to the boy whose card he ripped up and gave him a much rarer card. As Wendy watched this, she looked up at a nearby window and saw the sun shining on her. This caused her to smile as she walked over towards the rest of her class.

"As I thought…today was interesting." She silently said to herself.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 28 Preview<strong>

_While helping Takashi perfect his Turbo Dueling skills, Toru comes across an old rival of his and asks for a Turbo Duel. Can he defeat this powerful rival of his, or is he destined to fall by the power of the foes Twilight Deck?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 28: Toru's Rival – Kagura Toyoshima _


	28. Chapter 28

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 28: **_Toru's Rival – Kagura Toyoshima_

* * *

><p>It was another beautiful day in New Domino City as the sun was shining throughout the huge metropolis. At this moment, Takashi and the others are currently at one of the city's huge track fields. The size and space of the track was around the same size as 3 football fields, so it was an excellent place for Turbo Duelists to come to improve their skills. Takashi tried his best to spend most of his time here so that he can try and improve his skills as a Turbo Duelist. Despite the fact that he was improving at an incredible rate, he felt that he still wasn't good enough to actually compete in some tournaments. Since New Domino one of the biggest gathering places for Duelists, both regular and Turbo, Takashi knew deep down that he needed to get better if he ever wanted to stand a chance against them.<p>

At this moment, the young man was busy riding his Duel Runner across the large track, trying to improve his overall speed. As his friends looked on from the nearby stands, Toru and Lilly were busy doing two important jobs while watching their friend ride around. Toru's job was to see how fast Takashi could complete the track and to average his overall time. Since Turbo Dueling is a competition that focuses on high speed, Takashi needed to be able to Duel while moving as fast as his Runner could allow him to go. As for Lilly, she was writing in a small notepad that she had with her. Her job was to observe the way Takashi rides his Duel Runner and make notes on what he's doing right and what he's doing wrong. Despite the fact he was the type of person who learned from experience, Takashi valued Lilly's notes as they were extremely helpful to him.

After about 20 minutes of riding around the track, Takashi made his way towards the pit stop. Upon seeing this, his friends made their way from the stands and over towards him. Once they got there, Takashi took his helmet off and looked at all of them.

"So…how did I do?" He asked. "Was able to improve on my time?"

"You are getting better…" Toru said as he presented the stop watch to his friend As Takashi looked at the watch, it read 3:12. "Your average time is about 3 minutes and 12 seconds. When I first started out 3 years ago, it took me almost 6 months for me to get that speed. However you're able to get to that speed in only 2 months. You must be some type of natural when it comes to Turbo Dueling. But then again, I said the same thing when you and I had our first Ground Duel together."

"Um…thanks…I think." Takashi said while he placed his right hand I on the back of his head and started scratching it. He didn't really know how to feel about what Toru just said to him as he never really considered himself a natural when it came to Dueling.

"He's right to say that you are getting better." Lilly said as she walked over towards the two boys. "However 3 minutes and 12 seconds is relatively slow for a Turbo Duelist these days. At your current level of skill you would probably get your ass kicked every time you Dueled."

Lilly harsh reaction dropped the mood of the others around her, especially Takashi who actually thought that he was getting better. However as a much more experienced Turbo Duelist than he is, Lilly was probably right and that he would get his ass kicked. Still…it didn't change the fact that her words were still pretty harsh.

As the young man was lamenting on Lilly's words and how he can improve his skills, Akiza gently placed her hand on his shoulder. When he turned his head and towards her, Takashi saw that Akiza was smiling at him.

"Don't be so down on yourself…" She told him. "I'll know that you'll get better at this Takashi."

Seeing Akiza's smile made Takashi smile for two reason. The first and most obvious is that both her expression and comment was both kind and reassuring. The second reason was that she was becoming a much kinder and gentler person than she was when they first met 2 months ago. This gave him the realization that almost, if not all, of Sayer's influence on her was gone.

"Thanks Akiza…" He said with the smile on his face. "I needed that."

"No problem…" The young lady replied with a small hint of blush on her face.

As the two of them smiled at one another, the others silently smiled at them. Lilly and Wendy already picked up some hints that Takashi and Akiza and some sort of feelings for each other and they were happy that they were kind of acting upon them. As for Toru, he was just happy for Takashi.

"It's been a long time since I've seen him smile like that in front of a girl." He thought. "Ever since that incident 6 years ago, Takashi hasn't been really interested in having any type of romantic relationship with a girl. However this doesn't seem to be the case when it comes to Akiza. It looks like she is having just a positive effect on him as he is having on her."

* * *

><p>As that was going on, a young and attractive woman with long, straight black hair that falls to the middle of her back was busy getting her Duel Runner ready so that she could leave the track. The girl large breasts, a slim figure, and was wearing a purple and black jumpsuit which was the same design color as her Duel Runner. As she was getting ready to leave, a group of thugs saw her getting ready and began to walk towards her. Noticing their movement, the girl simply sighed as she continued to get her Runner ready. Once the thugs made it towards her, they circled around so that she wouldn't be able to escape. It was at that moment that one of the thugs walked towards the girl and grabbed her by her collar.<p>

"Kagura Toyoshima…" The thug said. "It's about time that we settle the score right now! You may have defeated me last time, but all you did was get lucky. However luck will not help you this time!"

The girl, who is now known as Kagura Toyoshima, didn't respond to the leader's react to the thugs words and all she did was firmly remove his hand from off of her collar. Once she did that she glared at thug before she started talking to him.

"I haven't relied on luck since the instant I was born." She said. "Everything has been the result of my choices. That is what leads my existence towards the future."

Annoyed by Kagura's statement, the thug prepared to punch her. However Kagura simply blocked the punch and proceeded to toss him towards the ground. Once she did that, Kagura grabbed the thug's arm and began twisting it until it broke. Upon seeing that, the other thugs pulled out several knives and ran over towards her, causing Kagura to simply sigh again.

"What a pain in the ass…"

Back at to where Takashi and others, they were getting ready to leave themselves when Wendy heard something in the distance. As the young girl turned her head to see what was going on, she was surprised at what she saw.

"Hey guys…" She said, calling towards the others. "Look at that."

The others turned their heads to where Wendy was looking and saw Kagura fighting the thugs that were around her.

"I think that girl needs help." Wendy told everyone.

"I think you're right." Takashi followed, getting ready to run over there and help out. However before he could even get close to Kagura, Toru grabbed the back of his shirt. "What the hell do you think you're doing Toru?"

"It's ok…" Toru said calmly. "There's no need to help her."

"And why not…?" Takashi angrily asked.

Lilly gently tapped the young man's shoulder, causing him to focus his attention towards her. She then pointed her figured towards Kagura and the thugs and when he looked on, he was utterly surprised. He saw that Kagura wasn't in trouble at all. Instead she was the one who was giving the thugs trouble.

"Um…never mind." He quietly said.

Once the young woman finished kicking the asses of the thugs, she then got on her Duel Runner and prepared to leave. However before she could actually leave the field she heard someone calling out to her.

"Hey Kagura…!" Toru called. "Don't leave yet!"

Kagura turned her head and saw Toru running towards her while the others simply walked. Once everyone got to where Kagura was, Toru smiled at her before talking to her

"Hey Kagura…it's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you to Toru…" She replied, while keeping the emotionless expression on her face. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here helping my friend improve his riding skills." Toru answered. He then pointed his hand towards Takashi. "This is him right now. He's name is Takashi Nakamura. He's friend I told you about the last couple times we saw each other."

"I see…" Kagura said as she focused her attention on Takashi. "Toru as told me that you're an excellent Duelist."

"Well…I wouldn't call myself excellent." Takashi replied. "I like to believe that skill and luck is the result of my success."

"You shouldn't really consider luck as factor to your Dueling skills." Kagura told him. "In the end, luck won't help you achieve victory because there is no guarantee that it will always help you. You should improve on your skills so that you won't have to rely on such a thing."

As Takashi gently nodded his head, thanking Kagura for the advice, Toru then decided to introduce the others to Kagura.

"These are the rest of my friends." He said. "Their names are Lilly Muto, Akiza Izinski, and Wendy Marvell. They too stay in the apartment with Takashi and myself."

"It's nice to meet all of you as well." Kagura politely said to the three girls as she bowed towards them.

Lilly, Akiza, and Wendy returned Kagura's bow with one of their own and proceeded to shake her hand afterwards. As the girls, and Takashi, started talking to one another, Toru decided to ask Kagura a question.

"Say Kagura…want to have a quick Turbo Duel?"

The young woman turned towards Toru and saw a look of determination in eyes. She could easily tell from them that Toru really wanted to have the Duel. With that in mind, she did the only thing she felt she could do.

"…Alright. Let's Duel…"

_45 minutes later._

As Kagura stood ready on the track, the rest of girls were in the stands while Takashi was busy helping Toru get ready for the Duel.

"So…how good is she?" Takashi asked. "I can tell already that she has a lot of Dueling experience, but I would really like to have your opinion on it.

Toru, having heard his friend question, placed his helmet on his head and pressed the button on the side of it so that the visor was come down and cover his face. He then turned his head and smiled at his childhood friend.

"Let's just say this…ever since I came to New Domino City, Kagura has been my biggest rival."

After saying that Toru rode to where Kagura was. Once he got to where she was he looked at her and smiled again

"Alright Kagura, this time I won't lose to you this time around."

The young woman didn't respond to Toru's words. All she did was start up her Duel Runner and put her helmet on.

"Alright…let's do this." She said calmly as she placed the visor over her eyes. "Activating Field Spell: Speed World 2!"

Kagura and Toru pressed a button on their respective Duel Runners, resulting in the activation their Speed World 2 Field Spells. Once they did that, a purple aura surrounded the entire track as the two of them started to ride away. As he looked on, Takashi asked Lilly a question.

"So…is it true that the person who passes the first corner first will be allowed to make the opening move?"

"That's right…" She answered. "It's done that way so that they Duelist can compete to see whether not they get to go first. That's why you need to improve you speed Takashi. Otherwise, you'll always end up going second."

"I see…" Takashi replied as he looked back towards Kagura and Toru.

As the two Duelist made their way to the first corner, Toru pushed his Duel Runner to its limit so that he can make it there first. Upon seeing this, Kagura intentionally slowed down, resulting in her opponent to pass the corner before her.

* * *

><p>"Duel!" The two of them yelled at the same time.<p>

**Toru: 4000 LP**

**Kagura: 4000 LP**

"Draw…!" Toru yelled as he swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand.

**Toru: SPC 1**

**Kagura: SPC 1**

"I Summon: Scrap Recycler, in Defense Mode!"

**Scrap Recycler: ATK 900 DEF 1200 LVL 3**

In a bright flash of light, Toru's monster appeared beside him and starting floating next to him in a defensive position as he rode around the track.

"Next, I activate Scrap Recycler's Special Ability! On this turn that it's either Normal Summoned or Special Summoned, I can send one Machine-Type monster from my Deck and send it to the Graveyard!"

Toru took the card that he wanted to send the Graveyard from his Deck and quickly placed it in the Graveyard. Once he did that, he took a card from his hand and inserted it in his Duel Disk. The card appeared beside Toru, but it immediately disappeared afterwards.

"I then set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn…Draw." Kagura said calmly as she drew a card from her deck.

**Toru: SPC – 2**

**Kagura: SPC – 2**

"I start out by Summoning: Jain, Lightsworn Paladin, in Attack Mode!"

**Jain, Lightsworn Paladin: ATK 1800 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

In an instant, a young woman with short white hair, who was wearing armor and carrying a sword, appeared beside Kagura and started floating next to her.

"I'll now have Jain attack your Scrap Recycler."

Jain made her way towards Scrap Recycler and proceeded to slice up the monster with such strength and power that it exploded. It was at this moment that Toru activate his face-down card.

"Trap Activate: Call of the Haunted! With this card, I can Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Mode. So return…Scrap Recycler!"

Toru's face-down reappeared and flipped itself up. From the card, Scrap Recycler appeared from it and once again floated by its master.

"Since my Recycler was Special Summoned, its Special Ability is once again activated!" Toru explained as he once again took another Machine-Type monster from his Deck and placed it in the Graveyard.

Kagura wasn't fazed by her inability to get rid of Toru's monster. She simply took two cards from her deck and inserted them into her Duel Disk. As that happened, the two cards appeared beside her before disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn. During this moment, Jain's Special Ability activates. I now must send the top 2 cards from my Deck and place them in my Graveyard."

Kagura quickly took the top two cards from her deck and placed them in her Graveyard. Once she did that, Toru began his turn.

"Draw…!" He yelled.

**Toru: SPC – 3**

**Kagura: SPC – 3**

"First, I activate the Speed Spell: Foolish Burial! Since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can send one card from my Deck and place it in my Graveyard!"

_The stands_

As the others looked down at the Duel, Wendy was starting to become puzzled.

"I don't get it." She said. "Why are Toru and Ms. Kagura using cards whose abilities force them to send cards to the Graveyard?"

"It's because their true abilities can only be activated in the Graveyard." Lilly answered.

"That's right…" Akiza followed. "Both the Scrap and Lightsworm archetypes require their users to send cards into the Graveyard to either summon or enhance the abilities of cards of the same archetype."

"I see…" Wendy said as she turned her attention back towards the Turbo Duel.

_Duel_

"Next…" Toru said after he finished placing the card he picked into the Graveyard. "I Summon: Scrap Chimera, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Chimera: ATK 1700 DEF 500 LVL 4**

In a flash of light, Scrap Chimera appeared on the Field and roared at the top of its lungs before running next to its master.

"When Scrap Chimera is Summoned, I can Special Summon a Scrap Tuner monster from my Graveyard. I'll choose is my Scrap Beast!"

**Scrap Beast: ATK 1600 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

Scrap Chimera once again roared at the top of its lungs, resulting in Scrap Beast to appear and run alongside it.

"Next, I'll Tune my Level 3 Scrap Recycler with my Level 4 Scrap Beast in order to Synchro Summon: Scrap Archfiend!"

**Scrap Archfiend: ATK 2700 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Scrap Beast ran towards Scrap Recycler and proceeded to launch it into the air before jumping into the sky too. Once both monsters were in the air, they quickly performed a Synchro Summoning, which quickly resulted in the arrival of Scrap Archfiend. Once it appeared it started floating above Toru as it stared down at both Kagura and her monster.

"Now Scrap Archfiend...attack her Lightsworm Paladin!"

The giant metal Archfiend complied with Toru's orders and proceeded to destroy Jain.

**Kagura: 3100 LP**

The resulting shockwaves coming from Scrap Archfiend's attack didn't bother Kagura in the slightest as she did was move her Runner in certain places so that the impact of the shockwaves wouldn't hit her. However, as she was doing that, Toru continued on with his Battle Phase.

"Scrap Chimera, attack her Life Points Directly!"

Scrap Chimera turned itself around and quickly made his way towards Kagura. However before it could even get to her, the young woman activated one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Magic Cylinder!" She declared. "With this card, I can negate Scrap Chimera's attack and deal you damage equal to its Attack Points."

Two magic cylinders appeared in front of Kagura and stood in between her and Scrap Chimera. The Scrap monster was quickly sucked in by the first cylinder before quickly being fired through the second one. It then crashed into Toru, causing him to lose 1700 Life Points.

**Toru: 2300 LP**

Toru started to lose control of his Runner for a few moments, but he was able to quickly regain his balance before anything bad happened. Once he did, he quickly took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk. And like before the card appeared on the field for a second before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." He said.

"My turn…Draw." Kagura declared as she drew a card.

**Toru: SPC – 4**

**Kagura: SPC – 4**

"I activate the Speed Spell: Monster Reincarnation! Since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can discard one card from my hand so that I can bring a monster from my Graveyard back into my hand."

With the effect of her Speed Spell in play, Kagura quickly placed a card from hand into her Graveyard before bringing Jain, Lightsworm Paladin back into her hand. Once that was done, the young lady quickly took another card and placed on her Duel Disk.

"Next, I Summon: Card Trooper, in Attack Mode!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 400 DEF 400 LVL 3**

In the instant that she called out its name, Card Trooper appeared and started moving along side Kagura as the female Turbo Duelist drove past Toru. Once she was far enough ahead of him, Kagura turned her Runner around and started drifting backwards.

"I activate Card Trooper's Special Ability! For every card that I send from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard, Card Trooper gains 500 extra Attack Points until the End Phase of that turn. I choose 3 cards so Card Trooper gains 1500 Attack Points!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 1900**

"Now Card Trooper, attack Toru's Scrap Chimera!"

The colorful robot pointed both of its arms at Scrap Chimera and proceeded to obliterate it with its powerful laser cannons.

**Toru: 2100 LP**

Once the monster was destroyed, Kagura turned her Duel Runner back around and started driving even farther away from Toru. As she did that, the young woman took another card from her hand and inserted it into her Duel Disk.

"I end my turn by setting one card face-down on the Field."

**Card Trooper: ATK 400**

"My turn…Draw!" Toru yelled as he drew another card from his Deck.

**Toru: SPC – 5**

**Kagura: SPC – 5**

"For this turn, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Turbo Synchron, in Attack Mode!"

**Turbo Synchron: ATK 100 DEF 500 LVL 1**

In a small flash of light, a tiny green colored robot that looked like an engine appeared next to Toru.

"And now that it's here, I'm Tuning it with my Level 7 Scrap Archfiend! The earth's discarded pieces now come together as a new power is formed! Synchro Summon! Reanimate, Scrap Dragon!"

**Scrap Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Toru's two monsters flew high into the air and quickly performed a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished, Scrap Dragon appeared and started flying above Toru's head.

"Now Kagura, feel the power of my Scrap Dragon as it now attacks your Card Trooper!"

Toru's powerful Synchro Monster opened its large mouth as it began charging a powerful energy attack. As that was happening, Kagura proceeded to activate one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Negate Attack!" She declared. "This card is able to negate one of your attacks, but also end your Battle Phase."

As Scrap Dragon finished charging up power and proceeded to launch its attack, a giant vortex appeared in front of Card Trooper and sucked in the energy blast it could connect with its intended target.

_The Stands…_

"Damn it!" Takashi cursed. "If this keeps up, Toru won't be able to lay a finger on Kagura for the rest of the Duel!"

"That's not true…" Lilly replied. "There is a way for him to deal her some damage this turn."

"And what would that be?" He asked.

_Duel_

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" Toru stated. "By removing 4 of my Speed Counters, I can deal you 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell in my hand. Right now I have 2 Speed Counters, so that means you lose 1600 points!"

**Toru: SPC – 1**

A green laser beam, which fired from Toru's Duel Runner, quickly made its way over to Kagura before finally striking her. As her Life Points began to decrease, Kagura silently cursed herself for letting that happen.

**Kagura: 1500 LP**

_Stands_

"Oh…now I see what you meant." Takashi spoke.

"Yeah…" Lilly replied. "Speed World 2 has 3 effects and each effect can only be activated when the Duelist had collected enough Speed Counters. The first effect is the one you just saw where you can deal 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in your hand. The second can only by activated by removing 7 Speed Counters. It allows you to draw another card from your deck. The last effect can only be activated when you have 10 Speed Counters. It allows you to select one card on the Field and destroy it."

"I see…those are some cool effects." Takashi pointed out. "But they seem very hard to use since there are some Speed Spells that force you to remove Speed Counters."

"Exactly…" Lilly said. "That's why there's more strategy to Turbo Dueling then there is to regular Dueling."

_Duel_

"I end my turn Kagura…" Toru said to his opponent as he began to catch up to her. "It's your move."

"Right…" The young lady replied as she drew a card from her deck.

**Toru: SPC – 2**

**Kagura: SPC – 6**

"I once again activate Card Trooper's Special Ability! By removing the top 3 cards on my Deck I can raise its Attack Points back to 1900!"

Kagura quickly grabbed those cards and just as quickly placed them her in Graveyard. Once she did that, Card Trooper's Attack Points once again began to increase.

**Card Trooper: 1900 ATK**

"After that, I then remove 3 Dark Attribute Monsters from my Graveyard so that I can Special Summon: Dark Armed Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Armed Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 1000 LVL 7**

"What?" Toru yelled in shocked.

As Kagura removed the 3 cards from her Graveyard, a dark aura surrounded her side of the field. The aura quickly started to take shape and soon became a giant black dragon with armored section skin.

_Stands_

"What…she's using a Twilight Deck?" A shocked Takashi said.

"What's a Twilight Deck?" Wendy asked.

"A Twilight Deck is a Deck which combines Dark Attribute Monsters with the Lightsworm Archetype." Akiza explains.

"That was a nice fake-out by Kagura…" Lilly followed. "Since she's been using Lightsworm Cards, I assumed that she would end up Summoning; Judgment Dragon. But she didn't do that and instead brought out Dark Armed Dragon."

"Yeah…" Takashi said. "One has to be careful when dealing with a Twilight Deck since there is no guarantee which Dragon will come out."

_Duel_

"Hmph…that I was a nice move Kagura." Toru said, complimenting her opponent. "However, I had a feeling that you would summon a big monster like that. That's why I'm activating the Trap Card: Bottomless Trap Hole! With that Trap, I can destroy and remove from play a monster you just summoned that has 1500 or more Attack Points!"

A giant hole appeared just below of Dark Armed Dragon and proceeded to suck the powerful beast inside the endless void. However, before her monster could disappear, Kagura quickly activated another face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Seven Tools of the Bandit!" She declared. "By sacrificing 1000 of my Life Points, I can negate the effect of another Trap Card and destroy it!"

**Kagura: 500 LP**

As Toru's Trap Card disappeared, the young man looked on in shocked as he watched Kagura turn around and face him again.

"For next move, I remove 4 Lightsworm monsters from my Graveyard so that I can Special Summon: Judgment Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Judgment Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

Just as Dark Armed Dragon appeared in a powerful and dark aura, Judgment Dragon appeared in a powerful, but bright aura. Once it appeared onto the field, the two dragons started roaring at the exact same time. However, instead of being upset that the two dragons were looking down at him and his Scrap Dragon, Toru looked on with a huge smile on his face.

"I shouldn't have expected anything less…" He thought quietly to himself. "She's simply amazing."

"Judgment Dragon…attack Toru's Scrap Dragon, while Dark Armed Dragon attacks his Life Points Directly!"

Both dragons complied with their master's ordered and proceeded to fire a blast of light and dark energy from their mouths. The light attack made its way towards Scrap Dragon, destroying completely, while the dark attack consumed Toru and drained away the remainder of his Life Points.

**Toru: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, Toru's Duel Runner started releasing some steam as he stopped began to park it. Once he did, Kagura made her way over to him.<p>

"That was a good Duel Toru." She said.

"Thanks..." The young man replied. "But it still seems that I'm at your level yet. However, don't think that this will be the last time we Duel. I'm going to defeat you the next time we Duel!"

Kagura didn't respond to his comment and just looked at him for a few short moments. As she did that, Takashi and the others made their way over towards them.

"That was a good Duel Toru." The young man said to his friend. "Now I can see why you call her your rival."

Toru turned to Takashi and gently nodded his head towards him. After that Takashi then turned towards Kagura.

"Say Kagura…why don't we have a Turbo Duel ourselves, sometime down the road."

"…Why not." The young woman answered. "But only when you become a more experienced Turbo Duelist."

Once she said that, Kagura started up her Duel Runner again and proceeded to leave the track. As she did she thought about what Takashi said about Toru calling her his rival.

"Sorry Toru…" She thought to herself. "But I can't consider you such a thing. At least…not until I finally defeat the man who took away my pride. The one I hate more than anything in the world."

As she gripped the ends of her Runner, she flashed back to a moment where she was lying on the floor both defeated and humiliated. In that moment there was a person standing over her and he was laughing at the helpless state that she was in.

"I will get my revenge…Alistair Miles!"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 29 Preview<strong>

_While reflecting on her past and the reason why she came to New Domino City in the first place, Lilly receives a call from friends back in the Satellite. Upon being informed that the place where she was raised is in danger of being destroyed, Lilly waste no time and makes preparations to head back home. However, not one to sit by and let people get hurt, Takashi decides to come with her. But can they, and the rest of their friends, help bring a since of order back to the Satellite Sector?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 29 – Back to Satellite _


	29. Chapter 29

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 29: **_Back to Satellite_

* * *

><p><em>2 years ago<em>

It has been over a year since Takashi Nakamura as come to the Satellite Sector to get the Duel Runner parts for his friend Toru Ishida. Since that time, the Satellite has become a more violent place than ever before. Several Duel gangs try day in and day out to gain the power needed to take over the area. Despite the fact that Team Satisfaction has been trying their best to stop the conflict, their efforts don't seem to be having much effect has it did in the past. Forcing them to rely on…drastic measures…

Right now, a 17-year-old Lilly is currently on a mission by her leader/boyfriend Kalin Kessler to place a certain item in a certain location. As she made her way to the location, which turned out to be the bottom of an abandon warehouse, Lilly started to feel something odd.

"What is it…?" She thought. "What is this strange sensation? It's like I'm being watched."

The young woman turned around to see if she really was spying on her. However there was no one there when she looked around. With no one in sight Lilly kept on her way, but she kept an extra eye out just in case she was being followed. After a couple of minutes of walking through warehouse, Lilly finally made her way to the basement. Once she reached the corner of the room, she placed the item that Kalin gave her by the wall and began to walk away.

"Do you honestly believe that I'll let you get away with you and your team's plan?" A voice from the back of the room said.

Lilly was slightly shocked by the voice, but quickly regained herself once she figured out who it belonged to.

"I thought I had a feeling that a nasty little snake was watching over me." Lilly said with a sly smile on her face as she pulled out a Duel Disk on from her backpack and placed it on her arm. "How long have you've been following me…Hisashi?"

As Lilly turned her head towards the shadows, a young man with grey hair and black eyes approached her. The man was had on a navy blue coat with the image of a shark on the back and had on black jeans with the same image. Also, like Lilly, he also had a Duel Disk placed on his arm.

"I've been following you for about an hour now." Hisashi said as he activated his Duel Disk. "I've been ordered by our leader to stop you before you had the chance to start this plan that you and the rest of Team Satisfaction have cooked up."

"Hmph…and do you really believe that someone like you can stop us?" Lilly replied angrily as she activated her Duel Disk. "If we don't do what we're planning to do then more lives are going too lost in these senseless conflicts between Duel Gangs! I already lost too many people I cared about because of it and I want it to end…RIGHT NOW!"

"No Lilly this isn't going to stop…" Hisashi said with a smile on her face. "This isn't going to stop until we, the Crashing Sharks, want it to stop!"

"DUEL!" Both of them yelled at the same time.

"I'll make the first move…Draw!" Lilly said as she drew a card from her deck. "I Summon: Blast Magician, in Attack Mode and end my turn."

**Blast Magician: ATK 1400 DEF 1700 LVL 4**

In a flash of red light, Lilly's Blast Magician appeared beside her as Hisashi began his turn.

"Draw…!" He yelled as he drew a card. "First, I'll start off my playing the Field Spell: A Legendary Ocean!"

Once Hisashi placed the card into the Field Spell section of his Duel Disk, the basement that both he and Lilly were in turned into the background of the Legendary Ocean. Holographic fish and other sea creatures swam around them as their hair began to move as if they were underwater.

"With the power of my Legendary Ocean, the level of all Water Attribute monsters is reduce by 1 and their Attack and Defense are increased by 200!"

"I already know the powers of A Legendary Ocean!" Lilly angrily pointed out. "I know a stupid salesman who uses the same deck."

"Oh really…" Hisashi replied. "Well don't compare me to him because the way I use A Legendary Ocean is far superior to his! And I'll show you by first Summoning: Great White, in Attack Mode!"

**Great White: ATK 1600 - 1800 DEF 800 - 1000 LVL 4 – 3 **

In flash of white light, a giant blue and white shark appeared onto the field and started swimming by Hisashi.

"Now my monster…it's Dinner Time!"

Great White looked towards Blast Magician and quickly made its way over to the Spellcaster-Type monster. Once it got to it, Great White quickly devoured the magician as Lilly watched on in disgust.

**Lilly: 3600 LP**

"And with that Lilly, I think I'll set one card face-down and end my turn." Hisashi said confidently as both Great White and a face-down card made his way to his side of the field. "Now, what will you do now?"

"I'll do this you Bastard!" The young woman yelled. "Draw! I Activate the Spell Card: Cost Down! With it, I can lower the level of all the monsters in my hand by 2 as long as I discard one card from my deck!"

Lilly did what her card instructed and quickly placed a card from her hand into her Graveyard. After doing that she took another card and placed it firmly onto her Duel Disk.

"I Summon: Dark Magician Girl, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6 – 4**

In a beautiful flash on pink light, the beautiful Dark Magician Girl appeared onto Lilly side of the field and proudly stood by her master once again.

"Dark Magician Girl, attack his Great White!" Lilly commanded.

The mage quickly nodded her head she started building up energy into her staff. Once she had enough, Dark Magician Girl fired the energy and it quickly made its way towards Great White.

"I don't think so Lilly…" Hisashi said as he activated his face-down card. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Astral Barrier! With this Trap, I can change your attack from an attack on my monster to an attack on my Life Points!"

"What…?" Lilly said in shock.

Dark Magician Girl's attack began to change course as it quickly strayed from Great White and began making its way towards Hisashi. Once the attack hit its new target, a large explosion occurred.

**Hisashi: 2000 LP**

As the smoke from the explosion faded, Lilly angrily continued on with her turn and quickly took another card from her hand and placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

As the face-down card appeared behind Dark Magician Girl, the female mage's level returned to being 6 instead of 4.

**Dark Magician Girl: LVL 6**

"My turn…Draw!" Hisashi said as he drew another card from his Deck. "For this turn, I'll sacrifice my Great White to Summon: Levia-Dragon – Daedalus, in Attack Mode!"

**Levia-Dragon – Daedalus: ATK 2600 – 2800 DEF 1500 – 1700 LVL 7 – 6**

From the darkest shadows of the ocean Field Spell, Levia-Dragon – Daedalus appeared and proceeded to devour Hisashi's Great White before floating by him.

"I next activate my monster's Special Ability. By removing Umi from the field, Daedalus can destroy all cards on the field, excluding itself. And this one of A Legendary Ocean's powers allow it to act as Umi, I can get rid of it to get rid of your Magician!"

"I don't think so!" Lilly shouted as she activated her face-down card. "I play the Trap Card: Interdimensional Matter Transporter! With this Trap, I can remove one card from play until the End Phase of this turn…and the monster I choose to remove is my Dark Magician Girl!"

As Daedalus' ability began to activate, and all the cards on the field began to disappear, a small alien device appear onto the field. The device shot a laser beam at Dark Magician Girl and proceeded to quickly send her into another dimension in order to avoid Daedalus' power. Once it was gone, the only card that was left on the field was Daedalus itself.

**Levia-Dragon – Daedalus: ATK 2600 DEF 1500 LVL 7**

"Nice move Lilly…" Hisashi said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "However…it won't change the fact that Daedalus is still going to attack your Life Points Directly!"

The powerful Water Attribute monster fired a huge blast of water from its mouth which proceeded to hit Lilly.

**Lilly: 1000 LP**

"Humph…this match is over Lilly. You have no chance of winning so you might as well give up! You and the rest of Team Satisfaction have no hope in changing the Satellite. It's been like this for over 20 years and it will continue to be like this for years to come!"

As the holographic water began to drip off the young woman's face, Lilly closed her eyes and began to imagine the future that Hisashi just mentioned. In her mind, all she could see was the corpses of thousands of people as their blood flowed beneath her feet. Out of all the dead people the ones most prominent was Kalin, who was in the worst shape of all. Once she opened her eyes back up, she gently placed her hand on the top card of her deck.

"You're wrong…I believe that peace can be brought to the Satellite and I know that my friends and I can make it happen!" She said passionately.

As soon as she said those words, Dark Magician Girl reappeared onto the field as Lilly swiftly drew a card from her deck. As she looked at it, she smiled and turned towards Hisashi again.

"And now Hisashi…I'll show you the one who brought me this belief! I first discard one card from my hand to Special Summon: The Tricky, in Attack Mode!"

**The Tricky: ATK 2000 DEF 1200 LVL 5**

As Lilly placed her placed a card into the Graveyard, a yellow and black monster with a question mark on both its face and chest appeared onto the field. Once it appeared the young woman then another card from her hand and firmly placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"I then Summon the Tuner Monster: Night's End Sorcerer!"

**Night's End Sorcerer: ATK 1300 DEF 400 LVL 2**

The next monster that appeared onto the field was a young boy with blonde hair and black eyes. He had on old clothes, a cape, and was holding a long death scythe in his hands.

"I now Tune my Level 5 Tricky with my Level 2 Night's End Sorcerer. The holy light of protection, shine now and become eternal life! Synchro Summon! A regal birth, Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 3000 LVL 7**

As Lilly's selected monsters flew into the air, a bright flash of light covered the entire basement as both monsters performed the process for Synchro Summoning. Once they finished, the light began to fade a little as Ancient Fairy Dragon appeared and beautifully stood next Dark Magician Girl.

Hisashi was amazed by the appearance of Lilly's Synchro Monster; however he quickly lost his impression of it once he saw that it was weaker than his monster.

"Hah…what can weakling do?" He asked Lilly while trying to control the urge to laugh. "In case you can't tell, my monster far outclasses both of your monsters!"

"We'll see about that Hisashi…" Lilly countered. "Because now I'm activating the Spell Card: Shield & Sword! With this Spell, the Attack Points of all the monsters on the field are switched with their Defense Points!"

"What…?" Hisashi said in disbelief.

**Levia-Dragon – Daedalus: ATK 1500 DEF 2600 **

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 1700 DEF 2000**

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2100**

"Now Hisashi…" Lilly said. "I'm ending this Duel by having Dark Magician Girl attack Daedalus and having my Ancient Fairy Dragon attack your Life Points Directly!"

Both of Lilly's monsters complied with her orders and proceeded to attack their respective targets. Dark Magician Girl quickly made work of the weakened Daedalus while Ancient Fairy Dragon drained Hisashi's Life Points by firing a blast of light energy from its mouth.

**Hisashi: 0 LP**

As the holograms vanished, Hisashi dropped on his knees in defeat as Lilly looked on as the spirits of both of her monsters smiled at her. She then walked over towards her opponent and grabbed him by the collar.

"Listen to me and listen well!" She said. "Go tell your leader and the rest of the other Duel Gangs that nothing will stop Team Satisfaction from fulfilling our goal!"

With that said, the young girl proceeded to knock out Hisashi before dragging his body out of the warehouse.

_Present Day_

It was 2: 47 pm as Lilly Muto woke up from a dream she was having. The young woman walked over towards the window and proceeded to stick her head out of it. Once she did that she began thinking quietly to herself.

"For a long time I truly believed that we were fighting for the right cause. However…it soon became obvious that we were doing more harm than good. If things hadn't turned out the way it did then I probably would be dead…just like Kalin is now."

As she continued to think to herself, she began to remember the times she spent who Kalin.

"Kalin use to be so smart and kind. He would never let the goals of our team have a negative impact on the lives of people in the Satellite. But sometime after that Duel against Hisashi and I, Kalin began to change. No…maybe it was when he came up with that crazy plan of his. Even, I wanted to believe that he was doing the right thing. But…I guess I was just fooling myself."

Lilly sighed quietly to herself as she slowly turned her attention from the city to the Satellite, which looked like a tiny island from the distance.

"I pray that everyone is ok…" She said as she looked on. "And I hope no one is foolish enough to go through with Kalin's plan."

* * *

><p><em>1 week later<em>

It was a bright and sunny Friday morning in New Domino City. Wanting to enjoy the fresh air, Lilly decided to go outside and work on her Duel Runner since it was the perfect opportunity to do so. As she was working on her Runner she began to look at the clouds and saw one that really caught her attention. The shape of the cloud reminded her of her Ancient Fairy Dragon which, in turn, caused her to remember that she didn't have the card anymore.

"It's been almost 3 months since I've come to this city and despite the fact that I helped put an end to the Arcadia Movement, I still haven't accomplished my original goal. I know for a fact that Alistair is here and that he has my Ancient Fairy Dragon, yet I've been sidetracked by other things. Well no more…starting right now, I'm going to devote my complete attention on finding Alistar and getting back what he stole from me!"

As the young woman thought about this, her Duel Runner started making a beeping sound. As she looked up and checked on it, Lilly noticed that someone was calling her. Wanting to know who was calling her, she pressed a button on her Runner which then revealed her young friend; Toshiro Nagata.

"Lilly…" Toshiro said. "We need you to come back to the Satellite."

"Toshiro you know I can't come back." Lilly stated. "I'm still looking for Alistair and I'm also wanted by the Security stationed at the Satellite. If I come back, then I'm only asking to get caught."

"I know that Lilly…" Toshiro pointed out. "But we really need you to come back. The Crashing Sharks are causing major problems and its becoming so big that Crow can't handle it alone."

Lilly paused and started thinking about the situation. Crow was one of Satellite's best Duelist, second only to her. If he was having trouble against the Crashing Sharks then maybe the problem is greater than she thinks it is. However if she leaves now then there is no telling when she'll return. Once she finished thinking she gave Toshiro her answer.

"I'm sorry Toshiro…But I can't come back."

Lilly moved in to cut off the communication line, however before she got the chance to Toshiro said one more thing to her.

"Lilly…" He said. "Crow wanted me to tell you that the leader of the Crashing Sharks is attempting to go through with _'that' _plan."

As he looked on from the screen, Toshiro saw that Lilly's eyes widen with a combination of both shock and fear. Without saying another word Lilly turned off the communication line and proceeded to quickly go inside into her room. As she was gather clothes, Takashi noticed her and walked into her room without permission.

"Going somewhere?" He asked.

"Something going on back at the Satellite Sector…" Lilly explained. "I have to go. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"If something is going on Lilly then let me help." The young man suggested.

"No!" Lilly sternly answered as she turned to him. "Look, what's happening is very dangerous and it's likely that a lot of people are going to get hurt as a result. Besides, this isn't your problem so it doesn't concern you."

As they were talking; Akiza, Toru, and Wendy listened on from their respective rooms. Without even being asked the three of them gather the things that they would need to head out. As that was happening, Takashi proceeded to lift up his shirt and show him the X-shaped scar that Akiza gave him 2 months ago.

"I don't know what's going on at the Satellite, but I'm been dealing with dangerous stuff to since I came to New Domino." He explained as he pulled his shirt back down. "Besides, you mentioned that a lot of people could get hurt. I don't give a rat's ass if you think it doesn't concern me, if people are getting hurt then I'm going to help them. Lilly, I'm going to the Satellite and there's not a damn thing that you can do about it!"

Lilly looked at Takashi's eyes and saw the determined look in his eyes. Upon seeing them she noticed the others walk into the room and saw that they wanted to go and help out too. Somewhat concerned, but knew that they would come whether they gave her permission or not, Lilly said the only thing she could say.

"Alright…you can come."

* * *

><p><em>Satellite: 12:02 am.<em>

It was the dead of night and almost everyone in the Satellite Sector was asleep. It was during this time that a large gathering was taking place at a large facility at the northern part of the Sector. In the facility hundreds of individuals were gathering around waiting for someone. Eventually that someone arrived. It was man wearing a dark rope and was wearing a black and red mask over his face. He proceeded to grab a microphone and began talking to the large number of people who were waiting for him.

"Thank you all for coming and sorry for keeping you waiting for so long." He began. "If you're here then you know that the ongoing struggles that have been taking place here in the Satellite cannot be tolerated any longer. In only 48 more hours our master plan will finally come to reality and we finally take control of this land! So I ask all of you…to please continue with your hard work as we say good-bye to the old era and say hello to the new one!"

All the people began in the facility started cheering with joy as the Masked Man, as well as 7 others, left the area. Once they were gone one of the 7, who happened to be a blonde hair woman with blue eyes, started talking.

"What fools…" She said. "They have absolutely no idea that they're being used."

"Yeah…" Another one of the 7 said. "The only reason they're involved is because the plan would've have been delayed considerably if weren't for them."

"Well soon you two won't have to deal with them." The Masked Man said. "In only 2 more days we'll commence our Grand Fire Project and be on path to victory. WE'LL BURN SATELLITE TO THE GROUND WITH FLAMES THE COLOR OF BLOOD!"

As Amon started laughing to himself Takashi and the others made it out of the pipeline and entered the Junkyard of the Satellite Sector, unaware of the events that was about take place.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 30 Preview<strong>

_Now that they're in the Satellite, the group makes plan to head towards Lilly's stepmother's home. However they are soon confronted by familiar enemy._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 30: Reunions_

* * *

><p><strong>Announcements<strong>

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys I just want to introduce to the next arc of the Over the Nexus story; the Grand Fire Arc. I hope that all of you like it has I got the inspiration from reading my two favorite stories _

_Since we're starting this new Arc a lot of new characters are going to appear. Because of that, I would really like it if you guys would send me some OC's for it. The best 6 OC's will become the other 6 individuals that left Amon after the meeting. _

_Again, please enjoy this next arc as Takashi and his friends take on their next challenge._


	30. Chapter 30

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks to: **_Overlord Reign_

**Chapter 30: **_Reunions_

* * *

><p>"So this is the Satellite Sector." Toru said as he observed his new surroundings. "It looks just how you described Takashi."<p>

"…Yeah." The young man silently responded as he looked around the junkyard.

As the moon shined over them, our heroes were taking a small portion of their time observing the area. Despite it only being the junkyard they quickly realized that they weren't in the comfort of the illustrious New Domino City anymore. They were in a whole new element with a whole new set of rules.

"Alright Lilly…" Takashi said as he looked towards his friend who had Wendy riding the back of her Duel Runner. "What's the plan? What should we do now that we're here?"

"….The first thing that we need to do is find someplace safe." Lilly answered. "As you can obviously see, this place isn't safe. Not only do random Duel Gangs try and overpower unsuspecting people, but Sector Security is always watching to see if they can arrest anybody and send them to the Facility."

"I see…" Akiza said and she processed the information that she just received. "So the best thing we should do is find a good place to hide. That way we can come up with a plan without being interrupted."

"Exactly…" Lilly responded. "Luckily I know just the place to go."

"And where would that be?" Toru asked.

"The orphanage where my step-mother lives…" Lilly answered. "I spent around 10 years living over there before moving out on my own. I'm sure that she'll let us stay there."

"Alright then…let's get going." Takashi suggested.

The others agreed and with Lilly leading the way, the group started to make their way to the orphanage. As they traveled Akiza, who was riding on the back of Toru's Duel Runner, noticed Takashi spending a lot of time looking at the scenery. From what she could tell it seemed that he was reflecting on his past while looking around.

"Say Toru…" She called.

"What is it Akiza?" He asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No…nothing's wrong." She answered. "But I wanted to talk to you about something. It's about Takashi…"

"What about him?" Toru asked.

"I've noticed that he's been spending some time looking around the area and I remember that he told me that you two came from a place that was similar to the Satellite." Akiza explained. "What I wanted to ask is what does he see in the Satellite that reminds him of his hometown?"

Toru thought about Akiza's questioned as he looked towards Takashi and saw him continuing looking at the scenery. He then took a moment to remember what life was like in Crash Town before giving Akiza an answer.

"Well…for as long as I can remember, Takashi never really liked the scenery of our hometown." He explained. "And it's not because on how it looked. Takashi isn't the type of person to look at something, whether it a person or a place, and judge it just because of the outer appearance. You should know that better than anyone."

Akiza silently nodded her head as she remembered how Takashi treated her with kindness despite the fact she tried to kill him on more than one occasion. The thought of this brought some tears in her eyes since she still kind of believed that she doesn't deserve the happiness that Takashi was able to give her despite all that she's done. As she thought about this, Toru continued his explanation.

"As I was saying, Takashi didn't hate Crash Town just because it looked bad. He hated Crash Town because on the inside, it was a bad place to live. People were either sent to spend the rest of their lives working in the mines or were just killed. It was like a living hell to him because he lost a lot of important people because of the bullshit that goes on over there. I think he feels the same vibe coming from the Satellite."

"I see…" Akiza said silently.

The young lady looked towards Takashi once more and as she did she started to understand, if only a little, more about him.

Meanwhile, as this was happening, the group was being watched from a far by a Sector Security scouting party. The ten man group looked at the young teens and as they did one of them took notice to Lilly.

"It was only a matter of time until that bitch would return." He said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time and now I will finally be able to get my revenge."

The Security officer made silent hand signals towards the others, which they were quickly able to receive. Once they read the signals all of the officers made their way to their respective Duel Runners and started riding towards Takashi and the others.

After about 5 minutes, Lilly began to notice something going on behind her. So she pressed a button on her Duel Runner and it relayed a radar of all the Duel Runner within a 100 mile radius of her. As she looked on, Lilly saw 10 oncoming Runners heading towards not only her, but her friends as well. It was here that she quickly realized that she needed to come up with a plan.

"Guys…!" She called. "We're being followed!"

"What…?" Toru asked in shock. "By who?"

"I can't be too sure, but I think its Sector Security." Lilly answered. "They must have spotted us."

"Then what should we do?" Wendy asked. "Is there a way that we can avoid them?"

Lilly quickly started to formulate a plan, but as she was doing that Takashi had already a plan in his head and he was eager to put it into action.

"Lilly, you and the others go on to the orphanage." He said. "I'll catch up when I can."

Everyone was shocked by what Takashi just said and it didn't take them long to argue against the idea.

"Guys, listen. Its better that most of us escape from here than all of us getting caught together. Besides I can take on these Security punks."

"But what if you get caught?" Akiza asked.

"Don't worry Akiza." Takashi replied with a smile on his face. "I'm not going to get caught and I promise that I'll be at the orphanage by morning."

Akiza was still pretty worried by her friend's suggestion, as well as Toru and Wendy, but Lilly knew that Takashi had a knack of coming out of dangerous situations with himself intact. Besides, she had a feeling that the commotion of Takashi going against the Security Officers will cause a friend to appear.

"Alright Takashi…" She said while looking towards him. "I'll leave them to you, but you better keep your promise and have your ass at the orphanage by the time the sun comes up. If you don't then you're going to have to deal with me!"

Takashi smiled at her and proceeded to nod his head before stopping his Duel Runner. He then watched as he friends ride away. Once he couldn't see them anymore, the young man quickly put began to start the next phase of his plan.

About 10 minutes later, the group Security Officers arrived and proceeded to stop once they saw Takashi's Duel Runner sitting in the middle of the road. Wondering who it belonged to the group's leader, Daisuke, got off his own Duel Runner and began examining it.

"This Runner…" He thought. "I know that it belongs to one of Lilly's friends, but for some reason it looks familiar. Just where have I seen this Runner before."

As he was thinking, Daisuke didn't notice that his fellow officers were silently being taken out by Takashi. The young man, having done similar things at Crash Town, was able to conceal presence from the officers and was to take each one of them out without alerting the others. He soon was left with only one officer left, Daisuke himself.

"Wait a minute…" The officer said out loud. "I know this Runner. It belonged to that guy with left with Lilly! But why would he come back to the Satellite?"

"That's on a need to know basis." Takashi said from behind Daisuke's back.

The Security Officer turned around and saw Takashi looking at him with a sly smile on his face. He also saw that all of the other officers were knocked unconscious and were lying face first on the ground.

"You little punk…!" He said out of anger. "You planned this from the beginning didn't you?"

"Wow…you're amazing, I can't believe that you managed to figure it out so quickly." Takashi said in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Daisuke anger quickly began to grow as he listened to Takashi's words. He then grabbed a Duel Disk from one of his comrades and proceeded to activate it. However, before inserting his deck into it, he pressed a button on the bottom of the disk.

"Alright you little bastard…I think it's time that someone puts you in your place."

"Oh really…?" Takashi asked. "Then please…just try and put in my place you sorry excuse for a Security Officer!"

* * *

><p>"Let's Duel!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Daisuke: 4000 LP**

With the Duel underway, Daisuke made the first move by first drawing an additional card from his deck. Once he did that he then took a card from his hand firmly placed it onto his Duel Disk.

"I Summon: Queen's Knight, in Defense Mode!" He said.

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

In a bright flash of pink light, a beautiful female knight with long blonde hair and blue eyes appeared onto Daisuke's side of the field. The knight wore red and purple armor, held a sword in her left hand, a shield in her right hand, and knelt down in a defensive position in front of her master.

"Next, I set two cards face-down and end my turn!"

Daisuke took two cards from his hand and inserted them into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk. Once that happened, two face-down cards appeared behind of Queen's Knight.

"My turn…Draw!" Takashi said as he swiftly drew a card from his deck. "I Summon: Red-Eyes Wyvern, in Attack Mode!"

**Red-Eyes Wyvern: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

A strong blast of red-hot flames appeared on Takashi's side of the field as his Red-Eyes Wyvern appeared. The powerful dragon proceeded to roar at the top of its long as it stared down Queen's Knight, who didn't seem bothered by the new monster's arrival.

"Go Red-Eyes…" Takashi called. "Destroy Queen's Knight with your Molten Fireball Attack!"

Red-Eyes complied and began charging its attack. However, before it got the chance to fire, Daisuke quickly activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the face-down card…Threatening Roar!" He said. "With this card, you're not allowed to conduct your Battle Phase this turn!"

An extremely loud roar shot from Daisuke's Trap Card, which shocked Red-Eyes Wyvern and prevented the monster from launching its attack. Remaining cool, Takashi continued on with his turn by taking two cards and inserting them into his Duel Disk.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn." The young man said as the two cards appeared behind his dragon in a face-down position.

"Draw…!" Daisuke yelled as he drew another card. Once he looked at it a small smile appeared on his face as he placed the card onto his Duel Disk. "I Summon: King's Knight, in Attack Mode!"

In a bright flash of orange light, another knight appeared onto the field and stood next to Queen's Knight. This knight looked like a middle age man with blonde hair and was wearing orange and blue armor. Like Queen's Knight, King's Knight was also holding a sword and a shield.

"I now activate my King's Knight's Special Ability. You see, on the turn that it's Normal Summoned I can then Special Summon my Jack's Knight onto the field!"

**Jack's Knight: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 5**

In a blue flash of light, another knight appeared onto the field and stood next to the other two. This knight, like King's and Queen's, was also carrying a shield and sword as well as having blonde hair on his head. However, unlike them, Jack's Knight had blue and white armor on and had much darker skin than the other two.

"Jack's Knight, attack his Red-Eyes Wyvern with your Royal Slash Attack!" Daisuke commanded.

Jack's Knight complied and quickly made its way towards Red-Eyes Wyvern. His sword started to glow a bright blue color and he got ready to attack the Dragon-Type monster. However, before it got the chance to do so, a magical mirror proceeded to block the attack.

"I activate the Trap, Mirror Force!" Takashi declared. "With this card I can destroy all of your Attack Position since you declared an Attack!"

The mirror the Jack's Knight struck was beginning to absorb the energy from his sword and began to redirect it towards him and King's Knight. However, before the energy could strike the monsters, Daisuke quickly activated his second face-down card.

"I play the Trap, Seven Tools of the Bandit!" He said. "By giving up a 1000 of my Life Points I can negate the activation of your Mirror Force and destroy it!"

**Daisuke: 3000 LP**

Thanks to the effects of his master's Trap Card, Jack's Knight was able to break through the mirror and proceeded to slice Red-Eyes Wyvern into two pieces.

**Takashi: 3900 LP**

"And now that your dragon is gone, I'll have my King's Knight attack your Life Points Directly!"

King's Knight quickly made his way over towards Takashi while Jack's Knight pulled himself back to where Queen's Knight was. Once King's Knight got close enough, the powerful Warrior swiftly swung his large sword across Takashi's chest.

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

As he watched Takashi, instinctively, fall to one knee, Daisuke took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Duel Disk. The two cards appeared onto the field and were placed behind his 3 Knights.

"I end my turn by setting two cards face-down. Now little boy…do wish to give up?"

Takashi glared at the Sector Security officer as he got back to feet. He then proceeded to swiftly, but firmly draw a card from his deck.

"No way am I giving up, you cocky bastard!" He yelled. "And to show you, I'm activating the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With this Trap, I can bring my Red-Eyes Wyvern back to the field."

Takashi's face-down card quickly flipped up and started to glow. Then, from the card, Red-Eyes Wyvern reappeared onto the field.

"Next I sacrifice my Red-Eyes to Summon: Strong Wind Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Strong Wind Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1000 LVL 6**

Red-Eyes Wyvern started glowing a bright yellow color as it started to vanish from the field. Once it was gone, Strong Wind Dragon appeared to take its place.

"I now activate the Special Ability of my Strong Wind Dragon. It gains half of the Attack Points of the Dragon-Type monster that was sacrificed! Red-Eyes Wyvern had 1800 Attack Points, so Strong Wind Dragon gains 900 extra Attack Points.

**Strong Wind Dragon: ATK 3300 **

Strong Wind Dragon's body began to gain more muscle as the spirit of Red-Eyes Wyvern powered up its body. Once the power up was complete, Takashi's dragon was almost twice its original size.

"Now Strong Wind Dragon…attack his Queen's Knight!"

"What?" Daisuke said in confusion. "Why would you attack my Defense Position monster?"

"Because…" Takashi followed. "My Strong Wind Dragon's second Special Ability allows it to inflict battle damage onto you, even if the monster it attacks is in Defense Mode!"

Daisuke's eyes widen with shock as he saw Strong Wind Dragon release a powerful wind blast from its mouth. The attack wind straight his female knight and continued on until it finally hit him.

**Daisuke: 1300 LP**

"Next…" Takashi said. "I set three more cards face-down and end my turn."

Like before, three more face-down cards appeared on Takashi's side of the field as Daisuke got back up to his feet and began glaring at his young opponent.

"Alright punk…I was going to take it easy on you until they got here." He said softly. "But no more mister nice guy…" Daisuke drew a card from his deck and immediately activated one of his face-down cards. "I activate the Spell: Monster Reborn, which allows me to revive my Queen's Knight!"

As Queen's Knight reappeared onto the field, Takashi began to wonder why he wanted to bring it back.

"If I remember correctly, the aspect of the 3 Royal Knights is to have them all on the field at the same time." He thought. "The reason for this is to use them as sacrifices so that you can Summon a much more powerful monster. So the question is; what monster is he trying to Summon?"

While Takashi was thinking, Daisuke quickly inserted another card into his Duel Disk.

"Next, I activated the Spell Card: Polymerization!" He said. "With it, I'm going to fuse my Queen's, King's, and Jack's Knight together to Fusion Summon: Arcana Knight Joker!"

**Arcana Knight Joker: ATK 3800 DEF 2500 LVL 9**

The three Royal Knights began to fuse together at a lightning fast speed until they become one. As he looked on, Takashi saw that the new Knight had black hair and was wearing black and gold armor.

"Hmph…nice looking monster you have there." He said. "Too bad I'm activating the Trap Card: Horn of Heaven! With this, I can destroy you Special Summoned monster before you get the chance to use it!"

A giant tornado appeared onto the field and quickly surrounded Arcana Knight Joker. However the powerful Knight simply took his long sword and sliced the tornado away, much to Takashi's shock.

"Sorry about that." Daisuke said sarcastically. "But I just activated the Special Ability of my Arcana Knight Joker. It can negate the ability of a Spell, Trap, or Effect monster as long as I discard a card of the same type. And fortunately for me…the card I discarded was a Trap Card. And I'm not done boy…next I'm activating my second Trap Card: Compulsory Evacuation Device! With it, I can return your Strong Wind Dragon back into your hand!"

As Daisuke's Trap Card flipped up, a red energy beam shot from it and hit Strong Wind Dragon. The dragon started to glow the same red color as the energy beam and proceeded to be transformed into its card form before being placed into Takashi's hand.

"And with no monsters to protect you, I think I'll end this little Duel with a Direct Attack by my Arcana Knight Joker!"

Joker pointed his sword at Takashi and got ready to attack the young man. However, before his sword could connect, Takashi activated his second face-down.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Half Shut!" He declared. "With it, I can reduce the Attack Points of your Knight by Half!"

**Arcana Knight Joker: ATK 1900**

With the power of his Spell Card, Arcana Knight Joker began to decrease in size as it began to attack Takashi with his sword.

**Takashi: 400 LP**

"Humph…you got lucky punk!" Daisuke commented as his Knight returned to his side of the field. "But you won't be lucky once it becomes my turn again."

As Daisuke ended his turn, the Attack Points of his Arcana Knight Joker returned to its original value.

**Arcana Knight Joker: ATK 3800**

"There won't be a next turn for you." Takashi thought as he glared at his opponent. "This Duel is going to end…right now!"

The young man swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then took a card from that hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk.

"I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity!" He declared. "With this card, I can draw three cards at the cost of discarding two."

Daisuke looked on as he watched his opponent do what his card instructed him to do. Afterwards he saw him place a card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now…since you have a monster on your field and I don't I can Special Summon: Cyber Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

As Cyber Dragon appeared onto the field, Takashi swiftly placed another card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I then Summon: Axe Dragonute, in Attack Mode!"

**Axe Dragonute: ATK 2000 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A black lightning bolt struck Takashi's side of the field as a new dragon appeared and stood next to Cyber Dragon. The dragon was black and grey, had red eyes, and was holding a large axe in both of its hands.

"What are those weaklings going to do?" Daisuke asked as he looked at both of his opponent's monsters. "They're clearly no match for my Arcana Knight Joker."

"Yeah…you're right." Takashi replied. "But who said I was going to use them to attack your Knight? All I needed was for them to be on the field because the monster I'm about to Special Summon requires that I have two monsters whose Attack Points are 2000 or more."

"And…what monster would that be?" Daisuke asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I'll be happy to show you." Takashi said. "I sacrifice my two monsters in order to Special Summon: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

As Takashi's dragons began to disappear from the field, the area around him and Daisuke began to glow with a bright blue color. Then, coming down from the sky, a giant blue dragon with red highlights appeared and began to stare down both Daisuke and his Arcana Knight Joker.

"And now that my Dragon's out on the field, I think he deserves to have some company. So I activate the Spell Card: Swing of Memories, which allows me to Special Summon a Normal Monster from my Graveyard until the End Phase of this turn. The monster I choose is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

**Blue-Eyes White Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

In another flash of blue light, Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared and began standing next to Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Daisuke was both shocked and amazed that Takashi was able to summon two monsters with 3000 Attack Points in the same turn. The style of his play reminded him of the times when he dueled Lilly, but he wouldn't let this shake him. He knew that he still had the advantage.

"Now…I'll have my Galaxy-Eyes attack your Knight!"

"What…?" Daisuke said in shock. "Why would you do that? My monster is still stronger than yours!"

"That's simple…" Takashi replied. "Because during the Battle Phase that my dragon attacks another monster, its Special Ability activates. This allows Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon to remove not only itself, but the monster it attack from the Duel until the end of the Battle Phase."

"I see…" The Security Officer said. "Too bad for you that the moment my Knight is targeted by an effect, its Special Ability Activates. And luckily for me the only card in my hand is an Effect Monster Card."

Daisuke was about to place the card into the Graveyard. However, before he could do it, a large sword pierced through the card and landed behind him.

"I don't think so…" Takashi said. "I activate the Trap: Lightforce Sword! With this card, I can remove a card from your hand until 4 turns from now."

Daisuke grunted in disbelief as he saw the magical sword pin his Effect Monster Card to the ground. He then looked on as Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon use its powers to remove itself and Arcana Knight Joker from the field, leaving him with no other monsters to protect himself.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon…" Takashi called. "Attack his Life Points Directly with your White Lighting!"

Blue-Eyes complied with its master's orders and quickly shot out a powerful stream of white lighting at Daisuke, draining away the rest of his Life Points.

**Daisuke: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, Daisuke fell to his knees in disbelief. Meanwhile Takashi walked pass him and made his way to his Duel Runner.<p>

"…Where do you think you're going?" Someone asked from afar.

Takashi looked around the area to try and find the person who said that to him. After a couple of seconds, the young man looked on in shock as he saw 20 Security Officer around him.

"You are not leaving, boy!" One of the Officers's said. "You'll be coming with us now."

As all the officers made their way towards him, Takashi began to wonder how they knew where he was. He soon remembered that before the Duel took place, Daisuke pressed a button on the bottom of his Duel Disk. He came to the conclusion that the button was used to relay a signal to other Officers.

"Damn it…" He thought. "The Duel was only used to stall for time."

The young man prepared himself for a fight as the Officers got even closer to him. However, before they could capture him, a black Duel Runner appeared from out of nowhere and landed next to Takashi.

"Well, Well…" The person who was riding the Runner said. "It's been a long time, but somehow I had a feeling that I would see you again."

As Takashi wondered what was going on, the rider got get off his Runner and took his helmet off. It was then that Takashi finally realized who the person was.

"Crow…!"

Meanwhile Lilly and the others finally made their way to the orphanage and she and Toru proceeded to park by it. They then got off their rides, along with Akiza and Wendy.

"So this is the place?" Toru asked.

"Yeah…" Lilly answered.

The group made their way inside and they all saw that a lot of the kids were still up. When the kids saw Lilly, they all smiled and ran over towards her.

"Welcome Back Lilly!" They all said in unison.

Lilly smiled at them knowing that they most likely missed her. Once she got reacquainted with them, the young lady began to introduce them to her friends.

"Guys, I would like you to meet Toru Ishida, Akiza Izinski, and Wendy Marvell." She said. "They're from New Domino City."

The kids said hello to Lilly's friends and began interacting with them. As they did, the commotion awoke a young man with spiky blue hair and brown eyes. The young man got off the couch that he was sleeping on and started to yawn very loudly, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.

"What's going on?" He said as he asked. "Why are you guys up so late?"

As he looked around the room, the young man saw the new guests and saw that Toru was pointing at him with a shocked expression on his face. Upon recognizing Toru, the young man's mouth dropped as he pointed at Toru.

"Toru Ishida…!" He yelled.

"Aiku Gato…!" Toru replied.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 31 Preview<strong>

_As our heroes relax at their safe house, the relationship between Toru and Aiku Gato is revealed. Just who is this individual? Why is he here? And how does he and Toru know one another? Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Over the Nexus: Chapter 31: Bursting Soul_


	31. Chapter 31

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 31: **_Bursting Soul_

* * *

><p>Huge smiles appeared on the faces of Toru Ishida and Aiku Gato as the two young men approached one another and began to shake each other's hand. As they started talking to one another, everyone else in the room started thinking the same question.<p>

_How do these two know one another?_

As they were contemplating that, a middle age woman with dark skin, and black braided hair walked into the room, wanting to know what all the commotion was. She wear an outfit that was similar to that of a nun, only instead of black and white it was dark-red and white.

Lilly was the first person to see the woman and when she did a small smile appeared on her face. She then walked over to her and gave hug, which the woman happily returned.

"It's been a while Lilly." The woman said as they broke the hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Martha." Lilly replied.

Martha was the woman who ran the orphanage and was also the one who took Lilly in when her mother passed away. Despite not being related by blood, the two have a very close relationship and such they consider themselves mother and daughter.

"So…how have you been?" Martha asked, wanting to know what Lilly has been up to ever since she left for New Domino City 3 months ago. "Did you make any new friends?"

Lilly nodded her head and proceeded to point over too them. Wendy noticed Lilly pointing at her and tugged on Akiza's shirt, grabbing her attention. Once her attention was caught, Akiza attempted to get Toru, but he was too busy talking to Aiku. Once she realized that she couldn't get him away, the young Psychic Duelist simply walked over to where Martha and Lilly were. Wendy quickly followed after her.

"Martha, I would like you to meet Akiza Izinski and Lilly Muto." Lilly introduced. "There a couple of my friends that I happen to meet while in New Domino."

"It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am." Both Wendy and Akiza said politely at the same time.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Martha was happy that Lilly made some friends as she was extremely worried that she wouldn't be able to while over at the city. This fact brought a sense of relief to her heart.

"I would also like to introduce you to Toru Ishida." Lilly said as she pointed over towards him. "However, it seems that he busy talking to someone else…that I don't know of."

"I see…" Martha replied. "That's Aiku Gato. He's a young man from New Domino City."

"New Domino City…?" Akiza said in a somewhat state of shock.

Lilly and Wendy were also shocked by this reveal. They never expected to find another city dweller here in the Satellite Sector.

"How did he happen to get here?" Lilly asked.

As the girls listened on, Martha explained on how she happened to come across Aiku. Apparently, while making her away back home from shopping, Martha accidently stepped on the young man while he was sleeping on the ground. Shocked, but at the same time confused, Martha woke Aiku up and asked him why he was just lying on the cold hard ground, sleeping like he was sleeping on a bed.

Aiku explained that he always had the strange ability to be able to sleep anywhere comfortably, even if it were the harshest terrain.

Upon finding out that he didn't have any other place to go; Martha invited Aiku to spend the night at the orphanage, which the young man happily accepted.

While on their way there, the two of them came across a group of thieves who wanted to steal the food the Martha bought. Annoyed with the fact that the thieves were threatening a nice woman like Martha, Aiku stepped up and proceeded to get rid of all of them by brute force.

This action really impressed Martha as it's extremely rare to find anybody who is willing to help a stranger from trouble. She then proceeded to allow Aiku to stay as long as he wants at the orphanage, as thanks for helping her.

Again, Aiku accepted the offer and for the last 3 weeks he's been busy helping around the place as a way of thanking Martha for letting him stay.

As she finished listening to Martha's explanation, Lilly walked over to Aiku and began to gently tap at his shoulder. Upon finally getting his attention, Lilly smiled at him.

"Nice to meet you Aiku…My name is Lilly Muto. I heard from my stepmother, Martha, that you helped her out a couple of weeks back. I want to say thank you for helping her and helping out here."

Aiku smiled and began to gently shake Lilly's hand.

"It's no problem." He said. "I'm just glad I could help."

As the two of them conversed, both Wendy and Akiza finally got the opportunity to get Toru and have him introduce herself to Martha. Embarrassed by the fact that he completely ignored her, Toru apologized to Martha. The nice caretaker happily accepted his apology.

"So Toru…" She said. "How do you happen to know Aiku? Did you meet him somewhere in the city?"

Wanting to know as well, Akiza and Wendy listened closely while Lilly and the rest of the orphans gathered around Toru. The young man proceeded to sit down by a nearby chair before beginning his explanation.

"Well…the reason how I happen to know Aiku is the fact that I Dueled him a couple of times in local Turbo Dueling Competitions." He started off. "He's an amazing Turbo Duelist as he was able to beat me in the final round in one of those competitions."

"But you did get me back during our last Duel." Aiku was flattered that Toru acknowledge his skills. However wasn't the type of person who would ignore Toru's skill as he had a great amount of respect for him.

As the children looked on with amazement, Martha was really surprised by Toru's explanation. Upon finding him all those weeks ago, she did notice that Aiku had a Duel Runner and so had assumed that he was a Turbo Duelist. However she did not expect that the young man who was staying with her was making a name for himself.

Meanwhile, as he continued to listen to the Duels that Aiku had engaged in, Toshiro Nagata's eyes widen with a hint of excitement as he grabbed his Duel Disk and attached it to his left arm. He then walked over towards him with a determined look on his face.

"Let's Duel!" He declared. "This Toru guy says that you're strong, but I'm the type of guy who only believes on what he sees."

As she looked on at him, Lilly couldn't help but smile. Even though she's been gone for a while, she was happy the Dueling Spirit within Toshiro was as strong as ever. In fact, she believed that it was even stronger now than she last some him.

Aiku was also impressed by Toshiro's spirit as he began to feel a strong sense of excitement from inside himself. He then started smiling as he stood up and looked towards the silver haired boy.

"Alright Toshiro, I accept your challenge!"

The two Duelists walked out of the house and proceeded to make their way to the backyard. As they did that everyone else, who was still inside, followed them to the porch so that they could get a good look at the upcoming action.

Once they made it to their selected spot Aiku made his way over to his Duel Runner, which was gold in color with several red highlights. Once he got to it he detached the Duel Disk that was connected to it and placed it on his left arm. The young man then placed his Ground Deck in it before making his way to Toshiro, who was already prepared to Duel.

"You ready?" Toshiro asked.

"Of course…" Aiku was more than ready as he was always excited to face opponents that he's never faced before.

The two boys activated their Duel Disks and simultaneously drew 5 cards from their respective decks.

"Duel!"

* * *

><p><strong>Toshiro: 4000 LP<strong>

**Aiku: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move…Draw!"

Toshiro quickly drew a 6th card from his deck and placed it in his hand. Once he did that he examined all of his cards before taking two and inserting them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The two cards appeared in front of him in a face-down position.

"First, I set two cards face down." He then took one more card from his hand and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "Next, I summon the Tuner Monster: X-Saber Airbellum, in Attack Mode!"

**X-Saber Airbellum: ATK 1600 DEF 200 LVL 3**

A small white light covered a portion of Toshiro's field as Airbellum appeared and proceeded to stare down Aiku, who seemed excited that his opponent summoned a Tuner Monster with a high number of Attack Points. Toshiro saw the smile, but he ignored it, thinking it was used to distract him.

"With that, I end my turn."

"Alright…now it's my turn!" Aiku said as he drew a card from his deck.

The young man quickly placed the card that he drew into his hand and then, just as quickly, he took another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I start off by playing the Spell Card: Graceful Charity. With this Spell, I'm allowed to drew 3 cards from my deck, as long as I discard two afterwards."

Aiku drew the top three cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. He then examined all the cards that he currently had for a couple of seconds before taking 2 cards and placing them into his Graveyard.

As she looked on, Wendy began to question Aiku's first play.

"I wonder why he did that?" She asked. "I mean, it's like he only drew one card instead of three."

"Maybe…" Lilly said, overhearing her young friend's question. "But I believe that the only reason why he did that was so that he could add the right cards into his hand. Remember; while all the cards you have are important, you can only use them during certain situations."

"Exactly…" Toru followed. "Aiku's style of play is to summon his Ace Monster as quickly as possible and he using Graceful Charity is one of the ways to make that happen."

As everyone discuss this, Aiku continued on with his turn by taking a card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster: Rose, Warrior of Revenge, in Attack Mode!"

**Rose, Warrior of Revenge: ATK 1600 DEF 600 LVL 4**

As bright red rose petals surrounded Aiku's side of the field, a beautiful kunoichi, or female ninja, appeared. The kunoichi had long red hair, which was tied in a ponytail, was wearing a black and blue jumpsuit, and was holding a katana firmly in her right hand.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of the Quillbolt Hedgehog which currently rests in my Graveyard! Since there's a Tuner Monster on my side of the field, I can Special Summon Hedgehog!"

**Quillbolt Hedgehog: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

Aiku pulled out the Quillbolt Hedgehog card from his Graveyard and proceeded to place it onto his Monster Card Zone. In a bright flash of white light, the cute little monster appeared and stood next to Rose.

Upon seeing the two monsters together, it didn't take long for Lilly, Toru, Akiza, and Wendy to figure out what was going to happen next.

"I Tune my Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog with my Level 4 Rose, Warrior of Revenge to Synchro Summon: Storm Warrior, in Attack Mode!"

**Storm Warrior: ATK 1800 DEF 2400 LVL 6**

As the kids looked on with amazement, both of Aiku's monsters jumped into the air and quickly performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished a large man with green armor appeared in their place. As he landed on the ground the air around Storm Warrior began to shift, resulting in a small tornado to cover his body.

"I activate Storm Warrior's Special Ability! When it's successfully Synchro Summoned it can destroy up to two cards on the field!"

Storm Warrior slowed raised both his right and left hand as two small tornadoes appeared over Toshiro's face-down cards. He then clinched both of his hands into his fists which caused both of the tornadoes to rip the cards to bits.

"Crap…" Toshiro was amazed by Aiku's play. In just one move he not only summoned a Synchro Monster, but also was able to destroy both of his face-down cards. "I didn't think he would be as tough as they said. I better keep on my guard from here on."

"Storm Warrior…" Aiku called as he prepared to conduct his Battle Phase. "Attack Toshiro's X-Saber Airbellum!"

The Level 6 Synchro Monster placed his right hand in front of him and proceeded to create a small sword made up of wind. He then caused the wind to rotate at an even faster speed. This resulted in the static electricity in the air to condense his wind blade into a lightning blade.

Storm Warrior then flew over to X-Saber Airbellum and began slices the monster several times with his sword. Soon, Toshiro's monster was in pieces as electricity covered each individual piece.

**Toshiro: 3800 LP**

Once the X-Saber monster vanished from the field, Aiku took two more cards from his hand and inserted them into his Duel Disk. The two cards appeared face-down on the field, just behind Storm Warrior.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Ok…Draw!" Toshiro drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. He then took another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I summon: XX-Saber Boggart Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**XX-Saber Boggart Knight: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

In a bright flash of light a large Beast-Warrior monster with highly advance armor and was wearing a red cape appeared and stood in front of Toshiro.

"I then activate my Boggart Knight's Special Ability. When this card is successfully Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower X-Saber monster from my hand."

Toshiro quickly took a card from his hand and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon: XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, also in Attack Mode!"

**XX-Saber Fulhelmknight: ATK 1300 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

Boggart Knight raised the sword that it was holding and pointed at the sky. At that moment, a bolt of lightning struck beside him and a new X-Saber monster appeared. This one was about half the size of Boggart Knight and had a more human appearance. It wore orange armor, and had blonde hair. Like Boggart Knight, Fulhelmknight was also wearing a red cape.

"Now that I have two X-Sabers on my side of the field, I can Special Summon: XX-Saber Faultroll, from my hand in Attack Mode!"

**XX-Saber Faultroll: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 6**

In a bright flash of red light, another X-Saber monster appeared on Toshiro's side of the field and stood next to his other two. XX-Saber Faultroll was a large Warrior-Type monster who was wearing highly advance armor that covered most of his body. On his back he carried a large sword that was about the same size as him.

As Aiku looked on and watched Toshiro summon monster after monster, his excitement grew even more than before. Just seeing his opponent give everything he got only gave him even more motivation to give it everything he had too.

Lilly was also impressed by Toshiro as she was happy to see that he did actually improve his skills. For as long as she could remember Toshiro has always wanted to defeat any opponent that he deemed to be strong. Whenever he lost to one of those opponents he would spend almost his time improving his skills and re-challenging the opponents until the day came when he finally beat them.

As she looked on at him, the only thing that she could do was smile.

"I now activate the Special Ability of my XX-Saber Faultroll!" Toshiro declared. "Once per turn, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower X-Saber monster from my Graveyard. And since there's only one X-Saber in my Graveyard, I Special Summon: X-Saber Airbellum!"

Toshiro retrieved Airbellum's card from his Graveyard and placed it once again on his Monster Card Zone. The Tuner Monster reappeared onto the field and stood next to his fellow monsters as everyone else looked on with impressive looks on their faces.

"Now…I'll have my XX-Saber Fulhelmknight attack Storm Warrior!"

Fulhelmknight slowly pulled out his sword from its sheath and proceeded to quickly make his way over to Storm Warrior.

Before the attack could connect onto his monster, Aiku quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk, which activated one of his two face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Barrier Wave! By sacrificing a Synchro Monster, like my Storm Warrior, I can change all of your Attack Position monsters to Defense Position. Also you take damage equal to the Defense Points of the monster that was about to attack me!"

All of the kids looked on with surprise looks on their faces as all of Toshiro's monster took defense positions while Aiku's Storm Warrior vanished from the field. They then saw some of the electronic on Fulhelmknight's armor short circuit and hit Toshiro.

**Toshiro: 2800 LP**

Once he saw Toshiro's Life Points drop, Aiku proceeded to press another button on his Duel Disk, which activated his other face-down card.

"I then activate the Trap: Call of the Haunted, which allows me to revive my Storm Warrior!"

Another flash of light appeared on Aiku's side of the field as his Storm Warrior reappeared and stood next to him like it never went away to begin with.

Toshiro examined the field and examined the cards that were in his hand. The young man saw that when it came to monsters, it was clear that he had the advantage. Also, since all of the monsters were in Defense Mode, the chances that he would lose any Life Points on Aiku's next turn were very low. With all that in mind, Toshiro did the only thing he believed he should do.

"I end my turn."

"My turn…" Aiku declared. "Draw!"

Aiku drew a card from his deck and looked at it for a few seconds before examining his other cards. Once he finished he took the card that he just drew and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon the Tuner Monster: Jutte Fighter, in Defense Mode!"

**Jutte Fighter: ATK 700 DEF 900 LVL 2**

A small flash of light appeared next to Storm Warrior as a small, and cartoonish, Japanese man appeared next to him. The man was wearing a yellow and red Gi, was holding a sai in his right hand, and was carrying a lantern on his back.

Once he saw his monster appear, Aiku took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards appeared face-down behind both of his monsters.

"I end my turn by placing two cards face-down. It's your turn again Toshiro."

Toshiro nodded his head and began to think about what he should do this turn. With things as they were now, he felt somewhat confident that had everything in place to win the Duel this turn. However something was causing him to hesitate. That something was Aiku's face-down cards.

Toru looked on and saw the hesitation on Toshiro's face. He knew how he felt as he felt the same feeling the first time he faced Aiku which resulted in his lost against him. He started to think that the same thing could happen to Toshiro if he doesn't get rid of his hesitation.

"Toshiro…you need to come at me like you did last turn."

Toshiro looked on as he saw Aiku give him a speech. He was surprised to hear his opponent tell him to go at him with all of his skill, but he listened anyway.

"Toshiro even though we've been Dueling for only about 4 turns now, I can tell that there's an incredible amount of talent hidden within you. However, at the same time I can also tell that you become hesitant when you see moves that might cause your defeat. You then do things that end costing you the match instead of doing the things that could win it for you instead. Listen…nobody likes to lose, but if you don't do anything then you're just giving up. And giving up is far worse than losing. It's always has and will always will be."

Toshiro thought about Aiku's speech and quickly started to realize that he was right. In the past, he lost several Duels that he should've won, but didn't. He then looked back at the field and knew that despite the face-downs that his opponent had out it wouldn't change the fact that this was his best opportunity to win. Toshiro was going to take this chance and accept the outcome…no matter what it may be.

"Draw!"

The young man swiftly drew a card from his deck and took a glance at it. When he did a smile appeared on his face as he looked towards Aiku for a few seconds before making his first move.

"To start off…I switch all of my monsters back into Attack Mode!"

All of Toshiro's X-Sabers came out of the defensive positions and got into their battle stances. The young man then placed the card that he drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I summon: Iron Chain Blaster, in Attack Mode!"

**Iron Chain Blaster: ATK 1100 DEF 0 LVL 2**

In burst of red-orange light, a large cannon with an equally large iron chain appeared on Toshiro's side of the field and stood next to his X-Sabers. The cannon had a grey and purple color too it and it looked liked another monster was attached to the end of it.

"Next, I Tune my Level 2 Iron Chain Blaster with my Level 3 XX-Saber Fulhelmknight and Level 3 X-Saber Airbellum to Synchro Summon: Colossal Fighter, in Attack Mode!"

**Colossal Fighter: ATK 2800 DEF 1000 LVL 8**

All 3 of Toshiro's monster flew up into the air and quickly performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, a strong flash of light surrounded the area. From that light a large stone warrior with blue orbs on different parts of its body appeared and stood in front of its master.

"While Colossal Fighter is on the field, it gains 100 extra Attack Points for every Warrior-Type monster in either players Graveyard. At this moment there are only 3 monsters in the Graveyard, which gave my Colossal Fighter 300 extra Attack Points!"

**Colossal Fighter: ATK 3100**

Aiku looked on with excitement as he was extremely happy to see such a powerful monster in front of him. He started to feel a powerful sensation from within him as a large smile appeared on his face.

"Awesome…" He said. "This is fuckin awesome!"

Toshiro agreed with him as he also felt a strong sensation from summoning one of his monster powerful monsters. However, he wasn't just going to let summoning Colossal Fighter be the only thing that he would do this turn. He still had one more move he needed to make before he could attack. So…the young man took one more card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I play the Spell Card: Stop Defense! With this, I can switch one of your monsters into Attack Mode. And the monster I choose is your Jutte Fighter!"

Jutte Fighter attempted to resist the power of the Stop Defense spell. However the little warrior was simply no match for its power and was force to stop defending its master.

With both of his opponent's monster in Attack Mode, Toshiro felt that the time was right to end the Duel.

"It's been fun Aiku…but now it's over! Colossal Fighter, attack his Jutte Fighter!"

The large stone warrior raised its giant fist and began to throw a powerful punch at its little target.

"This is so awesome…" Aiku said to himself. "I can feel my heart and soul beating as one, making my Dueling Spirit ready to burst out and help me break of the limits of my soul!"

The young man quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk, activating one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Urgent Tuning! With this I can conduct a Synchro Summon during the Battle Phase. With that, I Tune my Level 6 Storm Warrior with my Level 2 Jutte Fighter. The golden flames of my soul will now come together and create the perfect dragon! Synchro Summon! Descend, Bursting Soul Dragon!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2200 LVL 8**

Just before Colossal Fighter made contact with Jutte Fighter, the tiny Warrior-Type monster flew quickly into the air along with Storm Warrior. The two monsters then performed the process for Synchro Summoning, which resulted in the arrival of Bursting Soul Dragon.

Everyone was amazed by the appearance of this monster as its golden appearance lit up the entire area. The dragon also had red scales on certain sections of its body, which helped it gain an intimidating presence.

"Bursting Soul Dragon…it still looks as amazing as ever." Toru has seen Aiku's Ace Monster several times in the past and every time he could continue to be impressed by its looks and power.

Toshiro was also amazed by the new Synchro Monster, but he wasn't going to let its appearance get in the way of his victory.

"Nice monster, but it's not going to help you. Don't forget that my Colossal Fighter gains 100 Attack Points for every Warrior that's in our Graveyards. And since you just sent two into your Graveyard, my Fighter gains another 200 extra Attack Points!"

**Colossal Fighter: ATK 3300**

"Now Colossal Fighter, attack Bursting Soul Dragon!"

The powerful Warrior-Type monster complied with Toshiro's order and prepared to strike down Aiku's dragon with its gigantic fist. However, before the attack could connect with its target, Aiku activated his second face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Mirror Force!" He declared. "Now since you declared an attack on me, I can now destroy all of the monsters you have in Attack Mode!"

Toshiro's eyes widen in shock as he watched the Mirror Force wall appear in front of Bursting Soul Dragon, defending it from Colossal Fighter's attack. Upon making contact with the mirror, the powerful Synchro Monster exploded into several pieces. Each piece managed to connect with the remainder of Toshiro's monsters, which resulted in their deaths as well.

When all the dust settled, Toshiro was left staring down Bursting Soul Dragon with no monsters on his side of the field to defend him. He then looked on at Aiku and saw him smiling at him. The smile, for him, felt somewhat comforting and helped ease the pain of what he knew was going to happen next.

"I end my turn." He said, knowing that he had no others moves that he could play this turn.

Everyone watching the Duel looked on as they also knew that was going to happen next. They saw Aiku draw a card from his deck and place it in his hand before looking towards Toshiro once more.

"This was an awesome Duel Toshiro. Let's battle again someday."

The young man smiled at Toshiro who replied with a smile on his own.

"Sure…" He replied.

With that said, Aiku prepared to make the final move of this Duel.

"Bursting Soul Dragon…!" He called. "Attack Toshiro's Life Points Directly with your Bursting Soul Flare!"

The powerful dragon obeyed its command and fired a powerful fire blast from its mouth. The attack quickly made its way over to Toshiro, which quickly consumed the young boy and drained the remainder of his Life Points.

**Toshiro: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As all the holograms began to fade away, Bursting Soul Dragon roared as loud as it could before vanishing completely. Once it did, Aiku deactivated his Duel Disk and made his way to Toshiro. He then extended his hand out to him which the latter happily accepted.<p>

All of the kids began clapping their hands and began cheering for the both of them before finally making their way over to them. They then talked about how cool the Duel was and how they were really happy to see it.

Soon, Martha walked up towards them and started to calm them down.

"Alright, alright you all…" She said. "I know you're excited, but it's getting really late. It's time for you all to get to bed."

All the kids moaned with disappointment. After seeing such an amazing Duel, they were just too excited to go to bed. They started begging for Martha to let them stay up a little longer, but the nice caretaker wasn't going to have any of it. She knew perfectly well that kids like them needed to get as much sleep as they possibly could if they wanted to have energy for the next day.

As he looked on Aiku got an idea and began talking to all of the kids.

"Listen guys…" He started out. "I promise that you'll get to see another Duel tomorrow if you go to be right now."

Aiku's promise lit up all of the young kids faces and all of them ran back inside the house and prepared themselves to go to sleep. Everyone except, Saya.

The little girl walked around the entire area, but just couldn't find the thing that she was looking for. She then walked over to Lilly.

"Lilly…where's Takashi? Isn't he here with you all?"

As she looked down at her little friend, Lilly remembered that Takashi was the one who helped Saya almost 3 years ago and that she was a friend of his.

"Don't worry Saya…" She said as she gently patted her head. "Takashi will be here by the time you wake up tomorrow."

"Really?" Saya asked.

"Really…" Lilly assured.

A small smile appeared on the little girl's face as she made her way back inside.

"Who's Takashi?" Aiku asked, wanting to know who they were talking about.

"Takashi's are friend." Toru explained. "He's also in the Satellite, but a certain incident caused him to separate from the rest of us. However he promised that he'll make it here by the time the sun comes up."

"I see…Is he also a Duelist?"

"Yup…" Toru answered. "And like you, he also has an extremely rare monster. In fact, I think it's even rarer than your Bursting Soul Dragon."

Aiku's eyes widen with excitement at the prospect of finding a monster that was even rarer than his own Ace Monster. His excitement grew to the point that he wished that the sun would hurry up and come out so that Takashi would appear already.

As Lilly looked on at him she began to feel a small presence coming off from him. She couldn't really tell what or who it was, but she could tell that it was protecting him. She then remembered that during the Duel, when Aiku first summoned Bursting Soul Dragon that same presence appeared.

"That monster…" She thought. "Could it be a Duel Spirit?"

As she contemplated this, Lilly walked inside the house. The others soon followed her. All except Akiza, who stopped just before entering. The young woman looked on at the night sky and began staring at the moon, which happened to be a full moon.

"Takashi…" She said silently. "Please get here safely."

With that said Akiza made her way inside the orphanage and proceeded to close the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Takashi and Crow were busy sitting on the ground trying to catch their breath. Beside the young men was all the Sector Security that previously surrounded the two of them. Each of them were knocked unconscious and were not moving.

"I'm impressed…" Crow said as he looked towards Takashi. "I had a feeling that you were tough, but not that tough."

"Hey, living in a place were fighting was practically the norm can cause someone to get tougher." Takashi replied. "Anyway, thanks for helping me out here."

"Don't mention it." Crow remembered how he forced Takashi into a Duel 3 years ago and how he almost destroyed his Duel Disk. "Consider it as me returning the favor."

The two of them nodded their heads and got up from the floor. They then got on their respective Duel Runners and started riding away.

"So Crow…Lilly told me that something going down here in the Satellite Sector and if it's not stopped it could end with its destruction. Can you tell me what's going on? I want to help and knowing as much as I can about the situation can help produce results."

Crow thought about what Takashi said and it didn't take him long to give him an answer.

"I'll tell you Takashi…follow me."

Crow turned his Duel Runner around and began riding in another direction, with Takashi following close behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 32 Preview<strong>

_Crow leads Takashi to his hideout, where he begins to explain the situation that the Satellite, who causing it, and how it began in the first place. Upon learning this information, how will Takashi react to it and what will he do about it?_

_Meanwhile, Akiza is having a hard time falling asleep as she tries to come to terms on how she truly feels about Takashi. _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 32: Infiltrating the Enemy._

* * *

><p><strong>Announcements<strong>

**Spirit Reader: **Hey guys, it's me. I'm here today to thank you all for supporting me up until now. I truly appreciate it and I promise that I'll continue to do my very best when it comes to Over the Nexus.

After thinking about it a lot I have decided that any card, from any era of Yu-Gi-Oh!, can be used in this story. So when you send my OC's don't be afraid to send me XYZ monsters. I've learned that one can't be limited to the things from one era.

Next, I want to talk about two new authors. They are **Twilight Rose Witch **and **CodeJCRZ024**. Both of them are just starting out and to me, they have the potential to be really great authors. So please check out their stories and tell them how they're doing.

I next want to once again thank **Overlord reign **for providing me with Aiku Gato, Storm Warrior, and Bursting Soul Dragon. I promise that I will use them to the best of my ability.

Once again guys, thank you for sticking with Over the Nexus and please continue to read and review my work. Hearing your comments give me the motivation to continue working and improving the story for the better.


	32. Chapter 32

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 32: **_Infiltrating the Enemy_

* * *

><p>After about 20 minutes of riding around the area, Crow had finally led Takashi to this entrance of his hideout, which was an abandoned house.<p>

"This is it…" Crow said as he parked his Duel Runner by the entrance.

"I…I see."

Takashi wasn't really impressed by the way the hideout looked. To him, it looked like it could fall apart at any minute. However, since it was a hideout, he knew that Crow would want it to be a place that no one would ever want to go to.

"Follow me…" Crow said as he began to head inside the place. "It's better to have our conversation inside. I don't want anyone to overhear what we're going to talk about."

Takashi nodded his head and proceeded to follow him inside. Once he made it in, he was amazed at what he saw. The young man noticed that there was a bit of high-tech machinery all around the place. Some of those machinery was a flat screen T.V., a computer, wires, and of course; his Duel Runner.

As Takashi looked around, Crow walked over towards the chair that was sitting next to his bed and placed it in the middle of room. He then sat on his bed and started looking towards Takashi, who was still looking over everything in the room.

"So…are we going to talk or are we going to have a tour?"

"Oh…I'm sorry." Takashi rubbed the back of his head as he walked over towards the chair that Crow placed for him. Once he sat down he turned his complete attention towards the Blackwing Duelist. "So…what exactly is going on here? While on the way here, Lilly wouldn't tell me the details so I'm really hoping that you have some answers."

Crow looked down to the ground for a few moments as he began to think on how to best explain the situation. However, he soon realized that holding anything back wouldn't do anyone good. He needed to explain everything if he wanted Takashi to understand the situation that the Satellite Sector is currently facing.

"As you know, I used to be a part of Team Satisfaction." He started out. "During that time in our lives, we wanted to rid the Satellite of all the Duel Gangs so that a sense of peace a return here."

"Yeah…I already know that much already." Having been told about the many exploits of Team Satisfaction in Crash Town, Ryan already knew that the Team's main objective was to help others.

"Well…" Crow continued. "About 18 months ago, we all came up with the idea of destroying the Satellite with high-powered bombs. We believed that by doing that, we can rebuild the place from scratch and make it into a much better place than what it is now."

"I see…" Takashi said. "I kind of understand on why you all would want to do something like that. However, it seems that something happened that prevented you guys from going through with it."

"Yeah…Lilly, Alistair, and myself all thought about it and, despite a lot of resistance from Kalin, we decided that we couldn't do it. We realized that we should sacrifice the live of the people living here just because we don't like what's happening. Everyone has the right to live in the present, don't they?"

As Crow put his head down for a few seconds, Takashi quickly realized that this was hurting him a lot. It's not easy living with something you did in the past and paying the consequences in the present. He was about to say something to him, but Crow rose his head and continued on with his explanation.

"Anyway, a couple of months later a Duel Gang known as the Crashing Sharks ended up finding out about the bombs. Lilly and I believed that they wouldn't have the means to activate them so we ended up paying them no mind."

"Let me guess…" Takashi said. "They have a way to activate them."

"Bingo…" Crow replied. "And with the power of those bombs, everything in the Satellite will burn up in flames in a matter of minutes."

"I see…"

Takashi started to imagine the image of seeing bombs exploding in every directions and flames covering the whole island. The mere thought of it gave him cold shivers.

After he quickly got rid of the image that was in his head, Takashi started thinking about something else. As he thought about it more, he began to become more puzzled so he decided to ask Crow.

"So…who's the leader of the Crashing Sharks? I mean, you and he must know each other since he and his groupies managed to find out about Team Satisfaction's plan."

Crow stayed silent again as he thought about the question. After about a minute, he gave Takashi an answer.

"I can't say for sure that I actually know him." He started out. "I mean, while I do have some leads on who he might be I don't have the proof to back it up. However, what I can tell you that the leader of the Crashing Sharks is called Amon."

"Amon…?" Takashi questioned.

"That's right. Though, that's not really his name. In the past, before New Domino City and Satellite split, the first leader of the Crashing Sharks was indeed named Amon. In honor of home, the members that become the next leader always take his name. By doing that, they can pretend that their all powerful leader is still in power, despite how many years pass since then."

"I see…" Takashi said as he absorbed the newly obtained information. "Is there anything else about Amon or anyone that works under him that you can tell me about?"

"Well…I can't say for certain." Crow said. "But I know that he has about 7 lieutenants and out of 2 or 3 of them are Psychic Duelists."

Takashi gently placed his hand on his chest as he thought about the Psychic Duelist that Amon had with him. He knew that if was anything like the Duels with Sayer, Akiza, and the other Arcadia Movement Psychics, then this particular challenge wasn't going to be easy.

Soon, Crow got up from his bed and started heading outside. When Takashi followed him, the young man saw the Blackwing Duelist get back on his Duel Runner.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to their hideout." Crow answered. "I was able to sneak into their larger meetings in the past. However, I recently found out that Amon and his lieutenants have their own private meetings. One of them is said to be starting up tonight, so I want to check things out."

"Let me come with you."

Crow placed his helmet on his head as he looked at Takashi. He saw a lot of determination in his eyes and knew right away that he wanted to help stop Amon from completing his plan. This brought a lot of happiness to Crow as it's very rare for someone not from the Satellite Sector to want to try and help it.

"Okay..." He said. "But make sure to follow my lead. Things could get sticky."

Takashi nodded his head and raced over to his Duel Runner. He then quickly started it up as he put on his helmet and placed the visor over his eyes. Once they were ready, both Takashi and Crow raced over to the hideout of the Crashing Sharks.

Unknown to them however, two men hiding in the shadows saw them leaving.

"Fools…they had no idea that we were here this whole time." One of the men said.

"Let's show them what happens when mess with us." The other followed.

The two men pulled out a bottle of gasoline and a lighter as they slowly made their way inside of Crow's hideout.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at Martha's, the people inside the orphanage were fast asleep and sleeping sweet dreams. However, one person remained awake while everyone else slept. That one person is Akiza Izinski, who currently on the roof of the house. As she looked at the bright and beautiful stars, Akiza only had one thing on her mind.<p>

Takashi…

"I know that he said that he would be back in the morning, but I just can't help worrying about him."

Akiza sighed silently to herself as she thought about this. Before she met Takashi, she was a cold and heartless individual who would let her powers get the better of her. However, after meeting him, Akiza's living a far better life. She has friends that she cares for dearly who, in return, also care for her as well. She also has far better control of her powers and though they do flare up from time to time, she can keep them in check so that no one she ends up Dueling gets hurt. Akiza was extremely thankful to Takashi and knew that she was very lucky to have him as a friend.

However, as the two of them got to know each other more, Akiza started to develop feelings for Takashi. Though she didn't realize at first, Akiza believes that these feelings began to surface during their second Duel. In that Duel, Takashi kept yelling at her to stop being Sayer's tool and be her own person. No one had ever like Akiza when she tried to be her own person in the past and until that moment; she tried not to be herself.

Takashi, however wanted to know the real her no matter what the cost he had to pay for it. Akiza remembered that while Takashi was resting from his first encounter from the Arcadia Movement, she overheard a conversation that Lilly and Toru were having. In that conversation, Lilly asked Toru why Takashi wanted to save Akiza so badly? Toru proceeded to explain to her that when Takashi woke up for about a minute and he asked him the same question. Before going back to sleep he gave him a simple answer.

_Because Toru, in her eyes, she was crying for help._

Hearing those words quickly made Akiza realize that she was indeed crying for help and for the longest time, no one answered her plea. However not only did Takashi answer her plea, but he also promised to always be there for her. That promise slowly, but surely allowed Akiza's heart to become opened after spending so many years being closed.

The second indication of her feelings for Takashi is that he was willing to die for her if it meant freeing her from Sayer's control.

During their third Duel, Takashi was pushing himself to the absolute limits of his strengths. He had only one thing on his mind at the time and that was helping Akiza. She had suffered more than only one person should experience in their life. To him, all the problems that he suffered through meant nothing at that point. All that matter was saving Akiza, even if it meant sacrificing his life to do so.

Despite not being in control of her actions throughout the Duel, Akiza was able to see the devotion that Takashi displayed for her. She saw that no matter how much she hurt him, no matter how much pain he experienced, he never gave up. He kept on fighting until he couldn't continue anymore. Seeing such an act allowed her to finally break free of her Black Rose personality and finally embrace herself.

It is because of these events that Akiza's feelings for Takashi have continued to grow as time went by. She soon came to realize that while being his friend was amazing, she wanted their relationship to be more than just friendship.

"Takashi…" She said softly to herself as he looked deeply into the night sky. "I…I…"

"I love you!" A voice from behind said, finishing the remainder of her sentence.

Akiza's shocked by the sudden words, Akiza jumped up and quickly turned to see who just finished her sentence. She then saw that Lilly, Toru, and Wendy were all behind her.

"You love Takashi, don't you?" Toru asked.

As soon as he finished asking his question, Toru and the others saw that Akiza's face was a red as a tomato. It was clear them all of them that not only was she embarrassed by the question, but also that her reaction confirmed that it was true. After about a minute, Akiza closed her eyes and slowly nodded her head.

"Yes…" She said. "I'm in love with Takashi."

"If that's the case then why don't you tell him how you feel?" Lilly asked. "I'm sure that Takashi won't be bothered by it. Besides, I think that the two of you would make a cute couple."

"Yeah…she's right." Wendy agreed. "Besides, you and Takashi do spend a lot of time with each other and it's clear that he likes you. Just tell him and I'm sure that he'll say that he feels the same way."

Akiza thought about the prospect of her and Takashi being a couple and the mere thought of that caused her to blush even more. Once she calmed down a little she responded to her friends' suggestion.

"I'm flattered that you think that Takashi and I can be a couple. However that can't happen. I've done too many things that I'm not proud of and there's no way that I can repent for them all. Someone like me can never be with someone like Takashi. Besides, I think he like me as a friend. And despite the fact that I wish to more than friends than him, I think our proper roles should be just that…friends."

Lilly and Wendy looked on and saw that Akiza was visibly saddened as she spoke her words. They could tell that while she meant what she said, she didn't want them to be true. She wanted Takashi to have the same feelings she has for him and she wanted to be together with him.

Toru soon walked up to Akiza, as he decided to say his two cents about the subject.

"Akiza…" He said. "You said that you think Takashi only likes you as a friend. However, I don't think that's really true. Like Lilly and Wendy, I do think that Takashi does have some feelings for you"

"Really…" Akiza's eyes widen as he listened to Toru. Even though Lilly and Wendy practically said the same thing, she knew how close Takashi and Toru were. So if the same words came from him, then there was a great chance that they were true.

"Yes…However, about 6 years ago another girl that Takashi had feelings for died right in front of his eyes. It was because of that incident that two things happened. The first thing was that Takashi swore that he would protect everyone that he came across, so that no one he was close to would ever die again."

"I see…" Lilly said as she listened to Toru's explanation. "That explains why Takashi does the things that he does. He can't stand losing people."

"Yeah…" Toru nodded his head as he continued on with his explanation. "The next thing is that he also swore to never fall in love with another woman. He felt that if he did, then his enemies would go after them. So he thought that the best way to protect them was to not be with them in the first place."

"But…But I'm not like other women." Akiza pointed out. "I can protect myself so…so…that should mean that we can be together. Right..?"

"I know that…Truthfully I think that one of the reasons why you two should be together. However, a part of Takashi keeps telling him to ignore his feelings for you."

Akiza looked down with a sad expression on her face, upset in the fact that the likelihood that her and Takashi being together was quickly fading away. As a tear was about to fall from her eye, Toru placed his hand on her should. When the young woman looked up at him she saw that he was smiling.

"Don't worry though…Takashi has told me that the feelings he has for you is somewhat stronger than what he had for the last girl he loved. Also he says that there's something about you that attracts him to you. If that's not love then I don't know what is."

A small smile appeared on Akiza's face as she listened to Toru. She then started crying a little, happy that the person she loves does have some feelings for her.

* * *

><p>"Achoo, Achoo, Achoo...!" Takashi sneezed as he continued to follow Crow through the pathways of the Satellite Sector. "Someone is talking about me. I wonder who it is."<p>

"Hey…we're here!"

Takashi looked on as Crow parked his Duel Runner by a nearby hill. As he did the same thing, the young man got off his Runner and proceeded to follow Crow up the hill. Once they reached the top, the two of them got a clear view of the Crashing Sharks hideout.

"Wow…" Takashi said. "I didn't think that the Satellite had places like this."

"Never judge a book by its cover." Crow pointed out.

As he looked around the area, Crow attempted to find the way in. When he finds it he's disappointed to see that it's being guarded by several members. Takashi soon noticed the place that Crow wanted to enter in at and also saw the guards.

"So…how do we get in there?" He asked.

"Live bait."

"Crap…" Takashi firmly smacked himself with his hand, quickly understanding what Crow meant. He then started heading down the hill. "Just tell me when you're ready."

Crow nodded his head as he watched Takashi make his way towards the guards. Once he got close enough for them to notice, Takashi started fighting two of them. This action grabbed the attention of all the other guards and all of them made their way over to where Takashi was. Upon noticing that, Takashi looked at Crow for a second before running away. He nodded his head at him, signaling that he needed to move.

Crow responded with another nod as he watched his friend lead all the guards away from the entrance. He then slowly walked up to it and made sure everything was in order before he went inside. However, as he opened the door, another guard appeared in front of him and was staring him down.

"Who the hell are you?" The guard asked, angry to see someone trespassing on his team's territory.

"The name's Crow Hogan!" The Blackwing Duelist answered as he pulled out his Duel Disk and attached it to his arm. "And you're going to let me in. Otherwise things are going to get nasty."

The guard started laughing to himself as he couldn't believe that someone like Crow was not only challenging him to a Duel, but also making threats. He then decided to humor him and proceeded to grab a Duel Disk too and also attach it to his own arm.

"Is that so, little man?" He said with a smile on his face. "Well my name is Masato and I would really like to see you try and get past me!"

The two Duelists took a couple of steps back and proceeded to activate their Duel Disks at the same time. Once that happened they each drew 5 cards from their decks before shouting the same exact word at the same time.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Crow: 4000 LP**

**Masato: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move…Draw!" Masato quickly drew his 6th card and added it to his hand. He then firmly placed a card onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Jurrac Velo, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Velo: ATK 1700 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A giant blast of flames appeared on Masato's side of the field as his Jurrac Velo was summoned. As the flames began to fade away, the powerful Dinosaur-type monster proceeded to roar at the top of its lungs.

"With that, I'll end my turn."

"Alright then…Draw!" Crow drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. Once he looked over all of his cards, the young man quickly placed one onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Blackwing – Bora the Spear, in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing – Bora the Spear: ATK 1700 DEF 800 LVL 4**

As a small tornado of black feathers appeared on the field, Bora the Spear appeared in a bright flash of light and stood in front of his master.

"Now, you know that old say that birds of a feather flock together. Well, when I have a Blackwing monster on the field, I can Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from my hand!"

**Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind: ATK 1300 DEF 400 LVL 3**

As another flash of light appeared on Crow's field, Gale the Whirlwind arrived and began floating beside Bora the Spear.

"Next, I'm activating my Gale the Whirlwind's Special Ability! Once per turn, I can have it cut the Attack and Defense Points of one of your Monsters!"

Masato looked on in shock as he watched Gale the Whirlwind create a small tornado from its mouth. The tornado made its way towards Jurrac Velo and began sapping its strength away.

**Jurrac Velo: ATK 850 DEF 500**

"Now, I think I'll have my Blackwing – Bora the Spear attack your Jurrac Velo!" Crow declared.

Bora the Spear made its way over towards Jurrac Velo and, with one swoop, was able to destroy the monster with its powerful spear.

**Masato: 3150 LP**

"And now, with no monsters to protect you, I'll have my Gale the Whirlwind attack your Life Points Directly!"

"I don't think so…!" Masato stated. "When Jurrac Velo is destroyed as a result of battle, its Special Ability activates. Now I can Special Summon a Jurrac monster from my deck with 1700 or fewer Attack Points. The monster I choose to summon is the Tuner Monster: Jurrac Dino!"

**Jurrac Dino: ATK 1700 DEF 800 LVL 3**

As Masato took the card and placed it onto his Duel Disk, Jurrac Dino appeared onto the field and stood in front of him.

Seeing that his monster wouldn't stand a chance against Dino, Crow decided not to attack after all. He then took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field and stood behind Blackwing – Bora the Spear.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn!"

"My turn…Draw!" Masato declared as he drew another card from his deck. Once he placed the card into his hand, he then took another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "First, I activate the Spell Card: Fossil Dig! With this Spell, I can add one Level 6 or lower Dinosaur-type monster from my deck to my hand!"

Masato pulled out his deck and quickly looked for the card he wanted. Once he found it, he placed it into his hand before inserting his deck back into his Duel Disk. He then shuffled his entire deck before taking another card from his deck and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I play the Spell Card: Double Summon, which allows me to Normal Summon twice this turn." Masato took two cards from his hand and quickly placed them onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Jurrac Guiaba and Jurrac Iguanon, both in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Guiaba: ATK 1700 DEF 400 LVL 4**

**Jurrac Iguanon: ATK 1700 DEF 700 LVL 4**

Crow looked on as he watched two fireballs appear next to Jurrac Dino. He then watched the two fireballs fade and saw both of Masato's Jurrac monsters stare him down.

"Next…" Masato said. "I'll tune my Level 4 Jurrac Iguanon with my Level 3 Jurrac Dino to Synchro Summon: Jurrac Giganoto, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Giganoto: ATK 2100 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

The two Dinosaur-type monsters jumped into the air and quickly performed a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished, Jurrac Giganoto appeared in their place and the Level 7 Synchro Monster started roaring at Crow and his monsters.

"While Jurrac Giganoto on the field, the Attack Points of every Jurrac monster I control increases by 200 Points for every Jurrac in my Graveyard." Masato explained. "I have 3 Jurracs in my Graveyard, so that means all of my monsters Attack Points increase by 600!"

"I don't think so!" Crow declared as he activated his face-down card. "I activate the Trap Card: Fiendish Chain! With this Trap, I can negate the effects of your Jurrac Giganoto and prevent it from attacking my monsters!"

Crow's Trap Card shot out several large chains that proceeded to wrap around Jurrac Giganoto. As the chains halted the monsters moments, they also began draining its powers as well.

"Fine…!" Masato said, undaunted by this latest event. "I'll just attack your Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind with my Jurrac Guaiba!"

Guaiba roared as it made its way over towards Gale the Whirlwind. Once it got close enough to it, the Dinosaur-type monster grabbed hold of the Blackwing and began eating it whole.

**Crow: 3600 LP**

"Next, I activate my Jurrac Guaiba's Special Ability! When it successfully destroys a monster, I can Special Summon one Jurrac monster with 1700 or less Attack Points from my deck."

Masato pulled out his deck again and picked out the card he wanted. He then put his deck back into his Duel Disk and shuffled all of his cards before placing the card he picked onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Jurrac Protops, in Attack Mode!"

**Jurrac Protops: ATK 1700 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

As Jurrac Protops appeared onto the field, Masato took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field right behind Jurrac Giganoto.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn…Draw!" Crow stated as he drew a card from his deck. Once he looked at it, a small smile appeared on his face as he placed the card into his hand. After that he took another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn, which allows me to bring back my Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

In a bright flash of light, Gale the Whirlwind reappeared onto the field and stood next to Blackwing – Bora the Spear. Once that happened, Crow took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame: ATK 1800 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

In another flash of light, a new Blackwing monster appeared on Crow's side of the field. This one had more of a humanoid appeared, but it was still mostly a bird. Most of its body was covered in black feather, but certain sections of them had an indigo color to it.

"Now…I think I'll Tune my Level 4 Blackwing – Bora the Spear with my Level 3 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind to Synchro Summon: Blackwing Armor Master, in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing Armor Master: ATK 2500 DEF 1500 LVL 7**

Both of Crow's Blackwing monsters flew high into their air and performed a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished, Blackwing Armor Master appeared in an impressive fashion and stood next to Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame.

"Now Armor Master…Attack his Jurrac Guaiba now!"

As Crow's monster made its way towards Guaiba, Masato quickly activate the face-down card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack!" He declared. "With this, I can negate your Armor Master's attack and forcibly end your Battle Phase!"

Crow gritted his teeth as he watched a small barrier come in between both his and Masato's monsters. Once Blackwing Armor Master returned to his side of the field, Crow took all of the remaining cards that were in his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. At that moment, 4 cards appeared behind his 2 Blackwing monsters.

"I set all the cards that were in my hand and end my turn." He said.

"Draw…!" Masato confidently drew another card from his deck and placed it into his hand. "Now it's time to kick this Duel up a notch!"

"Is that so…?" Crow questioned. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"Like this…" Masato grabbed his Jurrac Protops card and placed it on top of his Jurrac Guaiba. "I overlay my Jurrac Protops and Guaiba to Xyz Summon: Evolzar Laggia, in Attack Mode!"

**Evolzar Laggia: ATK 2400 LVL 2000 LVL 4**

Crow looked on as he watched both of Masato's Level 4 monster become bright and golden spheres. He then saw a large blue dinosaur appear from the sky and fall down to the ground. Once it did that, the golden spheres wrapped themselves around the mighty beast.

"Xyz Summoning…" Crow said as he looked on at Evolzar Laggia. "It's rare that see someone able to use it. A lot of people don't really like it very much, saying that it's too easy to pull off."

"Well I'm not most people." Masato pointed off. "I figure that the easy way is always the best way to get things done."

"I see…" Crow thought about all the things he done in his life and he could rarely remember one thing that he did that was easy to him.

"Evolzar Laggia…attack his Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!"

As the mighty Xyz monster prepared to attack Shura, Crow quickly activated one of his 4 face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Changing Destiny!" He stated. "With this, I can negate your monsters attack and switch it into Defense Mode. Afterwards, you can choose to either gain Life Points equal to half of Laggia's Attack Points or I lose Life Points equal to Laggia's Attack Points!"

"Well that's an easy choice…I choose to inflict you with damage!"

Just before Evolzar Laggia's attack reached Shura the Blue Flame, the Dinosaur monster stopped and returned back to Masato. It then took a defensive position in front of him before firing an energy blast from its mouth. The attack proceeded to hit Crow and deal him with 1200 Points of damage.

**Crow: 2400 LP**

"With that, I end my turn." Masato said.

As Crow prepared to start his next turn, he noticed that Takashi was standing by watching the Duel from afar.

"No offense Crow, but can you end this?" He asked. "I already beat up the guards that were following me and I really want to go inside now."

"Alright…" Crow replied. "I was just about to end this anyway."

The Blackwing Duelist closed his eyes and drew a card from his deck. Once he did that, Crow promptly press a button on his Duel Disk in order to activate one of his face-downs.

"I activate the Spell Card: De-Synchro! With this, I can return Blackwing Armor Master back to my Extra Deck and Special Summon: Blackwing – Bora the Spear and Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

Blackwing Armor Master flew back up into the air and started glowing in a bright blue color. Soon, the Synchro Monster split apart as Bora the Spear and Gale the Whirlwind reappeared and stood by Crow once more.

"Next, I activate Gale's Special Ability and reduce your Jurrac Giganoto's power by half!"

Gale the Whirlwind once again flapped its wings and summoned another tornado that proceeded to cover Jurrac Giganoto. Like from before, the power of the twister cut Giganoto's Attack and Defense in half.

**Jurrac Giganoto: ATK 1050 DEF 900**

Once he saw reduction in his opponent's monster, Crow continued on with his turn and proceeded to place the card he drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Blackwing – Etesian of two Swords, in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing – Etesian of two Swords: ATK 400 DEF 1600 LVL 3**

As another flash of light appeared on Crow's side of the field, both Takashi and Masato witnessed the new Blackwing monster appeared on the field. This one was far more colorful than the others as it had yellow talons and a red mane. It also wore a blue and white kimono with a red sash tied around it.

"Now with him on the field…I'll have my Blackwing – Bora the Spear attack your Jurrac Giganoto!"

Bora the Spear nodded its head upon Crow's orders and proceeded to run Giganoto through with its large spear.

**Masato: 2500 LP**

Once that happened, Crow quickly activated another one of his face-down cards.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Urgent Tuning, which allows me to perform a Synchro Summoning during the Battle Phase! With it, I'll Tune my Level 3 Blackwing – Etesian of two Swords with my Level 3 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind to Synchro Summon: Blackwing Armed Wing, in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2300 DEF 1000 LVL 6**

Once again, Gale the Whirlwind flew up and prepared itself for another Synchro Summoning. This time with Etesian of two Swords, the two Blackwing monsters merged together in a flash of light and transformed into a new Blackwing monster.

This one had a more human look to it and it also had a red mane on the back of its head. In its claws it carried a blue and orange harpoon than had more of gun shape to it.

Upon seeing the monster, Masato began to ponder the situation that he was in.

"Okay…once he attacks Evolzar Laggia I'm sure he'll attack me directly with his Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame." He thought. "Despite that, I'll still have plenty of Life Points and I can easily turn this around on my next turn."

As Masato prepared himself, Takashi already knew what was going to happen as he knew the Special Abilities of Blackwing Armed Wing. He also knew what move Crow was going to do as he turned his attention towards his last remaining face-down card.

"I think I spent too much time out here, so I'm ending this now." Crow declared as he activated his final face-down card. "I activate the Trap: Blackwing – Bombardment! With this Trap, I can sacrifice my Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame so that its Attack Points are transferred to Blackwing Armed Wing!"

Masato's eyes opened in shock as he watched Shura turned into a form of light blue energy. The energy then flew over towards Blackwing Armed Wing and proceeded to go inside of the Synchro Monster, giving it extra power.

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 4100**

"Next, I'll have monster attack your Evolzar Laggia and, just to let you know, Blackwing Armed Wing's Special Ability not only allows it to gain 500 extra Attack Points since it's attacking a Defense Position monster, but it also deals you damage even if Evolzar Laggia is in Defense Mode!"

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 4600**

Crow smiled as he watched his newly powered Synchro monster take him with its harpoon. The monster then fired its weapon and the powerful spears struck Evolzar Laggia, causing an explosion that not only consumed it, but also Masato.

**Masato: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms disappeared, Crow quickly deactivated his Duel Disk and sat back as he watched Takashi beat Masato into unconsciousness. Once he saw him finished, the Blackwing Duelist proceeded to go inside with Takashi following close behind.<p>

"So…now that we're in, where do we go now?" Takashi asked.

"This way…" Crow pointed towards an air vent and promptly walked over towards it. He then pulled off the hatched, got on his knees and crawled inside of it. "Follow me."

Takashi nodded his head and proceeded to kneel down and crawl through the air vent as well. As he made his way through the vent, the young man started to feel a sharp pain coming from his right arm. Wanting to know what it was, Takashi stopped and pulled his sleeve. When he looked at his dragon mark he saw that it was the source of the pain he was feeling.

"Something's wrong…" He thought quietly. "But what…?"

"Hey, hurry up or I'll leave you behind."

Takashi turned his attention back to Crow and saw that he was already far away from him. Not wanting to be left behind, Takashi quickly forgot about the pain that he was feeling and continued on moving.

After about 10 minutes of crawling, the two of them reached another air vent with a window. Crow stopped in front of it and looked down. He then turned towards Takashi and pointed towards it, but not before indicating to him that he needed to stay quiet.

Getting the message, Takashi simply nodded his head again and made his way to the vent. He then looked down with Crow and saw a room with 8 empty chairs. After a few moments, 8 people entered the room and sat down on each of the 8 chairs.

Crow pointed to one of the men and Takashi saw that he was wearing a red mask. Though he wasn't too sure, he believed that the man was Amon.

"Alright…" The man said. "Now that we entertained the underlings, it's now time to begin the real meeting."

"Yes Master Amon…" The other 7 said in unison.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 33 Preview<strong>

_As Takashi and Crow look on, Amon reveals something about the Grand Fire Project that not even his underlings even know about. However that piece of information doesn't even compare to what Takashi sees on Amon. Just what is it that Amon has and how does it relate to Takashi._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Over the Nexus. Chapter 33 – The Discovery_


	33. Chapter 33

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 33: **_The Discovery_

* * *

><p>"Alright everyone…" Amon said as he looked at all of his loyal lieutenants. "It's time to begin our real meeting. Is everyone ready?"<p>

"Yes Master Amon." All the lieutenants said simultaneously. "We're ready."

As the meeting was getting ready to begin, both Takashi and Crow were still sitting in the air vent, watching over all of them. Both of them were waiting patiently, wanting to catch any information that they could use against all 8 of their opponents.

"Alright Amon…" Crow thought as he listened to the meeting. "Tell us what your plan is."

Unbeknownst to Crow to however, Takashi was busy holding his right arm. To him, it felt like several bees was stinging it.

"What the hell is going on here?" He thought. "The last time I've felt this was when I met Akiza for the first time. But…but that could only mean that…"

As Takashi was coming to a conclusion to why his arm was hurting, he soon noticed that the meeting was about to get underway. Realizing that what was going on was far more important than what he was feeling at the moment, Takashi tried his best to ignore the pain as best as he could.

"Alright…let's begin with our main objective." Amon said. "Kazuki, tell us the real start time for the Grand Fire Project."

"Yes, lord Amon." Kazuki said after he got up from his seat and looked towards everyone. "We have already set up all the bombs and made sure that each explosion would cause maximum damage to each location. Also, we've also set up each of the timers and every one of them is already beginning the countdown sequence. Our Grand Fire Project should begin in less than 24 hours."

"Excellent…" Amon said. "Everything is moving faster than I expected."

"Yes, but sir…" Another lieutenant said as she got up from her seat and started addressing her master. "What about everyone else? If the Project begins in only 24 hours, then shouldn't they know about it too?"

Amon turned his attention to his female lieutenant and started walking towards her.

"Shizuka…I understand how you feel, but sometimes certain sacrifices are necessary if one is to complete a certain goal. Every single one of our underlings knew the risk when they came to join us. They shouldn't be surprised if they all in up dead. In fact, they should be happy because they died knowing that it was for the creation of the New World."

"New World…?" Crow thought as he listened on. "What does he mean by a New World? I thought all he wanted to do was destroy the Satellite?"

As Crow was trying to understand what Amon meant, the pain that Takashi was feeling was becoming more and more painful. Both he and Crow were right under Shizuka and the closer Amon got to her, the more painful his arm felt.

"Damn it…" He cursed softly to himself. "What the hell does this mean?"

Soon, as Amon reached Shizuka, the leader of the Crashing Sharks gently placed his hands on her helmet and slowly took it off of her. With her face now revealed, both Takashi and Crow saw that Shizuka was a highly attractive woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

Amon then gently placed his right hand on Shizuka's cheek and began looking at her as his arm started to glow a bright crimson color. Shizuka's eyes then became somewhat lifeless as the glow began to increase.

"Pay them no mind Shizuka…" Amon softly said. "Just focus on yourself and to our Grand Fire Project."

"Yes Master Amon…" Shizuka replied in a somewhat hypnotic state.

The young woman then sat back down and looked on as Amon walked over to the center of the meeting room and looked at all of his lieutenants. He then proceeded to cut off the lights so that the glow coming from his arm would light up the room. He then moved his right shirt sleeve so that they glow would increase.

It was at that moment that Takashi's eyes widen in shock as he finally understood why his arm was hurting the moment he saw Amon. It was because, like him, Amon had a Dragon Mark. However, unlike Takashi's which resembled a dragon's head, Amon's looked more like a dragon's tail.

"Behold my lieutenants!" Amon said as he lifted his arm up into the air. "Soon the New World will be at hand and, with the powers of the Crimson Dragon flowing through me, I'll be the God of the New World and lead us to Utopia!"

"Yes sir!" All of the lieutenants shouted in unison.

Crow's eyes widen as he listened to what they were saying. He knew that he was crazy for trying to destroy the Satellite, but he never believed that he would attempt to do something like this. He was also shocked by Amon's Mark and by the power it seemed to have.

"This is bad…" He thought. "Just what the hell are going up against?"

The young man turned towards Takashi, hoping to see his reaction. However, the only thing that he saw was his friend cringing in pain.

"Takashi…Takashi…what's wrong?" He moved closer to him so that he could see what was wrong. When he did, he saw that Takashi's arm was glowing like Amon's and that it also had a special mark.

The glow from Takashi's mark quickly became just as bright as Amon's and soon it became noticeable by not only him, but by his lieutenants as well. Amon then looked towards Shizuka and, without having to be asked, the young woman pulled out a Duel Disk and placed a card into it. Soon a fireball appeared a blasted the air vent, causing Takashi and Crow to fall into the meeting room. Amon then cut the lights back on and got a good look at the intruders, but mostly focus on Takashi and his mark.

"Well, well…what do we have here?" He said as he walked towards the two boys. Once he reached them he looked at Takashi and gently lifted him by the shirt. "It seems like the Crimson Dragon has finally chosen the next leader of the Signers."

"What…what the hell are you talking about?" Takashi asked as he knocked Amon's arm away and started backing away from him. "Crimson Dragon…Signers…What does that even mean?"

Amon ignored his questions and started walking towards him again. Before he reached him though, Takashi punched him the fact. However he shocked when he saw that the punch didn't even affect Amon in the slightest.

"How disappointing…" He said. "If you're the new leader then I expected you to have more power than that. If that's all you can do…then the Crimson Dragon made a horrible choice in selecting you."

Takashi became even more confused by what Amon was saying to him as he just didn't understand any of it. What was the Crimson Dragon, the Signers, and why was Takashi chosen to be a leader. All of these questions ran through his head as he looked towards Amon and his mark.

"Takashi…Takashi wake up, snap out of it!" Crow yelled, trying to get his attention. "C'mon we need to get the hell out of here!"

Crow's words barely registered on Takashi's brain, and the Blackwing Duelist noticed that. Thinking quickly, Crow proceeded to punch Takashi so that he would wake up from his state of shock and confusion. This seemed to work as Takashi drew his attention away from Amon and towards Crow.

"C'mon Takashi…" He said. "We got to get out of here now!"

Crow ran towards the nearest window that he could find and started to brace himself as he jumped out of it. Takashi soon followed after him, but not before taking a look at Amon one more time.

"Master…" Kazuki said. "Should we go after them? They could reveal our plan or find some way to stop it."

"No…" Amon said. "Even if they did reveal the Grand Fire Project, they wouldn't be able to prevent it from happening. However there is something I want to confirm." Amon turned towards Shizuka and looked towards her. "Go out there, find that boy, and Duel him. I want to see just how strong he is."

"Yes sir…" Shizuka ran out the room and proceeded to head downstairs.

Meanwhile, Takashi and Crow were already at the bottom of them building and they were quickly making their way to their Duel Runners, while trying to avoid the group of Crashing Shark grunts that they encountered along the way. Eventually they reached their Runners and started riding away as fast as they possibly could.

"Oh man…" Crow started out. "We're in much bigger trouble than I thought. We got to figure something out quickly if we want to stop them."

"…Yeah." Takashi's replied.

As the two of them attempted to make it back to Crow's hideout they soon saw smoke coming from that direction. Both of them were shocked by just seeing the smoke, as they had a pretty good idea on where it was coming from. Soon, when they reached the location of the smoke, both Duelists groaned in disappointment at what they were currently seeing.

"God damn it!" Crow yelled.

The Blackwing Duelist looked on in frustration as he saw his hideout burning to a crisp due flames covering the whole building.

"They must've been spying on us from the very beginning." Takashi pointed out. "That's probably how they were able to do this as they knew when we were going to leave."

"Yes…our spies are very skilled." A familiar voice replied.

Both Takashi's and Crow's eyes widen with shocked as they turned around and looked to see who it was. When they did they saw Shizuka looking at them. She had a red helmet on her head and was onto of a red Duel Runner.

"How long have you've been following us?" Crow asked.

"Since you left the meeting..." Shizuka answered. "Truthfully I could've reached the two of you before you got here, but I just wanted to see the reaction on your face."

Shizuka's words angered Crow and he was about to charge after her, however Takashi was able to stop him before he got the chance too.

As she looked on at this, Shizuka began looking at Takashi's arm again and saw that his mark was still glowing, even though it had faded a little. Takashi soon noticed that she was focusing on him and quickly realized that she was after him.

"Crow…!" He said. "Go to Lilly's stepmother's place and I'll meet you there as soon as I can."

"What the hell are you saying?" Crow asked, not understanding why Takashi wants to take her on by himself. "You know that she has Psychic Powers. If you face her you won't even make it to Martha's!"

"Just go!" Takashi yelled.

The young man quickly turned his Duel Runner around and started riding in another direction. Seeing that, Shizuka quickly followed after him. This left Crow all alone and he was even more frustrated than he was before.

"Damn you Takashi…" He said silently to himself. "You better make it back alive or you'll answer to me!"

With that, Crow looked towards his hideout one more time before riding away to Martha's. Despite the fact that he didn't want to leave Takashi by himself, he knew that he didn't have the power needed to stop him.

Meanwhile, Takashi and Shizuka were riding around in an abandoned section of the Satellite. The reason for this is because Takashi didn't want to involve anyone else in the Duel that was about to take place. Shizuka realized what Takashi was up too, however she didn't really care. All Amon ordered her to do was to test Takashi's skills and that's what she's going to do.

"Activating Field Spell, Speed World 2…!" She quickly pressed a button on her Runner, which released the aura of Speed World 2.

"**Duel Mode Engaged!**"

Both Duel Runners activated their respective Duel Disk and both Duelists drew 5 cards before placing them into Hand of their respective Runners.

* * *

><p>"LET'S DUEL!" They both yelled.<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Shizuka: 4000 LP**

"Ladies first…Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Shizuka: SPC – 1 **

Shizuka quickly drew one card from her deck and placed it into her hand. Once she did that she pulled out a card from that hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Solar Flare Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Solar Flare Dragon: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

In a blast of red-hot flames, Solar Flare Dragon appeared and started flying next to Shizuka as she drove around the area. Once it appeared, the young woman grabbed another card and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down next to her for a moment before disappearing.

"Next, I set one card face-down and end my turn. Now…since it's my End Phase the Special Ability of my Solar Flare Dragon activates. You now take 500 points of damage!"

Solar Flare Dragon opened its mouth and proceeded to fire a fireball at Takashi. The attack hit the young man, causing him to be in a pain due to the flames touching his body. Luckily for him though, he was able to shake off the flames for it caused any severe damage to his body.

**Takashi: 3500 LP**

"Alright then…Draw!" The young man declared as he drew a card from his deck.

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Shizuka: SPC – 2**

Takashi quickly pulled a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"First…since you have a monster on the field and I don't, I can Special Summon: Vice Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000-1000 DEF 2400-1200 LVL 5**

As Takashi's Vice Dragon appeared on the field and stared down Solar Flare Dragon, the young man quickly pulled another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: The White Stone of Legend, in Attack Mode!"

**The White Stone of Legend: ATK 300 DEF 250 LVL 1**

A bright flash of light appeared beside Takashi as a large white stone appeared next to him and his Vice Dragon.

"Now I Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 1 White Stone of Legend in order to Synchro Summon: Iron Chain Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Iron Chain Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 1300 LVL 6**

Both monsters flew high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, Iron Chain Dragon appeared and started roaring at the top of its lungs as it started flying above its master.

"I now activate the Special Ability of The White Stone of Legend! When it's sent to the Graveyard, I can add the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand!"

Takashi's deck released the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card and Ryan proceeded to place the card into his hand before continuing on with the rest of his turn.

"Now…I'll have my Iron Chain Dragon attack your Solar Flare Dragon!"

Iron Chain Dragon roared once more before making its way over to Shizuka's dragon. It soon strangled Solar Flare Dragon with the steel chains that were around its body.

**Shizuka: 3000 LP**

As soon as she saw her monster be destroyed, Shizuka promptly activated the face-down card that she set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted!" She declared. "With it, I'll revive the Solar Flare Dragon that you just destroyed!"

As Solar Flare Dragon reappeared back on the field, Takashi was annoyed that he wasn't able to get rid of it on his first attempt.

"Oh well…" He said. "I activate the Special Ability of my Iron Chain Dragon! When it inflicts Battle Damage onto my opponent, they must discard the top 3 cards of their deck!"

Shizuka complied and quickly discarded the 3 cards. As she did that, Takashi took one more card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card quickly vanished as soon as it appeared face-down on the field.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw…!" Shizuka declared as she drew a card from her deck.

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Shizuka: SPC – 3 **

Once she placed the card that she drew into her hand, Shizuka took another card and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: De-Synchro! By removing 2 Speed Counters, I can return one Synchro Monster to the Extra Deck and Special Summon the monsters used to summon it!"

**Shizuka: SPC – 1**

Takashi looked on as he saw his Iron Chain Dragon split apart and turn back into his Vice Dragon and The White Stone of Legend.

Once she saw both monsters back on her opponents side of the field, Shizuka smiled as she took another card from her hand and placed and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I think I'll give a present."

"Present? What do you mean by that?" Takashi wondered.

"I mean this…" Shizuka stated. "I sacrifice your Vice Dragon and White Stone of Legend to Special Summon: Lava Golem, on your side of the field!"

**Lava Golem: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

As Takashi looked on with a shocked expression on his face, he saw both of his dragons disappear from the field. He then looked on as a giant lava monster started floating above him.

"What the hell is this?" He asked. "Why did you give me this monster?"

"You'll see soon enough…" Shizuka replied as she took another card and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Since it was now the End Phase, Shizuka's Solar Flare Dragon fired another fireball from its mouth that proceeded to hit Takashi. The young man was once again damage due to his opponent's Psychic powers.

**Takashi: 3000 LP**

"My…turn…Draw…!" Takashi declared while still trying to shake off the pain from the last attack.

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Shizuka: SPC – 2**

As the young man drew a card from his deck, he started to feel really hot. He proceeded to look up and saw the lava from Lava Golem begin to drip from its body. The lava soon fell and landed on him, causing him to be in even more pain than he was before. The sight of this caused Shizuka to laugh as she began to ride pass her opponent.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that your Lava Golem has a unique Special Ability!" She pointed out. "As long as it remains on the field, you take 1000 points of damage during your Standby Phase!"

**Takashi: 2000 LP**

"Damn…it…" Takashi strength quickly began to fade away as the burns that he received from Lava Golem and Solar Flare Dragon were beginning to become too much for him to bear. "I've…I've got to end this now…"

The young man looked up and noticed that Lava Golem was on his side of the field. He then realized that since it was on his side of the field, he could use it like any one of his own monsters.

"I…I attack Solar Flare Dragon…with Lava Golem!"

Lava Golem obeyed its master and fired a giant ball of lava from one of its molten arms. However, before the attack could connect with its target, Shizuka activated her face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack!" She declared. "And just like its name suggests I can negate your Lava Golem's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

A giant vortex appeared in front of Shizuka's Solar Flare Dragon and proceeded to suck up the lava that was heading towards it.

"Damn it…" Takashi cursed. He looked up at his hand and tried to see if there were any other moves that he could make this turn. When he didn't find any he gritted his teeth in anger. "I end my turn…"

"Then it's my turn once again…" Shizuka stated with a smile on her face. "Draw…!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Shizuka: SPC – 3 **

The young Psychic Duelist drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, she took a card from that hand and placed onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Spirit Reaper, in Defense Mode!"

**Spirit Reaper: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 3**

As Takashi looked on at his opponent he saw a small grim reaper appear beside her and Solar Flare Dragon. The Reaper had on a purple cloak and carried a large scythe. The mere sight of the monster frustrated Takashi.

"I hate Spirit Reapers…" He thought. "They're so annoying to get rid of."

Spirit Reaper's Special Ability prevented it from being destroyed by battle. This annoyed Takashi as he now had to find another way to get rid of it.

"Next…" Shizuka said, continuing on with her turn."I switch Spirit Reaper into Defense Mode and end my turn. And…I do believe that you know what that means."

Takashi did, in fact, knew what she meant and braced himself as Solar Flare Dragon fire another fireball at him after it took a defensive position in front of Shizuka. The fireball hit the young man, causing him to lose his balance a little. He, however, was able to regain himself before anything else could happen to him.

**Takashi: 1500 LP**

"This is pathetic…" Shizuka said. "I don't know why Master Amon wanted me to test you, but from what I can tell you're nothing but a joke. I can tell just by your riding skills that you're a newbie when it comes to Turbo Dueling, but I never expected you to be this bad! I should've ended this Duel sooner."

"…..Yeah, you should have." Takashi replied. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Shizuka: SPC – 4 **

As Takashi drew another card from his deck, Lava Golem dripped more of itself onto him.

**Takashi: 500 LP**

Shizuka started laughing as she saw more of Lava Golem's magma drop onto her opponent. However, her laughter soon faded as she saw something she didn't expect to see. The female Psychic saw Takashi's body glow a light blue color as his mark started glower even brighter than it was before.

"You're right…" He said. "I am a newbie when it comes to Turbo Dueling. However I'm the newbie whose about to kick your ass and stop Amon's plan!"

Takashi quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk, thus activating the face-down card he set a few turns ago.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Ancient Rules! If I have at least 2 or more Speed Counters I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand. The monster I choose is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

**Blue-Eyes White Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

As Takashi placed Blue-Eyes' card onto his Monster Card Zone, the mighty beast appeared in shiny blast of white light. It soon started flying next to Lava Golem before it roaring at Shizuka. Once that happened, Takashi took two cards from his hand. The first of them was placed onto his Monster Card Zone while the other was inserted into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"For my next move I Summon: Alexandrite Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Alexandrite Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 100 LVL 4**

In another bright flash of light, a new dragon appeared on the field. This one was fairly large as it equal Blue-Eyes in terms of height, but it wasn't as bulky as it. Also, Alexandrite Dragon had very beautiful that glowed with the night sky.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Resonance Device! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can target two face-up monsters on my side of the field whose Type and Attribute are same. I can then change the Level of one of those monsters so that it equals the other one! My Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Alexandrite Dragon are both Light Attribute Dragons, so I can change Alexandrite Dragon's Level so that it equals Blue-Eyes'.

**Takashi: SPC – 2 **

**Alexandrite Dragon: LVL 8**

"What's the point of doing all of that?" Shizuka asked as she looked back at Takashi. "Even if your monsters are the same level now, it won't change anything!"

"Yes it will!" Takashi declared as he began to speed up. Once he reached to where she was he placed Alexandrite Dragon's card onto top of Blue-Eyes' card. "I Overlay Alexandrite Dragon with Blue-Eyes White Dragon to Xyz Summon: Thunder End Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Thunder End Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

As Shizuka looked on in shock, she saw both of Takashi's monsters performed the sequence for a Xyz Summoning. When the finished, a giant blue and white dragon appeared and started roaring as blue electricity radiated from its body.

"I now activate Thunder End Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi declared as he drove past his opponent. "By removing one of its Overlay units, Thunder End Dragon can destroy all other monsters on the field!"

"What…?" Shizuka shouted in disbelief.

Thunder End Dragon started roaring once more as several lightning bolts shot from its body. Each of the lightning bolts proceeded to destroy every other monster that was on the field. This included Lava Golem, Spirit Reaper, and Solar Flare Dragon.

Once all the other monsters were gone, Takashi looked on and saw the combination of both fear and surprised that was on Shizuka's face. It was then that the young man saw that his opponent had already lost the will to continue on.

"It's time to end this…" He said. "Thunder End Dragon, attack her Life Points Directly!"

Thunder End Dragon complied with its orders and proceeded to turn its entire body into lightning. Once it did that, Thunder End flew over towards Shizuka and proceeded to shock her to the point that she fell off her Duel Runner and crashed.

**Shizuka: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, Takashi rode over to where Shizuka was laying at and looked at the young woman as she lay unconscious on the ground. He then shook his head in a disappointed fashion before riding away.<p>

However, once he was out of sight, Shizuka woke back up for a moment and proceeded to pull out a cell phone. She then started texting a message for a few seconds before once again losing unconsciousness. The sent message was only one sent and it read.

_He's strong….Master Amon_

Meanwhile, a few hours had passed and Crow had made it to Martha's. However instead of informing the others of what he and Takashi saw, he was currently getting his ass handed to him by Lilly.

"You Dumbass….Why did you leave him by himself?" Lilly was extremely angry at Crow as he should have known that Takashi wouldn't be able to get here without his help.

"But…but he said he would handle it…" Crow said, attempting to get his say.

Lilly ignored him and continued to kick his ass for a few more minutes. As that was happening everyone else were waiting for Takashi to get to them just like he promised he would.

Toru and Wendy were worried about him, however both of them knew that it was Akiza was worrying the most. The two of them looked on at her and saw that she was busy looking at the horizon, trying see if she could find Takashi in the distance.

Toru was about to say something to her, but he stopped when he saw two things. The first thing was the sun as it began to rise over the horizon. The second thing was someone heading towards them. He couldn't really tell due to the light coming from the sun, but when he noticed that Akiza's and Lilly's marks were glowing he knew who it was.

"You've cut it close…Takashi." He said with a small grin on his face.

As everyone waited at the front door, the person that was coming towards them was, in fact, Takashi. When he reached them, he got off his Duel Runner and took off his helmet. Once he did that, he walked towards them and smiled.

"See…I made it back by morning." He said.

Lilly's was mad at his comment, mostly due to the fact that she saw all the wounds that covered his body. However, despite the fact that he did get hurt, it didn't change the fact that he did keep his promise.

She was about to say something, but was stopped when she saw Akiza hug Takashi tightly. The young man was confused on why his Psychic friend was hugging him, but he gladly accepted it and returned the hug with one of his own. The two held each other for a few moments before finally letting go of each other.

"I'm glad that you're here…" Akiza said with some tears in her eyes.

"Yeah…" Takashi replied. "So…can I get something to eat? I'm starving…"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 34 Preview<strong>

_As Takashi fills his stomach and gets some sleep, the others learn what took place at Amon's meeting and begin to strategize on what to do. However, before they could officially make their move, trouble appears at the orphanage. _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 34: Making the First Move_

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><p><strong>Announcements<strong>

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys! Sorry for the late update, but I've been busy doing other stuff for the last couple of weeks. I promise I'll try to update with chapters as soon as I possibly can so please be patient. _

_Also…I want to let you guys know that I'm thinking of releasing another story. I currently don't know what it's going to be about, but it's most likely going to be an AU story. So please take a look at it when I ever get the chance to post it. Another thing, please take a look at my new Pokémon story. It's not as good as Over the Nexus, but I would really like to have your opinions on the matter._

_Anyway, as you read Over the Nexus, please review on the chapters and tell me how it is and what I can improve on. A review from you guys really motivates me to continue this story and make it even better. So please for every one of you who reads Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Please review the chapters after you read them. _


	34. Chapter 34

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 34: **_Making the First Move_

* * *

><p>"And you complained when I ate too much." Crow said to Lilly as he, and everyone else, looked towards the kitchen table. "Just look at him go."<p>

"Yeah…" The young woman replied as she looked on. "But unlike you, at least he has some manners. I hope…"

The person who Lilly and Crow were referring to was Takashi, who was currently stuffing his face with as much food as he possibly could. Having explained to Martha that he went almost a full day without eating anything, Lilly asked her stepmother to fix a huge breakfast for her friend. However, no one expected that Takashi would finish the meal that he was given in no time at all and still ask for more.

The only person who wasn't shocked by Takashi's display was Toru, who found the action more amusing than shocking. In fact, by the time Takashi asked for fourths, he started to laugh a little.

"Well, I'm glad that after all these years his appetite hasn't change at all." He said.

"What do you mean by that Toru?" Akiza asked. "Are you saying that he's done this before?"

Toru nodded his head in approval and started explaining the reasoning behind his words and Takashi's actions. Apparently, ever since he was a little boy, Takashi has always been able to consume large quantities of food in very short instances. The reason for that is because Takashi has a very high metabolism. His body burns the food he consumes very quickly so he needs to eat a lot in order to keep himself full. Normally he tries to hold himself for eating a lot until he's alone so that he doesn't embarrass himself. However, having gone nearly a full day without eating, the young man couldn't hold himself back anymore and started scarfing down his food the instant Martha gave him his first plate.

"Wow…I never knew." Wendy stated.

"Yeah…well there are a lot things about Takashi no one really knows about." Toru said. "In fact up until about 4 months ago, it was believed that his mother and father were just ordinary people who just died in an accident when he was a baby. However that wasn't the case."

"And what was the case?" Lilly asked.

"Well…it turns out that Takashi's mother was Sakura Nakamura, the legendary World Queen."

Everyone's eyes widen with shock after hearing what Toru just said before looking back at Takashi, who was still eating.

"He's…he's the son of Sakura Nakamura?!" Crow said in shock. "The actual Sakura Nakamura, the same one who was said to be the best Duelist in the world?

"That's right." Toru answered. "In fact I couldn't really believe it when he first told me about it, but Takashi isn't the type of person to lie about something like that."

Aiku rushed over towards Takashi and proceeded to grab him by the shirt as he continued to eat. He then started shaking him in an excited manner as a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Duel Me!" He yelled. "Duel Me Now!"

Aiku continued to shake Takashi for a couple more seconds as he waited for Takashi to give him a reply to his request. However the only thing he received was a punch to the face as Takashi was annoyed that he was disturbing him from eating. Everyone saw this scene and they just couldn't help but to smile a little as all of them did find the moment somewhat funny.

Soon, after about 10 servings, Takashi finally finished eating and proceeded to hold his stomach as he leaned against his chair.

"Boy was I hungry." He said with a smile on his face. "But I'm all full now."

"Yeah…" Lilly said. "Well you better be full after nearly eating enough food for everyone here. Jesus man, I'm amazed that you're not a fat ass after all the food you're known to eat."

Crow gently tapped Lilly's shoulder and proceeded to point towards their friend. As she looked at Takashi, Lilly was annoyed that not only did Takashi ignore what she had to say to him, but he also went straight to sleep. She was about to punch him, but Crow held her back knowing that she would take it too far and end up hurting Takashi.

The sight of this made Toru laugh again. "That's just like him."

Moments later, as the kids were now eating breakfast, Aiku and Toru proceeded to lay Takashi on a couch as Wendy and Akiza started bandaging his wounds. Once that was happening, Toru grabbed Takashi's Dueling Deck and began searching through it until he found Stardust Dragon. He then showed the card to Aiku, who was amazed at the mere sight of the card.

"Wow…" He said with a small smile on his face. "So this is the rare card that you talked about."

"Yeah…" Toru replied. "I've seen some rare cards in my day, but there's no doubt that Stardust Dragon exceeds them all. Even though it's been almost 7 years since he obtained the card from his grandfather, Klaus, the mere sight of Stardust makes me feel like I'm seeing it for the very first time."

"I see…What kinds of powers does the card have?" Aiku asked.

"Stardust Dragon has the power to negate and destroy cards that have the ability to destroy other cards at the cost of removing itself from the Duel." Toru explained. "However, if Stardust does remove itself by using its ability it can then return to the field at the End Phase."

"Wow…that's a cool ability to have." Aiku stated. "So basically, the only real ways to get rid of Stardust Dragon is to either destroy it by force, remove it from the Duel by other means, or returning it to the Extra Deck."

"That's right…, but Takashi is a skilled enough Duelist to not let those things happen."

"I can confirm that." Akiza said as she bandaged Takashi's head. "I've Dueled Takashi 3 times already and in each of those Duels, I've always had a hard time when dealing with his Stardust Dragon."

"Well that just means I have to be that much more careful and to make sure to pick out any mistakes that he might make when we Duel." Aiku stated with another smile on his face.

"Enough….! Can we please get to the matter at hand over here?!" Lilly asked, grabbing the attention of everyone else. "When didn't come here to talk about how good Takashi is. We came here to prevent the Satellite's destruction!"

Everyone nodded their heads and started listening as Crow explained everything that he and Takashi learned while they listened to Amon's meeting last night. Once he finished, everyone was visibly shocked by what they've just heard, except for Lilly who kept her emotions in as she listened.

"I can't believe that they would try to do such a thing." Wendy said. "It's insane."

"Yeah…" Toru followed. "It's one thing when you're trying to set fire to the Satellite, but blow to it up?! Doesn't he realize that if goes along with this plan then the hundreds of people living here won't survive the explosion?"

"Of course Amon knows what he's doing." Crow stated. "But he think that by doing this they'll be making Satellite a better place to live. It's like the story of Noah's Ark. God flooded the Earth and killed everyone in it after seeing how much evil they were causing. The people he let live were Noah and his family, as he deemed them still pure of heart. Amon must believe that he and his men are pure and that they must destroy the Satellite in order to build a better place."

"I see…" Akiza said, understanding the explanation. "But something doesn't seem right in all of this. During the meeting, Amon said that they were going to create a New World. There must be something more to his plan that goes beyond destroying the Satellite."

"Yeah, I agree." Aiku followed. "Also, how can bombs can fire and bombs destroy the Satellite in the first place? First of all, the Satellite is on an island that's completely separated by water. The area is too moist for any fire to last very long. The same can go for the bombs as they'll probably be at only half their normal power. There must be something about the bombs that makes them special."

Crow kept quiet for a few moments as Lilly gently lowered her head so that her scarlet red hair was covering her eyes. Everyone could tell from their expressions that there was indeed something about the bombs that made them different and that they didn't want to talk about.

"C'mon guys…" Toru said. "I know that this is hard for you as it was Team Satisfaction who first came up this plan, but you have to tell us. Besides, even though that this isn't really our home, your stepmother has taken us in like it was. We have a duty to make it up to her by protecting not only this place, but the entire Satellite Sector as a whole."

"He's right…" Akiza followed. "Remember Lilly, when Sayer was attempting to rule the world using me and his Psychic Powers, it was you and Takashi who helped me and stopped him. It's because of you two that I'm here now and I want to make it up to you by helping you save your home. However I can only do that if you tell us everything that's going on. We won't be able to accomplish anything if we're hiding anything for each other."

"Yeah…stop hiding and….tell us, damn it." Takashi said as he began talking in his sleep.

Lilly and Crow listened to what they had to say and both knew they had the right to know everything. So, while she still had her head down, Lilly nodded her head slightly which signaled to Crow to go ahead and answer their question. Crow looked towards his friend for a second before looking back towards the others. He then proceeded to explain the reason on why the bombs were special.

"The bombs aren't regular bombs…They're Nuclear Bombs."

Everyone's eyes, except Takashi's, widen the very instant Crow made his shocking revelation. Toru was about to punch him and Lilly, but he was stopped by Akiza. The young man tried to break free from her grip, but stopped trying when Akiza pointed out that the kids were still in the room with them. He then tried to calm down as best he could as Aiku started to talk.

"Nuclear bombs…" He started off. "Did you two ever realize that if the bombs went off that not only would it destroy the Satellite, but New Domino City as well?! Also, the result of a nuclear explosion would cause Japan to fire other nuclear missiles because they would believe that they were attacked. That would cause other countries to attack too, resulting in World War III!"

"…We know." Crow replied silently. "It was a mistake on our part."

"Mistake…?! A mistake is when you mess up on your homework, a mistake is when you go one way instead of going the other way. What you did sure as hell wasn't a mistake, it was you two being retarded!"

Once again Lilly and Crow kept quiet, knowing full well that they anger that Toru and Aiku were feeling was justified. Even though that it felt like a good idea at the time back then, the two of them knew very well that they aftermath of such a plan could result in a lot more than the destruction of their home.

Toru and Aiku were on the verge of lashing out at them, but they were once again stopped by Akiza. They were about to confront her, but stopped when they saw her body glowing slightly with a purple aura. She then looked at the two boys with a fierce glare.

"Sit down and be quiet…" She coldly told them.

Feeling afraid, the two of them complied with Akiza's demand. Once that happened, the aura around the young Psychic vanished. She then turned her attention towards Lilly and Crow and simply asked them one question.

"Can we stop it?"

"Yes…" Lilly answered.

"Okay…" Akiza stated. "That's all I needed to know. Lilly…Crow…tell me how are you going to handle this and I'll do my best to help you guys out."

"Yeah…same here." Wendy said. "I want to be of some help too."

Toru and Aiku were shocked that the two girls were quickly getting over what they just heard, but before they could say anything Akiza, having sensed what they were thinking, started talking again.

"We won't solve anything whining and bitching about what they did." She stated. "All we can do now is get over it, forgive them, and make sure that Amon's plan doesn't take place. We're going to need to work as a team if we want to get this done."

The two boys listened to what Akiza had to say and realized that she was right and that they all would need to work together if they wanted to save Satellite. So, though reluctant, Toru and Aiku forgave Lilly and Crow.

Once that happened, Lilly got up and looked towards the window. She then looked on as the sun was continuing to rise.

"It would be too obvious if we just did this now, so were going to stop Amon and his flunkies tonight, just before the bombs go off." She said. "We'll leave at sunset, during that time hopefully Takashi will be awake and you all and prepare yourselves for the battle ahead."

Everyone nodded their head and left the room so that they could prepare, all except Akiza, who was still tending to Takashi.

After a few minutes, while Crow was working on his deck, he started to hear something in the distance. Wondering what it was he moved closer towards the source of the noise. Once it became loud enough for him to hear, Crow realize that it was Martha and Lilly and that they two of them were talking. Not wanting to eavesdrop of their conversation, Crow attempted to leave. However he stopped when he heard something about Amon that caught his ear. He then listened in on their conversation.

"So you think that he's the one behind all of this?" Martha asked.

"Yeah…all of the evidence points to him." Lilly answered. "The only ones who knew about the plan before I told you were Crow, Kalin, and Alistair. Crow it's not like Crow to do this, Alistair is in New Domino City so he doesn't know what's going on, and Kalin is…is…"

"It's ok Lilly…I know." Martha said. "Anyway, that would only leave him. Still…I can't believe that he would do something like this. He was always a kind person whenever I saw him and even though his attitude change after that incident, he still seemed kind."

"Well apparently, like Kalin, he changed!" Crow said as he walked into the room that Lilly and Martha were in. "That kind boy is threatening to destroy our home!"

"How long have you been spying on us Crow?" Lilly asked.

"Only for a few minutes…." He said. "However, during that time, I was able to confirm my suspicions about who Amon really was. Lilly…when are you going to still the others about him?"

Lilly kept quiet for a few minutes as she really didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't until a little while later that she started talking.

"I can't do that. I just can't bring myself to tell them. So…Crow, I want you to tell everybody when you believe the time is right."

"…Why me?" He asked in a slight state of shock. "Why should I tell them?"

"You're better at this kind of stuff than me." Lilly stated. "Besides, if Amon really is him, then you should know why I can't reveal his identity to the others. So…so please do this for me."

Crow looked towards his childhood friend and that there was a look of pain and regret on her face, a look that he, himself, had many times in the past. Knowing that she really wanted him to do this, Crow did the only thing that he felt he could do.

"Alright Lilly…I'll tell them." He said.

"…Thank you Crow." She replied softly.

Hours later, while working on her deck, Akiza was still looking over Takashi who was still sleeping. As she looked at him, the young woman remembered when she revealed her feeling about him to Lilly, Toru, and Wendy and how all of them think that Takashi feels the same way. The thought this caused her to lose focus and made her drop all of her cards on the young man's face.

"Oh Crap…!" She thought as she quickly picked up all of her cards from off of her crush. "Damn it…how am I going to tell him how I feel if I can't even focus?"

As Akiza finished picking up the last of her cards, the young woman proceeded to gently wipe Takashi's face. Once she finished, she quietly looked at his face as he slept. She remembered what a kind expression he has when he smiles and how he can cheer her up with only a couple of words. At the same time she also remembered how fierce he can be as he's willing to kill somebody if it meant helping his friends.

"It's amazing on how strong he is…" She thought silently to herself. "When I first met him, I thought he was just a stupid boy who was just angry that I hurt his friend. However, I couldn't have been more wrong."

Akiza gently touched Takashi's cheek on where his first cross-shaped scar was and started rubbing it as she continued thinking to herself.

"I can tell that he's been through a lot in his life, more than any boy should have and have lost a lot people very close to him along the way. But despite all of that, he still kept moving forward. I don't know if I could have done that, but then again I'm here because of him."

As a small blush appeared on her face, Akiza slowly began to close the distance between herself and the man she loved. She began to close her eyes as she started thinking to herself one more time.

"No matter what may happen from this point forward, one thing will always remain the same. I love you, Takashi Nakamura. I'll love you…forever."

As Akiza's lips were just about to touch Takashi's, Wendy appeared and saw what was about to transpired. Excited, she hid herself behind a nearby chair and waited for the event to take place.

Unfortunately for both Wendy and Akiza, Takashi started moaning a little as he moved around on the couch. Akiza quickly opened her eyes and quickly backed away from him, not wanting him to see what she was about to do. Takashi soon sat up and started yawning a little before opening his eyes.

"Alright…I slept great!" He happily stated. "That breakfast and nap did just the trick. Now I'm all ready to take down that bastard Amon and his flunkies."

As Takashi stretched his limps, he soon noticed that Akiza was beside him and that her face was still very red. Wondering what was wrong with his friend, he sat by her.

"Are you feeling okay Akiza?" He asked out of concern. "You look red."

"Oh…um…really…?" The embarrassed Akiza asked. "I haven't…really noticed."

As Takashi closed the distance between the two, wanting to see if something was really wrong with his friend, Akiza's face quickly became redder and redder with each passing second.

Realizing that Akiza was in trouble, Wendy quickly walked up towards the two of them and started talking so that she can grab Takashi's attention.

"She was taking care of you." She said.

"Huh? Taking care of me?" Takashi asked as he turned towards Wendy.

"That's right. You see, while you were sleeping, Akiza has been spending all this time staying by your side and making sure that your wounds are healed."

"I see…" Takashi nodded his head and turned towards Akiza again, who still blushing. He then smiled at her. "Thank you Akiza. I really appreciate it that spent your time taking care of me."

The sight of Takashi's smile cause Akiza to smile herself as the blush slowly began to disappear from her face.

"Don't…mention it." She replied. "After all, you've done so much for me. This is the very least that I can do for you."

The two teenagers continued to smiling at one another, Wendy nodded with a sign of approval as she saw that things were moving in the right direction.

After about another hour, everyone was outside as the sun began to set. As she looked on at everyone, Lilly started speaking.

"Everyone…" She started out. "We're about to leave to stop Amon. However, before we do, we need to head over to Team Satisfaction's hideout so that I can obtain the plans to stop the bombs. It's going to be a long ride over there so I want to make sure that you're ready."

"We're ready." Takashi, Toru, Crow and Akiza said.

"I'm ready too."

Everyone turned and saw Aiku bring out his Duel Runner as he prepared himself to leave.

"I can tell that things are going to get really bad, I think its best that I come along and help you guys out."

"I don't know…" Crow said. "I mean, I'm sure you would be a great help to us, but we need someone to be here just in case they decide to attack this place."

"Don't worry." Aiku stated with a confident look on his face. "Even if they do attack here, this place is still well protected. Remember we have Toshiro here."

Crow looked towards Toshiro who proceeded to nod his head towards him. This indicated to Crow that Toshiro was confident in his ability to protect the orphanage in the case that something went wrong.

"Alright Toshiro…" He said. "I'll leave things to you."

"Good…" Takashi stated. He then looked towards Wendy. "Wendy, I want you to stay here as well. Use your power to heal anyone that gets hurt, but make sure to save enough to heal our wounds too."

"Okay Takashi." She replied with a smile on her face. "You can count on me."

"Alright, with that settle, let's get a move on!" Lilly declared. "We need to hurry up and make the first move before Amon and his Lieutenants decide to do the same."

"Too late for that, you wench!" A voice from the distance called.

Everyone looked on as they saw a man wearing both a mask and a Duel Disk standing on top of a hill, looking down on all of them. Both Takashi and Crow quickly realized, from the design of the mask, that it was one of Amon's Lieutenants.

"Aw…crap!" Toru said. "So much for us, making the first move…"

"You've got that right you little punk!" The Lieutenant stated as he continued to look at everyone. "Now…surrender immediately otherwise you'll leave no choice but to destroy each and every one of you."

"I don't think so, you bastard!" Toshiro declared as he stepped forward and activated his Duel Disk. "You're the one who needs to surrender. If you don't then you'll have to deal with me!"

The Lieutenant looked towards Toshiro, but paid him no mind as he felt that he wasn't a real threat. He then refocused his attention towards the others, only to see that they were all on Duel Runners and were getting ready to ride off. The Lieutenant was about to stop them, but he was soon stopped himself by Toshiro who proceeded to connect their Duel Disks with an electromagnetic cord.

"You're not going anywhere!" Toshiro yelled.

Lilly saw that Toshiro had things under control and quickly left the area before anything else happened. The others soon followed after her, not wanting to be left behind. Soon it was only Toshiro, Wendy, and the Lieutenant who were outside while Martha and the other kids looked on from inside the house.

"You little punk…" The Lieutenant said as he removed his mask, revealing that he had bright green hair and violet eyes. "You have now sealed your fate as I, Hiryu, will now kill you!"

As he watched his opponent activate his own Duel Disk, Toshiro prepared himself for the battle that he was about to engage in. He knew very well that if he didn't give it everything he had, then not only will it cost his friends, but it will cost him his very life too.

* * *

><p>"LET'S DUEL!"<p>

**Toshiro: 4000 LP**

**Hiryu: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Toshiro swiftly drew a card from his deck and added it to his hand. After that he then took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card "I Summon: Giant Rat, in Attack Mode!"

**Giant Rat: ATK 1400 DEF 1450 LVL 4**

As a giant grey rat appeared on Toshiro's side of the field, the young Duelist quickly took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down, behind his monster.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Ha…" Hiryu laughed. "If that's all you're going to do then I'll end this Duel by the 6th turn!"

The arrogant lieutenant drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that he then took a card and placed it onto his own Monster Card Zone.

"Now since you have a monster on the field and I do not, I can Special Summon: Elder of the Six Samurai, in Attack Mode!"

**Elder of the Six Samurai: ATK 400 DEF 0 LVL 3**

As the Six Samurai's elder appeared on the field, Hiryu quickly took another card from his deck and also placed it into his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Jutte Fighter, in Attack Mode and Tune it with my Elder of the Six Samurai to Synchro Summon: Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, in Attack Mode!"

**Jutte Fighter: ATK 700 DEF 900 LVL 2**

**Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En: ATK 2500 DEF 1400 LVL 5**

When Jutte Fighter emerged onto the field, it quickly flew up with the Elder of the Six Samurai and performed a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished, a warrior with silver armor appeared and stood next to Hiryu.

"Now…I think I'll have my Legendary Samurai attack your Giant Rat!"

"I don't think so!" Toshiro declared. "I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Force! With it, I can destroy all the monsters you have in Attack Mode since you just declared an attack!"

Shi En made his way towards the Giant Rat as a magical mirror stood in between the two. Toshiro was certain that his Trap Card would be effective, but unfortunately he was wrong. Shi En was able to destroy the mirror with one of his two swords and proceeded to destroy Giant Rat with his other one. The resulting shockwave from the attack knocked Toshiro to the ground just as his Life Points began to drop.

**Toshiro: 2900 LP**

As he got back to his feet, Toshiro started to wonder what happened.

"What the hell was that?!" He thought. "Is that the Psychic powers that I heard about? But more importantly, how was he able to destroy my Trap Card?!"

Hiryu was able to tell from his opponent's expression what his question was and proceeded to answer it for him.

"My Legendary Six Samurai's Special Ability allows it to negate and destroy one Spell or Trap Card my opponent activates! So, as long as Shi En remains on the field, you can't rely on your Spells and Traps!"

"Crap!" Toshiro said as he gritted his teeth.

This wasn't something that he wanted to hear as he knew that he would need as many Spells and Traps as he could use in this Duel. However, that didn't mean that he didn't have a contingency plan.

"I activate my Giant Rat's Special Ability! When it's destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon 1 Earth Attribute monster with 1500 or less Attack Points from my deck. The monster I choose to Special Summon is the Tuner Monster: XX-Saber Fulhelmknight!"

**XX-Saber Fulhelmknight: ATK 1300 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

In a bright flash of light, Fulhelmknight appeared on the field and took the place of Giant Rat. Hiryu, having already known the effect of Giant Rat, was prepared for this event to take place and proceeded to place a card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." He said.

The card appeared face-down on the field, behind Shi En. Once that happened, Toshiro began his next turn.

"Draw!" The young man swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. He then took a card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: XX-Saber Boggart Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**XX-Saber Boggart Knight: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

In an instant, Boggart Knight appeared in a bright flash of light and stood next to Fulhelmknight as Toshiro continued on with his turn.

"I now activate my Boggart Knight's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or below X-Saber monster from my hand. The monster I choose to Special Summon is: X-Saber Galahad!"

**X-Saber Galahad: ATK 1800 DEF 800 LVL 4**

XX-Saber Boggart Knight raised his sword as X-Saber Galahad appeared next to it in another flash of light.

"Now, I Tune my Level 4 X-Saber Galahad with my Level 3 XX-Saber Fulhelmknight in order to Synchro Summon: X-Saber Souza, in Attack Mode!"

**X-Saber Souza: ATK 2500 DEF 1600 LVL 7**

Galahad and Fulhelmknight flew high into the air and quickly performed a Synchro Summoning, thus allowing X-Saber Souza to appear and stand by Boggart Knight. When that happened, Toshiro look over the rest of his hand.

"Alright…" He said. "His monster's ability negates the activation of one of Spell or Trap Cards. However, that should only apply when it's his turn. If that's the case…"

Wanting to see if what he thought was true, Toshiro took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Equip Spell: Lightning Blade! With it, I can give my XX-Saber Boggart Knight an additional 800 Attack Points!"

"I don't think so!" Hiryu stated. "Did you forget that my Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En's Special Ability negates and destroys a Spell or Trap card you activate?! That includes during your turn as well!"

Boggart Knight raised its hand and proceeded to grab the Lightning Blade as it fell from the heavens. Unfortunately, the blade disappeared from its hand just as soon as it grabbed it. Toshiro was upset by this, but he had a feeling that would probably happen. He began to refocus himself as he continued on with his turn.

"I activate my X-Saber Souza's Special Ability!" He declared. "By sacrificing my XX-Saber Boggart Knight, I can give Souza a unique ability!"

Souza started glowing slightly as Boggart Knight vanished from the field. After about a few minutes, the glowing faded away.

"Now Souza, attack his Legendary Six Samurai!"

The X-Saber monster nodded his head and proceeded to make its way towards Shi En as Hiryu looked on with a shocked expression on his face. He didn't understand why Toshiro wanted to have his monster battle his own since they both have the same Attack Points. If they were to clash, they would end up destroying one another thus resulting in a draw.

However, the battle didn't in a draw. Though the battle lasted quite a while, Souza was eventually to overpower and defeat Shi En. The sight this caused Hiryu to open his eyes in shock.

"What the hell just happened…?!" He asked. "Both of our monsters should have been destroyed in that exchange! So how is it that your monster is still alive while mine his dead?!"

"I told you…" Toshiro said. "When X-Saber Souza activates its Special Ability, it gains a unique ability. It allows it to destroy a monster it battle before the start of the Damage Step, thus allowing it to survive in the battle it fought!"

Hiryu glared at Toshiro as he was annoyed that his opponent's monster had such an ability. However he was prepared for the eventually destruction of his monster and proceeded to activate his face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted, which allows me to Special Summon my Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En from the Graveyard!"

As another flash of light appeared on the field, Toshiro gritted his teeth again as he watched Shi En reappear by its master. He look over his hand and tried to see if there was something else he could do this turn and, even though one card caught his attention, he couldn't find any other cards he could play.

"I end my turn…" He said reluctantly.

"Good…now, it's time to show that your resistance his meaningless. Nothing you can do can prevent the coming of the New World!" Hiryu shouted.

The lieutenant quickly drew a card from his deck and added it to his hand. Once he did that he then took that same card and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, since I have another Six Samurai on my side of the field, I can Special Summon: Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, in Attack Mode!"

**Grandmaster of the Six Samurai: ATK 2100 DEF 800 LVL 5**

In another flash of light, a new Six Samurai monster appeared on the field and stood next to Shi En. This one had the appearance of a muscular old man who was wearing an eye patch over his left eye and was holding a large broad sword.

"Next, since I have 2 Six Samurai monsters out on my side of the field, I can now Special Summon: Great Shogun Shien, in Attack Mode!"

**Great Shogun Shien: ATK 2500 DEF 2400 LVL 7**

In one more flash of light, the new monster appeared and stood next to the rest of Hiryu's monsters. This one was covered in a thick brown armor that was covered with sharp spikes. Once it appeared, Hiryu then took a card from his hand inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now activate the Equip Spell: Legendary Sword, which lets my Shogun receive 300 additional Attack and Defense Points."

**Great Shogun Shien: ATK 2800 DEF 2700 LVL 7**

Shien held out his hand as the Legendary Sword materialized in from of him. As his grabbed the sword and began absorbing its energy, Hiryu continued on with his turn as he pointed towards X-Saber Souza.

"Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, attack X-Saber Souza!"

Shi En complied and proceeded to clash with Souza once more. However, this time around, both monsters ended up killing each other as their skills were just too evenly matched this time around. Once he saw Souza be destroyed, Hiryu then turned his attention towards Toshiro.

"Now, it's time to end this Duel. Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, attack his Life Points Directly!"

The Grandmaster nodded his head and made his way towards Toshiro. However, the young Duelist was able to discard one card from his hand to the Graveyard before the attack happened. This allowed the spirit of a Kuriboh to appear and protect him from the attack of the Grandmaster.

"Sorry, but thanks to my Kuriboh's Special Ability, I can reduce the damage from your Grandmaster's attack to zero!" He said.

"So What?!" Hiryu yelled. "That won't protect you from the assault of my Shogun's assault!"

Shien jumped into the air and raised the Legendary Sword over his head. He then made his way over towards Toshiro and slashed the young man across the chest. As his Life Points quickly began to drop, blood appeared from Toshiro's chest as he fell to the ground.

**Toshiro: 100 LP**

As Martha and the other kids looked on in horror, Toshiro struggled to keep himself from passing out from the pain. As he did, Hiryu started laughing at him.

"How did you like that, you fool?!" He asked. "Does it hurt, does make you want to cry? Well you deserve it, just as everyone here in the Satellite as well as the world deserves the things that are about to take place! Nothing can prevent the New World from taking place. Its destiny and nothing can change destiny!"

As the life began to fade from Toshiro's eyes, he began to hear the voices of Crow and Aiku, even though they weren't there with him.

"_Aiku…" _Crow called. _"Are you sure that it was a good idea to leave Toshiro there with that guy? I do not doubt his skills, but Toshiro tends to hesitate during his Duels. And since he's going against one of Amon's lieutenants, things might get bad over there."_

"_Don't worry…" _Aiku said in a reassuring voice. _"Toshiro may hesitate, but he has the strength to overcome that as well as any obstacle. Besides…I know that he'll win."_

"_What makes you say that?" _Crow asked.

"_Because I believe in him…"_

The word, Believe, echoed throughout Toshiro's mind as life began to return to his eyes. He then slowly got back to his feet as everyone looked on in shock. He then glared at Hiryu and he slowly grabbed a card from his hand.

"I can't…lose…" He stuttered as he coughed up some blood. "I can't afford…to lose…I have…too many people…counting on me…I can't lose….I WON'T LOSE!"

The young man firmly placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone, which resulted in a shroud of black aura to appear on the field. As Wendy look on, the aura felt very familiar to her.

"What is this feeling?" She thought. "It feels like the aura…of a Psychic Duelist, but not like Hiryu. No…not even like Sayer. It feels more like the aura that Akiza and I give off when we use our powers. But how can that be…?"

As Wendy continued to try and understand what was going on, Toshiro continued on with his turn as the darkness began to take form.

"Since I receive damaged this turn while I control no cards, I can Special Summon: Gorz the Emissary of Darkness!"

**Gorz the Emissary of Darkness: ATK 2700 DEF 2500 LVL 7**

The darkness continued to take form until a man with black hair and dark clothing appeared on the field next to Toshiro.

"I activate Gorz's Special Ability! When its Special Summoned by the means of Battle Damage, I can Special Summon 1 Emissary of Darkness Token, who's Attack and Defense equal to the amount of Battle Damage I took!"

**Emissary of Darkness Token: ATK 2800 DEF 2800 LVL 7**

Gorz raised his left hand as more darkness appeared beside him. He then began to create a copy of himself, one that was not only completely black in color, but also stronger than him too.

Hiryu was shocked beyond words by these chain of events as he was sure that Toshiro no longer had the strength to continue. However, not only is he still up, but also he summoned two monsters that he's never seen before. He soon found himself shaking from fear as he was becoming scared of these new monsters.

Toshiro, sensing the fear in his opponent, began his turn.

"Draw!" He yelled as he drew a card. When he looked at it a small smile appeared on his face. "I Summon the Tuner Monster: Effect Veiler, in Attack Mode!"

**Effect Veiler: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

The beautiful little sprite appeared on the field and stood next to Toshiro's Darkness monsters. Once that happened the young man took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn, to Special Summon: X-Saber Souza, from the Graveyard!"

A bright flash of light appeared on the field as Toshiro's X-Saber monster reappeared on the field and stood next to his other monsters. The young man then smiled some more as he continued on with his turn.

"Now, I Tune my Level 7 X-Saber Souza with my Level 1 Effect Veiler to Synchro Summon: Colossal Fighter, in Attack Mode!"

**Colossal Fighter: ATK 2800 DEF 1000 LVL 8**

Both Effect Veiler and X-Saber Souza flew high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning, resulting in the appearance of Colossal Fighter. The powerful Synchro monster stood over his master as it looked towards Hiryu and his monsters.

"Colossal Fighter's Special Ability allows it to gain 100 extra Attack Points for every Warrior-Type monster in our respective Graveyards. In total there are 6 Warriors in the Grave, resulting in a 600 Attack Point bonus!

**Colossal Fighter: ATK 3400**

The giant Warrior monster began glowing in a white aura as it absorbed the energies of all the fallen Warriors in the Graveyard. As that happened, Toshiro looked towards Hiryu.

"Darkness Token, attack his Great Shogun Shien!" He declared.

The Emissary of Darkness Token quickly became a shroud of darkness again and made its way towards Shien. As Hiryu looked on in shock, he neglected to activate Shien's Special Ability thus allowing both monsters to be destroyed.

"And now that two more Warrior-Type monsters have been destroyed, Colossal Fighter receives another 200 extra points!" Toshiro pointed out.

**Colossal Fighter: ATK 3600**

"Now Colossal Fighter, destroy Grandmaster of the Six Samurai!"

The fighter obeyed its ordered and proceeded to crush the Grandmaster with its extremely large fist. The shocked caused the ground to shake as everyone in the area was beginning to lose their balance.

**Hiryu: 2500 LP**

As his opponents continued to look on in shock, Toshiro pointed his finger at him.

"You said that destiny can't be changed, but I'm here to tell you that you're wrong." He said. "Destiny is _always _changing, and it changes do to our actions. So don't say that your groups plan is destined to happen as it will be stopped!"

Hiryu became angered by Toshiro's words and proceeded to rush over to him in a blind rage. However, before he could even get close, Gorz stood in his way and stared him down.

"Gorz the Emissary of Darkness…attack his Life Points Directly!"

Gorz fired a giant blast of dark aura at Hiryu, causing the lieutenant to be consumed by it as he screamed in agony.

**Hiryu: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded, Toshiro fell to ground as he finally succumbed to his injuries. Fortunately Wendy was there and she quickly began to close his wounds using her unique Psychic Powers. As she healed him, she began thinking to herself.<p>

"That confirms it…" She thought. "He does have Psychic Powers."

She turned her head and saw that Hiryu was nowhere to be seen. The Darkness from Gorz's attack destroyed him completely as the only thing that remained was his Duel Disk, which was destroyed due to the electromagnetic cord that was connected to it. She looked back towards Hiryu.

"He has a lot of untapped power within himself. Maybe…"

As she continued to think to herself, Martha rushed over towards them and checked on Toshiro. Wendy saw that she was worried about him, but she gently smiled at her.

"Don't worry…" She said. "Toshiro will be fine. All he needs is a good night's sleep and he should be good to go."

"Thank you…" Martha said as she knelt down and held Toshiro. "Thank you so much…"

Martha took her stepson into the house and proceeded to finish where Wendy left off. Before heading in too, Wendy looked towards the direction where Takashi and the others left.

"Guys…be careful." She said softly.

Meanwhile, at Amon's headquarters, one of his Lieutenants was looking towards at a scanner while Amon was looking towards the window. After a few seconds, the lieutenant walked over towards his leader.

"My Lord…" He said. "Hiryu's energy reading as just disappeared. It's very likely that he was just killed by our enemies."

"I know Kazuki…" Amon said, not turning his attention away from the window. "Your device moves to slow so I began sensing Hiryu's Spiritual Pressure reading. Hiryu's been dead for almost 10 minutes now, at the very moment I couldn't sense him anymore."

"Of course…" The Lieutenant known as Kazuki knew that Amon as unique powers and he berated himself for not knowing that his lord probably sensed Hiryu's death. "What should we do now?"

"We wait…" Amon answered. "One of our subordinates is currently waiting for our guest at their destination. If he can delay, if not stop them, then it's all good. However, I doubt that he'll be successful."

"What makes you say that, My Lord?" Kazuki asked,

"Because she's there with them…" Amon answered.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As our heroes reached Team Satisfactions old hideout, they begin looking for the plans needed to disarm the nuclear bombs. However they are soon ambushed by a member of the Crashing Sharks who has a grudge against one of our heroes. Now they're placed in a situation in which only one can live while the others die. _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 35 – The Gate of Betrayal_

_Will one betrayal the others or will they all share the same fate?_

_**Announcements**_

_Hey guys, sorry for the month long delay, but I'm been super busy. With work and school coming up I've haven't had any time to update. I'll try to upload two more chapters before next Monday as my way of saying sorry. Please forgive me and please continue to read and review Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. _


	35. Chapter 35

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 35: **_The Gate of Betrayal_

* * *

><p>As the sun beginning to set and day was turning into night, Takashi and the others were still making their way to Team Satisfaction's hideout with Lilly taking the lead. As she rode along the rocky road, the young woman had very distant look on her face. Takashi, having noticed it for some time now, wanted to ride up and talk to her. However, before he got the chance to do so, Crow got in front of him and shook his head in disapproval.<p>

"Don't bother her right now…" He requested. "Lilly has a lot on her mind right now and I think she wants to handle them by herself."

Takashi turned his attention towards Lilly again and saw that she continued to have the same distant look on his face. Despite the fact that he wanted to talk to her, he decided to take Crow's advice and say nothing to her for the time being.

Meanwhile, Aiku and Toru were busying talking to one another as they continued to follow Lilly and the others.

"Toru…How strong do you think Takashi is?" Aiku asked.

"Why do you ask?" Toru asked, answering his friend's question with one of his own. "You should Duel him and find out for yourself."

"I know, but I want to have your opinion. Besides, out of everyone here, you're the one who's Dueled him the most."

"I guess…" Toru knew that Aiku was right on that account and since he really wanted to know how good his best friend was, the young man decided to tell him. "Takashi is an extremely powerful Duelist who's able to hold his own against almost any opponent he happens to come across. He normally tries to outsmart his opponent by either Summoning Monsters or playing Spell/Trap Cards whose effect allows him to get past his opponents defenses.

"I see…" Aiku replied.

The young Duelist looked towards Takashi as he continued on the path to the hideout while Akiza held onto his back. He then started thinking to himself.

"Takashi Nakamura….he's the son of Sakura Nakamura, the Legendary World Queen." He thought. "I can tell just by looking at him that he's an incredible Duelist, but there something more than that. It's like he has mysterious power deep inside of him. That power…is very similar to my own."

As he continued to think, Aiku soon noticed that everyone was slowing down. When he lifted his head to check what was going on, he saw that he was in front of a large abandoned building.

"What is this place…?"

"It's the hideout…of Team Satisfaction." Lilly answered.

The young woman parked her Duel Runner and took her helmet off before making her way towards the entrance. The others proceeded to do the same thing and follow after her. Once they made their way inside the building, Toru began to examine the area. The walls were decaying and lot of the machines that were inside was rusted pretty badly.

"Holy shit…" He said. "It's like something came in here and took a dump all over the place."

Takashi elbowed Toru in the gut, causing him to hold his stomach in pain. As he tried to catch his breath, Toru looked towards Takashi as he shook his head in disapproval.

"There's a time and a place to say things Toru…" He said. "You, of all people, should know that better than anyone else. Especially after, _you know what_."

As he got back to his feet, Toru understood what Takashi meant by his words. He then proceeded to shake off the pain that he was feeling and continue walking inside. Meanwhile, Akiza looked at Takashi with a slightly puzzled look on her face.

"_You know what_?" She thought. "What does that mean? Could it be what Toru told me last night?"

The young Psychic Duelist remembered when Toru told her that Takashi lost something he loved nearly 6 years ago. She wondered if Takashi was referring to that incident. However, before she could continue thinking about it, Akiza saw that she was being left behind while the others walked ahead. She then decided to put her thoughts on hold for now and make her way back towards the others.

After about 7 minutes of walking around, Lilly eventually led the other into a room that was field with several mechanical pieces such as Duel Disk parts and computers.

"What is this place?" Takashi asked. "It looks like some type or garage or office."

"Well, you can kind of say that it's both." Crow answered. "This place is where all of Team Satisfaction would work and plan out our strategies."

"And what's with these parts?" Akiza asked as she picked up the broken pieces of a Duel Disk.

"The Satellite Sector is like the dumping ground for all the trash in New Domino City." Crow explained as he gently took the Duel Disk from Akiza's hands. "Most Duel Disks have a tracking chip that allows Sector Security to know if an unauthorized Duel is taking place, since Dueling is forbidden over here. So we needed to make our own Duel Disks that connected to the Dueling Network but, at the same time, don't possess the chip. It took a couple of tries to finally get it down, but eventually we were able to create our own Duel Disks. Well…when we say we, I mean to say Lilly. She is a genius when it comes to mechanics."

Everyone looked towards Lilly as the young woman was looking throughout the room for something. Takashi, Toru, and Akiza all knew too well how smart Lilly was when it comes to things like that. Especially since she spends a good portion of her day just working on her Duel Runner.

"Hey Crow…" Takashi called. "Did Lilly happen to make her Duel Runner from scratch too?"

"That's right. While I was given my Runner by a close friend of mine, Lilly used the spare parts that were lying around the area to make her very own Duel Runner. I think she was 12 when she started the first time around and finished it when she was 16."

"Wow, that's even more impressive that you Toru." Takashi said as he looked towards his friend. "It took you double that amount of time to fix the Runner you have and even then you needed my help when it came to the last couple of parts."

"I guess…" Toru replied. "But don't forget that she had the parts all around here while I had little to no parts around."

As the two had a mini argument about how the quickness of making Duel Runners, Aiku started walking over a nearby desk and began scanning the area. He then saw that the damage computer that on the desk still had a little bit of power. He then proceeded to sit down and attempt to start it up. Crow noticed this and began to look over at what he was doing.

"What are you trying to do Aiku?" He asked.

"I'm trying to see if there's any information on this computer that we can use." Aiku answered as he continued to work. "However, this system is pretty old and badly damaged. It might take me a while to get any results."

"Let me help."

Everyone turned their heads as they saw Lilly by Aiku. She then proceeded to place a picture on the table before helping Aiku get the computer started up. As the two of them worked, Akiza took a look at the picture that Lilly placed on the table. The picture contained the image of a young Lilly and Crow along with two other boys. The first one had black hair while the other had silver hair. All 4 of them seemed to be having a good time as they were smiling.

"Nice picture…" She said.

Takashi, Crow, and Toru walked over and each of them got a good look at the picture. Upon looking at it, Crow placed the photo back down on the table and closed his eyes for a moment. He soon took everyone, with the exception of Lilly and Aiku, into the other room so that they could talk without constraints.

"The photo just looked at was Team Satisfaction about 4 years ago." He explained.

Takashi, Akiza, and Toru all looked at one another for a few moments before turning their attention back towards Crow. They then spoke the following words in unison.

"We already know that."

As Crow's widen and mouth opened in shocked, his three friends proceeded to give their own explanation on how they came to their realization.

"I can tell just by your faces…" Akiza said. "You all looked so happy and close and since this was your hideout, I figured you all would a picture of everyone."

"It was your clothes that give it away to me." Toru explained. "You all dress similar clothing, kind of like uniforms."

"And you know me…" Takashi said. "I've already met all of you when I entered the Satellite the first time. There was you, Lilly, that Kalin guy, and that jerk Alistair."

As Crow nodded his head, Toru started to think about something upon hearing Alistair's name.

"Alistair…Alistair…I've heard that name before." He thought. "Could he be…nah…it couldn't be."

The young man erased his thoughts from his mind and refocused his attention towards the others as they were beginning another conversation.

"But wait a minute…" Akiza said. "Why do we have to be out here when we talk about this? I mean, I sure Aiku would like to know and Lilly knows all of this already."

"The fact that Lilly knows is precisely the reason why we're out here." Crow answered. "You see…certain events took place that really hurt Lilly. We can't have her more distant than she already is and really don't want to see her upset…"

"Why…?"

Crow was about to explain to them what he meant but, before he had the chance too, the door behind him opened and Aiku appeared.

"The computer is up and running." He informed. "We found something that you just got to see."

Everyone complied as they made their way back inside the previous room. They then walked over towards Lilly, who presented them the information that she and Aiku found before looking back at the picture.

"Lilly and I managed to find the location of the plans needed to disarm the bombs." Aiku explained. "It took a bit, but they seemed to be located in the basement level."

"Alright then…let's get going. The longer we wait the less time we have." Takashi said.

Everyone nodded their heads and proceeded to leave the room, all except Lilly who was still looking at the picture. Crow took notice of this and walked over to her.

"C'mon Lilly…you have to learn to put the past behind you." He said. "What happened back then wasn't your fault."

Lilly didn't respond to what Crow had to say at first, all she did was keep to herself as she looked at the photo. After a few she took the photo from out of the frame, folded it up, and placed it into her pocket. She then began to walk away.

"What happened back then was my fault." She said. "I should have done something to prevent it."

As the young woman left the room, all Crow could do was sigh before following after her.

"How did things go so wrong between the 4 of us?" He thought.

After about 20 minutes of walking deep underground, the group finally reached the level where the location of the plans was located. The area was similar to that of train tunnel as it only went one way.

"This place stinks…" Toru said while holding his nose. "Why the hell would you hide the plans in here?!"

"Mr. Silver Hair wanted them to be in a place where only we can reach them." Crow said.

"Mr. Silver Hair?" Toru scratched his head in confusion, but soon figured out who Crow was referring too. "Oh…you mean Kal-"

Takashi and Akiza covered Toru's mouth at the same time, informing him that he shouldn't speak the name that he was about to say.

"Okay…okay…I get it." He said while his voice was being filtered by the hands. "Can you let me go now?"

Toru's friends looked at one another for a few moments before complying too his request. Once that happen everyone reached the end of the tunnel where say saw two levers in the wall up ahead.

"There it is…" Lilly said softly.

As they made their way towards the exit however, they soon came across a young man who was blocking their path.

"Hey, what are you doing down here?" Crow asked.

The young man didn't say anything at first and just kept to himself. Soon though, he moved over to one of the two levers and grabbed the one on the left. Realizing the danger, Crow and Lilly attempted to rush over to where he was, but they were too late. The man pulled the lever that he was holding down and soon the ground began to shake.

"What's happening?" Toru asked. "What the hell is going on?"

Takashi, Akiza, and Aiku wondered the same thing as they were also puzzled by the sudden earthquake. Soon everyone began hearing something coming from the ceiling and, as they looked up, saw that the wall was coming down.

"Oh Crap…Run!"

Everyone ran as fast as they could, trying to reach the end of the tunnel before the ceiling fell on top of them. Unfortunately they weren't fast enough and they only thing that they could hope to do was catch the ceiling before it crushed them. Everyone lifted their hands up and prepared themselves for impact. When it landed on their hands and everyone was exerting all the strength that they had so that the weight of the ceiling doesn't crush them.

"Damn it…" Aiku cursed. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's simple…All of you have entered the Gate of Betrayal." A voice from the other side of the room replied.

Everyone looked over towards the end of the tunnel, all the while struggling to keep the ceiling up. They soon saw the young man reveal himself to them. He was around their age and he had grey hair with black eyes. Lilly looked on with a disgusted look on her face as she watched the man walk towards them.

"Hisashi…" She spoke.

"In the flesh…" He replied. "I'm so glad that you remember me Lilly, because I haven't forgotten about you."

As the two of them glared at one another, Toru was becoming confused by the situation. This confusion lead to him becoming distracted, thus causing the ceiling to fall a little bit more.

"Stay focus on the weight or you'll kill us all!" Crow yelled as he turned towards him.

"Sorry…" Toru said as he brought all of his attention back towards the weight of the ceiling. "But still…how do those two know each other?"

"Let's just say that the two of them have history…" Crow answered.

"History…" Hisashi said, while keeping his eyes towards Lilly. "Oh we have more than just history, Crow. This woman here betrayed our cause and for that…she, and all of her friends, will die!"

"Don't count on it!" Takashi yelled.

The young man used all of his strength to try and lift the ceiling up so that everyone could escape. However, he simply wasn't strong enough has the ceiling didn't even move an inch. The sight of that caused Hisashi to laugh.

"It's pointless, you fool!" He declared. "The Crashing Sharks and I have modified the ceiling so that the moment it falls it locks onto the strength of its victims. Just enough leeway will allow one of you to escape, but the moment you do the remaining of you will escape."

"Damn it…" Takashi cursed.

"I advise all of you to make a decision quickly." Hisashi continued. "Not even the 6 of you combined can hold the ceiling up for long. If you insist on teamwork then everyone will be crush. Only by turning against one another will one of you be allowed to escape. Only the traitor among deserves to live. This is way this is called the _Gate of Betrayal_!"

As Hisashi started laughing in a more hysterical tone, Lilly was becoming more and more annoyed by his arrogance. All she wanted to do at that moment was beat the crap out of him for delaying her from her mission. However she knew that if she did that, the ceiling would fall and her friends would die. With no option left to her, the young woman simply gritted her teeth as she continued to glare at her foe.

The others felt the same way that Lilly did, but they also knew that any false moves could spell the end for the others. Not only that, they also knew that if they didn't do something then everyone would die.

"There has to be a way out of this!" Akiza said to herself. "There just has to be!"

"There is no way out of this, little girl." Hisashi said as he kept his attention towards Lilly. "There are only two roads for you all. Either one of you dies or all of you die."

As the arrogant young man started laughing again, Takashi noticed that the switched to deactivate the ceiling was just behind Hisashi and that it was being left unguarded. He then turned his attention towards Lilly and saw from the look on her face that she was about to let go of the ceiling and attack Hisashi and any moment. It was then that the young man quickly formed a plan in his mind and began to act upon it.

"Lilly!" He called.

Lilly turned her head slightly, while trying to keep the ceiling up. She then looked at her friend as she saw his mark glowing, causing a blue aura to surround him.

"I know that you want to stop this guy…so here is what you need to do." He said. "I've been training on how to use this power ever since the battle against Sayer and the Arcadia Movement. I haven't made much progress, but I can summon this aura on my own for short periods of time. It gives me an extra boost of strength, which should allow me to support your weight along with my own."

"What are you trying to say Takashi?" Crow asked.

"What I'm saying is that I want Lilly to go and deactivate the Gate while I hold her part of the ceiling up!" Takashi answered. "It's the only way we can all survive this!"

"But Takashi…" Toru interjected. "If that's the case why don't I…"

Before Toru could finish his sentence, Lilly quickly ran out of the Gate. This caused the ceiling to fall slightly, forcing everyone to struggle even more than before. Luckily for everyone, Takashi's boost of strength allowed them to keep the ceiling from crushing them all.

"It has to be Lilly…" He thought. "She needs to get rid of the personal issues she has with this Hisashi guy."

Upon reaching the outside of the Gate of Betrayal, Lilly quickly ran for the switch that would release her friends. However, before she could get close enough to it, a strong cable appeared and connected itself to her Duel Disk. When she turned around, Lilly saw that it was Hisashi who through the cable as he proceeded to connect the other end of it to his own Duel Disk.

"Don't you dare think that you can just leave the Gate and pull the lever!" Hisashi said as he placed the Duel Disk on his arm. "If you truly want to save your friends then you also have to beat me. However, I should warn you that I'm not at the same level that I was 2 years ago. I've been training every day since then and this time, you will not defeat me!"

"Shut up and Duel!" Lilly said in a fierce tone of voice as she knew that time was running out for the others.

Both Duelist inserted the Decks into their Duel Disk and proceeded to activate them both at the same time.

* * *

><p>"LET'S DUEL!"<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Hisashi: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first…Draw!" Hisashi slowly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand.

Once he did that, the young man then took his time as he tried and decide what he should do next.

"Hurry the hell up!" Lilly demanded.

"Don't rush me Lilly…" Hisashi said in a sly tone of voice. "The beginning of a Duel is always important. I need to take my time and plan things accordingly. Doing that will surely allow me to prevail."

Lilly didn't buy into anything that Hisashi was saying. She knew well that all Hisashi wanted to do was delay the Duel until the Gate crushed her friends. This annoyed her greatly, but she knew well that there was nothing she could do at the moment.

Eventually, after about 3 minutes, Hisashi continued on with his turn.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Reese the Ice Mistress, in Attack Mode!"

**Reese the Ice Mistress: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

As a small flash of light covered the field, a beautiful ice mistress appeared and stood in front of Hisashi. She was wearing a very colorful armor that consisted of light blue, yellow, white, a pink. The mistress also had beautifully pink hair and blue eyes, which went well with the armor that she was wearing.

"I then set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

As the face-down card appeared behind Reese, Lilly began her turn.

"Draw…!" She yelled as she drew a card. "I Summon: Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

As another flash of light appeared on the field, Magician's Valkyria appeared onto the field. The beautiful Spellcaster-Type monster stood in front of her master as she awaited orders from Lilly.

"Go Magician's Valkyria…Attack Reese the Ice Mistress with your Chaos Scepter Blast!" Lilly declared.

Valkyria complied with Lilly's orders and proceeded to fire a blast of green magical energy from her large scepter. The attack made contact with Reese, causing a holographic explosion to appear on the field.

**Hisashi: 3200 LP**

"How was that?!" Lilly asked with some confidence in her voice.

"How's what?" Hisashi replied.

As Lilly looked on, and saw the smoke clearing, she saw that Reese was still standing. The sight of this surprised her greatly.

"Sorry Lilly…" Hisashi said. "But my Reese the Ice Mistress can't be destroyed through Battle against monsters who's Levels are Level 4 or higher."

Lilly gritted her teeth in anger as Hisashi was probably expecting her on summoning a Level 4 or higher monster this turn.

"Stop spacing out Lilly!" Crow cried.

The young woman turned towards her friends and saw that the ceiling was slowly making its way down towards them. She also saw that Takashi was having an extremely hard time supporting her portion of the ceiling as the use of his powers was causing him to become fatigued.

"Damn it…" She said softly. "I set one card face-down on the field and end my turn."

As a face-down card appeared behind Magician's Valkyria, Hisashi smiled to himself as he slowly began his turn.

"Draw…" He said as he added a card to his hand. "For this turn…I think I'll Summon: Elemental Hero Ocean, in Attack Mode."

**Elemental Hero Ocean: ATK 1500 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A small whirlpool of water appeared in front of Hisashi as both he and Lilly watched E-Hero Ocean appear and stand by Reese. As the two monsters looked toward Lilly and her magician, the young woman already knew what was coming up next.

"Now…I think I'll Tune my Level 4 Elemental Hero Ocean with my Level 2 Reese the Ice Mistress to Synchro Summon: Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier."

**Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: ATK 2300 DEF 1400 LVL 6**

Ocean and Reese jumped high into air and quickly performed the sequence for a Synchro Summoning. Once they did a bright flash of light covered the area as a new monster appeared onto the field. This monster was a giant Ice Dragon with beautiful blue scales and red eyes. On the top of the dragon's head was red ruby, which shined as bright as an evening star.

"I knew that he was going to Synchro Summon a monster this turn." Lilly thought. "Well that's fine with me, I'm ready for it. The moment that monster attacks I'll activate my Mirror Force Trap Card. With Mirror Force, all Attack Position monsters on his side of the field will be destroyed, thus leaving him vulnerable to a Direct Attack."

"Now…I think I'll attack with my Brionac" Hisashi said. "But before I do, I'm going to activate its Special Ability. By discarding any number of cards from hand to the Graveyard, I can send that same number of cards on the field to their owner's hand."

"What?!" Lilly said in shock.

Hisashi took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Graveyard. Once he did that, Brionac's ruby started glowing even brighter as the dragon looked towards Lilly.

"I discard two cards to return your face-down card and Magician's Valkyria back into your hand." Hisashi said with a smile on his face.

As the glow of Brionac's ruby glowed even brighter than before, both of Lilly's cards began to disappear from the field.

"Oh…no…" Crow said as the weight was beginning to overcome him. "Lilly…"

"Now then Lilly…" Hisashi said. "With you all alone I think I'll have my Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier…ATTACK YOUR LIFE POINTS DIRECTLY!"

Brionac yelled furiously as it proceeded to fire a giant ice beam attack from its large mouth. The attack hit Lilly, causing an explosion to appear around her.

**Lilly: 1700 LP**

As the smoke around her began to clear Lilly was still somewhat shaken up by the attack just made on her by Brionac. The sight of this caused Hisashi to break out laughing.

"How do you like that you little Bitch?!" He said. "Don't worry they'll be more coming your way very soon. You're going to pay for what you did to my big brother Kalin! You're going to lose your friends just like how I lost him!"

Hisashi's words caused Lilly to remember about something that happened in the past. Upon remembering that event, a sad expression appeared on her face.

"Now…Let's continue with your suffering. I think I'll play the Spell Card: Monster Reborn, to revive my Reese the Ice Mistress, in Defense Mode. After that I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."

As Reese reappeared on the field, a face-down card appeared behind her and Brionac. The two monsters then looked towards Lilly as she continued to remember about the past.

Meanwhile, back at the Gate, Takashi and the other were still struggling to keep the ceiling up. Akiza joined Takashi and used her powers to try and keep everyone from being crushed. However, even though their powers were buying them time, everyone was already on both knees and fatigue was starting to kick in.

"Damn…we're running out of time here." Aiku said. "If Lilly doesn't do something quickly, all of us are going to end up becoming pancakes."

"Yeah…what's taking Lilly so long to crush this guy?" Toru asked.

"It's a long story…" Crow said. "I'll explain it later."

The Blackwing Duelist looked towards Lilly as he saw her starting to lose hope. Not wanting to see her like that, Crow did the only thing he thought he could do for her.

"Lilly, you need to snap out of it!" He yelled. "What happened back then wasn't your fault and you know it. Look, I know how much you cared about Kalin, but it was his own fault that he ended up dying. Besides…if you truly want to honor him as the person he use to be…then you must defeat Hisashi and set us free. Once you do that we can stop Amon and his cronies!"

Lilly looked toward her friends and saw all of them looking at her. Each of them nodded their head, giving off their belief that they trusted Lilly to help them and they would support her through this struggle. With this support, Lilly nodded her own head before wiping some of the tears that were coming from her eyes. She then turned her attention towards Hisashi.

"Listen Hisashi…" She said. "I know you blame me for Kalin's death and, in a sense, you have every right to be angry with me. However, I won't let you stop me from defeating Amon. I won't let his plan come to pass!"

"Shut up Lilly!" Hisashi yelled. "You have no right to say something like that! Besides, you won't defeat me. Not as long as I have my Brionac, the Dragon of the Ice Barrier out on my field!"

"Well…very soon your dragon is going to be on my side of the field. I Draw…!"

Lilly swiftly drew a card from her deck with a new confidence in her eyes. She then looked at the cards in her hand and quickly formed a strategy that would enable her to make good on her attempt to control Brionac.

"First I play the Spell Card: Swords of Revealing Light! With this, you won't be able to attack me with any of your monsters for 3 turns."

Out from the sky, several golden appeared and struck Hisashi's side of the field. The power of the swords caused both his monsters to be frozen in place.

"I then set 4 cards face-down on the field and Summon: Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode. After that, I end my turn."

As Magician's Valkyria reappeared by Lilly and took a defensive position of her, 4 face-down cards appeared behind the Spellcaster.

"My turn…Draw!" Hisashi yelled. "I Summon: Spined Gillman, also in Attack Mode!"

**Spined Gillman: ATK 1300 DEF 0 LVL 3**

As a giant whirlpool formed on Hisashi's side of the field, Lilly saw a giant sea serpent appear. The serpent had blue and purple scales and was holding a red trident in the palm of its hand.

"When Spined Gillman is on the field all Fish, Sea Serpent and Aqua-Type monsters receive 400 extra Attack Points.

**Reese the Ice Mistress: ATK 1200**

**Spined Gillman: ATK 1700**

**Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: ATK 2700**

"Next, I send 2 cards from my hand to the Graveyard to send your Swords of Revealing Light and one of your face-down cards back into your hand!"

Brionac's ruby started glowing again as Hisashi placed two cards into the Graveyard while Lilly returned the two cards he choose back into her hand. Once they finished, Lilly proceeded to activate her other face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Threatening Roar!" She declared. "With this Trap, you can't attack me this turn!"

"I don't think so bitch!" Hisashi replied. "I also activate a Trap Card: Seven Tools of the Bandit! By giving up 1000 Life Points, I can negate the activation of your Trap and destroy it."

**Hisashi: 2200 LP**

"Now…with that Trap Card out of the way…I can now attack your Valkyria with my Brionac!"

The mighty Dragon of the Ice Barrier launched its ice attack and Valkyria, freezing the mage in an instant. Shortly after that, the ice shattered into several pieces, killing Valkyria.

**Lilly: 600 LP**

"Well, well…looks like this is the end for you Lilly." Hisashi said with a smile on his face. "The time is now for me to avenge Kalin. Spined Gillman, attack her Life Points Directly!"

Gillman complied with its orders and prepared to end the Duel with one final blow. As everyone at the Gate looked on, Lilly proceeded to activate her 3rd face-down card."

"I activate the Trap Card: Defense Draw!" She declared. "With this Trap Card, the Battle Damage from this attack becomes 0 zero and I get to draw a card."

Gillman's Trident ran struck Lilly's body as the young woman drew another card from her deck. Once looked at the card, the young woman smiled and placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"I Special Summon: Watapon, in Defense Mode!"

**Watapon: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

A small flash of light appeared on Lilly's side of the field as adorable creature with fluffy fur and huge blue eyes appeared beside her.

"When I draw Watapon outside of my Draw Phase, I can Special Summon onto the field."

Hisashi glared at Lilly as she stood confidently with her new monster. The sight of this, along with the fact that he didn't have any more cards in his hand only fueled his hatred towards his opponent.

"You're only delaying the inevitable Lilly…" He said. "One way or another, you are going to pay for what you did to my brother."

"I already know that Hisashi…" Lilly said as she began her turn. "But today isn't going to be that day! I Draw…!"

Upon drawing a card from her deck, Lilly smiled as she heard a voice from inside of her mind.

"_It's time to end this." _The voice said to her.

Lilly nodded her head as she proceeded to place the card into her hand. After that she proceeded to activate her final face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: DNA Surgery!" She declared. "For as long as this card is out, every monster will become the type that I choose and the one I choose is Dragon!"

Hisashi looked on as he saw all of his monsters begin taking on dragon-type characteristics. As that was happening, Lilly quickly activate one of the Spell Cards that was in her hand.

"Next, I activate the Spell: Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards from my deck."

Lilly swiftly drew the top two cards from her deck and placed them into her hand. Once she did that, Lilly placed the card that she drew at the beginning of her turn, onto her Duel Disk.

"Now, I sacrifice Watapon to Summon: Dark Magician Girl, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

In a bright flash of pink light, Dark Magician girl appeared on the field and promptly stood beside Lilly. Through the power of DNA Surgery, the beautiful magician began developing dragon type characteristics, such as scales and fangs.

"What the hell are you trying to do Lilly?!" Hisashi asked angrily. "Your pathetic Dark Magician Girl is may be strong enough to destroy my Spined Gillman, but it's nowhere near the strength to defeat my Brionac!"

"I know that Hisashi…" Lilly admitted. "But Brionac is going to help Dark Magician Girl."

"And what makes you think that?" He asked.

Lilly smiled as she turned her head slightly towards Takashi. She then saw the young man smiling at her as she activated another one of her Spell Cards.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Super Polymerization! With this Spell, I can Fusion Summon using monsters on my side of the field and your side of the field. I fuse my Dark Magician Girl with your Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier to Fusion Summon: Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight!"

**Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight: ATK 2600 DEF 1700 LVL 8**

A giant vortex appeared above the field, causing both of the Fusion Material monsters to be sucked inside of it. After a few minutes, Dark Magician Girl appeared in her dragon armor while she rode on top of Brionac.

"Lilly, you bitch!" Hisashi said. "How dare you take my monster, I will make you pay for that."

"You won't be doing anything Hisashi, because Dark Magician Girl gains several unique abilities when she's in her Dragon Knight Mode." Lilly explained. "The first is that she gains half the attack points of the dragon she fused with."

**Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight: ATK 3750**

"Next, she also gains all of the abilities of the Dragon she fused with. Meaning that I can send the last two cards I have in my hand to the Graveyard, to send your Spinded Gillman and Reese the Ice Mistress back into your hand!"

"What?!" Hisashi looked on in shocked as he saw his remaining monster vanish from the field the moment, Brionac's ruby started glowing.

Once the field Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight was on the only monster on the field, Lilly proceeded to end the Duel.

"Attack Dark Magician Girl…" She ordered. "Go, Burning Sub-Zero!"

Dark Magician Girl raised her sword and fired a blast of magical energy towards Hisashi. Once that happened, Brionac fired its ice attack towards its former master as well. The two attacks combined into one giant blast, which proceeded to consume Hisashi entirely.

**Hisashi: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms slowly began to fade away, Lilly disconnected the cable that attached to her Duel Disk and ran straight for the lever that operated the Gate of Betrayal. Once she got to it, she lifted it up so that the ceiling would rise.<p>

The other soon noticed this and quickly let go of the ceiling, allowing them to rest their arms.

"Thank you Lilly…" They all said in unison.

Lilly looked towards them as she sighed with relief. She then turned her attention towards Hisashi, as he was in disbelief.

"Hisashi…" She thought. "I know how you feel when it comes to revenge. However, getting revenge on someone doesn't magically bring the person who you lost back to life. All it does it bring more hatred, which continues into a never-ending cycle. One day…I hope you can figure that out."

The young woman walked around the area for a few moments until she found what she was looking for. She then proceeded to place her hand on the stone wall, pushing out a small brick. Once it was out, she put her hand inside the hole and quickly grabbed a piece of paper.

"This is it." She said quietly to herself.

Lilly walked back towards her friends made sure that all of them were okay. Upon confirming that they were, the 6 of them left the area before anything else would happen. Once they were outside the hideout, all walked towards the Duel Runners.

"Did you find it Lilly?" Crow asked.

"Yeah…" She replied as she started typing something into her Duel Runners. "I'm now uploading the information on every bomb into your Duel Runners. That way, you guys won't have any trouble finding them."

"You guys…?" Takashi said as he walked over towards the two of them. "What do you mean by you guys?"

Lilly closed her eyes for a few moments as she remembered how angry Hisashi was at her. She also remembered that no one outside of Team Satisfaction knew about Kalin's death, beside from Martha. These realizations caused her to have a fierce expression on her face as she turned back towards the others.

"What I mean is that you all are going to deactivate the bombs before they explode. While you're doing that…I'm going to take care of Amon."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Lilly explains her reasons for facing Amon alone, the others decide to split up and take care of the bombs. Meanwhile Amon, having predicted such a move, has proceeded to place his 5 remaining Lieutenants at each bomb location. Now the battle save the Satellite is truly underway._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 36: Toru's Strength._


	36. Chapter 36

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 36: **_Toru's Strength_

* * *

><p>"What the hell are you talking about?!" Toru asked as he grabbed Lilly by her shirt collar. "Do you honestly believe that we're going to let you handle Amon all by yourself?"<p>

"…Yes, I do." The young woman simply replied as she stared into the eyes of her furious friend.

When everyone heard Lilly's suggestion that she wanted to handle Amon while the other took care of the bombs, it was obvious that they weren't up to her proposal. Based on the encounter that Crow and Takashi had with him, it was clear that Amon had some type of special power. The mastermind also had one of those strange Dragon Marks and, according to Takashi, seemed to more proficient in control its power than the rest of them. They all knew that confronting him now would be suicide and that the best plan of action would be to focus their attention on the bombs. But despite all of that, Lilly still wanted to go and confront Amon by herself.

"Wake the fuck up Toru." She said in a calm tone of voice. "If Amon isn't stopped now then he'll most likely repeat what he's doing now. The best thing for the Satellite is to end his reign of terror right here and right now."

Toru gritted his teeth in anger and her shook Lilly around. Deep down in his heart, he felt that she said was right, but he didn't want to admit it. For a few minutes he held up in the air and angrily stared at her, trying to come up with the words needed to dissuade her from her plan. Eventually Takashi walked over towards the two of them and gently placed his hand on Toru's shoulder.

"Let her go man…" He said. "I don't really agree with her plan either, but in the end she's right. Besides there's no guarantee that Amon won't attack us while we're out disarming the bombs. If Lilly faces him she can give us the time needed to disarm the bombs. Afterwards we can regroup with her and take care of Amon together."

"He's right man…" Aiku said, joining in the conversation. "Besides the longer we stand her debating on what to do and what not to do, the less time we have. All we can do is take care of the bombs."

"I…I know. But still…"

Toru realized that they were right, but again he still didn't want Lilly to leave and let her do something so dangerous on her own. However he eventually realized that he needed to put his feelings inside his back pocket for now. All he could do now was trust in his friend and hope that knew what she was doing. So he slowly lowered his arms and let go of Lilly's collar, freeing her from his grasp.

"Thank you Toru…" She said softly.

Lilly soon gathered everyone around her Duel Runner and pointed to 5 locations that was displayed on the map that was on screen. She then directed each of them to the bombs that they were assigned to handle. Toru would take the one towards the east, while Aiku handle the one towards the west. Takashi and Akiza would handle the bombs located towards the south since those two bombs were both located next to one another, while Crow took care of the bomb that located towards the north.

Once she finished explaining, Lilly got on her Duel Runner and prepared herself to leave and handle Amon. However, before she left, Crow stopped her.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell them the truth about your relationship with Amon?" He asked. "I mean everyone would probably understand the situation better if it came out of your mouth."

"No…" She replied. "Just keep your promise and tell them yourself when the time is right."

With that said Lilly put on her helmet and drove away. As she left, Crow was wondering whether or not he what it takes to actually admit the connection between Lilly and Amon. As he was thinking he soon felt something tap on her shoulder and soon saw that it was Takashi.

"C'mon Crow…" He said with a small smile on his face. "Let's get to work."

As he watched Takashi head back towards the others, Crow slowly nodded his head and walked behind him. As he did he came to realization that it would probably be best to tell everyone after the bombs were disarmed. At least by doing that all of them wouldn't have to worry about that along with the current situation that they were all in. Soon everyone got on their respective Duel Runners, with the exception of Akiza who joined Takashi's on his, and they all left for their respective bombs. Before they did however, all of them decided that they would regroup a Crow's bomb location the moment they finished handling theirs.

Meanwhile, back at Amon's liar, the evil mastermind was busy talking to his remaining lieutenants as they discussed their next plan of action.

"Master…" One of the lieutenants said. "We have just received word that Hisashi was just defeated and that our enemies are currently on their way to each bomb location."

"I know Renji…" Amon stated as he looked towards the window and looked towards the night sky. "I sensed them the instant they entered the Gate of Betrayal. However, their interference only means that our plans will be accelerated."

Amon slowly turned himself around and faced all 5 of his remaining lieutenants. The moment all of them were within his view, his mark began to glow and it illuminated the entire room.

"Listen closely my loyal followers…in a short time our plan will come to fruition and the New World will be upon us. But until that time we mustn't let these fools interfere more than they already have. I want all of you to go out to each bomb location and destroy them all!"

"Yes sir!" The lieutenants all said in unison.

4 of them quickly made their way out of the meeting room so that they could fulfill their master desire. The last one, Kazuki made his way towards Amon and presented him with a small brown box.

"Here you go, my Master." He said. "In celebration for the coming of the New World…"

Amon took a look at the box for a few moments before finally taking it from his most loyal follower. Once he did that he looked towards Kazuki and could tell easily that something was on his mind.

"Settle the score with him Kazuki…" He spoke. "I would rather that you get this problem you have with him out of the way before our goal is completed."

Kazuki smiled evilly for a short few moments before bowing his head towards Amon. He then made his way out of the room, leaving his master all alone with the box he just received.

"Soon…very soon everything that I've been planning for all these years will finally come to pass. I will finally obtain the power needed to destroy this world through fire and recreate it through that same fire!"

Amon then started laughing hysterically, confident that his plan would not fail and that his New World would come to pass.

* * *

><p><em>30 Minutes Later<em>

As he was quickly making his way towards the eastern section of the Satellite Sector, Toru was busy pondering the situation that not only he and his friends were in, but perhaps the entire world as well.

"It's just hard to believe…" He thought as he rode towards his destination. "The fate of Satellite…no, the world, is in our hands. Is this…this is pretty big. Maybe too big for me…"

Toru was having doubts in his ability to actually help out in this battle against Amon. During the confrontation between Sayer and his Arcadia Movement, he remembered how Takashi placed Wendy under his while he and Lilly went to rescue Akiza. However, despite the job that was given to him, Toru sometimes believes that it was probably the other way around. Being a Psychic Duelist, Wendy has far more power than Toru, who's just a normal human. And despite the fact that Aiku and Crow are also normal humans, Toru has more losses against the former while he's heard that the latter is just as good as Takashi.

All of these thoughts ran through his mind as he continued on his way. As he did, he looked down at his Duel Runner and began questioning himself.

"Do I really have the strength needed to help them out?"

Soon, Toru stopped his Duel Runner as he finally reached the destination of the first bomb. The area was similar to that of an old junkyard. There were several piles of trash and several small roads that all intersected with one another.

As he examined the area, Toru activated the computer on his Duel Runner and looked at the map that Lilly gave him a little while a ago.

"Let's see…according to this map, the bomb should be near an abandoned facility around here." He said to himself. "So all I really need to do is continue going straight and I should be there."

"Exactly…the question is whether or not you'll get there alive." Replied a voice from the distance.

Toru turned his head around and saw a man in a black jumpsuit looking down at him on a hill. Beside him was a black Duel Runner with fire-red highlights.

"Who are you?" Toru asked. "Are you one of Amon's lieutenants?"

"Of course…" The lieutenant replied. "My name is Renji and I was ordered by Master Amon to destroy anyone who even attempts to reach the bomb that located here. No one will interfere in the coming of the New World!"

As he listened to Renji's words, Toru began clinching his fist in anger as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Renji must know that going through with plan of theirs would result in the lost of several lives. Yet, at least to Toru, he doesn't seem to care in the slightest.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked. "Don't you realize that by creating this New World, you'll be ending the lives of millions of people?"

"Of course I do." Renji replied. "But certain sacrifices are necessary in order to complete an objective as big this."

"But they're still people, who have every right to live as anyone else." Toru countered. "What give you to right to end their lives just so you and your friends can complete this plan?"

Renji remained silent as he thought about Toru question. After about a minute of silence, he began to reply to the question.

"I don't have to explain my reasons to you." He said. "However, if you really want to know then you must defeat me in a Duel. That is…if you can."

As he watched Renji place a helmet on his head and get on his Duel Runner, Toru began feeling a strange sensation from within his stomach. As he gently placed his hand on it he quickly came to the conclusion that he was afraid. Despite all the tournaments he's competed in and all the Duels he's won, Toru was afraid.

"This is not good…" He thought. "I need to get my shit together. But, what if I'm not strong enough? What if I'm able to stop him? No…I can't think like that. I have to win this Duel. The people in the Satellite, my friends, the world…everyone is counting on me to win and deactivate this bomb. I must win this Duel…I will win this Duel!"

With a surge of confidence, Toru got back on his Duel Runner and quickly activated its Duel Mode at the same moment as Renji.

"Activating Field Spell - Speed World 2!"

The Duel Runners released a purple aura that surrounded the area as the two Duelists began riding across the junkyard. They were neck and neck with each other, trying to reach the first corner they saw so that they could determine who would make the first move. Eventually, it was Renji who reached the corner first and was granted permission to go first.

* * *

><p>"Let's Duel!"<p>

**Toru: 4000 LP**

**Renji: 4000 LP**

"My turn…Draw!" Renji declared as he drew a card from his deck.

**Toru: SPC – 1**

**Renji: SPC – 1**

"I Summon: Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress!"

**Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress: ATK 1700 DEF 200 LVL 4**

In a bright flash of light, Lyla appeared in a sparkling yellow aura as she flew right next to her master.

"With that I end my turn, which also activates Lyla's Special Ability. During the End Phase I must discard the top 3 cards from my deck to the Graveyard."

As Renji quickly took the top 3 cards from his deck and placed them within his Graveyard, Toru promptly began his first turn of the Turbo Duel.

"My turn…Draw!" He declared.

**Toru: SPC – 2**

**Renji: SPC – 2**

"First off, I'll play the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder! Since I two or more SPC, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I Special Summon: Scrap Kong, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Kong: ATK 2000 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

As a bright flash of light appeared next to Toru, a new Scrap monster appeared beside him. This new monster looked like a giant gorilla that was made out of pieces of wood and metal. Upon fully materializing on the field, Scrap Gorilla started running next to Toru.

"Next I Summon the Tuner Monster: Scrap Goblin, also in attack Mode!"

**Scrap Goblin: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 3**

In another flash of light, Scrap Goblin appeared on the field and started floating right next to Scrap Kong.

"Now, I Tune my Level 4 Scrap Kong with my Level 3 Scrap Goblin to Synchro Summon: Scrap Archfiend, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Archfiend: ATK 2700 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

The two Scrap Monsters flew up into the air and quickly performed the sequence for a Synchro Summoning. Upon finishing, a bright flash of light enveloped the area for a few moments until Scrap Archfiend appeared and started floating next to its master.

"Now Scrap Archfiend, attack Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress!"

Scrap Archfiend raised its large metal fist and proceeded to smash Lyla into oblivion, leaving Renji's field completely empty.

**Renji: 3000 LP**

Once he saw Renji's monster be destroyed, Toru smiled a little as his confidence began to grow a little. He then began to take a small lead over him as he took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down next to Toru and Scrap Archfiend for a few moments before disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again…Draw!" Renji stated.

**Toru: SPC – 3**

**Renji: SPC – 3**

"To start off, I'll Summon: Neo Flamvell Sabre, in Attack Mode!"

**Neo Flamvell Sabre: ATK 1500 DEF 200 LVL 4**

As Renji summoned his monster, Toru saw a fireball appear beside his opponent. After few seconds the fireball began to materialize and take shape. It soon became a knight with black armor and flaming red hair. The monster was also holding a large sword within its left hand and the blade was completely enveloped in flames.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Tribute to the Doom! Since I have two or more SPC, I can discard one card from my hand in order to destroy one monster on the field!"

Renji quickly took another card from his hand and placed it within his Graveyard, causing several ropes to appear from his Speed Spell and wrap around Scrap Archfiend. As soon as it was completely wrapped by the ropes, Scrap Archfiend imploded on itself.

"Now, with your field empty, I think I'll have my Neo Flamvell Sabre attack your Life Points directly! Oh…and just in case I forgot to mention it, my Sabre's Special Ability has activated. Since you have less than 4 cards in your Graveyard, Sabre's Attack Points are increased by 600 points!"

**Neo Flamvell Sabre: ATK 2100**

As Sabre's headed towards Toru, the fire on its blade began to increase in power. Once that happened, the Pyro Monster then slashed Toru in the back causing him to slow down and allow Renji to take the lead.

**Toru: 1900 LP**

Upon taking the lead, both in the race and in Life Points, Renji turned his head around and saw Toru trying to regain himself after being attacked. The sight of this caused him to smile a little as he returned his attention back towards the Duel. He took two cards from his hand and placed them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards appeared beside him for a few moments before disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn." He said.

"My turn…" Toru said once he finally regained himself fully. "Draw!

**Toru: SPC – 4**

**Renji: SPC – 4 **

Upon drawing a card from his deck, Toru quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk which activated one of the face-down cards he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of Haunted!" He declared. "With this Trap, I can revive my Scrap Archfiend in Attack Mode."

As Toru began to speed up and close the distance between him and Renji, his Call of the Haunted card reappeared on the field and flipped up. Once it did the card began to glow as Scrap Archfiend returned to the field.

"Now Scrap Archfiend, destroy his Neo Flamvell Sabre!"

Archfiend obeyed its master's orders and prepared to destroy Sabre with its giant fist. However, before the attack could connect, Renji quickly activated one his face-down cards by pressing a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate the Trap: Negate Attack! With this I can not only negate your Scrap Archfiend's attack, but also end your Battle Phase!"

A small barrier appeared around Neo Flamvell Sabre, protecting it from the destructive power of Scrap Archfiend's attack and forcing the monster to return back to its master. However, once that happened, Toru quickly pressed another button on his Duel Disk so that his second face-down could activate.

"You may have blocked my attack, but I'm still dealing you damage this turn." He said to his opponent. "I activate the Trap: Scrap Shards! With this Trap Card, if one of my Scrap monster's attacks is negated then you take damage equal to its level multiplied by 100. Scrap Archfiend is a Level 7 monster, which means you take 700 points of damage!"

Scrap Archfiend's body began to release several shards of metal, all of which made their way over to Renji. The lieutenant saw the shards coming towards him and was able to skillfully avoid each of them, even though it still damaged his Life Points.

**Renji: 2300 LP**

Once he saw Renji's Life Points drop, Toru promptly took two cards from his deck and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. Like with the other face-down cards, they appeared next to Toru for a few moments before they disappeared.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

As he saw Toru beginning to close the distance between them, Renji began to clinch his hands against the handles of his Duel Runner. He then gritted his teeth in anger as he began to drive faster along the junkyard.

"That's it…" He said to himself. "I've had enough of this. It's time to end this Duel now! Draw!"

**Toru: SPC – 5**

**Renji: SPC – 5**

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Flamvell Archer, in Attack Mode!"

**Flamvell Archer: ATK 1000 DEF 200 LVL 3**

As another fireball ball appeared on, both Renji and Toru watched as it began to take form. It soon became an archer with long flaming red hair, who was carrying a bow and arrow that was also on fire.

"I now Tune my Level 4 Neo Flamvell Sabre with my Level 3 Flamvell Archer, in order to Synchro Summon: Ancient Flamvell Deity!"

**Ancient Flamvell Deity: ATK 2500 DEF 200 LVL 7**

The two Flamvell Monsters flew high into the air and performed the process for a Synchro Summoning. Upon finishing, a giant blast of fire illuminated the sky. The flames soon began to take the form of giant deity with black armor around its arms and waist.

"Holy crap…" Toru said in shock as he's never seen a monster like the one he was facing.

"I now activate my Ancient Flamvell Deity's Special Ability." Renji declared. "Upon being Synchro Summoned, it can remove from play cards in your Graveyard equal to the number of cards that are in your hand. Also, Flamvell Deity's Attack Points are increased by the number cards it removes multiplied by 200!"

Toru's eyes widen as he saw that he had 4 cards in his hand, which meant that the 4 cards that were in his Graveyard were going to be removed from play. And, just as Renji explained, Ancient Flamvell Deity used its power to remove Toru's card from play and increased its Attack Points by 800 as a result.

**Ancient Flamvell Deity: ATK 3300**

As the Synchro Monster's power began to increase so did its height. Soon it was taller than Scrap Archfiend by a few feet. Toru was more amazed by the sight of the monster, but he knew that he had to continue focusing on the Duel. He quickly pressed a button on his Spell/Trap Zone, which activated another one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Threatening Roar!" He declared. "With this card, I can prevent you from conducting your Battle Phase this turn."

"I don't think so!" Renji replied as he pressed a button on his Spell/Trap Zone. "I also activate a Trap Card: Flamvell Counter! This Trap allows me to negate your Trap as long as I remove a Fire Attribute Monster in my Graveyard from play."

As Scrap Archfiend prepared to roar, Ancient Flamvell Deity launched a fire ball into its opponent mouth. This prevented Scrap Archfiend from roaring, thus allowing Renji to conduct his Battle Phase.

Upon seeing his plan foiled, Toru was so shocked that he accidently pressed a button on his Duel Disk, thus activating his face-down card by mistake. Soon a small alien device appeared on the field and zapped Scrap Archfiend with a laser, causing it to disappear from the field.

"Hahahaha…" Renji laughed as he just couldn't believe at what his opponent just did. "Nice job, you just activated your Interdimensional Matter Transporter Trap Card. With it, you removed your Scrap Archfiend from play until the End Phase of this turn. With it gone, your field now clear for a Direct Attack by my Ancient Flamvell Deity!"

As Renji monster roared and began to fire a blast of fire from its mouth, Toru held his head down in shame as he prepared for his defeat.

"I'm…sorry guys." He thought to himself. "I've let you down."

"_Damn it Toru…you're doing it again! You need to start thinking things through!"_

As he began to hear Takashi's voice from within his head, Toru began to flashback to a couple of years in the past as time seemed to stop for him.

* * *

><p><em>4 years ago<em>

_Takashi: Age 14_

_Toru: Age 15_

As cards were laid across the floor, Takashi was busy looking at Toru as his Stardust Dragon appeared behind him.

"Damn it Toru…you're doing it again!" He said. "You need to start thinking things through!"

"How can I think things through Takashi?" Toru asked as he started picking up cards from off the floor. "Your combo was perfect and there was nothing I could do to counter it."

Toru's words made Takashi angry, causing him to smack his best friend upside the head. Once he did that he started talking again.

"First of all, my combo wasn't perfect. The only reason that it was able to work is because you were so shocked by my play that you forgot to react to it. If you were thinking then not only would the Duel still be going on, but there would have been a chance that you could have won."

"But how am I going to do that?" Toru asked. "I'm not able to clear my mind like you."

"It's not about being able to clear your mind. It's about thinking several steps of your opponent. By doing that you can turn things into your favor even you happen to make a mistake."

Takashi went into his deck and pulled out a card before tossing it over to his friend. Upon catching the card, Toru examined it for a few minutes before turning his attention back towards Takashi.

"Toru…you're a great Duelist, but your inability to think clearly through tough situation prevents you from unleashing your true strength. If you can do that then you can beat any opponent that you happen to face and that also includes me."

As watch his friend give off his classic smile, Toru began nodding his head a little as he looked at the card he just received.

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

Upon remembering what his friend said to him all those years ago, Toru quickly regained himself mentally and looked over his hand. As he looked on he saw the card Takashi gave him and proceeded to smile a little as he grabbed the card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. Once he did that, the flames from Renji's Ancient Flamvell Deity consumed him.

"And that takes care of that!" The lieutenant said with a smile on his face. "Now, it's time to focus completely on protecting the bomb."

"This Duel isn't over yet!" A voiced declared in the distance.

Renji's eyes widen in shock as he looked turned around and saw Toru emerge from the flames of his Flamvell monster along with another monster. It was black creature that had a bat like appearance to it. He was about to question him on how he survived his attack, but before he got the chance to do so, Toru was already talking.

"I activated the Special Ability of my Battle Fader!" He started off. "When I'm about to be attack directly, I can Special Summon it and end the Battle Phase."

**Battle Fader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

The sight of seeing Toru still in the Duel annoyed Renji to know end as he truly believed that he finished his opponent off with last move. However, despite the fact that he couldn't defeat Toru this turn Renji was determined to inflict a good amount of damage onto him.

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" He stated. "By removing 4 SPC, I can inflict 800 points of damage onto you for every Speed Spell in my hand. Right now I have 2 Speed Spell in my hand, which means you're being dealt 1600 points of damage."

**Renji: SPC – 1**

Renji turned his Duel Runner around and began to drift backward. The Runner then began to fire a white laser beam from its headlights, hitting Toru and dealing him damage.

**Toru: 300 LP**

Once Toru's Life Points dropped, Renji turned himself back around and began to separate from his foe.

"With that, I end my turn." He said.

As Renji ended his turn, the effect of the Interdimensional Matter Transporter faded thus bringing Scrap Archfiend back onto the field. However, despite the fact that his monster was back, Toru realized that he was still in a jam. Neither Scrap Archfiend nor Battle Fader had the power needed to take down Renji's Ancient Flamvell Deity. Also, with only 300 Life Points left, Toru knew that this was probably going to be his last turn. However, despite the pressure that he was facing, Toru remembered what Takashi said to him.

"_Toru…you're a great Duelist, but your inability to think clearly through tough situation prevents you from unleashing your true strength. If you can do that then you can beat any opponent that you happen to face and that also includes me."_

"Think clearly…" He said to himself. "See everything and believe in myself. If I do that then I can defeat anyone. Draw!"

**Toru: SPC – 6 **

**Renji: SPC – 2**

Upon turning the card around and taking a look at it a small smile appeared on Toru's face. He then began to speed up as fast as his Duel Runner would allow him and quickly began to close the distance between him and Renji.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Scrap Mind Reader, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Mind Reader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

As a small flash of light appeared beside Toru, Scrap Mind Reader made its way onto the field and started floating next to Scrap Archfiend.

"I now Tune my Level 7 Scrap Archfiend with my Level 1 Scrap Mind Reader!"

Toru's monster quickly jumped into the air and performed the process for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that the young man pulled out a card from his Extra Deck and started chanting to himself.

"The earth's discarded pieces will now come together as a new power is formed! Synchro Summon! Reanimate, Scrap Dragon!"

**Scrap Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

A bright flash of light illuminated the field as Scrap Dragon appeared and stood next to Toru as he began to move pass Renji.

"I activate Scrap Dragon's Special Ability. By destroying one card I have on the field, I can destroy another card on my opponent's side of the field. I choose to destroy my Battle Fader so that Scrap Dragon can destroy your Ancient Flamvell Deity!"

Scrap Dragon began roaring as loud as it could as it fired several metal shards from its body. The shards flew across the field and proceeded to attack and destroy both Battle Fader and Ancient Flamvell Deity. Once the smoke cleared from the attack, only Scrap Dragon remained and it began staring down Renji as it awaited Toru's next command.

"It's time to end this..." The young Turbo Duelist said as he turned around and looked towards his opponent. "Scrap Dragon, attack Renji's Life Points Directly with Iron Dragon's Roar!"

The metal dragon complied and fired a large hurricane, filled with shards of metal, from its mouth. The attack made its way towards Renji, causing him to lose control and crash as his Life Points began to drop.

**Renji: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms began to disappear, Toru quickly parked his Duel Runner and made his way over to Renji. Once he reached him, Toru proceeded to grab him by his shirt and glare at him right in his eyes.<p>

"Alright now, keep your promise and explain why you and your friends are trying to go through with this plan of yours!" He demanded.

Despite the fact that he lost the Duel, Renji didn't want to keep his promise and explain his reason on why he wanted to follow Amon's plan. However, upon realizing that his master would most likely kill him once he finds out about his lost, Renji eventually relented.

"For as long as I could remember, my life has nothing been a living hell." He started off. "My family and I have forced to live in the streets and work hard for the people who live in New Domino City. Why should I have to suffer just so that the people in the city can live happy? That's why I joined Master Amon…he has a means to create a new world through fire. A world in which no one is treated unfairly and everyone is equal."

"What about everyone else?" Toru asked as he placed Renji on the ground. "What about the millions of other people who live in the Satellite Sector who's also working hard for almost nothing. Do you see them trying to destroy everyone just so they can live better? No! Despite the hardships their going through, they have the resolve to keep moving forward and try to make something out the problems that they're facing. Unlike you and your friends, who are trying to take the cowards' way out."

Toru walked over back towards his Duel Runner and proceeded to get back on it. As he started it back up he took one last look at Renji, who was clearly thinking about his beliefs and what Toru just said to him.

"One last thing Renji…" He said. "Only those who have the strength to move forward can find the path that leads to a better life. I was able to do it, my friends were able to do it, and I know that you can do it too."

With that said, Toru rode away and continued towards the location of the first bomb. After about 20 minutes of riding, he was able to reach an old construction site. He then began looking around for the bomb and eventually found it attached to a tractor.

"So this is it…" He said as he examined the explosive. "It's smaller than I expected it to be."

Despite the size of the bomb, Toru knew how destructive power it contained and knew that he had to get rid of it as fast as he could. He took the bomb back towards his Duel Runner and began following the instructions that Lilly gave to him on how to disarm the device. Upon finishing it, Toru removed all the explosive materials as well as the plutonium which would cause radiation to spread throughout the area. He then threw it into a patch of wet cement and watched as it began to sink.

"That's one down." He said to himself. "But there's 4 more left around here. The battle is only just beginning."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With Toru's victory over Renji, one of the nuclear bombs have been disarmed. However there's still 4 more remaining and the other lieutenants are far better than recently defeated teammate. Can Aiku skill and the power of his Bursting Soul Dragon be enough for him to defeat his opponent and deactivate the second bomb?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Over the Nexus. Chapter 37 – The Hieratic Queen_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

Hey guys, sorry for the long reply but things have been busy. I'll hopefully have the next chapter up by either this upcoming weekend or next week.

I want to thank you all for reading as Over the Nexus wouldn't have received its 200th review if it weren't for you. Please continue to review each chapter as they help me improve and it's just good to hear from all of you.

One last thing: You guys can still send my OC's. However they'll probably won't be mention until the next arc since I need a lot of people for what I'm thinking of.


	37. Chapter 37

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 37: **_The Hieratic Queen_

* * *

><p><em>13 years ago<em>

_Lilly: 6 years old._

Life in the Satellite sector is very rough, sometimes too rough for someone to handle. People were dying every day, either by murder or by some other mean. It was like hell on earth and nobody knows this feelings more than Lilly Muto.

With her father having died in the Zero Reverse incident that created the Satellite in the first place, Lilly was raised solely by her mother for the first 6 years of her life. Despite the fact that they weren't given a lot of opportunities, the two of them felt content that as long as they had each other then everything would turn out alright in the end. However, both would soon realize that their conclusion couldn't have been more wrong. About a week after her 6th birthday, Lilly's mother fell sick by an unknown illness and died. Shortly thereafter, Lilly was eventually spirited away by the mystic Ancient Fairy Dragon for a couple days before returning with the new found ability to see and communicate with Duel Spirits.

Upon being adopted by Martha, Lilly spent most of her time talking to her Duel Spirit friends instead of the other kids living with her. This distance caused the other kids to think that Lilly was crazy as she was talking to people that they weren't able to see. They soon began to tease and call her freak, which in turn made Lilly very sad and began to wish that things would go back to the way they were before. However she very well that her wish would never come true and for a while she began thinking that things would could only get worse.

One day, while outside playing ball by herself, Lilly was talking to her favorite Duel Spirit: Dark Magician Girl.

"Man…" She said in a sighing tone of voice. "Life here so boring…"

"_It wouldn't be so boring if you talked to the other kids." _Dark Magician Girl pointed out.

The beautiful Spellcaster has been with Lilly ever since she's was spirited away. She was tasked by Ancient Fairy Dragon to look after her whenever the powerful dragon wasn't able to do it herself. Since then, Dark Magician Girl has been like an older sister to Lilly and has always tried to comfort her and give her advice whenever she needed it.

"_There are a lot of kids who really want to be your friend Lilly, but you don't try to let them."_

"What's the point of having them be my friends?" Lilly asked as she bounced her ball a little higher. "Soon or later they'll tease me like everyone else does. It's probably best if I just stay by myself for the rest of my life."

Dark Magician Girl remained silent after listening to Lilly's explanation. She knew very well that the young girl didn't mean what she said and that she really wanted to make friends with the other kids. However she also knew that Lilly was afraid that she might end up losing them just like how she lost her mother. It was this fear that truly prevented Lilly from trying to interact with other people. Dark Magician Girl truly wished to break her out of that fear, but she couldn't really do much beside from giving her advice. The magician wished that there was someone who could relate to Lilly and her gifts.

Soon, while still playing by herself, Lilly accidently bounced the ball too hard off the ground. The resulting ricochet caused the ball to bounce over the backyard fence and land on the other side.

"Oh no…" Lilly said in shock as she couldn't believe at what she just did. "I have to get the ball back. If I don't then everyone will tease me even more than they already do."

Lilly quickly grabbed a chair from inside the house and brought it outside. She then proceeded to place it by the fence and used it to step over the fence. Upon reaching the other side, the young girl quickly began scanning the area for any sign for the lost ball. However, she eventually realized that it would take too long for her to find the ball all by herself. She would need someone to help her and luckily she knew just the person for the job.

"Dark Magician Girl…"

"_Say no more Lilly." _The mage said with a small smile on her face. _"I'm on it._"

Dark Magician Girl flew high into the air and used her new vantage point to try and locate the ball. After about two minutes, she looked down towards Lilly and began pointing south of her direction. The little girl smiled and waved her hand towards her spirit friend before making her way towards the direction that she was pointing too. She was soon able to locate the ball, but unfortunately it was already in the possession of 3 older boys. Upon seeing them, Lilly was scared and she didn't want to confront them. However she knew very well that the other kids also liked playing with that ball and that it was her duty to get it back. So, after taking a deep breath and gathering all the courage that she could muster, she proceeded to walk up towards the boys.

"Um…excuse me." She started off. "Could you please give that ball to me? I accidently bounced it over the fence and I really need to get it back."

The boys looked down at Lilly, annoyed that the little girl was bothering them while they were having a conversation. When they realized that she wanted the ball, they decided to mess around with her as punishment for bothering them.

"You want the ball?" One boy said as she held the object up into the air. "Then come and get it."

Lilly looked up at the ball and began jumping up and down, trying with all her might to try and grab it. As she continued to do so, the boys began laughing as they were amused by the young girl futile effort. Eventually though, this funny event quickly ran its course and the boys quickly pushed Lilly away.

"Please…I really need that ball back!" The little girl said as tears began to form.

"Shut the Hell Up!" One boy said as she firmly slapped her in the face.

The force of the slapped caused Lilly to fall to ground and she began crying violently due to the pain it caused. Dark Magician Girl was angry at the scene and attempted to strike the boy that struck Lilly. However she quickly began to despair when her fist went through the boy's face, thus reminding her that a spirit cannot interact with the physical plane.

Soon though, someone began to respond to Lilly's cry. It was a young boy with black hair with eyes of the same color. He quickly walked over towards the boys and quickly confronted each and every one of them. In no time at all he kicked the crap out of each of them and forced them to give him the ball before finally leaving. Once they were gone the boy then knelt down by Lilly and gently rubbed the top of her head.

"There, there…" He said in comforting tone of voice. "It's going to be okay."

As she began to calm down and stop crying, Lilly saw that the young man was smiling at her.

"I'm sorry that those guys were messing with you. People here can be real jerks, but don't worry I promise they won't be messing with you anymore."

The boy kindly handed Lilly her ball and began to bandage the wound on her cheek that the slap caused. As she watched him tend to his face, Lilly was wondering who this kind person was.

"Who…who are you mister?" She asked him.

"Me? My name is Sasuke." The boy answered. "And may I ask what your name is?"

"My name is Lilly Muto."

The boy, now introduced as Sasuke, smiled as he stood up and began rubbing her head.

"Lilly huh…? That's a nice name." He said. "Well it's very nice to meet you Lilly and I promise that as long as I'm here nothing bad will ever happen to you. You can think of me as your big brother."

"Big Brother…?" As she thought about what Sasuke just said, Lilly quickly realized that she never had a big brother before. The thought of a person kind person like him watching out for her seemed like a good idea to her. "I like it…Big Brother Sasuke."

Sasuke smiled and gently took Lilly by the hand. He then proceeded to take her back to Martha's.

_Present Day_

As she rode on her Duel Runner at high speed, Lilly attempted rid herself of the visions she was having about her past. However, no matter how hard she attempted to do so, those visions kept coming back. This annoyed the young woman to some extent, but a part of her realized that the visions were most likely a message. A message telling her that she was beginning to doubt herself and her goal.

Dark Magician Girl, having sensed the distress of her friend, appeared before her and started talking.

"_Lilly…is something wrong?"_

"Dark Magician Girl…" Lilly said. "Do you think I'm right for doing what I'm doing?"

The Spellcaster was slightly confused by Lilly's question as she never asked her whether what she did or didn't do was right or wrong. This caused her to think for a moment before finally giving her answer.

"_Well Lilly…I truly believe that can only be answered by you and you alone. I'm sorry that I can't give you a better answer."_

"It's okay…I had a feeling that you would say something like that." Lilly replied. "Thank you for answering."

"_Don't mention it Lilly. But remember…no matter what you answer you come up with or what choice you make, I'll always support you."_

A small smile appeared on Lilly's face as she watched Dark Magician Girl disappear from her line of sight. She then continued on her way towards Amon liar, all the while thinking about another question that was currently on her mind.

"Why is he doing this?"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, while making his way towards the western part of the Satellite Sector, a huge smile was on Aiku face. Ever since he arrived in the Satellite the young man always felt that he had to do something to help the people who were living there. Now that he has the chance to do so, Aiku couldn't wait to participate in the Duels to come.<p>

"Just bring it on Amon…" The young man said to himself as he drove throughout the area. "I can take on anything that you or your cronies can throw out at me."

As he continued on his way, Aiku began to remember when told his father that he was heading towards the Satellite Sector. The young man expected his dad to disagree with his plan, but he was surprised that not only did he support it, but helped him plan for it. When they finished preparing, and Aiku was getting ready to leave for his month-long trip, his father told him something that young man still think about. He said that Aiku's trip to the Satellite Sector will be the stepping stone for him to achieve his destiny. For a while the young man didn't really know why his dad said that to, but now that he was on this mission he was beginning to think that he understood what he meant.

"Perhaps…this was the destiny that dad was talking about…saving the world from Amon."

Ten minutes later, Aiku finally reaches the area where the second bomb is supposedly located. Upon parking his Duel Runner, the young man began examining the area and sees that he's at an abandoned power plant.

"Wow…" He thought as looked around and saw old and decaying machines around him. "I guess they knew what they were doing when they hid the bomb here. With all these machines you can hide the bomb in plain sight and no one would be able to find it."

Just as he explained, Aiku was indeed having a hard time locating the bomb since all the other machines looked like they could be bombs too. Upon seeing this, the young man quickly made his way back towards his Duel Runner and carefully looked over the information that Lilly sent him about the bombs location. He soon found out that the bomb was inside of the power plant's main building, right beside an old electric generator.

"Oh crap!" He said in disbelief. "I have to hurry up and disarm that bomb before it's too late."

Aiku was right to hurry as he knew that if the bomb were to explode by the generator, then the resulting explosion would be several times more powerful then it normally would. So, without missing a beat, the young man quickly ran inside the power plant and began looking around for the dangerous object.

After a few minutes he eventually found what he was looking for and began making his way over towards the bomb. However, before he could even get half way there, a giant blue dragon with 3 golden horns appeared before him and blocked his path. Soon after that, a beautiful woman appeared as well. She had long black hair, which was tied in a ponytail, black eyes, and was wearing a beautiful white and red dress. She was also carrying a white Duel Disk which was activated and had a card in its Monster Card Zone.

"I recommend that you leave immediately." She spoke in a kind tone of voice. "Otherwise you'll leave me no choice but to destroy you."

As Aiku looked at the woman a part of him sort of recognized her, but he just couldn't remember.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"My name is Kikyo." She answered. "Now I'm going to tell you again. Leave now or be destroyed."

Upon hearing her name, Aiku quickly put the pieces in his head together and figured out why he seemed to recognize Kikyo.

"I know you!" He said. "When I first came to the Satellite I heard rumors of a kind woman named Kikyo who would take care of a small town in the southern portion of the Sector. I've also heard rumors that she was an incredible Duelist who known by a lot of people as the Hieratic Queen. So you're her."

"Yes." Kikyo answered in a tone of voice that was neither happy nor sad. "Everything you just said was the truth."

"However there's one thing that I just don't get." The young man said. "I've also heard that you were also a very nice person. So why are you working with Amon and trying to destroy the Satellite?"

Kikyo remained quiet and had an emotionless look on her face, thus making it hard for Aiku to tell what she was thinking. Soon though she responded by pressing a button on her Duel Disk, causing the device to shuffle her cards for a short period of time.

"I don't have to answer that question." She said. "However if you manage to defeat me in a Duel, then I will answer it."

A small smile appeared on Aiku's face as he was excited to have Duel against someone who Kikyo's skill. Without saying another word the young man quickly pulled out his Duel Disk and placed it on his arm. He then placed his deck in the card slot and activated the device, causing it to shuffle his cards. Once he was ready, Aiku turned his attention back towards Kikyo.

"Please tell me your name?" She asked. "That way, when you die, I can know the name of person I killed."

"My name is Aiku Gato." The young man answered. "And I have no intention of dying here tonight. I'm going to defeat you Kikyo."

* * *

><p>"Let's Duel!"<p>

**Aiku: 4000 LP**

**Kikyo: 4000 LP**

Both Duelist swiftly drew five cards from their decks and looked over their respective hands to see if the cards that they just drew would allow them to get off to a good start.

"I'll make the first move Kikyo." Aiku said. "Draw!"

Aiku swiftly drew a 6th card and placed it into his hand. He then pulled out another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, in Attack Mode!"

**Obnoxious Celtic Guardian: ATK 1400 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

In a small flash of light, an elf knight appeared on the field and stood in front of Aiku. Once that happened, the young Duelist proceeded to take another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

Upon inserting the card into his Duel Disk, the card materialized face-down on the field and was placed right behind Celtic Guardian.

"Then it's my turn." Kikyo said as she mentally prepared herself. "I Draw."

The Hieratic Queen drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. She then swiftly grabbed a card and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb, in Attack Mode."

**Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb: ATK 1800 DEF 400 LVL 4**

A golden flash of light illuminated the power plant and soon a golden dragon wearing gold armor appeared onto the field. The impressive looking beast stood by its master as it looked towards Aiku and his Celtic Guardian.

"Go Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb, attack his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian."

The dragon complied with Kikyo's orders and fired a stream of golden fire from its mouth. The attack quickly consumed Celtic Guardian, causing the warrior to die an agonizing death.

**Aiku: 3600 LP**

"I now activate the Special Ability of my Hieratic Dragon." Kikyo said. "When it successfully destroys a monster through battle then I can Special Summon a Dragon-Type Normal Monster from my hand, deck, or Graveyard. In exchange though, the dragon's Attack and Defense Points become 0."

Kikyo looked through her deck and quickly pulled out the card that she desired. Once she did that she put her deck back into her Duel Disk and watched the device shuffle her cards before placing the card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Tri-Horned Dragon, in Defense Mode!"

**Tri-Horned Dragon: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 8**

As another flash of light lit of the field, a powerful blue dragon with 3 sharp horns on the top of its head appeared and took a defensive position in front of Kikyo.

"Tri-Horned Dragon…?" Aiku thought in confusion. "Why choose Tri-Horn Dragon?'

Aiku knew very well that Tri-Horned Dragon was one of the most powerful Normal Monsters in the game of Duel Monsters and was very confused why Kikyo would choose it. Due to the effects of Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb, the beast wouldn't have the strength to attack nor would it have the strength to defend itself from an attack.

As the young man thought about the confusing play, Kikyo continued on with her turn. She proceeded to take two cards from her hand and insert them both into her Spell/Trap Zone. The cards quickly materialized face-down on the field, right behind both of her dragons.

"I end my turn by setting two cards face-down." She stated.

"It's my turn." Aiku said. "Draw!"

The young man drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. He then began looking through all of her cards as he continued wondering about Kikyo's strange move.

"What the heck is she trying to accomplish by summoning a monster whose Attack and Defense are 0. It just doesn't make any real sense to me."

As he continued to think, Aiku looked over towards Kikyo and saw that she still had the emotionless look on her face, thus making her hard to read.

"I don't know what she's planning to do with that dragon, but it's probably best that I get rid of it before she has a chance to use it."

With that thought it mind, the young Duelist took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Queen's Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

As the beautiful Queen's Knight appeared onto the field, Aiku continued to wonder Kikyo's plan and decided that he really should get rid of Tri-Horned Dragon.

"Queen's Knight, attack Tri-Horn Dragon!"

The Knight drew her sword and made her way towards the giant beast. However, before she could even get close, Kikyo activated one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Threatening Roar." She declared. "With this, I can prevent you from conducting your Battle Phase this turn."

Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb and Tri-Horned Dragon both roared at the top of their lungs, scaring Queen's Knight and forcing her to return to Aiku's side of the field. The sight of seeing his knight pull back annoyed Aiku a little, but he quickly calmed down and continued on with his turn. He took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone, causing them both to materialize right beside the other face-down card that he placed prior.

"I end my turn by setting two cards face-down on the field."

"My turn…." Kikyo said. "Draw."

The young woman drew a card and looked at it for a moment before turning her attention back towards the Duel.

"Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb, attack his Queen's Knight."

Dragon of Gebeb complied with Kikyo's orders and launched another blast of golden fire from its mouth. This action forced Aiku to activate one of his face-down cards, since he knew what would happen if Gebeb managed to destroy his knight.

"I activate the Trap: Mirror Force!" He declared. "With this Trap Card, I can destroy all monsters on your side of the field that's in Attack Mode!"

As the flames made its way over towards Queen's Knight, the magical Mirror Force barrier appeared before her and blocked the attack. It then redirected the flames back towards Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb, with even more power than before. However, before the flames struck, Kikyo countered by activating one of her own face-down cards.

"When a Spell, Trap, or Monster effect is activated I can activate the Counter Trap Card: Hieratic Seal of Reflection." She stated. "With this, I can negate the activation of your Trap Card and destroy it. All I have to do is sacrifice one of my own Hieratic Monsters."

"What?!"

Aiku was now even more shocked then ever as he didn't understand the method to Kikyo's madness. Though she was able to negate his Trap Card it didn't really mean much. Since Mirror Force only destroys monsters in Attack Mode, only Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb could've been destroyed by it. So it didn't make sense to activate Hieratic Seal of Reflection since Mirror would've have achieved the same result.

"I activate Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb's Special Ability." Kikyo said. "When it's sacrificed I can Special Summon one Hieratic Monster from my hand, deck, or Graveyard."

As the young woman pulled out her deck and began looking for the card that she wanted to Special Summon, Aiku quickly realized the purpose of her. By having him activate his Trap Card, Kikyo was not only able to get rid of it but also summon another monster who could potential defeat Queen's Knight and reduce his Life Points further. Soon, Kikyo retrieved her card of choice and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone right after putting her deck back into her Duel Disk.

"I Special Summon: Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord, in Defense Mode!"

**Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 8**

As the field was again illuminated by a bright flash of light, Aiku saw a golden sphere with red markings appeared beside Tri-Horned Dragon. Once that happened, Kikyo took two cards from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. While the first card was placed face-down on the field, the other was placed face-up.

"I end my turn by setting one card face-down and activating the Spell Card: Hinotama. With it, I can deal you 500 points of damage."

5 holographic fireballs shot from out of the Spell Card and each one of them hit Aiku, causing the young to instinctively defend himself.

**Aiku: 3100 LP**

"It's my turn." The young man said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

Aiku drew a card from his deck and was immediately intrigued by the sight of it. He came to conclusion that it could allow him to win the Duel, but he decided that now wasn't the time to play it. At the moment the young Duelist knew that he needed to get rid of either of Kikyo's Level 8 monsters. He had a theory on what she was going to do with them, but he wasn't able to confirm it. Still, whether or not he could confirm it he knew that it would be best for him to destroy the monsters now before Kikyo had a chance to use them. So he took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Cost Down! With this, by discarding one card from my hand I can reduce the level of all the monsters in my hand by 2."

Aiku took a card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard. After that he removed Queen's Knight's card from his Duel Disk and also placed it into his Graveyard before taking another card from his hand and placing it onto the Monster Card Zone.

"I sacrifice my Queen's Knight to Summon: Buster Blader, in Attack Mode!"

**Buster Blader: ATK 2600 DEF 2300 LVL 5**

In a bright flash of light, Queen's Knight disappeared from the field and Buster Blader appeared to take her place.

"When Buster Blader is on the field, it gains 500 extra Attack Points for every Dragon-Type monster that my opponent has on their field or in their Graveyard. You have two dragons on the field and one in your Graveyard. That means Buster Blader gains 1500 extra Attack Points!"

**Buster Blader: ATK 4100**

"And with that, I'll have it destroy your Tri-Horned Dragon!"

The knight nodded its head and prepared to attack the dragon with its large sword. However, just before it got into range to strike, Kikyo activated her face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack." She declared. "With this I can negate your Buster Blader's attack and end your Battle Phase."

A small barrier appeared before Tri-Horned Dragon and protected it from Buster Blader's assault. Once the attack failed, the knight jumped back towards Aiku. The young man was bothered that another one of his attack ended up failing, but he was determined to finally deal damage to Kikyo this turn. So he took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Like you, I activate the Spell Card: Hinotama!" He said. "Now you take 500 points of damage."

Another 5 fireballs appeared onto the field, only this time they made their way over towards Kikyo. The young woman kept still as the attacks hit her, knowing full well that the attack was fake and that no real damage would be dealt to her.

**Kikyo: 3500 LP**

"How was that?!" Aiku was happy that finally he was able to take some of his opponent's Life Points down. Even though he still needed to take out 3500 more, the mere fact that he took out 500 meant that he has the opportunity to take the momentum.

As the holographic smoke began to clear, Kikyo's facial expression remained the same as it still had a very distant look. However, as he took another look, Aiku noticed that the look in her eyes was slightly different from before. They seemed to look a little bit sad than emotionless.

"Is…is something wrong?" He asked.

"No." Kikyo answered. "Now, do you wish to continue your turn?"

Aiku nodded his head in disapproval, ending his turn as a result. However, despite the fact that she said no, the young man had his doubts that nothing was bothering Kikyo. She didn't seem like the rest of the Crashing Sharks, as she seemed more like the person he heard rumors about; a kind woman who take care of others. He hoped that he could confirm this feelings as the Duel went on.

"It's my turn." Kikyo said. "Draw."

Kikyo drew a card from his deck and placed it into her hand, as she saw that it wouldn't be on any use this turn. She then took the two cards that were on her Monster Card Zone and placed them on top of one another. The sight of this confirmed Aiku's theory about the young woman's strange moves.

"I Overlay my Level 8 Tri-Horned Dragon and Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord to Xyz Summon: Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis."

**Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis: ATK 3000 DEF 2400 LVL 8**

As Kikyo's two dragons performed the sequence for an Xyz Summoning, Aiku looked on in awe as a new dragon appeared on Kikyo's side of the field. This new beast was about 30 feet tall and it was red and yellow in color. The sight of this brought a strange sensation of both fear and excitement into his Aiku's heart.

"Awesome…" He said silently to himself. "That monster looks sweet. Still, now that she brought another dragon out, Buster Blader gains another 500 extra Attack Points."

**Buster Blader: ATK 4600**

"I activate my Sun Dragon's Special Ability." Kikyo said as she continued on with her turn. "By removing one of its Overlay Units and one card from either hand or field, I can destroy one card on the field. The card I choose is one your face-down cards."

As Kikyo took the card she just drew and placed it into her Graveyard, Aiku watched as one of Sun Dragon's Overlay units landed into its hand. It then turned it into a small fireball and through it towards the targeted face-down card, destroying it on contact. Once that happened, Kikyo took another card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I next activate the Spell Card: Dark Core. With this card I can remove from play, one monster on the field. I choose your Buster Blader."

A giant vortex appeared on the field and proceeded to suck Buster Blader inside of it, sending the knight into a dimension in which there was no return. The move only left Aiku with one face-down, which he knew that it couldn't be activated during this turn.

"Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis…attack his Life Points Directly with your Hieratic Flame!"

The Hieratic Dragon opened its mouth and fired a powerful stream of red flames at Aiku, consuming the young man in his entirety.

**Aiku: 100 LP**

As he reacted to the flames around him, Aiku moved his head up and saw that Kikyo was crying a little as she was beginning to talk to herself.

"I respect this young man for trying to stop Amon's plan." She said. "However neither he nor his friends are strong enough to prevent the tragedy that's about to come. What we need right now is not heroes, but a miracle."

As the flames vanished from the field, Aiku had his head down slightly as he began to absorb Kikyo's words.

"That confirms it." He thought. "That confirms the feeling that I've been having about her."

The young man lifted his head, a small smile appeared on his face as he looked towards his opponent. The sight of this confused Kikyo as she didn't understand why he was smiling since he was one move away from losing the Duel.

"I'm happy…" Aiku said. "Dueling you has made me really happy Kikyo."

"Really…?" She said. "What makes you feel that way?"

"Because…I'm Dueling against an opponent whose not only strong, but honest and kind." He answered. "The mere thought of that brings a warm feeling within my soul as it tells me that not all of Amon's cronies are bad people. I want to thank you Kikyo."

The young woman kept quiet as he listened to Aiku words. She felt flattered by them, but it only reminded her that everything he said was a lie. No one who works for Amon could ever be the things that Aiku just describe. Still, despite all of that, a small smile appeared on her face.

"You're Welcome Aiku." She said. "I end my turn."

"Alright, then it's my turn." Aiku said with smile. "I Draw!"

As he drew a card from his deck, Aiku heard the cry of a dragon from within his mind. This cry caused the smile on his face to become even bigger as he took the card that he just drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I play the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With it, I can revive one monster from either Graveyard. The monster I choose to bring back is my Queen's Knight!"

As a bright flash of light covered the field, Queen's Knight returned and stood right beside her master. Once that happened, Aiku took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Mist Valley Soldier, in Attack Mode!"

**Mist Valley Soldier: ATK 1700 DEF 300 LVL 4**

In another flash of light a warrior wearing blue clothing and holding two short spears appeared onto the field and stood right next to Queen's Knight.

"I now Tune my Level 4 Queen's Knight with my Level 4 Mist Valley Soldier. The golden flames of my soul will now come together and create the perfect dragon! Synchro Summon! Descend, Bursting Soul Dragon!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2200 LVL 8**

Queen's Knight and Mist Valley Soldier flew high into the air and quickly performed the process for a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, a golden light illuminated the field and began to overtake Kikyo Sun Dragon Overlord's light. It was at that moment when Bursting Soul Dragon appeared onto the field and started to stare down Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis.

"That's a beautiful dragon you have there." Kikyo said. "Unfortunately it's not strong enough to take down my Sun Dragon Overlord. If you were to attack with it, then not only would it be destroyed but also your remaining Life Points would drop to 0."

"Well…if that the case, I'll just activate my Bursting Soul Dragon's Special Ability." Aiku stated. "Once, during either players turn, I can negate the Special Abilities of another monster on the field. Once that happens, Bursting Soul Dragon's Attack Points are increased by the level of that monster multiplied by 100 until the End Phase. Your Sun Dragon is a Level 8 monster. That means Bursting Soul Dragon gains 800 Attack Points!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 3600**

Kikyo looked on with a surprised look on her face as she watched Bursting Soul Dragon drain the power of her Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis and used it to increase its own. Once that happened, Bursting Soul glow covered through the entire power plant.

"Bursting Soul Dragon, attack Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis with your Bursting Soul Flare!"

The dragon complied with its master's orders and proceeded to fire a golden blast of fire from its mouth. Sun Dragon Overlord attempted to counter the attack with its red flames, but unfortunately it wasn't strong enough and it ended being destroyed.

**Kikyo: 2900 LP**

"Now, with your dragon now destroyed I can now activate the Trap Card: Flames of the Soul! When Bursting Soul Dragon successfully destroys a monster through Battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points! Since your Sun Dragon had 3000 Attack Points, you're taking 3000 points of damage!"

Bursting Soul Dragon fired another blast of fire from its mouth, only this time the attack headed towards Kikyo. Realizing that there was nothing she could do to stop it, Kikyo quietly accepted defeat.

"Perhaps…I was wrong." She silently thought.

**Kikyo: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms started to fade away, Aiku watched as his Bursting Soul Dragon roared one last time before disappearing. Once that happened Aiku deactivated his Duel Disk and walked over towards Kikyo.<p>

"I'm not going to force you to keep your promise." He said. "But I would like to know why you're working with Amon."

"I always believed that a person, whether they're good or evil, should always keep their promises." Kikyo explained. "I'll tell you my reasons why I joined him."

Aiku grabbed the bomb from inside the plant and walked back towards his Duel Runner. He then began to disarm the device as Kikyo started to talk.

"My home in the Southern Section is considered by many to be the worst section in the entire Satellite Sector. The sight of people dying was as just as common as looking up at the sky. I'm considered to be the best Duelist over there and I always tried to use my skills to help as many people as I could. For a while things were tolerable…that is, until he appeared."

"Do you mean Amon?" Aiku asked.

"Yes. Amon appeared before me, my family, and friends and requested that I come with him to help bring peace to the entire Satellite. Though I was reluctant to go with him, since I was worried about my love ones, I decided that this was a chance that I couldn't pass up. However I would soon regret my choice. Amon forced me to do unthinkable things, things like kidnapping or killing other people. He also forced me to go along with his Grand Fire Project which would cause the destruction of the entire world, especially the Satellite Sector."

"Why did you go along with his plans?" The young man asked as he continued to listen to Kikyo. "Someone of your skill should have been enough to handle him."

"Strength isn't the only way to win." The young woman said as she shook her head in disapproval. "Amon keeps a close eye over my friends and family. If I make any moves that he doesn't like, he'll kill them. Also has a special mark, which gives him to power to hypnotize people for a short period of time. Even if I could overcome his manipulation, I'm not able to get pass his powers. In a short time I quickly began to lose hope and started following his orders. I wished everyday that a miracle would appear and help rid the world of that monster, but nothing ever happened. However, after dueling you, I can tell that you and your friends are the miracle that the world needs."

Aiku finished disarming the bomb and threw the plutonium away. Once he did that, he stood up and looked towards Kikyo with a smile on his face.

"I understand now." He said. "Don't worry Kikyo, I'll make sure that your belief in us won't be in vain. We'll defeat Amon and make sure that his plan doesn't come to pass."

A small smile appeared on the young woman's face as tears gently ran down her face. She then looked on as Aiku got on his Duel Runner and left the area. All the while, she saw the spirit of Bursting Soul Dragon flying above him.

Meanwhile, at his lair, Amon was continuing to look out his window, staring at the night sky.

"So both Renji and Kikyo have been defeated." He thought to himself. "Oh well. Now that I've come this far, killing them would be a waste of my time. Especially since everyone here will die once my plan comes to light."

As he continued to looking towards the sky, Amon started to sense something closing in on him. Upon tuning his senses solely on thing that was coming towards him, the evil mastermind started to smile under his mask.

"It's been a long time."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As they make their way towards their bomb site, Takashi and Akiza are quickly confronted by the next two Lieutenants. The two decide to each take one and retrieve the bomb from them. So while Takashi has a Turbo Duel against his opponent, Akiza has a ground Duel against her foe. Can the two of them manage to overcome their opponents and disarm the next two bombs?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Over the Nexus. Chapter 38 – The Chaos Warrior_


	38. Chapter 38

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 38: **_The Chaos Soldier_

* * *

><p><em>5 years ago.<em>

_Lilly: Age 14_

8 years have passed since Lilly first arrived at Martha's orphanage and during that timeframe, the young girl has gone through some tremendous growth. Her scarlet red hair was now reaching down to the end of her back and was currently in a ponytail. Her body was also going through some growth as she now was developing an hourglass figure and her breasts were now starting to develop. However, despite the fact that she was becoming more and more beautiful, Lilly believed that her greatest form of growth is that of her confidence. No longer shy around others and not really caring about what they might say about her and her powers, Lilly has now made many friends within the orphanage. Such friends include Crow Hogan, Alistair Miles, and Kalin Kessler, all three she's known for nearly 7 years.

All 4 of them treat each other as family as they would always back one another whenever they were in trouble. However, despite that relationship, there was something more between some of them. Ever since she first met him, Lilly has had a massive crush on Kalin as she loved the way he was so confident in himself and how he would always stand up for his beliefs. The young girl always admired that about him and strived to be just as strong as him one day. Also, it didn't help that he was also a very attractive guy.

As for Crow, the young man has always had a crush on Lilly around the same time she had her crush on Kalin. To him, she was the most beautiful girl he's ever seen and that he fell in love with her the very moment he first laid eyes on her. Because of that, Crow has made a vow to himself to always protect Lilly whenever she's in trouble. This promise still stands even though he knew about Lilly's feelings for Kalin.

One day, while the four of them were walking around the area, they all heading over to Sasuke's place. Ever since he first met Lilly 8 years ago, the young man has been a big brother to not only her, but to the boys as well.

"I wonder what Sasuke wants to talk to us about?" Crow asked. "All he said that it was very important and that it required the 4 of us."

"Hell if I know." Alistair said as he scratched the back of his head. "Sasuke's very mysterious as he never really tells us what he really wants until it's too late to say no."

As the two boys talked to one another, Kalin noticed that Lilly has been staring at the sky for the last 5 minutes. After learning from Lilly herself about her gift to see Duel Spirits, Kalin has gotten used to her looking up at random direction at the most unexpected moments.

"So…" He said, hoping to get his friend's attention. "Who are you looking at?"

Lilly remained quiet as she continued looking up at the sky. It was like she was in a trance and that nothing could drive her out of it. Kalin tried to get her out of it by shaking her shoulder gently, but that didn't seem to work. So he called over Crow and Alistair and the 3 of them began taking turns shaking Lilly's body until they finally got a response from her. However the response they received wasn't the one that they were hoping for. Upon regaining consciousness, Lilly reflexively punched both Crow and Alistair straight in their faces.

"You know I don't like it when you shake me like that…" Lilly said as she gently shook head from side to side.

"Ow!" both boys yelled as they held the faces in pain. "What the hell? We were just trying to help!"

As the two boys were recovering from their injury, Kalin quickly explained to Lilly that reason why the three of them were shaking her was because he wanted to talk to her, but she wasn't responding to him. Upon learning that, the young girl face quickly became bright red as she gently held her face.

"Crap…" She said to herself. "I'm sorry Kalin, I was just looking at a spirit."

"It's fine." He replied. "So, what type of Duel Spirit were you looking at this time?"

"It wasn't a Duel Spirit, it was a Human Spirit." Lilly looked down and moved her right shirt sleeve so that she could look at her birthmark. "Ever since I was young I was always able to see Duel Spirits just as clearly as I could see regular people. However as I grew up, my ability to see spirits grew too. Now I'm able to see normal spirits, although not as clearly as Duel Spirits."

"Wow…" Kalin said, amazed by what he just heard. "So what's it like to see and talk to human spirits?"

"I'm not really sure how I feel when I talk to them. Unlike when I talk to Duel Spirits, Human Spirits seem to distract me to the point that I forget surroundings. In fact it kinda feels like…"

Just as Lilly was about to continue her explanation, she noticed a group of thugs mugging a defenseless old woman. When she got a good look at them, she quickly noticed that the thugs were the same group of boys who messed with her 8 years ago. Kalin, Crow, and Alistair noticed them as well and they were upset by what they were seeing.

"This is getting really old!" Alistair said in an annoyed tone of voice. "Everyday somebody is either abusing or murdering someone else here. I'm getting real sick of it!"

"Tell me about it…" Crow replied.

Kalin was about to go over there and help the old woman out, but before he could he saw that Lilly was already doing that and was beginning to fight the thugs. The sight of this caused him to smile a little as he and the others soon joined her in the fight. The resulting brawl lasted for quite a while as both sides were too evenly matched with one another.

Soon though, Lilly was knocked down by one of them after becoming distracted with the old woman's well being. Kalin noticed that and tried to help her out, but he was too busy fighting his opponent. Soon though, the thug grabbed Lilly by the throat as he pulled out a knife.

"I've been waiting for this for 8 long years." He said. "Now the time has come for you to die!"

The thug was about to cut Lilly, but before the knife reached her neck somebody grabbed the blade. The sight of the man caused the thug to drop Lilly.

"Thank you…big brother Sasuke." The young woman said as held her throat.

Sasuke nodded his head slightly as he started to attack the thug until he was bloodied pulp. Once he finished he soon joined the boys with their fight with the rest of thugs and quickly took each of them down without much effort. Once the fight was over he soon tended to all of them.

"Sorry for not arriving here sooner." He said. "I should've rushed over the moment all of you were late coming up to my place."

"Don't worry about it…" Crow said as he helped Lilly from off the ground. "If you didn't show up at all, then who knows what would have happened."

Despite Crow's words, Sasuke was still mad at himself for letting such an incident take place. He proceeded to punch a nearby wall for a few moments, causing it to crumble down to the ground. Once he vented all of his anger Sasuke turned his attention back towards the others.

"The senseless violence here in the Satellite must come to an end!" He said. "However, the only way it will stop the fighting if somebody decides to stand up to it! I have a way to do that, but I can't do it alone. I'm going to need help."

Lilly looked over to all of her friends and all 3 of them shook their head. Once that happened she turned her attention back towards her big brother.

"You can count on us to help you brother."

_Present Day_

"Sometimes I can't believe how much of a gullible idiot I was back then." Lilly said to herself as she continued her way to Amon.

"_But you have to admit that Sasuke's plan to have the 4 of you form Team Satisfaction did have it good points." _Dark Magician Girl pointed out as started talk within Lilly's mind. _"All of you made a difference and the Satellite was slowly becoming a better place for everyone."_

"I know that." Lilly replied. "But it doesn't change the fact that his plan had an ulterior motive. If only I could've have seen it sooner then maybe things wouldn't gone so wrong. I'm such a fucking idiot.

* * *

><p>"<p>

Meanwhile, in the southern section of the Satellite Sector, Takashi and Akiza were quickly making their way towards the next two bombs. As they drove across the rocky ground the two of them noticed that there wasn't much to see. The area was mostly one big empty field with only a few small houses in the distance. The sight of this puzzled Akiza as she didn't understand why Team Satisfaction would plant bombs in this area, let alone two of them.

"Takashi…" She called. "Why do you think Team Satisfaction would plant two bombs here? I mean, even if they do explode there's nothing much that they could do since there's no large buildings or power plants here."

"Well…I can't be sure, but I think I know why." He replied. "The Satellite Sector is like a giant island and an island needs each of ends in order to keep floating on top of the water. If just one end were to be destroyed, the entire Satellite Sector will sink into the ocean."

"I see…" Akiza said. "Amon probably wants to get rid of any of the remains wants he blows up the rest of the Satellite. He'll then probably leave the Satellite and head over to New Domino City."

"You're probably right."

Despite agreeing with what Akiza just said, Takashi was starting to have his doubts about Amon's plan. He remembered clearly that Amon's plan was to set fire to the Satellite, yet Lilly and Crow explained that he's following their plan to blow it up. He also remembered that both explanations involved the creation of a New World. Takashi felt that there was something more at work and that something far worse than either blowing up or setting fire to the Satellite was about to come about. Still, despite the feelings he had, the young knew that as long he and his friends got rid of the bombs then Amon's plan would be squashed.

Eventually the two of them reached the site where the two bombs were supposedly located at. Takashi parked his Duel Runner and help Akiza off before taking the spare helmet that he gave to her prior and placed it into the trunk of his Runner. Once he did that, the two of them began scanning the area on foot.

"This place looks like a desert." Akiza pointed out. "It's nothing but rocks here."

"Yeah…" Takashi replied. "Looks like home."

Akiza looked towards Takashi and saw that he was deeply entranced by the scenery and remembered that he wasn't from New Domino City nor the Satellite Sector. He was raised in Crash Town, a place whose desert scenery looked similar to this portion of the Satellite. The young woman realized that being here was making her crush a little homesick.

"You okay Takashi? Do you want to talk about it?"

Takashi stopped walking and looked towards his friends. Upon seeing her compassionate expression, the young man instantly felt at ease as all of his problems seemed to vanish. He then walked up to her and smiled.

"Thank you Akiza." He said. "But I'm fine now. Just seeing your face has put my soul at ease."

A noticeable blushed appeared on Akiza's face as she was extremely flattered by the words she just heard. She then remembered all the things Takashi did for her and how strongly she truly felt about him.

"Takashi…" She said as the blush on her face grew brighter. "There's…something that I've been wanting to tell you…for a while now. In truth, I wanted tell you sooner…but I never seemed to have the courage to do so. But I think I have that courage now…"

"What is it Akiza…?"

As the blush of her face grew a little more, Akiza looked up at Takashi and saw that in his eyes there was a person who would accept anything that she or anyone else would have to say. The sight of this gave her the resolve needed to finally say what she wanted to say to man who saved her.

"Takashi...I…"

Just before she could say 'love you', Takashi turned his head and saw a man on Duel Runner and that he was heading straight towards the both of them. Acting quickly, he pushed himself and Akiza out of the way of the vehicle and the two of them landed on the ground.

"Damn it!" Both of them thought at the same time.

As they got up from the ground, the two of them saw that there was too people on the Duel Runner instead of just one. They also saw that the other person was female and that she had a Duel Disk on her arm.

"I know that they would show up here eventually. It was just a matter of time."

"Who the hell are you?!" Takashi asked with anger in his voice. "Are both you Amon's Lieutenants?!"

As the woman got off of the Duel Runner, both her and her partner removed their helmets and revealed themselves to Takashi and Akiza. The woman had long purple hair, which extended to the end of her back, and beautiful blue eyes. The man had brown hair with a brownish taint and had eyes of the same color.

"My name is Jason." The man replied. "And the beautiful woman over there is Saeko. As for you other question, I really don't think that requires an answer. We both know where all of us are here today."

Jason pulled out two objects from his Duel Runner and showed them to Takashi and Akiza. Upon seeing them, the two quickly realized that it was the bombs.

"I know that you and the rest of your friends are attempting to disarm the bombs here. To tell you the truth I really don't give a damn if Amon's plan succeeds. However, there are plenty of people in this world that deserve to die. So let's make a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Akiza asked.

"The two of you versus the two of us." Jason replied. "If both of you win, then we'll give you the bombs without a fight. However, if we win or if one of you loses, then both of you must promise that you'll end this mission of yours."

"What reason do we have to trust that you'll keep your end of this proposal?" Akiza asked. "You've given us no reason why we should trust that you'll keep your word."

Takashi looked into Jason's eyes and could tell that both he and Saeko were serious with their proposal. Still, there was something more that neither of them was telling and he wanted to find out what that was.

"I say we accept their proposal Akiza." He said. "If we do, then we can truly figure out whether or not they'll keep their end of this deal. Besides the more time we waste talking about it the closer the bombs come to exploding and killing us all."

Akiza looked towards Takashi for a moment and noticed that wanted to know the true motives behind Jason's actions. Once she saw that, the young woman gently nodded her head as she also felt something off too.

"So we're in agreement." Jason got off his Duel Runner and started it up. He then rode over towards Takashi. "Follow me."

Nodding his head in approval, Takashi wished Akiza luck and ran back over towards his Duel Runner. He proceeded to start it up and placed his helmet on before riding with Jason towards an unknown location. Once they were gone, both Akiza and Saeko activated their respective Duel Disks and had them shuffle their decks.

"Let's see if you're strong enough to prevent this destruction." Saeko said.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Saeko: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move." Saeko said as she placed her hand on her deck. "Draw!"

The young woman swiftly drew a card and placed it into her hand. She then pulled out another card and placed it horizontally on her Duel Disk.

"I Summon: Sangan, in Defense Mode. After that I end my turn."

**Sangan: ATK 1000 DEF 600 LVL 3**

As a small bright flash of light illuminated Saeko's side of the field, Akiza saw a small gremlin with 3 eyes and green arms appear on her opponent's field. The sight of monster didn't really surprise her since she's seen it during her Dark Attribute Monster class at Duel Academy.

"It's my turn." She said. "Draw!"

The beautiful Plant Duelist drew a card from her deck and looked at it for a few moments. Once she did that, she swiftly placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"I Summon: Twilight Rose Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Twilight Rose Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

As Akiza's knight appeared onto her side of the field, the young woman quickly took the card that she drew at the beginning of the turn and placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"When Twilight Rose Knight is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant-Type monster from my hand. I choose my Rose Fairy!"

**Rose Fairy: ATK 600 DEF 1200 LVL 3**

Next to Twilight Rose Knight a small, but beautiful red fairy appeared on the field.

"I now Tune my Level 3 Rose Fairy with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight in order to Synchro Summon: Queen of Thorns, in Attack Mode!"

**Queen of Thorns: ATK 2200 DEF 1800 LVL 6**

Akiza's monsters flew high into the air and swiftly perform the process for a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished, a bright flash of light illuminated the field as Queen of Thorns appeared and stood right next to her master.

"Go my Queen." Akiza commanded. "Destroy her Sangan!"

Queen of Thorns nodded her head and proceeded to shoot several vines from her hand. The vines flew across the field and began wrapping themselves around Sangan. Once the monster was fully covered with vines, Queen of Thorns squeezed the monster to death.

"I activate Sangan's Special Ability." Saeko stated. "When it's destroyed, I'm allowed to take one Dark Attribute Monster with 1500 or less Attack Points from my deck and add it to my hand."

Having already known about Sangan's abilities, Akiza wasn't shocked when her opponent began looking through her deck for the card she wanted. However the sight of this scene was causing making her think. Cards like Sangan were generally used to add cards with unique Special Abilities into a player's hand. Akiza believed that Saeko probably took a card like; Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, so that she could drain her monster's Attack Points.

Meanwhile, Saeko found the card that she wanted and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, she placed her deck back into her Duel Disk and it shuffle her cards before looking towards her opponent. Despite the fact that she wasn't showing it, Saeko knew that Akiza was analyzing her play and that she had a theory on what her plan was. Still, despite Akiza's theory, Saeko was confident that her opponent wouldn't figure out her true objective.

Once she saw that Saeko found her card, Akiza took one from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field, right behind Queen of Thorns.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." She said.

"Then it's my turn again." Saeko said. "Draw!"

Saeko drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, the young woman took another card from her hand and placed it horizontally onto her Duel Disk.

"I Summon: Banisher of Radiance, in Defense Mode."

**Banisher of Radiance: ATK 1600 DEF 0 LVL 3**

Akiza looked on as a red and white creature appeared on Saeko's side of the field in a bright flash of light. The monster looked ghostly in appearance and it seemed to have a giant mouth on its chest. The sight of it surprised her a little, but she was able to get over fairly quickly since she's seen scarier things.

"I activate Queen of Thorn's Special Ability!" She said. "When either of us Normal Summon or Special Summon a monster that's not a Plant-Type, then we must pay 1000 Life Points!"

Saeko looked on as several vines appeared from her own monster and began wrapping around her. Luckily for her, Akiza has gain for greater control over her Psychic Powers so the damage she was taking wasn't real.

**Saeko: 3000 LP**

As the vines slowly began to disappear, Saeko took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Duel Disk. The card materialized behind of her Banisher of Radiance.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn." Akiza said. "Draw!"

The young woman drew a card from her deck and saw that while it could be of some use, it couldn't do much now. So she decided that it would best to continue getting rid of Saeko's defenses.

"Queen of Thorns, attack Banisher of Radiance!"

The queen complied and proceeded to destroy Banisher of Radiance the same way as she destroyed Sagan. Once that happened, Akiza looked at her hand one more time and was able to confirm that there was nothing she could do at the moment.

"With that, I end my turn."

"It's my turn." Saeko said. "Draw!"

Upon drawing her next card and looking at it, a small smiled appeared on Saeko's face. She then looked towards Akiza, was waiting for her to make her move.

"Let me ask you something. I can tell that you've been suspicious about my last couple of moves, but haven't fully figured it out. So my question for you is this; what do you think my objective is?"

Akiza pondered the question that she just received and began to fully analyze all the moves that were made by Saeko since the beginning of the Duel. Once she did that, turned her attention towards her opponent and gave her an answer.

"For what I was able to gather so far, your plan is this." She started off. "You're trying to Special Summon a monster that requires you have both a Dark and Light Attribute Monster in your Graveyard. The two monsters you have in your Graveyard are Sangan and Banisher of Radiance, the two of them being the monsters that you need. Now all that's left is to draw the monster you want to Special Summon. Well…am I it right?"

Saeko's smile grew a little as began to clap her hands. Once she finished she nodded her head in approval.

"That's correct." She said. "I can tell you've been trained well as a Duelist. However, I could tell that despite knowing my plan you don't have a means to counter it at the moment. You should be fortunate that what I'm about to do won't drain you of all of your Life Points."

Akiza braced herself as she watched Saeko insert a card into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"To start off, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon!" Saeko stated. "With it, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field and the card I choose is your face-down card!"

A giant typhoon shot from Saeko's Spell Card and quickly made its way over towards Akiza's face-down. As it got closer, the young woman noticed that the wind coming from the typhoon wasn't a hologram…it was real. Once it destroyed her face-down card, Akiza glared at Saeko after coming to the realization of who she really was.

"You're a Psychic Duelist!" She yelled.

"Yes, I am." Saeko confirmed. "But then, so are you Akiza. I was able to sense your strong Psychic Energy ever since you first arrived in the Satellite Sector. Even though your powers are inhibited by that strange hairclip of yours, I know that your powers rival mine at that moment."

"If you know that, then why did you choose to Duel me? Did you want to test my skills of something?"

"Test your skill...that's a nice way to put it." Saeko replied. "Yes, that's exactly the case. I want to see just how strong you are and if your strength is good enough to handle the challenge that lies ahead if you and your friend are able to win."

Quickly becoming irritated, Akiza's mark began to glow as a small aura purple aura surrounded her body. The sight of this made Saeko even happier as she continued on with her turn.

"I remove both my Sangan and my Banisher of Radiance from the Duel in order to Special Summon: Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning!"

**Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

As Saeko removed her two monsters from her Graveyard, Akiza watched as two spheres appeared. One sphere was golden was the other was black. The two spheres fused with one another, causing the doors of chaos to open and allowing Black Luster Soldier to appear on Saeko's field.

"Even though you were able to summon your monster, Queen of Thorn's Special Ability is still in effect!" The Plant Duelist said. "You now lose another 1000 Life Points!"

Vines shot from Black Luster Soldier's back, wrapping around Saeko again and draining her Life Points.

**Saeko: 2000 LP**

When the vines disappeared from the field, Saeko noticed that her clothes were starting to rip. This alerted her that Akiza was beginning to utilize her Psychic abilities, exactly what she was hoping for.

"Go Black Luster Soldier!" She yelled. "Destroy Queen of Thorns with, Chaos Blade!"

The Chaos Soldier obeyed his master's orders and swiftly destroyed Queen of Thorns with one swipe of his sword. The strike resulted in small windstorm which covered Akiza side of the field, forcing her to brace herself.

**Akiza: 3200 LP**

"I activate Black Luster Soldier's Special Ability! If it successfully destroys one your monsters through battle, it has the right to attack again!"

The soldier turned his attention towards Akiza and quickly made his way over towards her. Just before its Chaos Blade could connect though, Akiza quickly jumped back just enough so that only a portion of her dress was ripped. Unfortunately, when the sword hit the ground, the resulting shockwave blew the young woman back a few feet.

**Akiza: 200 LP**

"With that, I end my turn." Saeko said as her Black Luster Soldier returned to her side of the field. "Now let's see if you have the power to overcome this."

As she slowly got up from the ground, Akiza started to feel that her powers were beginning to fluctuate. She was still upset with the fact that her opponent was simply using her just to test her abilities, which only reminded her about Sayer and how he used her. However a part of her couldn't bring herself to hate Saeko, despite all that she's doing.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked. "If you have all this power, why are you insisting on testing me and my powers?"

Saeko thought about Akiza's question for a few moments before finally give her an answer.

"If you manage to defeat me in this Duel, then I will gladly answer that question."

Akiza nodded her head and began ripping up a portion of her dress so that she can use it to wrap some of her wounds. Once she did that, the young woman placed her hand on top of her deck.

"It's my turn." She said. "Draw!"

Upon drawing a card from her deck, Akiza looked at it for a few moments before placing it horizontally on her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Dandylion, in Defense Mode!"

**Dandylion: ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL 3**

As a small flash of light illuminated Akiza's side of the field, Saeko saw a small flower with a lion shaped face appear. The sight of the monster made her blush a little as she thought it was very cute. Soon though, Akiza took 3 cards from her hand and inserted each of them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized behind Dandylion, each of them being placed face-down.

"I set 3 cards face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn again." Saeko said. "Draw!"

The young woman swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it in her hand. After that she took another card and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Dark Crusader, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Crusader: ATK 1600 DEF 200 LVL 4**

A dark light covered Saeko's side of the field as an armored warrior with black armor and red hair appeared. The warrior also had a red cape, which extended to the end of his back, and large broad sword.

"Go Dark Crusader, attack her Dandylion!"

The Warrior complied with his master's orders and quickly made its way over towards Dandylion. However, having predicted such a move in advance, Akiza quickly activated one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Draining Shield!" She declared. "With this, I can negate your Dark Crusader's attack and gain Life Points equal to its Attack Points!"

A magical barrier appeared before Dandylion, moments before Dark Crusader's sword connected with the Plant-Type monster. The barrier proceeded to drain Crusader's power and turned it into a healing energy, which recovered 1600 of Akiza's Life Points.

**Akiza: 1800**

"Nice play." Saeko said. "However, that won't help you! Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, destroy Dandylion with your Chaos Blade!"

The warrior complied and proceeded to destroy Dandylion, once again causing another shockwave that damage Akiza to some extent. However, at the moment of Dandylion's death, two small spores appeared onto field to take the monster's place.

"Whenever Dandylion is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon two Fluff Tokens onto my side of the field!" Akiza stated as she got up from off the ground.

**Fluff Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Fluff Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

"Hmph, it's a total role reversal." Saeko stated. "At the beginning of the Duel, you were the one attacking while I was the one defending. But now, I'm the one on the attack while you're on the defense."

"You're wrong." Akiza replied. "I am attacking you Saeko. You just don't know it yet."

Saeko's eyes widen a little in confusion as she looked at her opponent. She could very easily that there wasn't any doubt in her words and that her eyes held neither hesitation nor doubt. She also saw that the aura that was surrounding Akiza earlier was starting to become more and more vivid with each passing second. The sight of this made her excited, but at the same time scared since she got a feeling that Akiza was just waiting for her to end her turn so that she could finish her off next turn. All of those feelings only affirmed Saeko's decision that testing Akiza was a good idea.

"I activate Black Luster Soldier's Special Ability!" She declared. "Since it destroyed one of your monsters, it can attack once more!"

As Black Luster Soldier made its way over towards one of Akiza's Fluff Tokens, the young woman quickly activated her second face-down card in response.

"I activate my second Trap Card: Changing Destiny!" She stated. "With this Trap, I can switch your Black Luster Soldier into Defense Mode and force you to make a choice. You can either deal me damage equal to half of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning's Attack Points or gain Life Points equal half of its Attack Points. Take your time and choose well because the course of the entire Duel depends on the choice your about to make."

"I don't need to think about it." Saeko replied. "I've already chosen to deal you damage equal to half of Black Luster Soldier Attack Points!"

Black Luster Soldier pointed its Chaos Blade towards Akiza and fired a small blast of lighting towards her. The attack struck the young woman, causing her to scream in pain as her Life Points started to decrease again.

**Akiza: 300 LP**

Once the attack ended, Akiza got on both of her knees for a few moments as the electrical shocks she received caused her body to twitch around for a few moments. As she recovered from the attack she looked up towards Saeko and saw that despite dealing her real damage, she didn't have the look of a murderer. This caused Akiza to smile a little as she got up from off the ground and faced her opponent.

"That was a nice move." She said. "I probably would chosen the same if I were in your shoes. So…does that conclude your turn?"

"Yes it does." Saeko responded. "Now, it time to show me what you can really do Akiza. I know that you've been holding back because you don't want to hurt me. However I need you to attack me with all of your strength otherwise all of this would've been a waste of mine and, more importantly, your time!"

Akiza looked at Saeko and saw that she was adamant on her to release the true extent of her abilities. Realizing that this is what her opponent wanted and that she needed to take this Duel more seriously, Akiza finally decided to fight back.

"It's my turn." She said. "Draw!"

The young woman drew a card from her deck and looked at it from a few moments. Afterwards her body was completely enveloped by her purple aura as she inserted the card she drew into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With it, I choose to revive my Twilight Rose Knight!"

In a bright flash of light, Twilight Rose Knight reappeared onto the field and stood next to both of Akiza's Fluff Tokens. Once it did, the young woman quickly took a card from her and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Dark Verger, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Verger: ATK 0 DEF 1000 LVL 2**

In another flash of light, a new Plant-Type monster appeared on Akiza's side of the field. This new monster looked like a weed with eyes on its only two leaves.

"Now…I Tune both of Level 1 Fluff Tokens with my Level 2 Dark Verger with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight! Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

As all of the chosen monsters flew up into the air and performed the process for a Synchro Summoning, Saeko felt a huge burst of energy explode from Akiza's body. The energy was so massive that it felt like there was an ocean above the sky.

"So…so this is her true power…" She thought as she tried to keep herself from showing fear. "It's so massive that…I can't even describe it."

Once the process of the Synchro Summoning ended, Black Rose Dragon appeared in a bright purple light and flew a feet above its master.

"I activate Black Rose Dragon's Special Ability!" Akiza declared. "Once per turn I can remove one Plant-Type monster in my Graveyard so that my dragon can switch one of your monsters from Defense into Attack Mode and drain it of its Attack Points! So, I choose to remove Dark Verger from play so that I can drain all 3000 of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning's Attack Points!"

Black Rose Dragon roared at the top of its lungs as it released several vines from the tip of its wings. The wings wrapped around Black Luster Soldier and began draining the warrior of all of its strength.

**Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning: ATK 0**

"Black Rose Dragon, attack Black Luster Soldier with Black Rose Flare!"

The dragon complied with Akiza's wishes and proceeded to fire a stream of purple flames from its mouth. As the attack made its way over to Black Luster Soldier, Saeko quickly activated the face-down card she set a few turns ago.

"I activated the Trap Card: Shift!" She declared. "With this Trap, I can redirect your Black Rose Dragon's attack towards another one of my monsters."

Black Rose Dragon's flames changed direction as it moved from Black Luster Soldier and headed towards Dark Crusader. The flames instantly incinerated the Warrior-Type monster the very instant it made contact with it.

**Saeko: 1200 LP**

As the flames from Black Rose Dragon's attack remained on the field, Saeko was confident that she had the Duel in hand now. Even though her Dark Crusader was destroyed she was able to save her Black Luster Soldier. Now all she needed to do is wait for Akiza to end her turn so that Black Rose Dragon's Special Ability would end and her monster's Attack Points would return to normal.

"I activate my final Trap Card: Backdraft!" Akiza declared.

"What?!"

"Whenever a Fire Attribute Monster, like my Black Rose Dragon, inflicts Battle Damage onto my opponent, this Trap deals them damage equal to the Attack Points of that Fire Attribute Monster!"

Black Rose Dragon roared again as it began firing its flames towards Saeko. Realizing that she's lost, Saeko could do nothing but smile at Akiza.

"She is strong enough to handle Amon." She thought.

**Saeko: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As Black Rose Dragon faded away, Akiza looked on and watched that flames that were around Saeko slowly began to fade away too. The sight of this surprise the young woman as Akiza walked up to her.<p>

"I'm…I'm not on fire?" She said to herself in a confused tone of voice.

"Of course you're not." Akiza replied. "If I killed you with my attack then I wouldn't find out why you wanted to test me. Besides, I made a promise to never kill anyone with my powers unless the situation requires me to do so. And even then, that's only if no other option was available to me."

"I see…" Saeko nodded her head in approval as she was happy that Akiza was not only strong when it comes to her dueling skills and her powers, but also in kindness as well. "Well, as I promised, I will tell you why I tested you."

Saeko went on to explain that the sole reason why she tested Akiza is because she wanted to see if she was strong enough to battle against Amon. Having done that before and lost, Saeko was forced to serve him until either he or she died. Upon realizing that she didn't have the power needed to free herself, the young woman has been waiting patiently until a person who did have the strength appeared.

"Now I see." Akiza said, understanding the whole story. "Don't worry Saeko, I promise that Takashi and I will take care of Amon."

"Takashi…?" Saeko questioned. "Do you mean the boy who was with you? Are you sure he's strong enough? Jason is an incredible Turbo Duelist and I was sensing anything special coming off your friend."

"You don't have to worry about that. Takashi has a power that far exceeds mine and his Dueling Skills are nothing short than amazing. I know he'll win."

The young woman looked on into the distance as a smile appeared on her face. After about a minute though, the smile faded for a moment as Akiza wacked Saeko across her head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" She asked as she held her head.

"I was about to tell Takashi that I love him, but you and Jason fucked it up!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As the Turbo Duel between Takashi and Jason begins, the former learns the latter's reasons for testing him. Can Takashi accept his reason and can he defeat this powerful opponent and even if he does, will it even matter after both he and Akiza learn a shocking truth. _

_Next Time of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 39 – Time is running out?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **Hey guys, I just wanted to tell you that we're getting closer to the first anniversary of the debut of Over the Nexus. In celebration I plan on doing one of two things and I want you to decide on what I'm going to do. 1; I'll write a short story which involves the main protagonist of the story. Or 2; I'll write a Q&A panel in which the main characters answer some of the questions that you might have for them.

The suggestions will be on poll and it will last until October 19th.


	39. Chapter 39

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 39: **_Time is running out?_

* * *

><p>Having achieved victory over Saeko, Akiza was busy waiting for Takashi to win his Turbo Duel against Jason. Despite having the upmost faith in his victory, the beautiful Psychic Duelist couldn't keep herself from worrying about him. She held her hands together and placed them by her heart. After that she placed her head down a little and closed her eyes.<p>

"Takashi…" She thought, hoping her feelings would which the one she loved. "I believe in you. So please win…for me."

Meanwhile, far out in the distance, Takashi was attempting to keep up with Jason as the two of them continued to separate themselves from the girls. Has he did that, started to hear something and turned his head around in response. However, all he saw was nothing but the rocky road. Jason noticed this and turned his head towards his opponent.

"Something wrong…?" He asked. "You seemed distracted."

Takashi turned his head back towards Jason and shook his head in disapproval. He then looked down for a moment and proceeded to smile to himself.

"Don't worry." He thought. "I will win."

After a few minutes, Jason and Takashi achieved the significant amount of distance needed for them to have their Turbo Duel. Once they noticed that, both them pressed a button on their Duel Runners.

"Activating Field Spell: Speed World 2!"

"**Duel Mode; Engaged!"**

Both Duel Runners released a purple that covered the entire area. Once it was set, both Duelists quickly drew 5 cards from their deck.

* * *

><p>"Let's Duel!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Jason: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first!" Jason declared as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Jason: SPC – 1**

Upon drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Jason proceeded to grab another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Yellow Gadget, in Attack Mode!"

**Yellow Gadget: ATK 1200 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light illuminated Jason's side of the field as a monster appeared beside him. This monster resembled a yellow gear used for a machine. It had a round body with ridges, as well as a set of arms and legs.

"I activate Yellow Gadget's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned, I can add Green Gadget to my hand!"

Jason's Green Gadget card popped out from the middle of his deck, allowing him to quickly place it into his hand. Once he did that, the young man grabbed another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field, right behind Yellow Gadget, for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn." Takashi said. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Jason: SPC – 2**

Takashi swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he took another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When you have a monster of the field while I don't, I can Special Summon: Vice Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

Upon placing the card onto his Monster Card Zone, Vice Dragon appeared in a bright flash of light and started flying next to Takashi.

"However, if I Special Summon it this way, Vice Dragon's Attack and Defense Points are cut in half!

**Vice Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 1200**

As the Attack Points of his dragon started to drop, Takashi continued on with his turn by taking another card from his deck and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone as well.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: The White Stone of Legend!"

**The White Stone of Legend: ATK 300 DEF 250 LVL 1**

As another flash of light illuminated Takashi side of the field, Jason saw as the White Stone of Legend appeared and started floating next to Vice Dragon. The sight of the two monsters made it painfully obvious to him on what Takashi was planning to do next.

"I Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 1 White Stone of Legend, in order to Synchro Summon: Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth!"

**Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth: ATK 2600 DEF 800 LVL 6**

The two monsters flew up into the air and quickly performed the Synchro Summoning process. When they finished, another bright flash of light covered the field as a new Synchro Monster appeared. This monster was a warrior, wearing primary colored armor. He was riding a horse, whose body was covered in the same armor, and was holding a red lance in each hand. Gaia then started riding next to Takashi, being able to easily keep up with him despite the fact that he was riding a horse.

"I activate the White Stone of Legend's Special Ability! When it's sent to the Graveyard, I'm allowed to add the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to my hand!"

Blue-Eyes White Dragon's card popped out of Takashi's deck, allowing the young man to place it into his hand. Then, once he made sure that his deck was reshuffled, Takashi continued his turn by conducting his Battle Phase.

"Gaia, attack Yellow Gadget now!" He declared.

Gaia complied with his master's orders and proceeded to have his horse go faster. He soon moved past Takashi and began charging towards Yellow Gadget, until finally reaching the monster and piercing it with his lance.

**Jason: 2600 LP**

Once Yellow Gadget was gone, Gaia slowed down until he reached Takashi's speed. The young man then proceeded to look through all of his cards for a short moment before turning his attention back towards Jason.

"I end my turn." He said.

"Then it's my turn again." Jason stated. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Jason: SPC – 3**

The lieutenant drew a card from his deck and smiled upon taking a look at it. He then placed the card into his hand before grabbing another and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Green Gadget, in Attack Mode!"

**Green Gadget: ATK 1400 DEF 600 LVL 4**

As another bright flash of light covered Jason's side of the field, a new Gadget monster appeared beside him. This one's appearance looked very similar to Yellow Gadget; however it was green instead of yellow.

"I activate Green Gadget's Special Ability! Since it was successfully summoned, I'm allowed to add Red Gadget from my deck to my hand!"

Red Gadget's card popped out of Jason's deck and the young man quickly placed it into his hand before having his deck reshuffled. Once that happened he then grabbed another card from his hand, but this time he inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder! With this, I'm allowed to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand since I have two or more Speed Counters!"

Jason grabbed the card that he wished to Special Summon onto the field and quickly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Red Gadget, also in Attack Mode!"

**Red Gadget: ATK 1300 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Again, another flash of light illuminated Jason's field as Red Gadget appeared next to Green Gadget. The monster's appearance resembled that of his counterpart, but it was colored red instead of green.

"With that, I end my turn."

"Alright then…" Takashi said. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Jason: SPC – 4**

Quickly draw a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Takashi looked over all of his cards before looking at all the cards that his opponent currently has out on the field.

"Okay…let's think this through." He thought to himself. "The only card I have out on the field is Gaia, the Force of Earth. It has 2600 Attack Points and is able to easily handle both Green and Red Gadget. Jason also has one card face-down on the field, which he didn't activate when I attacked Yellow Gadget last turn. It must be a support card, used to strengthen his monsters. Now…after thinking about all the moves that he made, Jason's face-down must be the Trap Card: Stronghold the Moving Fortress."

Stronghold the Moving Fortress is a special Trap Card which also acts a Monster Card upon being activated. It becomes a Level 4 Machine-Type monster with 0 Attack Points and 2000 Defense Points.

"Stronghold's defense isn't strong enough to match Gaia, which explains why he didn't activate it. Jason must be waiting until he summons another Yellow Gadget. If he does that, then Stronghold's second Special Ability will be activated. It will gain 3000 Attack Points when all 3 Gadget monsters are on the field at the same time. I can't let that happen!"

Revving up his Duel Runner, Takashi started to quickly close the distance between himself and Jason until he finally passed him. Once he did that, he turned himself around a little as he proceeded to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Gaia, destroy Jason's Red Gadget!" He declared.

Gaia complied with Takashi's order and started to charge towards Red Gadget. However, before he could get close enough, Jason quickly activated his face-down card as it reappeared onto the field.

"I activate the Trap Card: Waboku!" He stated.

"What?!"

"With this Trap, I can prevent my monsters from being destroyed through Battle this turn and any Battle Damage I receive is reduced to zero!" Jason added.

Just as Gaia's lance was about to pierce through Red Gadget, 3 beautiful mages appeared in between them and took the attack instead. However, the mages weren't affected by the attack and simply pushed Gaia back towards his master.

"Crap!" Takashi said underneath his teeth. "I thought for sure that his Trap Card was Strong the Moving Fortress, but I guess I thought wrong. Now not only did I waste my attack, but I also guaranteed that his monsters can't be destroyed through battle this turn. Damn it…"

Jason looked towards Takashi and saw that he was clearly frustrated by what just happened. The sight of that made him smile as it meant that he was quickly getting into Takashi's head. He then turned his head slightly and looked at the card that he drew at the beginning of his last turn.

"If you think you're upset now, then you better be ready to lose it." He thought. "Because as soon as I end my turn, I'm going to show you what I can really do!"

As Jason started to silently laugh to himself, Takashi looked through all the cards in his hand and found two that caught his interest.

"These cards might not help me now, but they'll be useful to be later." He thought. "I just have to make sure that I play them at the precise moment."

The young Turbo Duelist grabbed the cards and quickly inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized behind both him and Gaia for a short moment before disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Jason nodded his head and placed his hand on his deck. He knew that it didn't matter what card he drew now. This Duel was already in the palm of his hand.

"It's my turn. Draw!"

He swiftly drew a card from his deck and, without even looking at it, placed it in his hand. He then grabbed the card that he drew last turn and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I sacrifice both my Green and Red Gadget I order to Summon: Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Both Red and Green Gadget disappeared from the field as a new monster appeared and started flying above Jason. This monster had the appearance of a metal dragon, made from the spare parts of rusty machines.

"Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon…" Jason called. "Destroy Gaia, the Force of Earth with Iron Dragon Wing Attack!"

Gadjiltron Dragon roared at the top of its lungs as flew towards Gaia. It then proceeded to slice both the warrior and the horse in half with one slash of its metal wings.

**Takashi: 3600 LP**

"I activate Gadjiltron Dragon's Special Ability! Since Red Gadget was used from one of its tributes, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon can deal you 400 extra points of damage whenever it deals you Battle Damage!"

Takashi's eyes widen in shocked as he watched Gadjiltron Dragon fire a laser beam from its mouth. The attack struck him, causing him to slow down and allow Jason to pass him.

**Takashi: 3200 LP**

"With that I end my turn." Jason said as he turned his head and looked over towards his opponent. "Now, let's see what you can do."

"Fine then…" Takashi replied. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Jason: SPC – 6**

Takashi drew a card from his deck and swiftly placed it into his hand. Once that happened, the young man took another card and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dread Dragon, in Defense Mode!"

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

A small flash of light illuminated Takashi's side of the field as Dread Dragon appeared and took a defensive position in front of him.

"I don't have any other moves to make. So I end my turn."

Jason looked at his monitor as saw the move that his opponent made. Not seeing anything special from it, the young man sighed to himself as he placed his hand on his deck.

"What a pity…" He said quietly. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 7**

**Jason: SPC – 7**

Upon drawing a card, Jason looked at it for a few seconds before inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Stop Defense! By removing 3 Speed Counters, this Spell Card can force you Dread Dragon into Attack Mode!"

**Jason: SPC – 4 **

Once again, Takashi's eyes widen in shock as he watched his Dread Dragon forcibly be switched from Defense to Attack Mode.

"Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon…" Jason said as he turned his Duel Runner around and started drifting backwards. "Destroy Dread Dragon, Iron Dragon Wing Attack!"

Gadjiltron Dragon once again roared as it made its way over towards Takashi's Dread Dragon. In only a few seconds, the mechanical beast ripped the tiny dragon to shreds.

**Takashi: 1300 LP**

"Since Gadjiltron Dragon once again dealt you Battle Damage, its Special Ability activates again. You now lose another 400 Life Points!"

Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon fired another laser beam towards Takashi which not only drained more of his Life Points, but also caused him to lose control of his Duel Runner for a few moments.

**Takashi: 900 LP**

As he tried to regain control of his Duel Runner, Takashi noticed that Jason's face appeared on his monitor. He proceeded to shake his head in disapproval as he started talking to him.

"This is pathetic." He started out. "I thought you were strong than this, after learning you defeated Shizuka. I guess I was wrong."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Takashi asked as he started to straighten out. "Is all this just as test to see how strong I am?"

"Yes it is. I wanted to see if you were strong enough to handle Amon, but at your skill level it you won't even last a second against him."

As Jason continued to look towards Takashi, the young man saw his opponent glare at him as anger started to build into his eyes. The sight of this reminded him a lot about himself as he also used to have the same look in his eyes.

"I'm not some guinea pig that you can use just to test my abilities!" Takashi yelled. "Just for that, I'm going to kick your ass twice as hard! You're just like Amon and I'll be damned if I'm going to be defeated by something who acts like him!"

Jason gritted his teeth in anger and, in anger, proceeded to glare back at Takashi. The sight of this caused the latter to calm down as he saw that Jason's eyes contained a hint of sadness and regret.

"Don't you dare compare me to Amon!" Jason yelled. "That bastard has made my life a Living Hell as he killed the one person that I care about most in the world!"

As Jason's anger continued to grow, the Lieutenant started to explain how he joined the Crashing Sharks and how Amon took the life of the person he cared about.

* * *

><p><em>3 years ago.<em>

In a small community in the Eastern Section of the Satellite Sector, Jason was busy having a friendly duel against his friend; Michael, while people from all over watched.

**Jason: 500 LP**

**Michael: 1600 LP**

On Jason's side of the field, he had his Yellow and Red Gadget out, as well as two face-down cards. While on Michael's side of the field, he had the powerful Red-Eyes Black Dragon out and had no cards face-down on the field.

**Red-Eyes Black Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

As the spectators looked on in excitement as they knew that a Duel between these two Duelists was always something to see. Both of them would always give it their all and would never give up no matter how bad the situation was for them.

"It's my turn!" Jason said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

The young man swiftly drew a card from his deck and smiled upon seeing it. He then looked towards his friend as he firmly placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I sacrifice my Red Gadget and my Yellow Gadget, in order to Summon: Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

Both Gadget monsters disappeared from the field as Gadjiltron Dragon arrived in a bright flash of light. Everyone in the crowd cheered in excitement as they knew that Gadjiltron Dragon was Jason's Ace Monster and the one card that one card that he could always count on.

"Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon..." Jason said as he prepared himself. "Destroy his Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

The metal dragon complied with its master's demand and quickly took out Red-Eyes with its powerful wings.

**Michael: 1000 LP**

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Gadjiltron Dragon! When Red Gadget is used as one of its tributes, it can inflict you with 400 points of damage whenever it deals you Battle Damage! Then, when Yellow Gadget is used for one of its tributes, it can inflict another 600 points of damage whenever it destroys one your monsters through Battle! 600 plus 400 is 1000. That means my dragon is dealing you 1000 points of damage!"

Gadjiltron Dragon opened its mouth and fired two laser blasts, striking Michael and draining the remaining the rest of his Life Points.

**Michael: 0 LP**

As the holograms started to fade away, both Jason and Michael walked towards one another and proceeded to shake each other's hand. The sight of this caused the crowd to applaud as they like the fact that both Duelists were still friends, despite the outcome of their Duel.

Soon, a little boy appeared from the crowd and rushed over towards Jason. Upon seeing him, the young man smiled as he picked the boy up in his arms.

"You did it, big brother!" The boy said with a smile on his face. "I knew that you could do it!"

"Thank you Paul." Jason replied.

Paul was Jason's younger brother by over 10 years. Ever since both of their parents died, Jason was force to be both a brother and a parent to his only remaining family member. He cared for him very deeply and vowed to always protect him from harm. It was Jason's wish to one day take Paul out to New Domino City, so that his little brother could live life without fear or tragedy.

…Unfortunately, Jason wouldn't get to fulfill that wish.

One day, while making his way back towards his house, Jason was confronted by a man wearing a mask. The man blocked his way, making it hard for Jason to continue moving forward.

"Hey!" He said in an annoyed tone of voice. "Get out of my way. I have to go home and prepare dinner for my little brother."

"I know Jason…" The man said. "I won't be too long. I just want to offer you something."

"How the hell do you know my name? And what is this offer?"

"My name is Amon." The masked man replied. "I'm currently leader of the Crashing Sharks, the largest Dueling Gang in the entire Satellite Sector. I'm here to offer you the chance to be one of my Lieutenants, the selected few who will stand by me as I create a New World."

"New World…?" Jason asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Amon looked up into the sky for a few moments as he thought about Jason's reply. He then looked back towards the person he was trying recruit and proceeded to give him his answer.

"It's just like I said. I'm going to create a New World, in which people won't have to experience pain nor suffering, ever again. It'll be a world where people won't have to make pitiful excuses over graves about what they could have done. That's my goal."

"And you need my help to accomplish this goal of yours?" Jason said.

"Yes. I am just one person and, despite the many gifts that I have, I cannot accomplish this goal on my own. That's way I'm gathering powerful Duelists like you. With all of you by my side, I can destroy our current world and create another in which we all can enjoy.

Jason remained quiet as he thought about everything that Amon said to him. A part of him didn't really like the idea as it meant that a lot of lives would have to sacrificed in order to complete the plan. However, he knew full well that there's plenty of people in the world who deserved to die so that others can live. That side of him liked the plan because it meant that his little brother would be safe.

He closed his eyes for a few minutes and carefully thought about Amon's plan. Once he finished, opened his eyes and looked towards the mysterious masked man.

"I've thought about it and…I can't accept your offer." He answered. "It's not like I your plan doesn't have its good points, it just I can't bring myself to kill others just to create a New World. If I did that, then I would be no better than the people I'm killing. Also, I have to be there for my little brother. I can't join a group that might cost me life. I'm sorry…"

Amon looked towards Jason as he remained silent, thus making it really difficult for the latter to tell what the former was thinking. Soon though, Amon snapped his fingers as he started talking again.

"I see…" He said. "I respect your answer, but I still want you to join us. So let's make a deal. The two of us Duel and if you win then I won't bother you anymore. However, if I win, then you must take my offer and become one of my Lieutenants."

"I told you I don't want to become one your Lieutenants!" Jason yelled as he was starting to become irritated. "Now drop it and let it go!"

Jason was about to walk away, but he soon stopped when he saw something that shocked him. From out of a corner Kazuki, who was 3 years younger at the time, appeared and he was holding Paul by the neck. He held the little boy tight enough so that his neck wouldn't break, but he wouldn't be able to talk.

"I recommend that you take this deal, Jason." Amon said as he placed a Duel Disk on his arm. "Otherwise, your little brother will become an early sacrifice for the creation of the New World."

Angered that his little brother is being used as a hostage, Jason was about to go off and attack Amon. However, he knew that if he made any sudden moves then Kazuki would kill Paul. With no other choice left to him, the young man activated his Duel Disk and placed his deck into the card slot.

"Alright then…" He said. "You want to Duel then let's Duel. But know this…You're going down you Bastard!"

The Duel between Amon and Jason didn't last too long as the latter was completely destroyed by the skills of the former. Despite the fact that he was able to summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon, Jason's monster was overwhelmed by the power of Amon's Ace Monster. The sight of the beast, as well as the way he lost, shook Jason to his core as he knelt down to his knees.

"Looks like I win." Amon said as he deactivated his Duel Disk. "Now please keep you promise and join my cause. I really don't want any problems between the two of us."

Amon extended his arm out towards Jason just as his arm started to glow a crimson color. The site of the glow entranced Jason, as he slowly got up and started walking towards him. Not wanting to see his big brother go, Paul bit down hard on Kazuki's arm. The pain of the bite caused Kazuki to let the little boy go as he rushed over towards Jason.

"Don't go Jason…" He pleaded with tears in his eyes. "Please don't go!"

Paul's cries snapped Jason from his trance and the young man held his brother close to him so that Amon won't get to him again. Unfortunately, this embrace wouldn't last too long as the masked man increased the power of his glowing arm. It soon entranced Paul just as the glow turned into a mark of a dragon's tail.

"It seems things have to be done the hard way." He said in a disappointed tone of voice. "It's a shame. I never like having to kill children."

Paul soon reached Amon as the masked man placed his hand over the boy's skull. He then started to squeeze just as Jason was running over towards the both of them.

"NOOOO! PAUL!"

Jason's cry came too late as Amon squeezed Paul's skull like a grape. The sight of this caused Jason to fall back to his knees in despair as his little brother's body fell to ground, neck squirting out blood. Amon then looked at the hand he used to kill Paul and saw how bloody it was.

"That's why I hate killing children. Their deaths are always so messy."

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

As Jason concluded his story, Takashi finally realized that Jason wasn't like Amon. He was force to join his cause and even witness the death of his little brother because of his actions. Learning all this caused the young man to feel sympathy for his opponent as no one should suffer the way he's suffered.

"Since that day, I have vowed to avenge my little brother's death by killing Amon." Jason continued. "However Amon's hypnotic powers are too strong and even if I did manage to overcome them, his dueling skills are even stronger. I quickly came to the conclusion that that couldn't defeat him no matter what I tried. It was then that I decided that if someone were to challenge Amon, then I would test their ability. If they could defeat me then I would know that they would at least stand a chance against him!"

"I see…" Takashi closed his eyes for a moment and flashed his mind back towards the past. Once he finished thinking about it, his body was soon covered in its blue aura. "I understand why you wanted to test me now. Don't worry Jason, I'll avenge Paul and make sure Amon gets what coming to him!"

Jason looked on as he watched Takashi's body glow. He then remembered that it was the same glow that Amon used in his Duel against him 3 years ago. The sight of this restored some of his belief in Takashi's skills and decided to continue the Duel.

"I activate Dread Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi declared. "When it's destroyed by battle, I can add a Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type monster from my deck and place it in my hand."

As the young man swiftly grabbed the card that he wanted to add to his hand, Jason continued on with his turn.

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" He said. "By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can inflict 800 points of damage onto you for every Speed Spell in my hand! I have only 1 Speed Spell. That means you're deal 800 points of damage!"

**Jason: SPC – 0 **

Jason turned his Duel Runner around again as the vehicle fired a white energy beam from its headlights. Takashi was able to avoid the beam expertly, but was still dealt the 800 points of damage.

**Takashi: 100 LP**

"Alright Takashi…" Jason said as he turned himself back around. "Let's see if you can overcome these odds."

"I intend too." The young man replied as his aura continued to glow brighter. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 8**

**Jason: SPC – 1**

After drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Takashi swiftly grabbed another card and placed it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"To start things off, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Delta Flyer, in Attack Mode!"

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

As Takashi's loyal Delta Flyer appeared in a bright flash of light, the young man quickly started to close the distance between himself and Jason. As he did that, he then activated one of his face-down cards.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Descending Lost Star! With this Trap, I can Special Summon a Synchro Monster that resides in my Graveyard in Defense Mode! However that monster can't be switched back into Attack Mode, its Level is reduced by one, its effects are negated, and it loses all of its Defense Points! Appear now, Gaia, the Force of Earth!"

**Gaia, the Force of Earth: DEF 0 LVL 5**

Another flash of light illuminated Takashi's side of the field as Gaia reappeared beside him and started riding next to Delta Flyer. Once both monsters were out, Takashi decided to make his move.

"I Tune my Level 5 Gaia, the Force of Earth with my Level 3 Delta Flyer! Clustering will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

As both of Takashi's monsters flew into the air and performed the Synchro Summoning process, the young man's arm started to glow. Soon, in a bright flash of light, Stardust Dragon appeared and illuminated the entire area in its beautiful glow.

"That's a nice Synchro Monster you have there." Jason complimented. "However, it's still not strong enough to take down my Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon."

"I know." Takashi replied. "That's why I'm going to do this!"

The young man took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Ancient Rules! When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand. I choose to Special Summon: Blue-Eyes White Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Blue-Eyes White Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

The entire Southern Section started glowing in a bright flash of light as Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared and started flying next to Stardust Dragon. Now, with both of his monsters out, Takashi decided to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Blue-Eyes, attack Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon with White Lightning!"

Blue-Eyes complied with Takashi's orders and fired a blast of white lightning from its mouth. The attack struck Gadjiltron Dragon, but the metal dragon was able to withstand it to some extent. It then flew towards Blue-Eyes White Dragon and struck it with its metal wings. Once the smoke cleared, both dragons were killed and they fell to the ground.

"Damn…" Jason thought. "With Gadjiltron Dragon gone, he can attack my Life Points directly with Stardust Dragon. Its attack will bring my Life Points down to 100, matching his."

As Jason contemplated on what to do next, Takashi quickly activated his final face-down card just as he finally caught up with his opponent.

"It's time to end this!" He declared. "I activate the Trap Card: Shooting Sonic! With this Trap, Stardust Dragon gains Attack Points equal to the amount of Life Points I currently have!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2600**

"Stardust Dragon, attack his Life Points directly with Shooting Sonic!"

The powerful Synchro Monster complied with its master's orders as it fired a powerful blast of cosmic energy from its mouth. The attack struck Jason, causing him to lose the remainder of his Life Points.

**Jason: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, the aura around Takashi started to fade away as well. Once it was gone the young man rushed over towards Jason, who was busy looking at sky.<p>

"Paul…" He thought quietly to himself. "For the past 3 years, I wasn't able to avenge your death. But now, I think I found the one person who can. So please wait a little bit longer."

Jason brought his head back down when he noticed that Takashi was heading towards him. He then smiled to himself as the young man got off his own Duel Runner and walked over towards him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"…Yes." Jason replied. "For the first time in a long time, I feel okay."

Hearing those words brought a smile onto Takashi's face as the two Duelists proceeded to shake hands before getting back on their Duel Runners. They then made their way back to where the girls were and saw that they were very happy to see them, especially Akiza.

"I knew that you could do it." The beautiful Psychic as she held Takashi close to her.

The two embraced each other for a few moments until they finally realized that they were hugging each other closely. Takashi and Akiza proceeded to separate from each, blushing deeply with embarrassment. The sight of this scene made both Jason and Saeko smile as they considered it very adorable.

Soon though, after seeing the teenagers calm down, Saeko and Jason each handed them the bomb that they were protecting. Takashi and Akiza thankfully took the devices and started to deactivate them. However, before the former could finish, Jason approached him.

"Takashi…" He said. "There's something that you need to know before you deactivate that bomb."

"What is it?" Takashi asked.

"I'm just learned from my comrade, Kikyo, that the bombs in the Eastern and Western Sections have been deactivated. When both you and Akiza finished deactivating those bombs, then that would mean that 4 of the 5 bombs are deactivated."

Takashi looked on at Jason with a hint of confusion. He knew that it was good that 4 of the 5 bombs were about to be out of the way, but he could also tell that there was a hint of dread in Jason's words. The young man wanted to speak out, but decided to wait and let Jason continue talking.

"Amon had taken precautions, just in case such a thing occurs. So he specifically modified the 5 and final bomb. It has 10 times the normal firepower to it and if the first 4 bombs were to be deactivated, then the timer on the 5th one would begin to speed up."

"What?!" Takashi and Akiza said in unison. "The timer is going to speed up?!"

"That's correct." Saeko followed. "And at the current time, it will probably explode in the next 40 minutes. Takashi, Akiza…you must hurry once you deactivate the 4th bomb. Time is running out…for all of us."

Meanwhile, as this was happening, Crow was continuing his way through the Northern Section of the Satellite Sector. As he drove along the road, he started to hear a beeping noise coming from his monitor. Upon looking at it, the Blackwing Duelist's expression became very serious.

"So, the 4th bomb is deactivated." He said to himself. "Then that means the 5th ones timer is going to speed up. I need to hurry and get to it before time runs out."

With new focus, Crow revved up his Runner and proceeded to drive faster. However, before he could reach his destination, a giant fireball was making his way over to him. Seeing the attack, Crow expertly avoided the fireball, but was still surprised by its appearance.

"Who's there?" He called. "Show yourself!"

Crow's demand was quickly answered as a man on a red and black Duel Runner made his way over to him. Once he arrived, the man took off his helmet and revealed himself to be Kazuki.

"It's been a long time Crow." He said. "Do you remember me?"

"Kazuki…" The Blackwing Duelist said silently. "I haven't seen you in 4 years. Why are you one of Amon's Lieutenants?"

Kazuki's expression started to change as he thought about what Crow just said to him. He soon started glaring at him as he gave him an answer.

"It's very simple." He said. "It's because you let Rin die."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_What is Crow's and Kazuki's relationship with Rin and just how did Crow let her die? Old wounds are beginning to reopen as the last bomb quickly begins to tick away._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 40: Resolved Hope – Part 1_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcement <strong>  
><em>

_****_**Spirit Reader: **Hey guys. I just wanted to let you know that I spent some time and revised the previous chapters so that I can clean things up. So if you see any changes, that's probably the reason. Anyway, please continue to read Over Nexus and review each chapter.


	40. Chapter 40

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 40: **_Resolved Hope – Part 1_

* * *

><p><em>4 years ago<em>

_Crow: Age 14_

It's been about 4 months since Sasuke first proposed the idea for Lilly and her friends to form Team Satisfaction and attempt to make the Satellite Sector a better place to live. However, during that timeframe, there's one person on the team who's starting to have doubts. That individual's name is…Crow Hogan.

When the team was first brought together, Crow honestly believed that he would start making a difference in the place that he called home. However, as the months rolled by, the Blackwing Duelist was starting to think otherwise. All Sasuke has had he and his friend do was going around from place to place, checking out shady locations that led to nothing. Other than that, they would just sit there and listen as Sasuke lectures them about the various things that he wanted to change to the Satellite.

Crow believed in action, not words. If change was going to be brought to the Satellite then Team Satisfaction needs to be going out to where the real action is and start confronting it. If they don't then not only will things not change, but they'll gradually worsen. Crow couldn't let that happen, because he made a vow. It's because of that vow that the young man continues working with the team, even though nothing is going on.

….However, on this day, that vow caused him to lose one of his dearest friends.

It was a beautiful Monday evening, as Crow was busy walking through the Northern District of the Satellite Sector. According to Sasuke, rumors have surfaced that a new Duel Gang is hiding out there, using an abandoned power plant as their base of operations. If the rumors were true, then the Duel Gang could quickly become one of the biggest threats to appear in the Satellite since the Crashing Sharks made their appearance 7 years prior. Sasuke wasn't about to let that happen, but he had a problem. He had already sent Lilly, Kalin, and Alistair out with their own respective missions and even though it shouldn't take them too long, the rumors worried Sasuke too much for him to wait. So, with no other option left to him, the leader of Team Satisfaction had no choice but to send Crow.

However, he made sure to give him important instructions. Crow was to check things out at the power plant, and nothing more. If the rumors were false, then Crow needs to head back to the lair right away. If they were true, then all that Crow needs to do is lie low and wait for the others to join them. Sasuke made it a point that no member of Team Satisfaction could confront an enemy by themselves. Teamwork was the key to their victory and teamwork would lead them even closer to their goal to finally bring peace to the Satellite.

These terms didn't really sit well with Crow since he believed that he could handle any situation by himself. Now that's not to say that he couldn't work together with his fellow teammates, it's just that the Blackwing Duelist has a lot of faith in his abilities. Also, for some reason deep within his heart, Crow didn't really trust Sasuke. He noticed that all that he would do was order the team to go out in different locations, while he stayed behind and did his own thing. This caused Crow to be suspicious of Sasuke and tried to alert the others of this. Unfortunately the others, especially Lilly, didn't believe that Sasuke was the suspicious type of person. Plus, Crow didn't have any proof to back up his suspicions which caused them to believe he was overreacting. Still, despite that claim, Crow kept a close eye on his leader.

Soon the young man reached marketplace, a small area where people in the Northern Section usually buy food and other goods. Upon reaching this place, Crow knew that he was close to his destination since the power plant was 10 minutes away from where he currently was.

"Alright…" He said as he examined the area. "I might as well take my time here. I'm pretty sure that no one is at that power plant."

Crow's strong belief that no one was at the power plant could be shared by anyone who has seen the area before. When the Zero Reverse incident split New Domino City in two, it was the power plant that took the most structural damage. Despite efforts to rebuild the plant, people still avoided it because they were afraid that the building could fall at any moment.

"Sasuke is just being paranoid." Crow thought to himself. "There's no way in hell that anyone is hanging out at that power plant. Why the hell is he going us these crappy missions? She should attack the other Duel Gangs now when they least expect it. That way they won't see us coming when we kick their asses."

"Maybe he's being cautious."

Crow turned himself around and saw two young teenagers standing behind him, one boy and one girl. The sight of them brought a small smile to the Blackwing Duelist's face.

"Kazuki…Rin…it's good to see you guys." He said.

Kazuki was a young 15-year-old boy with blonde hair and green eyes. He had a muscular build about him, which is due to him working out on regular occasions. He was currently wearing a plain white t-shirt with blue jeans and a yellow jacket. Rin was a beautiful 14-year-old girl with shoulder-length, brown hair and bright purple eyes. Not really known for wearing dresses, Rin wore a light blue t-shirt while wearing a darker pair of jeans. She was also wearing a beautiful necklace, which was given to her by Crow during her birthday.

The two of them were very close to Crow as they been best friends with him ever since they were little. They used to stay with him at Martha's orphanage in the beginning, but Kazuki decided to move out when he was 12-years-old. Rin, while not wanting to leave, decided to go so that she could keep an eye on Kazuki and make sure that he doesn't get himself into trouble. Despite them leaving, Crow still kept in contact with them and regular hangs out with the two when he decided to leave Martha's when he was 14. Kazuki and Rin are also the only two people outside of Team Satisfaction to know about the group's existence, with Crow telling them shortly after the group came together.

"Sasuke is a very wise person." Rin continued. "Duel Gangs are popping up all over the place, all them trying to reach the same level of power that the Crashing Sharks have acquired of the years. He must want to make sure that no other gang reaches that same level of power."

"I guess so…" Crow said. "But if that's the case, why don't we take out the Crashing Sharks now? I just heard that they just appointed somebody to be the new Amon, or leader, of the group. Now would be the best time to handle them while they're all getting accustomed to the new leader."

"As I said, Sasuke is very wise. The new leader of the Crashing Sharks hasn't been making any big moves recently. Sasuke must have noticed this and decided that taking them on right now, while they're under new leadership, would be pointless. It's probably best to handle other Duel Gangs so that in the end, only the Crashing Sharks are left to deal with."

"Exactly…" Kazuki followed. "Listen to Rin, Crow. She knows what she's talking about."

Crow gave Kazuki a slight look as he was annoyed that he was sucking up to Rin. Still, the Blackwing Duelist knew that his friend has had a crush on her ever since they were little and that he was used to him doing that.

The three friends decided to hang out for a bit and proceeded to head over to a local ramen shop so that they could get something to eat. Once they reached the shop they ordered their food and in no time at all, the waiter appeared with 3 hot bowls of pork ramen.

"Hey you guys…" Crow said as he started to eat. "Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" Both Kazuki and Rin said at the same time.

"What do you think about the Satellite? I mean, what's your honest opinion on this place that we call our home?"

As the processed the question, both Kazuki and Rin took some time to think about it so that they could give their friend the honest answer that he wanted. After about 5 minutes of thinking, Kazuki was the first to speak up.

"I'm not going to play around with you Crow." He started off. "I truly hate the Satellite Sector. People are dying here every day and it seems to be no end in sight to the amount of blood that's been shed. Also the corrupt Sector Security officers always try to make some excuse to arrest somebody, even if it's for the smallest of things. They say that they're enforcing the law, but in the end they're nothing but a bunch of dictators."

"I see…" Crow said.

"But my hatred doesn't just include the Satellite." Kazuki followed. "It also extends to New Domino City. It was because of the people over there that Zero Reverse happened in the first place. If it wasn't for that, then the Satellite wouldn't have split from New Domino thus preventing the things that are happening right now. To make matters worse, they went back to their everyday lives while leaving us to fend for ourselves. For all tense and purposes, the City left us for dead!"

As Kazuki went back to eating his ramen, both Crow and Rin thought about what their friend just said and how passionate he was about saying it. They then remembered Martha telling them that Kazuki's mother died during Zero Reverse, leaving his father to raise him all by himself. However, 3 short years later, Kazuki's father was soon murdered when he ran into one of the Duel Gangs that reside in the Satellite. Losing both his parents due to mistakes of New Domino and Satellite, it's understandable that he would hold resentment for both places.

"If I had my way…" Kazuki continued. "I would destroy both New Domino City and the Satellite Sector. Then, I would rebuild them into places so that nobody would have to die again."

"I don't think I could do that." Rin replied.

The two boys looked towards their female friend as they watched her stir her fork around her bowl. After about a minute of stirring, Rin lifted her head and started to speak.

"It's true that things haven't been great for us here and it's also true that New Domino City is responsible for that, but I don't think I could take revenge by destroying them. Whether we like it or not, the Satellite Sector is our home. It's place where we grew up and made so many of our friends. If it were to be destroyed then they might not survive and we would be all alone. Creating something new wouldn't mean anything, if you don't have friends to enjoy it with."

As Rin spoke her mind, only Crow was truly listening to what she had to say. The young girl's state of mind was almost like Crow's as both of them wished to changed things, not to destroy them.

"But there's more to it than that." Rin continued. "I want the Satellite to change to the point that little kids don't have grow up with a sense of fear, like we had too. I want them to live happily, along with their friends and family. Then, one day, we can finally reconnect to New Domino City and bring things back to the way they were before. If I had only wish in this lifetime, it would be that."

Soon, the 3 friends finished eating and proceeded to pay for their food. After that they then walked out of the ramen shop and started walking together for a few moments before Kazuki's cell phone started to ring. As he answered it the young man's expression quickly turned into a serious one as he listen closely to the person who talking to him on the other line. After a few minutes, Kazuki hung up his phone and turned towards the others.

"Sorry guys…" He said. "I just heard that something going on back home and I need to head back to check things out. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."

Both Crow and Rin nodded their heads, understanding why Kazuki needed to leave. Before he left though, Kazuki grabbed Crow and brought him far enough away from Rin so that she doesn't hear them.

"Listen Crow…While I'm gone, I want you to take care of Rin. She means to the world to me, as I would have probably committed suicide if it wasn't for her. I love her Crow…so please keep her safe."

Crow stayed silent for a few minutes before gently placing his hand on Kazuki's shoulder. He then smiled at his friend before he started talking.

"Don't worry about Rin, Kazuki." He said. "I promise that nothing will happen to her. You have my word."

Kazuki returned Crow's smile with one of his own, as he knew that Crow always kept his promises to him. With that, the two bumped fist before Kazuki left to head back home. Once he was gone, Rin walked over towards Crow.

"Let me guess…" She said. "He wants you to protect me while he's goes home."

"How'd you know?" Crow asked.

"It was easy. I know that Kazuki has a crush on me and that care for me more than anyone else in the world. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out."

"I see…" Crow said.

The two friends started to walk around the marketplace for a few minutes, talking about various things that interested them. As they were having a good time enjoying each other's company, Crow's cell phone started to ring. The Blackwing Duelist pulled his phone and answered, only here someone screaming in his ear.

"_Where the fuck are you Crow?!"_

It was Lilly, and from the tone of her voice, it was clear that she was clearly upset with her teammate. Crow was about to say something in response, but Lilly cut him off so that she could continue ranting.

"_Look, I don't want to hear any of your lame-ass excuses!" _She continued. _"The power plant that you were suppose to check out is holding that new Duel Gang! Apparently they decided to get some new members and we're currently outnumbered. We need you to get down here now, before it's too late!"_

As Lilly hung up, Crow's eyes were widen from the shock of this news. Because of him, his teammates were now in trouble and if he didn't get there soon then things could get worse for them. Remembering his vow, Crow's resolve strengthened and he prepared to leave. However, before he did, he remembered that he needed to keep his promise to Kazuki and take care of Rin. Not wanting to break his promise, Crow didn't want to leave his friend alone. However he knew that taking her with him would only place her in more danger. Realizing the confliction within him, Rin walked over towards Crow.

"Go Crow…" She said. "I can tell from your phone call that your teammates are in trouble. You need to go and help them out."

"But Rin…"

Now buts…!" She continued. "I truly believe that Team Satisfaction can make a difference for the Satellite, but that can't happen if all 4 members aren't there to do it. I'll be fine on my own, so can go without any doubts in your mind."

Crow looked into the determination in Rin's eyes and it was clear that this is what she wanted him to do. Realizing that there was no point in arguing with her, Crow agreed to leave and help his friends.

"Stay safe Rin." He said. "I promise that I'll be back as soon as I can."

Rin smiled and nodded her head. She then watched as she watched Crow leave and make his way over to the power plant. Once she couldn't see her anymore, Rin decided to head back to ramen shop to wait for him. But before she could, she felt somebody grab her from behind and place their hand over her mouth.

"Forgive me…" The person said. "But this is for the sake of the New World."

Meanwhile, at the power plant, Lilly and others were being pressured by the Duel Gang. Despite the fact that they took down a bulk of their members, the Gang Leader and his top three followers were giving them the most trouble. The Leader was big man with light-blonde hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a green jacket and was carrying a dark green Duel Disk on his left arm. He seemed amused at the scene that he was watching.

"This is excellent." He said. "You three will be the first examples of what happen to those who interfere with out affairs!"

"That's not going to happen on my watch!"

The Gang Leader turned around and saw Crow, who had his Duel Disk on, face him. The sight of the young man brought a small smile onto the Leader's face.

"Are they friends of yours?" He asked. "If so, then you're just in time to watch my subordinates crush them where they stand."

"Don't be so sure, you jackass!" Crow replied. "My friends aren't too underestimated. They'll defeat your underlings easily, just like how I'll defeat you easily!"

The Gang Leader's expression quickly turned from cockiness to anger as he proceeded to face Crow as the young man activated his Duel Disk. The Leader then proceeded to activate his own Duel Disk as he looked towards his young opponent.

"I think you're the one who's underestimating your friends and yourself!" He said. "They will fall to awesome might of my warriors and you'll fall victim to me…The Mighty Kisuke!"

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Crow: 4000 LP**

**Kisuke: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move." Kisuke said. "Draw!"

The mighty Gang Leader swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he then took another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I play the Spell Card: Double Summon! With it, I'm allowed to Normal Summon two monsters this turn."

Kisuke grabbed two more cards from his hand and firmly placed them both onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Fire Princess and the Tuner Monster: Delta Flyer, both in Attack Mode!"

**Fire Princess: ATK 1300 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

Two bright flashes of light illuminated Kisuke's side of the field, as his two monsters appeared before him. The first was his Delta Flyer, while the other was a beautiful maiden with long grey hair. She was wearing a red dress and had a fiery aura surrounding her.

"Next, I activate Delta Flyer's Special Ability!" Kisuke continued. "Once per turn, I can raise the Level of one other monster on my side of the field by 1. I choose to raise my Fire Princess' Level from 4 to 5!"

**Fire Princess: LVL 5**

Fire Princess's aura started to flare up a little as Delta Flyer's ability power her up. As that was happening, Kisuke took more cards from his hand and placed it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The two cards appeared face-down on the field, right behind his two monsters.

"I then set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn." Crow said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

The young Duelist swiftly drew a card from his deck and took a quick look at it. Upon looking at it, Crow smiled as he placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Since you have a monster on your side of the field and I don't, I can Special Summon: Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn!"

**Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn: ATK 2000 DEF 900 LVL 5**

A bright flash of light lit up right beside Crow as a new Blackwing monster appeared onto the field. This one a giant bird, with dark wings and yellow talons. It also had the face of a man, but it was covered with giant bird mask.

Once Sirocco appeared on the field, Crow quickly took another card from his hand and also placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!"

**Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame: ATK 1800 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

In another flash of light, Crow's Shura the Blue Flame arrived and stood next Sirocco the Dawn. Now with two powerful monsters on the field, Crow got ready to begin his attack.

"Go Sirocco the Dawn, attack his Fire Princess!"

Sirocco released a loud cry as it flapped its giant wings and made its way over towards Kisuke's Princess. However, before that could happen, the Gang Leader quickly activated one of his two face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Changing Destiny!" He declared. "With the power of this Trap, I can force your Sirocco the Dawn into Defense Mode!"

Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn stopped in its track, just before it made contact with Fire Princess. It then jumped back to where Crow was and proceeded to take a defensive position in front of its master.

"Now, due to the effect of Changing Destiny, you now have to make a choice. Either you gain Life Points equal to half of your monster's Attack Points or I lose Life Points equal to that same amount!"

"That's easy…" Crow said, already made his decision. "I choose to deal you damage!"

Sirocco the Dawn opened its mouth and fired a blast of black energy towards Kisuke. The attack, though not real, caused the Gang Leader to flinch out of instinct.

**Kisuke: 3000 LP**

"Now, since you activated your Trap, I'm free to destroy your Fire Princess with my Shura the Blue Flame!"

Crow's second Blackwing flew up and made its way over to Fire Princess. However, just like before, Kisuke activated another face-down before the attack could finish.

"I activate my second Trap Card: Shift!" He said. "With this, I change the target of your attack so that Delta Flyer is attacked instead!"

Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame proceeded to turn its attention away from Kisuke's Fire Princess and headed towards Delta Flyer. Once it got close enough, the Winged-Beast monster ripped the dragon to pieces with its talons.

**Kisuke: 2700 LP**

"I activate Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame's Special Ability!" Crow declared. "When it destroys a monster through battle, I can Special Summon another Blackwing monster with 1500 or less Attack Points from my deck. In exchanged, the monster's effects are negated."

Crow pulled out his deck and quickly searched through it so that he could find the monster that he wanted to Special Summon. Once he found it, the Blackwing Duelist placed the card into his hand before inserting his deck into his Duel Disk. He then activated the devices shuffle function before placing the card he picked horizontally onto his Duel Disk.

"I Special Summon: Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain, in Defense Mode!"

**Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain: ATK 500 DEF 800 LVL 2**

Again, another flash of light appeared on the field as a new Blackwing monster arrived. This new creature had the appearance of a ninja wearing a dark grey kimono. The monster proceeded to kneel down in front of Crow and take a defensive position in front of him. Once that happened, the young man then grabbed one more card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field, right behind Sirocco the Dawn.

"I end my turn by setting one card face-down."

"Then it's my turn again." Kisuke pointed out. "Draw!"

The Gang Leader drew a card from his deck and looked at it for a few moments. Soon, a huge smile appeared on his face as he turned his attention towards Crow.

"It's over for you boy. I've just drawn the card that sealed my victory."

"What do you mean?" Crow asked.

"I'll show you." Kisuke took the card that he just drew and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Gagaga Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

As Kisuke's magician appeared beside him, Crow was trying to figure out his opponent's strategy. Even Gagaga Magician, neither it nor Fire Princess had the power needed to defeat Crow's Blackwings. Also, Gagaga Magician's effect prevents it from being used for a Synchro Summoning, which only confused Crow even more. As Crow attempted to think about this, Kisuke continued on with his turn.

"I activate Gagaga Magician's Special Ability!" He declared. "Once per turn, I can declare a Level from 1 to 8 and Gagaga Magician's becomes that Level until the End Phase of this turn! The Level that I select is 5, which mean Gagaga's Level is increased by 1."

**Gagaga Magician: LVL 5**

"Now, with two Level 5 monsters on my side of the field, I Overlay my Fire Princess and Gagaga Magician in order to Xyz Summon: Number 61 – Volcasaurus!"

**Number 61 – Volcasaurus: ATK 2500 DEF 1000 Rank 5**

Both of Kisuke's monsters turned into small spheres as the dived into the ground. Once they did that, the ground lit up with a bright crimson colored as power dinosaur started to rise from it. The creature had a purple and orange color to it and had sharp spikes all around its body.

The sight of this creature shocked Crow as he's never seen anything like it before. While he's has faced Xyz Monsters in the past, he's never heard of anyone with a number in front of its name.

"What…what the hell is that…?" He asked.

"It's my Number Card; Volcasaurus." Kisuke explained. "It's a rare card as it's of the first 100 Xyz Monsters ever to be created. And now you'll witness the full extent of its power! I activate Volcasaurus' Special Ability! By removing one Overlay Unit, it can destroy one of your face-up monsters and deal you damage equal to its original Attack Points! The monster I choose to have Volcasaurus destroy is your Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn!"

Crow's eyes widen from shock as he watched Volcasaurus grab one of its Overlay Units and proceeded to throw it at Sirocco. When the sphere hit the monster it exploded, destroying the Blackwing until nothing was left.

**Crow: 2000 LP**

"Now, with your strongest monster now gone, I can have Volcasaurus attack your Shura the Blue Flame! Go, Inferno Tempest!"

The powerful Number Monster released a powerful stream of fire from its mouth, incinerating Shura and draining more of Crow's Life Points.

**Crow: 1300 LP**

Once the attack ended Kisuke took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down, right behind Volcasaurus.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn." Crow said as he got himself refocused on the Duel. "Draw!"

Upon drawing a card, and placing it into his hand, Crow started to formulate a strategy on how to defeat Kisuke's Number Monster. After a few minutes, he realized that he currently didn't have the cards needed to defeat it. However, not one to give up so easily, the young man decided that he needed to get them. So he took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Card of Sanctity!" He declared. "With this, we both must draw cards from our decks until we each have 6 cards in our hand."

Both Duelists complied per the effects of the Spell Card and started drawing cards from their deck. Soon, when both of them had 6 cards, Crow looked back at his hand and saw that he had drew the card that he wanted. So the young man proceeded to take one of his 6 cards and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, since I have a Blackwing monster on the field, I can Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

**Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind: ATK 1300 DEF 400 LVL 3**

In a bright flash of light, Gale appeared onto Crow's side of the field and started flying next to Fane the Steel Chain. After that, Crow took another card from his hand and also placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I'll summon another Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North!"

**Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North: ATK 1300 DEF 0 LVL 2**

Again, another flash of light illuminated Crow's side of the field as another Blackwing monster emerged. This Blackwing resembled a small blue bird, with black feathers on the tip of its wings.

"I activate Blizzard the Far North's Special Ability! When it's successfully Normal Summoned onto the field, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or below Blackwing monster from my Graveyard in Defense Mode. So return, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!"

Blizzard released a powerful cry as Shura reappeared onto the field and took a defensive position beside it. Once that happened, Crow continued on with his turn.

"I activate Gale the Whirlwind's Special Ability! Once per turn, it can cut the Attack and Defense Points of one monster you control. The monster I choose to weaken is your Number 61 – Volcasaurus!"

Gale flapped its wings repeatedly, creating a small tornado that made its way over to Volcasaurus. Once it reached the Xyz Monster, the powerful wind started to drain its Attack and Defense.

**Number 61 – Volcasaurus: ATK 1250 DEF 500**

"Now go, Gale the Whirlwind!" Crow demanded. "Attack his weakened Volcasaurus!"

Gale complied with Crow's ordered and proceeded to make its way over to Volcasaurus. However, Kisuke quickly activated his face-down card before the attack took place.

"I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack!" He declared. "With it, I can negate your monster's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

A small vortex appeared in front of Volcasaurus and proceeded to suck Gale inside of it. After a few moments, another vortex appeared in front of Crow and Gale popped out. With his Battle Phase now over, the Blackwing Duelist saw that didn't have any other moves to make this turn.

"I end my turn."

"Finally…" Kisuke said. "It's been fun kid, but now it's over. I Draw!"

Kisuke drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand, without even looking at it. He then was about to activate Volcasaurus' Special Ability again, but Crow acted before he could do that. The Blackwing Duelist quickly took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Graveyard. When he did that, Effect Veiler appeared above Volcasaurus' head.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Effect Veiler!" He said. "By sending it to the Graveyard, I can select one monster you control and negate its Special Abilities until the End Phase of this turn!"

Effect Veiler proceeded to chant a mysterious incantation as Volcasaurus's only remaining Overlay Unit started to disappear. Soon the Unit was gone completely, effectively negating the Xyz Monster's powers.

The sight of this annoyed Kisuke as it meant that he would have to wait until his next turn to use Volcasaurus's ability. In the mean time though, the Gang Leader decided to continue on with his turn as he took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Jurrac Guaiba, in Attack Mode!" He said.

**Jurrac Guaiba: ATK 1700 DEF 400 LVL 4**

A tiny explosion appeared on Kisuke's side of the field as Jurrac Guaiba arrived and stood beside Volcasaurus.

"Go Guaiba, and attack his Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

The Dinosaur monster complied with its master's orders and quickly made its way over toward Gale. However, having predicted that he would do that, Crow activated his face-down before the attack could go through.

"I activate the Trap Card: Urgent Tuning!" He declared. "With this, as long as I have necessary monster on the field, I can perform a Synchro Summoning during the Battle Phase! So I Tune my Level 2 Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain with my Level 4 Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and Level 2 Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North! Gust fiercely, storm! Gain the will of steel and the speed of light to sublime your form! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant!"

**Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant: ATK 2800 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Crow's selected monsters flew high in air and performed the process for a Synchro Summoning. When they completed it, a silver-colored tornado appeared in front of Crow. When it faded, a new Blackwing monster appeared on the field. This one looked similar to Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, but it had some key differences. It was much skinnier and had a black plumage instead of a blue one. Also, unlike Sirocco, Silverwind was holding a daito, a Japanese long sword.

The sight of Synchro Monster surprised Kisuke greatly, as he's never heard of Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant. Crow noticed this and he started to smile a little as he started to speak again.

"I activate Silverwind's Special Ability!" He said. "When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, it can destroy up to 2 monsters on the field who's Defense Points are lower than its Attack Points! The Defense Points of your Jurrac Guaiba and Number 61 – Volcasaurus are 500 or lower, which is much lower than Silverwind's Attack Points. That means my monster can destroy both your monsters at the same time!"

Silverwind pointed its sword towards Guaiba and Volcasaurus and proceeded to swing it. The force of the swing created another silver tornado, which made its way over towards Kisuke's monsters. Once it enveloped them, Guaiba and Volcasaurus were quickly torn to pieces until nothing was left of them.

Upon seeing his monsters disappear from the field, Kisuke had a look of despair on his face. He was sure that he had achieved victory this turn, but not only did he not achieve victory, he was about to lose. Crow notice this look and, upon seeing it, he knew that victory was in his grasp. So he drew a card from his deck, already knowing that Kisuke's turn was over, and proceeded to conduct his own Battle Phase.

"Go Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant, attack his Life Points directly with your Wind Scar!"

Silverwind complied with Crow's order and brought itself back down to the ground. It then slammed its sword into the earth, creating a huge blast of wind that consumed Kisuke upon reaching him.

**Kisuke: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms started to fade away, Kisuke's eyes started to turn from despair to anger as he watched Crow deactivate his Duel Disk. He then started yelling and charged towards the young man in rage, but he was stopped before he could even get close. Kisuke was then slammed into the ground and saw that both Kalin and Alistair were busy tying his hands and feet together.<p>

Seeing this, Crow started to smile as started to bask in the glory of his victory. However, his basking didn't last too long as he was soon received a slap on the back of his head. Crow turned around to see who attacked him and saw that it was Lilly.

"You Idiot!" She yelled as she slapped him again. "You had a job to do, yet you weren't here to complete it!"

"Wait Lilly…" Crow said. "Just let me explain…"

"I don't want to hear any of your damn excuses!" Lilly shouted, shutting her friend up. "You can play around all you want when we're not on a mission, but not during! Do you have any idea what could have happen if you weren't here?!"

Lilly continued to scold Crow for a couple more minutes as she explained to him the importance of responsibility and duty. As she did that, Kalin looked on at the two of them while Alistair looked towards the marketplace. He saw that a bunch of people were gathering in one location, but he couldn't understand why.

"What the hell is going on over there?" He asked himself.

The other heard Alistair question and walked over to get a look at the situation. Upon seeing it, all of them were also confused at the site and started wondering what was going on.

"I don't like the look of this scene." Kalin said. "I think we better check it out make sure nothing suspicious is going on."

The others nodded their head and proceeded to make their way to the marketplace. Once they reached it, all of them moved passed the people that were in front of them until they finally reached the center of the crowd. However, upon reaching it, all 4 members of Team Satisfaction saw something that shook them to their core. Kazuki was kneeling on the ground, holding an unconscious Rin in his arms.

"What happened…?" Crow asked as he knelt down to where his friends were. "Kazuki, what happened to Rin?"

Kazuki didn't respond to Crow as he gently placed Rin on the ground. Once he did that, his facial expression became one of anger as he punched Crow dead in the face.

"What do you think happened?!" He replied. "RIN IS DEAD, AND YOU WERE THE ONE WHO KILLED HER!"

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

"You promised that you would protect her Crow." Kazuki said as he stared down his former friend. "You promised that you would keep her safe and look at what happened. The time has come for me to take revenge for the woman I loved. It's time for you to pay for your sins, Crow Hogan!"

Crow looked at Kazuki and saw just how angry he was at him. Though he didn't actually kill her, Crow did promise that he would keep Rin safe. However, because he had to leave to help out his other friends, Rin was left all alone. So, in a way, Crow was responsible for Rin's death.

Remembering Rin's life brought tears to the Blackwing Duelist's eyes as he knew that his actions ended the life of one of dearest friends. He knew that he couldn't make up for this mistake and that he probably deserved the revenge that Kazuki wanted to inflict upon him. However, upon remembering the situation that was happening right now, Crow snapped out of his depression and looked towards his former friend.

"Kazuki…" He said. "I understand that you have every right to be mad at me, but I have people who are counting on me to disarm the final bomb. So please, give the bomb and let disarm it. Once I do that, then you can have your revenge."

"Why the hell should I do that?" Kazuki asked. "The bomb needs the go off."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Crow asked, confused at what Kazuki just said to him. "The bomb needs to go off? Don't you know how many people are to die if it explodes?"

"Of course I do. That's precisely the reason why it needs to go off. This world is rotten and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Only by doing that will the world return to a peaceful place. That's why I won't give you the bomb and that's why the Grand Fire Project must be carried out. The only way to stop it is defeat me, but I doubt you have the skills to do that."

Crow thought about what he needed to do, but a large part of him didn't want go through with it. Despite the way things turned out for them, Crow still considered Kazuki to be one of his best friends and didn't want to Duel him like this. Still, despite how feels, the Blackwing Duelist knew what had to be done.

"Alright Kazuki…" He said. "I'll take you on."

"Excellent…" Kazuki replied. "Watch me Rin. The time has come for me to get your revenge."

The two Duelists walked over to their respective Duel Runners and proceeded to mount them. Once they did that, they simultaneously pressed a button on their Runners.

"I activate the Field Spell: Speed World 2!"

"_Duel Mode Engaged." _The computers of both Duel Runners said.

A purple shroud appeared from out of both Duel Runners and covered the entire area. Once that happened, both Crow and Kazuki rode off into the distance. The two of them tried to overtake the other before they reached the first corner they came across. Eventually, it was Crow who reached the corner first.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Crow: 4000 LP **

**Kazuki: 4000 LP**

"Since I reached the corner first, I can make the first move." Crow pointed out. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 1**

**Kazuki: SPC – 1 **

Upon drawing a card from his hand and placing it into his head, Crow quickly grabbed another card and placed it onto his Runner's Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite, in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light appeared before Crow as Blackwing warrior with golden armor appeared beside him. It had pitch-black wings on its back, a blue plumage on covering its head, and had dark blue feathers on its legs and waist.

As Zephyros flew beside him, Crow took another card from his hand and placed it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down beside him, but disappeared after a few seconds.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn." Kazuki said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 2**

**Kazuki: SPC – 2**

When he drew the top card on his deck, Kazuki glanced at it and smiled a little. He then proceeded to place the card face-down on his Monster Card Zone, causing an image of the face-down card to appear in front of him. Once he did that, the Head Lieutenant took a card from his deck and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card, like with Crow's, only appeared for a few moments before disappearing.

"I place a monster face-down in Defense Mode and set one card face-down before ending my turn."

As Kazuki ended his turn, Crow looked on at his monitor and saw the move that he made on his display screen. The move seemed pretty simple to him, which confused him somewhat. Having dueled him in the past, Crow knew that Kazuki was strong than this and had a feeling that something was up. He soon came to the conclusion that he needed to take out all the cards on Kazuki's field before his plan could be implemented.

"It's my turn!" He said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 3**

**Kazuki: SPC – 3**

Crow looked at the card that he drew and nodded his head upon looking at it. He then proceeded to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Since I have a Blackwing monster on my field, I can Special Summon from my hand: Blackwing – Bora the Spear!"

**Blackwing – Bora the Spear: ATK 1700 DEF 800 LVL 4**

In another bright flash of light, Bora the Spear appeared beside Crow and started flying next to him and Zephyros the Elite. Once that happened Crow activated the face-down card that he set last turn, causing the card to reappear.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Icarus Attack! By sacrificing 1 Winged Beast-Type monster on my side of the field, I can select two other cards and destroy them. So I sacrifice my Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite to destroy the two cards you control!"

Zephyros flew into the sky as its body started to glow a golden color. The monster then continued to glow until it finally exploded into several energy spheres. Two of those pieces, made their way over towards Kazuki.

"I don't think so Crow!" He said as he activated his own face-down card. "I activate the Trap Card: Dark Bribe! By allowing you to draw a card from your deck, Dark Bribe can negate your Trap Card and destroy it!"

Crow gritted his teeth as he drew another card from his deck. He then looked on as Kazuki's Trap Card released two laser beams which destroyed spheres before they could get to him. Once he saw that scene, Crow placed the card that he just drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I activate the Special Ability of Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr!" He said. "When it's added to my hand due to an effect, I can Special Summon this Blackwing Tuner Monster!"

**Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr: ATK 1100 DEF 300 LVL 3**

Again, another flash of light shined beside Crow as a new Blackwing monster appeared. This one was different from the others as it had bright feathers on its body. While Breeze's wings were a golden, its body was red thus making resemble a golden flame.

"Attack Bora the Spear and destroy his face-down monster!"

Bora complied with its master's order and proceeded to strike the face-down card with its sharp spear. However, as the monster revealed itself to be Marshmallon, Crow was shocked to see that it was still on the field.

**Marshmallon: ATK 300 DEF 500 LVL 3**

"Sorry to burst your bubble Crow." Kazuki said with a smile on his face. "But my Marshmallon can't be destroyed through battle. Also when it's attack while face-down, you take 1000 points of damage!"

Marshmallon opened its tiny mouth as it released a pink laser beam. The attack struck Crow in the gut which caused him to cough up blood and lose control of his Duel Runner, much to his confusion.

**Crow: 3000 LP**

As he tried to regain himself, Kazuki smiled as he zoomed pass his former friend. He then revealed his face upon Crow's monitor so that he could a better look at his anguish.

"What the hell…was that?" Crow asked as he continued to cough. "Kazuki…are you a…Psychic Duelist?!"

"Of course not, you fool." He answered. "You have to be born a Psychic, you can't just become one. This power was given to me by my master, Amon and with this power I'm going to send you straight to Hell!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Takashi and the other arrive at the scene, the Duel between Crow and Kazuki continues. Can Crow obtain the power needed to defeat his former friend or will judgment be passed upon him?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: Over the Nexus! Chapter 41: Resolved Hope – Part 2_


	41. Chapter 41

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 41: **_Resolved Hope – Part 2_

* * *

><p>Continuing on their way to the final bomb location, Takashi and Akiza have regrouped with Toru and Aiku and are currently explaining the current situation to them. Upon learning that the timer on the final bomb is ticking down faster than the others, both Duelists were shocked beyond words.<p>

"Are…are you serious?" Toru asked, trying to comprehend what he just learned. "The final is ticking down faster and it'll be about 25 minutes before it explodes?"

"That's right," Takashi confirmed. "And according to what Akiza and I learned, the final bomb has about 10 times the explosive power than the others. If we don't reach it before the time runs out, then we're all going to end up dead!"

"Alright then," Aiku followed. "Then let's get going!"

Resolved on what they had to do, the 4 heroes speed up as they continued on their way towards the final bomb site. Eventually, they're able to reach it only after 4 more minutes of driving. However, all of them were shocked to find out that the bomb is not where its suppose to be.

"What the hell is going on?" Toru asked. "Lilly's map explained that this is the precise place where the bomb was placed."

"Well it's not here," Aiku said. "Maybe the final Lieutenant moved it so that we couldn't get to it."

"I don't think that's the case," Akiza responded. "Come look at this."

The Psychic Duelist displayed an image of Crow and Kazuki on Takashi's Duel Runner and it showed that the two of them were having a Turbo Duel.

"If what I'm thinking is true, then the Lieutenant must have the bomb on his person and the only way to get it is for Crow to defeat him."

'If that's the case," Takashi replied. "Then all we can do is put our faith in Crow and hope that he can win before time runs out."

* * *

><p><strong>Crow: 3000 LP<strong>

**Kazuki: 4000 LP**

While still trying to regain control of his Duel Runner, Crow was coughing up blood due to the real damage that was inflicted upon him by Kazuki's powers. Having never appearance anything like it before in his life, the Blackwing Duelist was shocked that it could do as much damage as it did to him. Still, despite the pain that he was feeling, Crow knew that he couldn't give in to it. So he straightened up his Duel Runners and quickly made his way back towards Kazuki.

"I'm not done yet!" He declared. "I activate the Special Ability of my Blackwing – Bora the Spear! Despite the fact that your Marshmallon wasn't destroyed, you still take damage thanks to Bora's Piercing Ability!"

**Kazuki: 2800 LP**

As he watched his opponent's Life Points decrease, Crow took a quick glance over at his hand. Upon seeing that he didn't have any other moves to make this turn, the Blackwing Duelist did the only thing he could.

"I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Kazuki declared as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 4**

**Kazuki: SPC – 4**

As he looked upon the card that he just drew, a small smile appeared on Kazuki's face. He then proceeded to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Solar Flare Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Solar Flare Dragon: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A small fireball appeared next to Kazuki and started to change shape until it turned into Solar Flare Dragon.

"Go Solar Flare Dragon," He ordered. "Attack his Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr!"

The fire dragon complied with Kazuki's orders and launched a power stream of fire from its mouth. Crow managed to just barely avoid the flames, but his Breeze the Zephyr wasn't so lucky. The Winged Beast monster was consumed by him and was incinerated until nothing was left.

**Crow: 2600 LP**

Once he was sure that Breeze wouldn't be returning, Kazuki grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared next to him for a few moments before disappeared.

"I set one card face down and end my turn," He said. "At that moment, I activate Solar Flare Dragon's Special Ability! During the End Phase of my turn, you take 500 Points of damage!"

Solar Flare Dragon opened its mouth again and launched a fireball from it. The attack struck Crow, causing him to scream in pain as the flames burned his body. The sight of this made Kazuki smile even more as he found enjoyment in Crow's suffering.

**Crow: 2100 LP**

Acting quickly, Crow revved up his Duel Runner and drove past the flames before he suffered the same fate as his Breeze the Zephyr. Once he did that, the young man looked on at Kazuki and saw that he was still smiling evilly at him. The mere sight of this scene brought up memories of happier times when the two boys were almost as close as brothers.

"What happened to you Kazuki?" He asked him. "I know you blame me for Rin's death, but I didn't think that you would take it this far! To make matter worse, you spent the last 4 years helping Amon develop his Grand Fire Project which will not only destroy the Satellite, but supposedly create some type of New World. Don't you remember what Rin said?!"

"You have no right to say her name!" Kazuki yelled. "After what you did, Rin's name should never escape you lips! Now hurry up and make your move! Rin is waiting for me to pass judgment upon you."

Crow sighed, realizing that his words couldn't dissuade Kazuki from taking his revenge. With that the Blackwing Duelist gently placed his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 5**

**Kazuki: SPC – 5 **

Upon drawing the card from his deck, Crow quickly placed it within his hand. He then analyzed all of his cards so that he could make a move that would give him the advantage this turn. Once he finished, he grabbed a card and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

**Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind: ATK 1300 DEF 400 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light illuminated beside Crow as Gale appeared beside him and Bora the Spear. When he saw the two monsters together, Kazuki immediately realized what move his former friend was going to make.

"I Tune my Level 4 Blackwing – Bora the Spear with my Level 3 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

Crow's Blackwing Monsters flew high into the air and promptly performed the process for a Synchro Summon. As that was happening, Crow himself pulled out a card from his Extra Deck and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Darkened gales, become the wings which soar to heavens! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Blackwing Armor Master!

**Blackwing Armor Master: ATK 2500 DEF 1500 LVL 7**

A bright flash of light covered Crow's monsters for a few moments until it finally faded away. When that happened, Blackwing Armor Master appeared and started flying above him.

"Blackwing Armor Master, attack his Solar Flare Dragon now!"

Amor Master complied too its master's order and quickly made its way over to Solar Flare Dragon. However, before that could happen, Kazuki quickly activated the card he set on his previous turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Waboku!" He declared. "When this card is activated, my monsters can't be destroyed through battle and any Battle Damage I would have taken is reduced to zero!"

The 3 Waboku mages appeared in front of Solar Flare Dragon and proceeded to protect it from Blackwing Armor Master's attack. Once that happened the Synchro Monster made its way back over to Crow, who was upset that his attack failed.

"I end my turn." He said in a disappointed tone of voice.

"It's my turn," Kazuki said. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 6**

**Kazuki: SPC – 6**

After drawing the top card from his deck, Kazuki quickly placed it into his hand before pulling out another card and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: De-Synchro," He stated. "By removing 3 Speed Counters, I can return one Synchro Monster back into the Extra Deck and bring back the Synchro Material monsters used to summon it!"

**Kazuki: SPC – 3**

Crow looked on in shock as he watched his Blackwing Armor Master split back into Blackwing – Bora the Spear and Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind. Once that happened, Kazuki smiled as he grabbed another card from his hand and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Flamvell Guard!"

**Flamvell Guard: ATK 100 DEF 2000 LVL 1**

Another tiny fireball appeared beside Kazuki as the young man drove along the rocky path. The fire quickly began to change shape until it finally took the form of Flamvell Guard, who started flying next to its master.

"Crow…for the last 4 years you have made my life a living hell. I loved Rin with all my heart and soul, but you took her away from me. Did you really think that I would just sit there and let you go without paying for your actions?!"

"Kazuki…" Crow silently replied. "I…"

"The time has come for me to achieve Rin's revenge and send you to the depth of hell," Kazuki continued. "I Tune my Level 3 Marshmallon with my Level 4 Solar Flare Dragon and Level 1 Flamvell Guard in order to Synchro Summon: Blood Mefist, in Attack Mode!"

**Blood Mefist: ATK 2800 DEF 1300 LVL 8**

All 3 of Kazuki's monsters flew high into the air and quickly performed the Synchro Summoning process. When they finished, a bright flash of light enveloped them all as a new monster appeared onto the field. It had the appearance of a fiendish magician who wore dark colored clothing and was holding a staff with a pumpkin shaped tip.

The mere sight of this monster shocked Crow and the others who were watching this Turbo Duel. None of them have ever heard about this mysterious Synchro Monster, let alone seen it before. Still, despite not knowing about the card, all of them knew one thing. Blood Mefist had a mysterious power and that same power could spell the end for Crow.

"Behold Crow," Kazuki said as he turned his Duel Runner around and started drifting backwards. "This is Blood Mefist. This powerful card was given to me by my master, Amon, and with its power you're going to pay for your sins! Blood Mefist, attack his Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

Mefist nodded its head and pointed its staff towards Gale. It then fired a powerful laser beam from its tip which not only destroyed the Tuner Monster, but also caused Crow to spin out of control due to the resulting explosion.

**Crow: 600 LP**

"His power…it's overwhelming!" The Blackwing Duelist thought as he struggled to regain control over his Duel Runner. "How the hell do I stop him?! How can I stop him?!"

Seeing this sight from Takashi's Duel Runner, Aiku, Toru, and Akiza were all worried that the end might be drawing near for Crow. Facing a monster with 2800 Attack Points was bad enough, but Crow also had to contend with Kazuki's powers which seemed to be getting stronger with each passing turn.

"This is really bad," Toru said. "If this keeps up then Crow won't last. There has to be a way for him to turn this situation around!"

"Takashi…" Akiza said, turning his attention towards him. "Do you see a way for Crow to win? I mean, he can defeat Blood Mefist…right?"

Takashi kept to himself as he pondered Akiza's question. Though he wanted to say that Crow could overcome the odds that he was facing, he didn't really know if he could. Plus, there was the realization that Kazuki hasn't activated Blood Mefist's Special Abilities. That only made the young man feel even worse than what he was already feeling.

"C'mon Crow…" He thought quietly to himself. "You have to win."

Back at the Duel, Crow was finally able to get control of his Duel Runner as he thought about what he was going to do.

"This is bad," He said quietly. "I have only 600 Life Points and only 1 monster on my field. To make matters worse, I don't have any other cards in my hand that can help me out. What am I going to do?"

Kazuki looked on and watched Crow in his conflicted state. This caused the Lieutenant to smile as he knew that his opponent was beginning to lose hope and fall into despair. He knew that it was only a matter of time until he won the Duel, ended Crow's life, and finally achieved the revenge that he longed for the last 4 years.

"I end my turn," He said. "I hope you ready Crow because this is the last turn you'll ever have."

Listening to what Kazuki just said to him, Crow slowly placed his hand onto his deck and proceeded to close his eyes. He then started to prey silently to himself. Though he didn't really believe in God, Crow hope that someone would hear him and give him a card that could turn things around.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 7**

**Kazuki: SPC – 4**

Upon drawing the card, the Blackwing Duelist slowly turned his head so that he could take a look at it. However, as he examined it, Crow expression worsen as saw that the card he just drew was useless as he couldn't use it this turn.

It was at that moment that Blood Mefist pointed its staff towards him and fired a lightning blast at him. Crow then started to scream in agony as the electricity shocked every part of his body.

"Oh, did I forget to mention Blood Mefist's Special Abilities?" Kazuki sarcastically questioned. "During your Standby Phase, if you control any cards then Mefist deals you 300 Points of damage for every one of them. Also, whenever you set any Spell or Trap Cards you take an additional 300 Points of damage!"

**Crow: 300 LP**

"Oh no…" Aiku said. "If Crow really does take damage for every card he sets then he won't be able to play Spell or Trap cards. If that happens then on Kazuki's next turn, he'll destroy Bora the Spear with Blood Mefist and win the Duel!"

"I think this is it you guys," Toru followed. "I don't see any other way for Crow to win this Duel."

"Both of you shut the hell up!" Takashi yelled.

The two boys shut their mouths as they turned their attention towards Takashi, who was clinching his fist out of anger. They also saw him trembling in fear at what he was seeing.

"It's not over yet! Crow will win this Duel!"

Despite Takashi's words, everyone knew that he was feeling the same thing that they were. The situation seemed hopeless and no could think up of situation for them to overcome it. Out them all, Crow felt the worse as felt that he not only let his friends down, but everyone else in the Satellite as well.

"It's over…" He thought. "I'm sorry everyone. I let you down."

"_Promise me that you'll never lose hope."_ A female voice inside the back of Crow's mind said to him.

The Blackwing Duelist's eyes widen upon hearing the voice as he knew exactly who it belonged too.

"Rin…"

* * *

><p><em>4 years ago<em>

It was a few minutes after Kazuki left to go home as both Crow and Rin were busy walking around the Northern Section's marketplace. Despite the fact that they like having Kazuki around, the two them liked it better when it was only them. Since the two of them shared similar ideals, Crow and Rin were much closer to each other than they were with Kazuki.

As they walked around the marketplace, the two of them started talking about several things that interested them. Whether it be simple things or complicated things, the fact that they were talking about things that they liked really made them happy. Eventually though, Rin asked a question that seemed serious.

"Say Crow," She started off. "Earlier you asked Kazuki and I about how we felt about the Satellite. Can I ask how you feel about it?"

"Why do you want to know?" Crow asked her.

"It was just on my mind," Rin answered. "You never really talk about stuff like that so I just wanted to know how you truly feel about this place."

Crow stopped walking and started to ponder the question that he was just asked. After about 3 minutes of thinking, he finally came up with his answer.

"How I feel the same way that you feel about the Satellite Sector is a mixture of how you and Kazuki feel about it." He answered.

"What do you mean?" Rin asked.

"Like with most of kids our age, I was orphaned because my parents died during the Zero Reverse incident. Having no other family or friends to lean on, I was force to fend for myself for a while. On my own I didn't know how was going to find food, clothes, or a decent place to sleep, which caused me to wonder why my life had to be so shitty. To make matters worse, since there was no school, I wasn't about to read, write, nor perform arithmetic. I never really enjoyed being alone because it was dangerous for a child to be on their own in the Satellite. Eventually I came to hate this place and wished that it would be destroyed."

Tears started to form in Rin's eyes as she listened to what Crow had to say. Never known open up to how he really felt, Crow always kept to himself when it came to his feelings or his past. The fact that he was talking to her about this not only meant that Crow trusted Rin, but he also trusted her with his truest feelings.

"The only thing that kept me going was my dream to become a professional Duelist and one day leave the Satellite," Crow continued. "Then, one day, I found something that changed my life forever."

"What was it?" Rin asked.

"It was Duel Monster cards," He answered. "Having overheard people talk about the popular card game, I decided to start a deck with them. Eventually I met a group of people who was also into Duel Monsters and it was because of them that I learned how to play the game. As time passed, people started calling my Crow because of the number of Bird monsters that I had in my deck. So, in many ways, Duel Monsters not only helped me make a lot of friends, but it also gave me my name and helped improved my reading and math skills."

"That's amazing," Rin said. "And you found all of that while in the Satellite?"

"That's right," Crow said with a smile on his face. "And that's not all. One day, while having a Duel with one of my friends, I came to meet Kalin Kessler and Alistair Miles. The three of us quickly warmed up to each other, due to our similar upbringing, and accepted each other for who we truly our. Eventually we became best friends and I started to view them as my brothers. I wanted to protect them with all my power as they were the only ones who made my life here mean something. Then, when I was adopted by Martha, I decided that wanted to protect her too and the number of people that I wanted to protect only grew as time went by."

"But why did you wanted to protect them?" Rin asked.

"Because I didn't want them to feel the same suffering that I felt has a child, the feeling of hopelessness and despair. This is especially true for the kids who live at the orphanage. I want them to grow up happily and make something of themselves. It's because of them that I decided that I didn't want to destroy the Satellite any more, but I wanted to change it so that no one would have to suffer ever again."

"Wow…that's amazing Crow," Rin wiped the tears that were in her eyes as she looked at her friend. "So you came to appreciate the Satellite because it was through it that you happen to not only meet your best friends, but also find your calling in life."

"That's correct," Crow replied. "I think that's the main reason why I accepted Sasuke's proposal to form Team Satisfaction. With a team, I could protect even more people than I could if I were by myself. That's why I wish for our team to become a symbol of hope for others to believe in."

"There's no need to hope for that Crow," Rin said as she smiled at him. "I believe that you're already a symbol of hope for others."

"What do you mean?" The Blackwing Duelist asked.

"Just think about it. You said that you wished to protect other people so that they wouldn't suffer the way you did. Most people, whether lived here or not, wouldn't do that. It takes a really strong person, who already has plenty of hope inside of him, to do something like that. When people see someone like that, they begin to crawl out of the depths of despair and begin walking their own path with hope in their eyes. That's why I believe that you're already a symbol of hope, because you bring it to those who don't have it themselves."

Crow was amazed by Rin's words because he never really thought of himself of being a symbol all by himself. He thought that he would need the help of his teammates in order to achieve his goal. However, through his own effort, Crow was able to fulfill his goal already.

"Crow, I want you to make me a promise something," Rin said. "No matter what may happen to you in the future, you must lose the hope that you have for not only yourself, but for others as well. You must have resolved hope."

"Resolved hope?" Crow questioned. "Do you mean the resolve to never give up on hope?"

"Exactly," Rin answered. "I'll say it once more. Promise me that you'll never lose hope."

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

Remembering the final few moments that he had with Rin and the promise that he made to her, a new sense of determination filled Crow's eyes. Despite all the pain that he was feeling, he knew that if he gave in to despair then he would be breaking the only promise that Rin gave to him. Crow refused to let that happened, and resolved that whether he won or lost, he would keep on fighting. It was through this new sense of determination that a black aura, with red highlights, surrounded the Blackwing Duelist.

The sight of this scene caused both Takashi and Akiza to hold on to their arms as they started to hurt slightly. When they looked down at them, both of them saw that their respective marks were glowing.

"What's going on?" Akiza asked.

"I'm not sure," Takashi replied. "But I think Crow just received a new power."

Meanwhile, Kazuki was starting to feel fear as looked upon his former friend. The Lieutenant had recognized the type of power that Crow was giving off, but he couldn't believe that he was able to access it.

"This is impossible," He said to himself. "There's no way that someone like him could obtain that kind of power. There's just no way!"

As the aura continued to develop around Crow, the young man closed his eyes a little as he placed his hand upon his deck. He then saw an image of Rin smiling at him as spoke her promise one more time.

"_Promise me that you'll never lose hope." _

"I promise Rin," He said as he opened his eyes. "I promise that I'll never lose hope again!"

Upon saying that, Crow speed up towards Kazuki with a speed he never thought he could reach. Once he caught up to him, the young man looked at the Lieutenant as continued on with his turn.

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" He declared. "By removing 7 Speed Counters, I can draw a card from my deck!"

**Crow: SPC – 0 **

As he drew the card from his deck, the Blackwing Duelist took a quick glance at it. When he saw the card, a small smile appeared on his face as he placed the card firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Kochi the Daybreak!"

**Blackwing – Kochi the Daybreak: ATK 700 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light illuminated beside Crow as a new Blackwing monster appeared beside him. This one has the appearance of a large bird with blue, black, and red feather. It also had very long legs and a large yellow beak.

"I now Tune my Level 4 Blackwing – Bora the Spear with my Level 4 Blackwing – Kochi the Day Break!"

Crow's monsters flew up high into the air as the aura surrounding him continued to grow stronger. Soon, as the monsters performed the Synchro Summoning process, the young man pulled out a new card from his Extra Deck and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 1600 LVL 8**

A bright flash of light consumed both of Crow's Blackwing monsters for a few moments until a new monster appeared to take their place. This monster had the appearance of a dragon with black and white feathers all over its body. Its face also had the appearance of a fairly large bird.

Everyone who looked upon Black-Winged Dragon was shock by its amazing appearance. However, the one who was surprised the most was Kazuki as he never heard of such a monster before in his entire life.

"What the hell is that?" He asked Crow. "Where the hell did you get that card from?!"

"It was given to me by Rin," Crow answered. "And with the power of Black-Winged Dragon, I'm going defeat you and bring you back to your senses!"

Crow drove pass Kazuki as he took hold of a card from his hand. He then inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as the card appeared face-down on the field for a few short moments before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's over for you Crow!" Kazuki yelled as he attempted to catch up with his opponent. "Due to the effect of Blood Mefist, you take 300 points of damage since you set a card face-down on the field!"

Blood Mefist pointed its staff at Crow and proceeded to release an electrical attack from its pumpkin tip. However, instead of attacking Crow, the attack struck Black-Winged Dragon. The powerful beast screamed in agony as everyone watched some of its feathers turn from white to red.

"I activate Black-Winged Dragon's Special Ability!" Crow declared. "Whenever I'm about to take damage due to an effect, Black-Winged Dragon receives one Blackwing Counter and the damage is negated! In exchanged, Black-Winged Dragon loses 700 Attack points for every Blackwing Counter it holds."

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2100 BWC – 1**

Smiles appear on the faces of Takashi and the others as they were excited that Crow finally has a card that can counter the damage dealing effects of Kazuki's Blood Mefist. All of them felt, at the same exact time, that the tide of the Duel was now shifting over to Crow.

As for Kazuki, he wasn't pleased at this recent turn of events. At the start of this Duel he had Crow right where he wanted him and was sending his former friend straight into the depths of despair. However, with the appearance of Black-Winged Dragon, a new sense of hope has appeared in Crow's eyes and the direction of the Duel was in his favor.

"This is unacceptable," He said to himself. "I can't afford to lose to someone like him! I swore on Rin's grave that I would kill him for taking her from me and that's exactly what I'm going to do! I don't care how powerful that monster is, victory shall be mine!"

Kazuki speed up to where Crow was at before placing his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn," He declared. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 1 **

**Kazuki: SPC – 5**

Upon drawing the card, Kazuki paid no attention to it and quickly placed it within his hand. After that he turned his attention towards Black-Winged Dragon.

"You may have found a way to negate the damage dealing effects of my Blood Mefist, but by doing so you left you dragon vulnerable to an assault by my Blood Mefitst!"

Blood Mefitst made its way over to Black-Winged Dragon, determined to destroy the beast and reduce the remainder of Crow's Life Points down to zero. However, before the attack could take place, the Blackwing Duelist quickly activate the card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack!" He declared. "With the power of this Trap Card, I can negate your Blood Mefist's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

A giant vortex appeared in front of Black-Winged Dragon as Blood Mefist fired another electrical attack from its pumpkin staff. The electricity proceeded to be sucked into the vortex, thus saving Crow for at least another turn.

Kazuki was furious by this and quickly looked over to his hand, in the hope of finding a card that could allow him to finally achieve victory. However, he couldn't find one that could to overcome Black-Winged Dragon effects."

"Damn it!" He said out of frustration. "I end my turn."

"It's my turn," Crow said. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 2**

**Kazuki: SPC – 6**

As Crow drew another card from his deck, Blood Mefist's Special Ability activated and the powerful Synchro Monster prepared to deal him 300 points of damage for every card that was on his field. However, Black-Winged Dragon got in front of Mefist's attack and took the damage for his master instead.

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 1400 BWC – 2**

"I activate Black-Winged Dragon's second Special Ability!" Crow stated. "By removing all the Blackwing Counters that are currently on it, Black-Winged Dragon can drain your Blood Mefist's Attack Points by 700 for each counter! Also, you take damage equal to the number of Attack Points that your monster lost due to this effect!"

"What…?" Kazuki said in shock.

Black-Winged Dragon fired red laser beams from the tip of its wings that stuck Blood Mefist and drain it of its power. At the same time, one of the laser beams struck Kazuki and dealt him 1400 of points of damage, the same amount that Mefist lost.

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800**

**Blood Mefist: ATK 1400**

**Kazuki: 1400**

Once he saw the results of his Black-Winged Dragon's effects, Crow turned his Duel Runner around and looked at Kazuki. He felt bad for him as he knew that it was his fault that his former friend became the way he is now. He hoped, that in the near future, that the both of them can one day set aside their differences and become friends again.

"Black-Winged Dragon, attack Kazuki's Blood Mefist with Noble Stream!"

The dragon complied with Crow's demand and proceeded to fire a red and black energy beam from its mouth. The attack struck Blood Mefist and Kazuki at the same time, destroying the former and draining the latter's Life Points.

**Kazuki: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, Crow took one last at Black-Winged Dragon and saw that the beast was looking at him too. The dragon soon released a powerful roar before finally fading away completely. It was at the moment that Crow grabbed its card and looked at it.<p>

"Thank you Rin," He said to himself. "I promise that for as long as I live, I'll never lose hope."

A small smiled appeared on his face as he placed Black-Winged Dragon's card and put it in his deck. He then looked back and saw Takashi and the others making their way towards him.

"That was amazing Crow!" Toru said out of excitement. "That was one of the greatest comebacks that I've ever seen in my entire life!"

"He's right," Aiku followed. "You should feel proud at what you accomplished here today."

"Thanks guys," Crow said to the both of them. "That really means a lot."

After everyone congratulated Crow, the young man walked over to Kazuki's Duel Runner and proceeded to grab the bomb from its trunk. He then looked at his former friend, who was lying on the ground in pain.

"Kazuki…" He said. "You should understand better than anyone how Rin truly feels. She wouldn't want revenge for her death. Instead, she would want us to continue living our lives and attempt to make the Satellite a better place for everyone. I know that you may not think this, but it's the truth. I just hope that one day you'll come to that same conclusion."

As started to examine the bomb, Crow failed to notice that Kazuki was laughing silently to himself. Takashi, having noticed this odd behavior, proceeded to grab the injured Lieutenant by his shirt collar.

"Is something funny?" He asked in a serious tone of voice.

"Yes," Kazuki answered as he coughed up some blood. "I find it hilarious on how stupid all of you are. Do you really believe that you can stop the coming of the New World by just defeating me? It's not as simple as that."

"What are you trying to say?" Takashi asked, wanting Kazuki to clarify.

"He's saying that he doesn't have the final bomb," Crow said as he face was filled with frustration. "The one he has is a fake!"

Everyone's eyes widen from shock as looked towards the bomb, hoping what Crow just said wasn't the truth. However, the Blackwing Duelist confirmed their fears when he showed them that the thing that Kazuki was holding was just an ordinary clock.

Akiza, angered that Kazuki's Duel against Crow was only meant to stall for time, put his Duel Disk on and summoned her Splendid Rose using her Psychic Powers. She then had the Synchro Monster grab Kazuki with its vines.

"All right you bastard!" She yelled. "You're going to tell us where the final bomb is before I squeeze you like a grape!"

"Why should I do that?" Kazuki asked with a smile on his face. "If you're really going to squeeze me like a grape then do it. It's what I deserve for not avenging Rin's death."

With her anger growing, Akiza's mark started to glow brighter. Soon it produced her purple aura, which only strengthens her powers even further. She was about to kill Kazuki, but Takashi touched her shoulder before she could.

"Stop it Akiza," He said. "Remember you promise. You swore that you would never use your powers to take a life, unless the situation calls for it."

"But Takashi…" Akiza replied.

"It's fine…Besides, ending his life would be the easy way out for him. I want him to live, so that his suffering can continue for a very long time. That's a punishment that best suits a person like him."

Takashi turned his attention towards Kazuki and started glaring at him. The sight of the young man's glare frightened the Lieutenant as he felt he was looking at a demon. Eventually he passed out as the pressure of staring at Takashi was finally too much for him to stand. It was at that moment, that Akiza had Splendid Rose release the Lieutenant.

"Let's get going guys." Crow said as he walked over to his Duel Runner. "We have only about 15 minutes until the bomb explodes and there's only one other place where it might be."

Meanwhile, at Amon's lair, the evil mastermind continued looking at the stars. He seemed entranced by the sight of them as he viewed them to be the only pure that resided in the universe.

"13 minutes…" He said to himself. "In only 13 minutes my plan will finally come to pass. Soon the Satellite Sector will be destroyed and the New World will finally arrive."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not going to happen…"

An explosion appeared behind Amon as several of his subordinates were flying into a nearby wall. The leader of the Crashing Sharks turned his head slightly and saw someone coming from the flames.

"It's been a long time…Lilly." He said.

Just as he said, it was Lilly who appeared from the flames of the explosion. The young woman glared at Amon as her Dragon Claw mark glowed bright red and her body was covered in a light blue aura.

"It has been a long time…." She replied. "Sasuke…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_At last, Amon's true identity has been finally revealed. Just what happened to Sasuke to cause him to follow this path in the first place and can Lilly stop him before the final bomb explodes in less than 12 minutes?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 42: Phoenix Rising – Part 1_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, I hope you like it that I created another chapter in the span of 2 days. I wanted to make up for last week when no new chapter came out. I'm trying to make it my goal to have a new chapter of Over the Nexus come out once every week. From now on I'll inform you if no new chapters are coming out or if more than one chapter is coming out this week. So please look forward to that._

_Also, I'm still accepting OC's (Original Characters) from you guys so please feel free send them to me by either review or PM. All I ask is that you send me the person's name, age, personality, history, deck, and Ace monster. If your ace is a Synchro, then you must create a Summon chant for it. Not only that, but if you create your own unique cards then you must explain to me on how they work. Other than that, your free to make the character anyway you like. _

_Lastly, today is the last day of the poll and by the time you read this it will be closed. For those who voted, I'm happy and for those who didn't I'm still just as happy. The fact that you guys read this story is good enough for me. Please continue to read Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus and please send a review for each chapter you read. Your feedback really helps me improve my skills as a writer and attempt to make this story even better._

_Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off._


	42. Chapter 42

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 42: **_Phoenix Rising – Part 1_

* * *

><p><em>3 years ago<em>

_Lilly: Age 16_

It's been 2 years since Sasuke first proposed the idea to form Team Satisfaction and, for the most part, things have running smoothly. There's been far less crime than usual and all the Duel Gangs, with the exception of the Crashing Sharks, have been eradicated. It was during this time that people started to believe that Team Satisfaction was actually starting to make a difference in the Satellite Sector. As for the team, they also believed that they were starting to make a difference for the place that they called home. However, there was one member who wasn't completely sure about the matter. That one person was…Lilly Muto.

Despite the things that she and her team were doing, Lilly still had some doubts about the situation that the Satellite Sector was facing. Thugs and con artists still roamed around the area like rats. Also the Crashing Sharks were beginning to make some suspicious movements. According to what Sasuke told them, the Sharks were only doing small jobs that had no real effect on the Satellite as a whole. Despite knowing that, Lilly was still concerned about it and was wondering why haven't the team taken down the Sharks already. She assumed that the instant all of the smaller gangs were finally taken out, Sasuke would give the order to focus their attention completely on the Sharks and unmasking their new leader. However, no such moves were being made and that made Lilly worry.

Also, recent events have caused her to wonder whether or not the problems in the Satellite have already extended to people who don't even live there. An example of this is when she met Takashi Nakamura for the first time. The young man attempted to simply buy parts for his friend, but instead got involved in something much more. Even though everything turned out alright and nobody was seriously injured, Lilly felt bad about the cross-shaped scar that Takashi received on his left cheek. She examined the wound closely, without him noticing, and knew that the scar was deep enough to be permanent. So not only did Takashi become involved their affairs, he also received a wound that will never heal as a result.

That incident only followed with other similar incidents and more people from outside the Satellite ended up getting hurt. It was then that Lilly began to wonder about something.

_If Team Satisfaction is suppose to protect others from the problems of the Satellite Sector, then why aren't they protecting those who are outside it? _

This question, along with similar ones, bothered Lilly for a couple of days and she decided to talk to Sasuke about them. Being like an older brother to her, Sasuke always give Lilly, and other members of Team Satisfaction, advice on how to handle the problems that they faced. So the young woman hoped that this time wouldn't be any different.

As she made her way towards the team's hideout, Lilly was going over on how to best ask the questions that she wanted Sasuke to answer for her. She knew that she would have to be as clear and precise as possible if she wanted an honest answer from him. Once she reached the door to Sasuke's office, the young woman gently patted her face for a few seconds before opening the door.

"Sasuke," She said. "Can I talk to you about something?"

As she walked inside the office, Lilly saw that Sasuke was busy looking at picture that he was holding in his hand. Having never seen him looking at that picture before, Lilly obviously wanted to know what he was looking at. So she decided to make her way over to him and take a look. Unfortunately, Sasuke noticed her and proceeded to put the picture away before addressing her.

"What is it Lilly?" He asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Um…not really," Lilly replied as she scratched the back of her head a little. "I just came to ask you a question."

Sasuke nodded his head and sat down in the chair that was by his desk. He then grabbed the picture that he was looking at and looked at it one more time before placing it inside one of drawers. Once he did that, he turned his complete attention towards Lilly.

"So what type of question do you want to ask me? I can tell from the look on your face that it's something that's been bothering you."

"You're right," Lilly replied. "But before I ask it, can you tell me what was on that picture that you were looking at? You seemed entranced by it."

Sasuke remained quiet as he wasn't sure whether or not he should answer the question. Eventually he decided that it would be alright for Lilly to know since the two of them were as close as siblings.

"It was a picture of me and my family," He answered. "It was during a time shortly before the Zero Reverse incident."

"I see," Lilly thought as she listened to Sasuke's explanation. "That explains why it seemed important to him."

"My life before Zero Reverse was pretty good," Sasuke continued. "My parents were very kind to me and my older sister, Tomoe, was always there for me whenever I needed her. I think it was during those times in my life that I was truly happy. But then, all good things must come to an end eventually."

"Zero Reverse…" Lilly said.

"Yes. It was during that one incident that my entire life changed forever. Both my mother and father died on that day. Shortly after that, during the early days of the Satellite Sector, Tomoe was murdered right in front of my eyes by some thugs who trying to steal her money. In a matter of only a couple of days, all the people that I ever cared about were gone and there wasn't a damn thing that I could do about it."

Tears started to form around Lilly's eyes as she listened to Sasuke's story. She believed that she had it rough, having lost her father to Zero Reverse when she was an infant and lost her mother to an illness. However, compared to Sasuke, anything that happened to her seemed pretty insignificant.

"I'm sorry," She said as she wiped her tears away. "I didn't know."

Sasuke noticed that there were still tears in Lilly's eyes and he proceeded to wipe them away with his hand. He then gave her a reassuring smile.

"You don't have to be sorry Lilly," He said. "It's not like it's your fault that these things happened to me. Besides, those events only caused me to make a vow. I swore that no one would never again feel the same pain that I'm feeling now and that I'll protect anyone who needs my help. That's the reason why I decided to form Team Satisfaction, since forming a team would help me fulfill my vow quicker."

"I see," Lilly replied as she nodded her head a little. "That explains a lot. Still, there's something that's been bothering me. If we're suppose to protect those from losing everything, what about the people who live outside of the Satellite? Recent incidents have involved others who travel to the Satellite Sector for different things and according to our numbers, things will only get worse for them. What are we going to do Sasuke?"

The leader of Team Satisfaction thought carefully about Lilly's question for a few moments, trying to come up with a solution to this newest problem. Once he finished, Sasuke walked over to a nearby safe that was placed on the wall. After typing in the combination, he opened the safe and pulled out a box and a piece of paper.

"I always had a feeling that something like that would happen," He said as he looked down at the items he was holding. "I just didn't want to believe that it would happen so soon."

"What are those?" Lilly asked.

"Our secret weapon," Sasuke answered as he walked over to her. "At this rate, it won't be too much longer until the whole world begins to suffer from the problems of the Satellite Sector. With this we can not only prevent that from happening, but we can also bring peace to everyone in the world."

Sasuke handed the items to Lilly, who was still confused on how they were going to bring peace to the world. Once he did that, the young man placed his hand gently on top of her head.

"Don't worry Lilly. As long as you and the rest of Team Satisfaction follow the instructions that I have on this piece of paper, then everything will turn out alright in the end. Once you accomplish this then all of you can stop fighting and return to having a normal life."

"But what are you going to do Sasuke?" Lilly asked. "How do you fit into all this?"

"While the rest of Team Satisfaction handles the mission that I've given to you, I'll be handling other missions in secret. I'll have to leave the team in order to handle those missions, so as of right now I'm making Kalin the leader of Team Satisfaction. However, I'm confident that under Kalin's leadership that all of you can complete this one final mission."

"But Sasuke," Lilly said in a concern tone of voice. "I just don't know about this. I mean, I know that our teamwork has improved greatly in the past 2 years and that Kalin will do well as your successor. It's just that we've never done a mission without you leading us and I'm worried that things might go wrong without your help."

Sasuke stayed quiet as he listened to what Lilly had to say. He then proceeded to move the sleeve on his right arm and revealed a red birthmark of a dragon's tail. The mark proceeded to glow bright red, entrancing the young woman the moment she looked at it.

"Don't worry Lilly," He said in a kind tone of voice. "All of you have become truly strong since I've taken you under my wing. I know that you can do it. You just have to believe in each other and in yourselves."

"You're right Sasuke," Lilly said as she looked at him and smiled. "I'll believe in myself and in our team. By doing that, I know we can fulfill the mission that you've given to us. Please be careful during your own missions."

"I will," Sasuke replied. "I hope to see you again someday."

"Same here…" She replied.

The two hugged one another for about a minute before Lilly left with the items that Sasuke had given her. As that happened, both Dark Magician Girl and Ancient Fairy Dragon were looking at Sasuke with looks of concern of their faces. They recognized that the mark that Sasuke had was very similar to the one that Lilly has right now. They also knew that the glow from his mark hypnotized Lilly to agreeing to his plan. Ancient Fairy Dragon and Dark Magician Girl both knew that if Sasuke had to do that in order to get Lilly on her side, then this plan of his could only end up being bad for everyone involved.

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

As she watched Sasuke remove his mask, revealing his face to her for the first time in years, Lilly's blood started to boil. Her powers reacted to her anger, causing the aura that surrounded her and her dragon claw mark to glow even brighter than before. The sight of this caused Sasuke to smile, has he was amused by this display.

"It has been a long time," He said. "I've never known you to be this angry."

"If anyone is to blame for my anger it's you!" Lilly replied as the aura around her glowed brighter. "You're the cause of all the terrible things that took place in the Satellite Sector in the past to now! You used Team Satisfaction while you fulfilled your goals as Amon, leader of the Crashing Sharks! To think, I actually believed that you had the best intentions for the Satellite Sector and its people."

"But Lilly," Sasuke said as he continued to smile. "I still do have the best intentions for the Satellite and the people who live there."

Lilly's power grew and she listened to what Sasuke just said to her. She couldn't believe his words and just assumed that it was another one of his lies.

"It's the truth Lilly. As told you all those years ago, the moment the plan succeeds then peace will be brought to the Satellite Sector and the entire world."

"How the hell can you stand there and say that to me?!" Lilly yelled. "A lot of innocent people died because of what you've done! How, in any way, is that beneficial?"

"It's quite simple," Sasuke replied. "In order to bring peace, certain sacrifices are necessary. I know that it will be hard from some to accept, but they should find solace that the deaths of their love ones will bring the creation of the New World."

"This, New World, of yours is going to kill everyone here!" Lilly said as her anger continued to grow. "Are they also your sacrifices?!"

"Yes. In order to create the New World, I must sacrifice those who are currently living it. You should know this better than anyone else, since the man you loved was one of those sacrifices."

The instant Sasuke finished his sentence; Kalin's face appeared within Lilly's mind. That sight caused the young woman to scream at the top of her lungs as her powers reached new heights. She then glared at Sasuke with the intent to murder him.

"You'll pay what you did the Kalin!" She said to him. "One way or another, you will pay!"

"Is that so?" Sasuke walked over to his desk and pulled out a red Duel Disk. He then proceeded to put it on his arm and insert his deck into the card slot. He then activated the device before his attention back Lilly. "We have about 9 minutes until the New World. Let's see if you can make me pay for what I did to Kalin."

Lilly, in a fit of rage, activated her Duel Disk and inserted her cards into the card slot. The sight of this worried, Dark Magician Girl as it was uncharacteristic of Lilly to act upon her anger.

"I'm going to defeat you Sasuke! I won't allow the New World to come to pass!"

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Sasuke: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Sasuke said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

As he swiftly drew a card from his deck, Sasuke took a quick glance at it before putting it into his hand. After that, took another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Continuous Spell Card: The Dark Door. As long as this card remains active on the field then only 1 monster can during each of our Battle Phases."

A black aura surrounded both Duelists as the effect of the Dark Door Spell began to take effect. Once it finished, Sasuke took another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Phoenix Tiger, in Attack Mode!"

**Phoenix Tiger: ATK 1500 DEF 800 LVL 4**

A burst of flames appeared beside Sasuke as a tiger appeared beside him. The beast had red and orange flames around its body and a set of wings created from those same flames. The sight of the monster confused Lilly as she never seen it before.

"What the hell is that?" She asked.

"It's a Phoenix Monster," Sasuke answered. "The Phoenix Archetype was created by me when I poured my powers into my dueling deck. Lilly, I know that you're capable of the same thing since you have a Dragon Mark like me."

Lilly remembered her recent Duels in the past couple of months and remembered using her Assault Mode Activate Trap Card. Having never heard of the Trap before nor realizing she had it. The young woman came to the conclusion that Sasuke might be right and she created the Trap using her powers.

"I've had these powers since the day I was born and I've trained everyday in order to master them," Sasuke continued. "As we continue this Duel, I'll show you the full power of my Phoenix Deck. But for now, I end my turn."

Lilly focused on Phoenix Dragon and started to wonder what type of powers that the monster had. However, she knew that she couldn't think about it for long as she only had about 8 minutes until the bomb went off. So the young woman placed her hand on her deck and prepared to conduct her Draw Phase.

"It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

Upon drawing the top card from her deck, Lilly quickly placed it into her hand before taking another card and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

In a bright flash of light, Magician's Valkyria appeared onto the field and started levitating beside Lilly.

"Go Valkyria and attack his Phoenix Tiger with Mystic Scepter Blast!"

Valkyria complied with her master's orders and proceeded to fire a blast of green mystic energy from her staff. The blast struck Phoenix Tiger, destroying it upon contact.

**Sasuke: 3900 LP**

Lilly had a small smile on her face as she was satisfied that she got in the first points in the match. However, her smile quickly faded away when she noticed that the flames that were around Phoenix Tiger still remained on the field.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked herself.

"It's the Special Ability of my Phoenix Tiger," Sasuke said, having overheard Lilly's question. "When it's destroyed through Battle, I'm allowed to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Phoenix monster from my deck."

Sasuke pulled his deck from the card slot and quickly through it to try and find the card that he wanted to summon. Eventually, he was able to find it and proceeded to pull it out before inserting his deck back into his Duel Disk. He then shuffled his cards before placing the card that he picked onto his Duel Disk.

"I Special Summon: Phoenix Knight, in Defense Mode!"

**Phoenix Knight: ATK 1400 DEF 1300 LVL 3**

From the flames of Phoenix Tiger, a knight with red and orange armor appeared before Sasuke. The warrior bowed towards him before kneeling down to one knee and taking a defensive position.

The sight of knight angered Lilly, which caused her powers to increase again. She then proceeded to take one card and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized behind Magician's Valkyria in a face-down position.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn!" She declared.

"Then it's my turn again," Sasuke said. "Draw!"

The leader of the Crashing Sharks swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. He then took another card and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"For this turn, I Summon: Phoenix Lion, in Attack Mode!"

**Phoenix Lion: ATK 1600 DEF 900 LVL 4**

Another burst of flames shot beside Sasuke as a new Phoenix monster appeared onto the field. This one had the appearance of a powerful lion, with flames all over its body. Once the lion was out on the field, Sasuke took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized behind of Phoenix Lion in a face-down position.

"I end my turn by setting one card face-down on the field."

Lilly was questioning Sasuke's first two moves and wondered why he hasn't conducted an attack yet. As she placed her hand onto her deck, the young woman hoped that she would figure it out in the next couple of turns.

"It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

As she drew the card a smile appeared on her face upon seeing what it was. She then proceeded to take Magician's Valkyria's card and placed it into the Graveyard before taking the card she drew and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I sacrifice my Magician's Valkyria to Summon: Dark Magician Girl, in Attack Mode!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

Valkyria slowly faded away from the field as Dark Magician Girl appeared in a bright flash of light. The magician looked towards Lilly and saw that she still had plenty of anger in her eyes. The sight of this saddened her to some extent as she never like it when her partner was angry, no matter what the reason may be.

"Next, I activate the Equip Spell Card: Fairy Meteor Crush!" Lilly declared as she inserted the card into her Spell/Trap Zone. "When equipped with this card, Dark Magician Girl is granted the ability to deal Piercing Damage!"

A yellow aura surrounded Dark Magician Girl as she felt the power of Lilly's Spell Card take effect. Once that happened, the powerful mage turned her attention towards Sasuke and his Phoenix Monsters.

"Dark Magician Girl, attack Phoenix Knight with Dark Burning!"

The magician nodded her head and fired a blast of pink and yellow energy from her wand. It was at that moment that Sasuke press a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate the Trap Card: Protective Phoenix!" He declared. "When I have at least 2 Phoenix monsters on my side of the field and one of them is about to be attacked, this card negates the attack and ends your Battle Phase!"

Both Phoenix Knight and Phoenix Lion created a barrier from the flames on their bodies, which protected them from Dark Magician Girl's attack. The sight of this annoyed Lilly as Sasuke protected not only his monsters, but his Life Points as well. She then checked the time and saw that she just had over 6 minutes left in the Duel.

"This is bad," She thought. "I need to take this bastard down soon before we're all dead."

The young woman checked her hand to see if should make any other moves this turn. Upon realizing she didn't Lilly gritted her teeth in anger.

"I end my turn."

"Don't be so upset Lilly," Sasuke said as he noticed the anger on her face. "Let's enjoy ourselves while we can. I mean, this is the first time we've seen each other in 3 years."

"Shut up and make your move you bastard!" Lilly yelled. "I'm in no mood to stand here and listen to any of your crap!"

Sasuke sighed as he placed his hand upon his deck. He then closed his eyes and heard the roar of a powerful monster coming from his deck. The cry of the beast brought a smile onto his face as he knew what was going to take place this turn.

"It's my turn," He said as he opened his eyes. "Draw!"

Upon drawing the top card from his deck, Sasuke swiftly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone without even looking at it once.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Phoenix Sprite, in Attack Mode!"

**Phoenix Sprite: ATK 100 DEF 100 LVL 1**

Again, another burst of flames appeared before Sasuke as a small pixie with flames over its body began flying around him. The sight of the monster caused him to smile again as he gently allowed the creature to land on his hand.

"Lilly," He said as he continued to look at his newly summoned monsters. "You never asked me why, out of all the cards that I could have created, I chose Phoenixes as the monsters for my deck."

"What would it accomplish if I asked you?" Lilly asked.

"Everything," He said. "In the past, my father told me about a powerful bird, known as a Phoenix, who had flames surrounding its entire body. It was a majestic creature who's sheer beauty and strength captivated those who had the pleasure of seeing it. However, there were some who were jealous of the Phoenix and wanted it destroyed. They were successful in the goal, but they forgot one thing. The Phoenix had the power of resurrection, which allowed it to come back to life through its own ashes. Once revived, the powerful bird incinerated the ones who killed it and proceeded to burn everything else around it as well. After that the landscape and the people who were destroyed were also revived, only they were different from before. The landscape was more beautiful than ever and the people were rid of the evil that used to plague their hearts."

"What's your story suppose to mean Sasuke?" Lilly asked him. "All you're doing is stalling for time, aren't you?"

"No Lilly. First off, I don't need to stall for time for someone like you. Second, I'm telling you this story because the monster I'm about to summon is related to it."

The young woman's eyes widen as she watched Sasuke have his Phoenix Sprite fly over towards his other monsters. It was at that moment that Lilly realized that Sasuke was planning to Synchro Summon.

"I Tune my Level 3 Phoenix Knight with my Level 4 Phoenix Lion and Level 1 Phoenix Sprite!"

All three monsters flew high into the air and quickly performed the process for a Synchro Summoning. It was at that moment that an orange aura surrounded Sasuke's body as his Dragon Mark began to glow. Once that happened, he proceeded to chant the following words.

"From the ashes of your own being, appear now and create a New World! Synchro Summon! Be revived, Phoenix Dragon!"

**Phoenix Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2400 LVL 8**

A bright flash of light illuminated around both Lilly and Sasuke as flames covered the entire field. Soon the flames shot up into the air and started to take the shape of a powerful dragon with a red body and yellow wings. The mere sight of the creature filled Lilly with fear as she never a creature that was not only beautiful, but powerful as well.

"Behold Lilly," Sasuke said. "This is my Phoenix Dragon, the strongest monster that I have. It's the Ace of my deck and the symbol of the Grand Fire Project! Now my dragon, destroy Dark Magician Girl with your Flames of Creation!"

Phoenix Dragon roared at the stop of its lungs as it started to build power from inside its body. Once it gathered enough energy, the dragon fired a powerful stream of red and orange flames from its mouth. As the flames approached Dark Magician Girl, Lilly quickly press a button on her Duel Disk.

"I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Force!" She declared. "When you declare an attack, this card destroys all the Attack Position monsters that you control!"

A magical mirror appeared before Dark Magician Girl as the flames from Phoenix Dragon grew ever closer to her.

"I'm sorry Lilly," Sasuke said. "But my Phoenix Dragon's Special Ability prevents it from being destroyed through card effects! That means your Trap doesn't work and my attack still goes through!"

Phoenix Dragon's flames overpowered the magic of the Mirror Force Trap Card and proceeded to consume Dark Magician Girl. The heat of the flames incinerated the female magician the instant it touched her, taking a bite out of Lilly's Life Points in the process.

**Lilly: 3000 LP**

As the flames burned her skin, causing her extreme pain, Lilly knelt down to one knee and proceeded to wrap her arms around her body. It was at that moment that Phoenix Dragon stopped its attack.

"Surrender Lilly," Sasuke told her. "Accept your fate and come back to me. If you don't then you'll leave me no choice but to break your will."

As the flames faded away, Lilly slowly got back up to her feet and looked at the man who used to be like a brother to her. Sasuke saw that despite the fact that her aura left her body, Lilly continued to glare at him with the intent to kill.

"I won't surrender to the likes of you," She said. "No matter what you say and no matter what you do, I'm going to keep on fighting. My will won't be broken by the like of you!"

"Very well," Sasuke said as took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down on the field, right behind Phoenix Dragon. "You've made your choice. I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Lilly looked down towards her deck and gently placed her hand upon it. It was then that she realized that this was probably going to be the turn that decided the entire Duel. If she didn't draw the card that she needed, then Sasuke will win and his New World will come to pass. Lilly couldn't allow that to happen as she remembered all the people who were counting on her victory.

"Please card," She said silently to herself. "Please answer my call and help me achieve victory."

It was at that moment that Lilly noticed that Dark Magician Girl, while in her Spirit Form, also placed her hand on her deck. She then looked at her partner and smiled.

"_No matter what may happen Lilly, I'll always be right her with you."_

"Okay," Lilly said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing the card, both Lilly and Dark Magician Girl saw that it was indeed the card that they wanted. With that, both of them smiled as Lilly inserted the card onto her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With this, I can revive my Dark Magician Girl!"

Again, a bright flash of light appeared beside Lilly as Dark Magician Girl arrived and once again stood by her. Once that happen, the young woman took a card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Gagaga Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Another flash of light illuminated beside both Lilly and Dark Magician Girl, as Gagaga Magician appeared onto the field. The mage stood beside his fellow magician as Lilly proceeded to continue on with her turn.

"I activate Gagaga's Special Ability! Once per turn, I can declare a Level between 1 and 8 and the Level I choose becomes Gagaga's until the End Phase of this turn. I choose 6, which means Gagaga Magician's Level increases by 2!"

**Gagaga Magician: LVL 6**

As Gagaga's power began to increase, Sasuke knew what Lilly was about to do. However, he decided to not comment on it nor activate his face-down card. He said that he was going to break her will if she didn't give up and that's exactly what he's going to do.

"I sacrifice both my Level 6 Dark Magician Girl and Gagaga Magician," Lilly declared as she took a card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. "In order to Special Summon: Sorcerer of Dark Magic!"

**Sorcerer of Dark Magic: ATK 3200 DEF 2800 LVL 9**

Both magicians disappeared from the field as the Sorcerer of Dark Magic arrived in a blast of black lightning. The sight of the mage didn't faze Sasuke, despite the fact that Lilly's newest monster had more Attack Points than his Phoenix Dragon.

"Go Magician," Lilly commanded. "Destroy his Phoenix Dragon now!"

The Sorcerer of Dark Magic nodded his head and pointed its staff towards Phoenix Dragon. He then fired black lightning at the creature, vaporizing it in an instant.

**Sasuke: 3700 LP**

"How's that Sasuke?" Lilly said. "Don't you see that nothing you throw at me will stop me from defeating you? The Grand Fire Project won't succeed!"

"That's where you're wrong Lilly," Sasuke replied. "Now end your turn so that I can show you what I mean."

"Fine then," She said. "I end my turn."

The instant Lilly spoke those 4 words; the young woman looked on in shock as she watched Phoenix Dragon's ashes begin to move. Soon the ashes lit on fire and reformed itself back into Phoenix Dragon.

"As I told you from my story," Sasuke said. "The Phoenix can revive itself from its own ashes. The same can be applied to my Phoenix Dragon. On the End Phase that was destroyed through Battle, Phoenix Dragon is Special Summoned back onto the field!"

Phoenix Dragon roared once more as Lilly couldn't believe at what just happened. Despite the fact that she destroyed the beast, Phoenix Dragon was able to revive itself. Not only that but, thanks to its Special Abilities, it also couldn't be destroyed through card effect. The monster was seemingly invincible.

"This…this can't be," She said to herself. "This can't possibly be real."

"It is real Lilly," Sasuke replied as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "And I'm about to prove it to you. I activate the Spell Card: Divine Phoenix! When Phoenix Dragon is on the field, I can reduce the Attack Points of one of the monsters you control down to 0!"

Phoenix Dragon released orange flames from its body which proceeded to wrap around the Sorcerer of Dark Magic. The mere touch of the flames drained the Sorcerer's strength, causing Lilly to fall into despair.

**Sorcerer of Dark Magic: ATK 0**

"Phoenix Dragon," Sasuke said. "Destroy the Sorcerer of Dark Magic with your Flames of Creation!"

The dragon complied and started building power into its body again. As it did that, Lilly fell to both knees and placed her hands onto the floor. She then looked down towards ground with a defeated look on her face. When that happened, Phoenix Dragon attacked and destroyed the Sorcerer of Dark Magic with its powerful flames.

**Lilly: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, Sasuke walked towards Lilly and looked at her while she remained sitting on the ground. When he saw her defeated expression, the leader of the Crashing Sharks shook his head in disappoint.<p>

"I warned you Lilly," He said. "I warned that if you didn't give up, this is what will to you. However, you didn't listen to me and now look at you."

Dark Magician Girl looked on with tears in her eyes as looked on her partner and watched as she continued to sink deeper and deeper into the depths of despair.

"_Lilly…"_

As the final minute began to tick down on the bomb, Sasuke gently placed his hand on Lilly face and lifted it up. He then looked into her lifeless eyes and smiled a little.

"Despite not listening to me Lilly, I'm glad that I meet you all those years ago," He said. "I knew that there was something special about you and that you would be the key that would open the door to the New World. As you sit there, feel glad that what's about to happen is all because of you."

As Sasuke moves his hand, the leader of Crashing Sharks begins to hear noise coming from the other room. Soon, Takashi and the others arrive into the room and see the two of them. Crow was the first to notice Lilly in her defeated state and quickly rushed over to her.

"Lilly!" He cried. "What the hell happened to you Lilly?!"

The young woman didn't respond to Crow's words and continued to look towards the ground. When the other saw this, they also tried to get Lilly to respond. Unfortunately for them, none of their methods worked and all of them were extremely worried for her. Soon Takashi looked towards Sasuke and glared at him.

"What the hell did you do to her, Amon?!" He asked with rage in his voice.

"My name isn't Amon." Sasuke replied. "It's Sasuke. Now welcome to the New World."

At that moment, the bomb's timer finally ticked down to zero. When that happened, the device exploded and consumed everyone inside the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_What is the fate of our heroes as Sasuke's plan finally comes to light? _

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 43: Phoenix Rising – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that the Phoenix cards that Sasuke used were all created by me, so you won't be able to find them in real life. I wanted you to get the heads up on that, so that you won't be confused. I'm also going to change my mind when it comes to posting my chapters. I've decided to post them after my Beta Reader, **PokeRescue18**, looks over them. I don't want to keep you all waiting longer than you have to. I need to make up for the lack of chapters that I neglected to post in the summer anyway. _

_By the way, due to there being a tie in the poll, I've decided to create the short story. Please expect it at the end of the Grand Fire Arc_

_Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off._


	43. Chapter 43

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 43: **_Phoenix Rising – Part 2_

* * *

><p>"Ow…my head," Takashi thought while face-down on the ground. "What the hell happen and how I'm alive?"<p>

The young man slowly got up from the floor and gently placed his hand on his face. He then tried to remember what happened to him before he lost consciousness.

"The last thing I remember is Sasuke welcoming us to the New World. After that, the bomb exploded and everything went black."

Takashi shook his head, attempting to get the cobwebs from out his head, as he slowly got back up to feet. He then looked around the rooms and saw that it was in ruins. Fortunately his friends seemed to be okay, despite the fact that they were unconscious. Takashi walked over towards Akiza, since she was one who closest to him, and proceeded to gently rub her shoulder.

"Akiza," He said. "Akiza, wake up."

The young flinched as she heard Takashi's words. She then slowly regained consciousness and the first thing that she saw was him.

"Takashi?" She said. "What happened?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," He replied as he helped her up. "In the meantime, let's wake up the others."

Akiza nodded her head and proceeded to help Takashi wake their others friends. Eventually they're able to so and all of them, with the exception of Lilly, started to wonder the same exact thing.

"What the hell happened?" Aiku asked.

"Yeah," Toru followed. "And how are we not dead?"

As all of them got to their feet, Crow noticed that Lilly was still in her depressed state. The young woman didn't seem to care that she was alive since, at least to her, she was already dead on the inside.

"C'mon Lilly," Crow pleaded. "You have to snap out of it!"

Lilly didn't respond to Crow's words and just continued to stare at the ground with a blank expression on her face. When Takashi walked over and saw this scene, the young man clinched his fist in anger.

"What the hell did that bastard do?!" He asked himself.

"I awakened the being that will create the New World…"

Takashi's eyes widen as recognized who spoke just now. He proceeded to look up into the sky and his heart was filled with fear at the sight that he was seeing. Crow and the others also turned their attention to the sky and, upon seeing what Takashi saw, also felt their hearts become filled with fear.

In the sky, was Sasuke and he was riding a real life version of his Phoenix Dragon. The beast was massive as it was about 10 times its usual height and the flames that emitted from its body lit up the entire area that it was in.

"Behold the true form of the Grand Fire Project," Sasuke said as he had his dragon approach Takashi and the others who were looking at him. "In the instant that the bomb exploded, I released all of my power so that the blast could be contained. After that, by projecting my will into it, I was able to transform the explosion into the Phoenix Dragon! With the power my dragon, I will turn the current the world into ashes and rebuild a new one its place. In this New World, no one will have to experience pain and suffering ever again!"

As the others listened to Sasuke's explanation, the fear that filled Takashi's heart slowly turned to anger. He then started to glare at Sasuke as Dragon Mark began to glow and his blue aura appeared around his body.

"How can you stand there and say that?" He asked. "What the hell give you the right to change the world and pass judgment upon others?!"

"It's my divine right to create the New World," Sasuke answered. "The moment the Crimson Dragon gave me the Mark of the Dragon's Tail, it assigned me the task of protecting the world and all the people that inhabit it. However, as it is now, the world cannot be saved. The only way to fulfill my duty as one the chosen Signers is to destroy this world and make something better! Can't see you see that what I'm doing is for the greater good of all mankind?!"

"No I don't!" Takashi shouted. "If you truly think that then you're nothing more than a hypocrite. I don't understand what Signers are or what this Crimson Dragon is, but I do know that what you're saying and what you're doing are entirely different! If having these marks mean we have to protect the world, then we should do it without having to sacrifice the lives of others! If we do, then we're nothing more than a bunch of murderers!"

Sasuke looked down at Takashi and saw that the young man believed in the words that he spoke. This caused the leader of the Crashing Sharks to shake his head in disapproval.

"Only an ignorant fool would truly believe in the words that you just spoke," He said. "If that's how you really feel then you'll just become a sacrifice for the New World!"

Phoenix roared at the stop of its lungs and fired a stream of golden flames from its mouth. However, instead of avoiding the flames, Takashi stood his ground and used his hands to block the attack. Using the powers that his Dragon Mark had bestowed upon him, along with his sheer physical strength, Takashi was able pushed the flames and redirect them back towards Phoenix Dragon.

Sasuke, though slightly amazed by this feat, had Phoenix Dragon avoid its own attack by flying higher into the air. Once he was safe from danger, Sasuke jumped off his dragon and landed back down towards the ground. He then commanded the beast to destroy the entire Satellite Sector while he took on Takashi by himself.

"It seems you've increased your powers since last night," He said. "But then again, the Crimson Dragon did choose to give you the Mark of the Dragon's Head. It must've seen the potential that lays dormant inside of you. If that's the case, then I'll care of you using my own power."

Takashi ignored Sasuke's words and proceeded to activate the Duel Disk that was attached to his arm. Once that happened, the young man looked towards his friends.

"Listen guys," He started off. "I need you all to go out and find a way to defeat that Phoenix Dragon or, at the very least, slow it down. While you're doing that, I'll take down this bastard!"

Akiza, Crow, Aiku, and Toru were initially surprised by Takashi's proposal. However, after some quick thinking, all four of them knew that it was best for them to take down Phoenix Dragon while Sasuke was distracted.

"Alright Takashi," Toru said. "We'll go, but you better defeat him!"

Takashi nodded his head towards him before turning his attention back towards Sasuke. With that, the others left the room. However, Crow noticed that Lilly was still on the floor and the Blackwing Duelist attempted to get her up.

"C'mon Lilly," He said. "We need to get going! If we don't stop that dragon then everything we've fought for will be for nothing!"

Lilly stayed silent as she kept looking towards ground. Crow didn't know what to do about her as it seemed everything he said went through one ear and out the other. It soon came to the point that Takashi proposed another idea.

"Leave her with me Crow," He said. "I'll attempt to snap her out of it while you take care of the dragon!"

Crow was reluctant to go along with the idea, but he saw no other option. He knew that Phoenix Dragon needed to be taken down now before it could do too much damage to the area. Also, somewhere deep down, he felt that Takashi could help Lilly regain her will.

"Take care of her Takashi," He said moments before he left.

With the others gone, Sasuke placed his Duel Disk back on his arm before focusing on Takashi. He saw a lot of Lilly within him, which only caused the evil mastermind to shake his head in disappointment.

"You've sent your friends to their deaths," He said to the young man. "My Phoenix Dragon will dominate them and they'll be turned to ashes. As for you, I'll send you to the depths of the despair, just like how I did to Lilly."

"My friends aren't to be underestimated!" Takashi replied as the aura that surrounded his body increased in power. "I know they'll find a way to defeat your dragon and save everyone! As for me, I'm going to free Lilly from her despair by defeating you Sasuke!"

"You can try…"

Both Duelists swiftly drew 5 cards from their decks and prepared themselves to start the Duel. It was at that moment that Lilly, though still broken from her Duel, slowly looked up and watched the event.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Sasuke: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Takashi said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

Upon drawing the top card from his deck, Takashi's eyes widen slightly. He then took a glance at Lilly for a few moments before placing the card into his hand. After that, the young man took another card and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"To start things off, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dread Dragon, in Defense Mode!"

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

A bright flash of light lit up in front of Takashi as his Dread Dragon appeared onto the field. The Tuner Monster took a defensive position in front of its masters while Takashi grabbed two more cards from his hand. Of those two cards, one of them happened to be the card that he drew at the beginning of the turn. He then proceeded to insert both cards into his Spell/Trap Zone, causing them to materialize face-down on the field.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Sasuke said. "Draw!"

As he drew a card from his deck, Sasuke took at glance at Takashi's field and noticed that the young man was staring at one of his face-down cards. The sight of this caused the leader of the Crashing Sharks to assume that Takashi was relying on that face-down to help him win the Duel. Not wanting to let that happen, Sasuke placed that card that he drew into his hand before grabbing another and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I'll start things off by activating the Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon! With this card, I can destroy one Spell or Trap card that's on the field. The card that I choose to destroy is the face-down card that's on your right!"

A powerful cyclone shot out from Sasuke's Spell Card and quickly made its way over towards Takashi's side of the field. Once it reached him, Takashi watched as his face-down was ripped to pieces by the powerful wind of the cyclone. Once saw that the face-down card was gone from the field, Sasuke took another card from his hand and firmly placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Phoenix Tiger, in Attack Mode!"

**Phoenix Tiger: ATK 1500 DEF 800 LVL 4**

A powerful burst of flames shot in front of Sasuke as his Phoenix Tiger arrived onto the field. Once that happened, he then took another card from his hand and also placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, since there's already Phoenix monster on my side of the field, I can Special Summon: Phoenix Hawk!"

**Phoenix Hawk: ATK 1400 DEF 600 LVL 4**

Another burst of flames shot in front of Sasuke as a new Phoenix monster appeared onto the field. This one looked very similar to an actual Phoenix, but it was considerably smaller and had much sharper talons on its legs.

The sight of the two monsters amazed Takashi, who had never seen anything like them before. However, despite the excitement that he was feelings, the young man knew that the situation he was in was very serious and he needed to prepare for what was about to come.

"I attack your Dread Dragon with my Phoenix Hawk, while at the same time activating its Special Ability!" Sasuke declared. "When Phoenix Hawk destroys a monster in Defense Mode, then it can deal you Piercing Damage!"

Phoenix Hawk flew over to the defending Dread Dragon and proceeded to fire several razor sharp feathers from its body. While some of the feathers struck the dragon, destroying it in the process, the others that missed it cut up Takashi.

**Takashi: 3000 LP**

"I activate Dread Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi declared. "When it's destroyed through Battle, then I can add one Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type monster from deck and add it to my hand!"

As Takashi went through his deck and searched for the card that he wanted, Sasuke contemplated on attacking his opponent's Life Points directly with his Phoenix Tiger. However, upon noticing the other face-down card on the field, he decided against it and proceeded to grab another card from his hand. He then inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Continuous Spell: The Dark Door! As long as it remains active on the field, we can only battle once during each of our Battle Phases."

As the effect the Sasuke's Spell began to take effect, sending both Duelists into a dark dimension, Takashi was slowly figuring out some of his opponent's strategy. With Dark Door out, Takashi is only permitted to attack once per turn. This was an excellent move which allowed practically guaranteed that Sasuke will at least have one monster still on the field.

"He must be trying to take me out in one massive blow," The young man thought as he continued to analyze the situation. "That's the only reason why I can see him making such a move."

As Takashi continued to think of multiple scenarios, Sasuke continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand. He then inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as it materialized face-down, right behind his Phoenix Hawk.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now show me what you can do. I want to see the true capabilities of the leader of the Signers."

"Fine then," Takashi replied as he placed his hand on his deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing the top card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Takashi took another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"To begin this turn, I activate the Spell Card: Pot of Greed! With this card, I can draw two cards from my deck."

Swiftly drawing two more cards, Takashi placed them into his hand and proceeded to examine all the cards that he currently had. After that, he then looked at all the cards Sasuke had out on the field. He then closed his eyes and imagined a flow chart which contained at the scenarios that he developed during Sasuke's turn. After choosing the one that best felt that he could win with, Takashi opened his eyes and grabbed another card from his deck. He then proceeded to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate another Spell Card: Reincarnation of Hope! By discarding two cards from my hand, I can add one monster from my deck to my hand on my Standby Phase two turns from now."

Takashi took the cards that he wanted to discard and placed them into his Graveyard. After that, the young man then took another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Debris Dragon!"

**Debris Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

Another flash of light appeared beside Takashi as the young man's Debris Dragon arrived and started flying next to him.

"When Debris Dragon is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard whose Attack Points are 500 or less. The monster I choose is my Decoy Dragon!"

**Decoy Dragon: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 2**

Debris Dragon released a powerful roar, which allowed another dragon to appear beside it. The dragon looked very young and it had blue scales all over its body.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Quillbolt Hedgehog! When there's a Tuner Monster on my side of the field, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard!"

**Quillbolt Hedgehog: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

As he watched Quillbolt Hedgehog appeared onto the field, Sasuke noticed that his mark was glowing brighter than usual. He also took notice that the same thing was happening to both Lilly's and Takashi's mark, which caused him to come to a conclusion.

"He's about to summon his dragon."

"I Tune my Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog and Level 2 Decoy Dragon with my Level 4 Debris Dragon!" Takashi declared.

All of the young man's monster jumped high into the air and prepared themselves to perform the Synchro Summoning process. As that happened, Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Once Takashi finished his chant, a bright flash of light illuminated the field. When it faded away, Sasuke's eyes filled with excitement when he saw Stardust Dragon appear onto the field. Lilly also witness the appearance of Stardust and, for an instant, life returned to her eyes.

"Stardust…" She silently spoke.

"Stardust Dragon, attack his Phoenix Hawk with Cosmic Flare!" Takashi ordered.

Stardust complied with Takashi's order and proceeded to fire a blast of cosmic energy from its mouth. At that moment, Sasuke quickly activated the card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Shift!" He declared. "With this card, I can change the target of your attack from Phoenix Hawk to Phoenix Tiger!"

Stardust Dragon's Cosmic Flare attack changed directions suddenly and made its way over to Phoenix Tiger. When the attack struck it, Phoenix Tiger was vaporized and a small explosion consumed Sasuke.

**Sasuke: 3000 LP**

The smoke from the explosion remained around Sasuke for a few moments before finally fading away. When that happened, Takashi saw that an orange aura covered his opponent's body.

"So this is the extent of your power," Sasuke said as he wiped the dirt from his clothes. "It's seems that I've overestimated your abilities."

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Takashi asked with anger building in his voice.

"You'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I activate my Phoenix Tiger's Special Ability. When it's destroyed through Battle, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or below Phoenix monster from my deck. The monster I choose is my Phoenix Knight!"

**Phoenix Knight: ATK 1400 DEF 1300 LVL 3**

Takashi looked on as he watched the remains of Phoenix Tiger reform themselves into Phoenix Knight. The sight bothered the young man as he had a suspicion on what Sasuke was planning to do. He decided that he needed to prepare at what was about to happen, so he took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized behind Stardust and was beside Takashi's other face-down card.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Very well," Sasuke said as he placed his hand on his deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

The moment he drew a card from his deck, Sasuke heard the cry of his Phoenix Dragon. The sound of it brought a smile onto his face as he firmly placed the card that he drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Phoenix Sprite!"

**Phoenix Sprite: ATK 100 DEF 100 LVL 1**

A small fireball appeared onto Sasuke's side of the field and quickly transformed itself into Phoenix Sprite. At the moment that he saw the tiny Tuner Monster, Takashi felt a sharp pain coming from his arm. When he looked down at it he saw that his mark was glower brighter than before.

"I Tune my Level 3 Phoenix Knight and Level 4 Phoenix Hawk with my Level 1 Phoenix Sprite!"

All 3 Phoenix monsters complied with Sasuke's demand and proceeded to fly into the air. As the performed the process for a Synchro Summoning, Sasuke pulled a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"From the ashes of your own being, appear now and create a New World! Synchro Summon! Be revived, Phoenix Dragon!"

**Phoenix Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2400 LVL 8**

When the monsters finished, a giant blast of flames erupted around the field. From those flames, Phoenix Dragon appeared and started staring down both Takashi and Stardust Dragon.

"Now I see," The young man said. "That explains why your Grand Fire Project looks the way it does."

"Precisely," Sasuke replied. "Now let's see which of our dragons is the strongest. Phoenix Dragon, attack Stardust Dragon with your Flames of Creation!"

Phoenix Dragon nodded its head and proceeded to fire its golden flames towards Stardust. However, before the flames could connect, Takashi activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Sakuretsu Armor!" He declared. "Now, since you declared an attack, you're Phoenix Dragon is automatically destroyed!"

Metal shards appeared flying from the Trap Card and quickly made their way towards their intended target. However, Phoenix Dragon's flames melted of the sharps the very instant that it connected with it.

"I'm sorry Takashi," Sasuke said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "But my Phoenix Dragon can't be destroyed by card effects!"

Once the shards of Sakuretsu Armor finally stopped firing, Phoenix Dragon's attack continued to make its way over towards Stardust Dragon. It was here that Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk so that his other face-down card would activate.

"If I can't destroy your dragon through card effects then I'll just have Stardust do it instead!" He said. "I activate the Trap Card: Prideful Roar! By paying the points difference between our two monsters, Stardust Dragon's Attack Points become equal to that of your Phoenix Dragon with an additional 300 extra Attack Points!"

**Takashi: 2500 LP **

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 3300**

As the embers from Phoenix Dragon's attack landed on Takashi's body, burning him in the process, Stardust Dragon proceeded to absorb power from the flames themselves. Once it gathered enough, it launched it Cosmic Flare attack Phoenix Dragon and destroyed it.

**Sasuke 2700 LP**

The sight of this scene surprised Sasuke a little as he wasn't expecting Takashi to be able to destroy his Phoenix Dragon this turn. However, his surprise quickly faded away when decided that had no other moves to make this turn.

"You may have destroyed my Phoenix Dragon but, as you're about to witness, it doesn't stay destroyed for long!" Sasuke said. "I end my turn and by doing so I activate my Phoenix Dragon's Special Ability. On the End Phase that it was destroyed through Battle, Phoenix Dragon returns to the field!"

Takashi's eyes widen when witness Phoenix Dragon's return from its own remains. He then looked towards Stardust Dragon and saw that the power that it absorbed from its previous battle was now starting to fade away.

"This is just perfect," He thought in a sarcastic tone. "I'm not only dealing with a monster that's seemingly invincible, but the effect of my Prideful Roar only last during the Damage Calculation. That means Stardust Dragon's Attack Points return to their original value."

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500**

Takashi looked back towards Lilly and saw that not much change as happened to her. Only noticeable difference is that she's paying attention to the Duel.

"I still have to wait one more turn until the effect of Reincarnation of Hope activates. Until then, I'll just have to protect my Life Points until then."

Sasuke noticed that Takashi was spending a lot of time looking at Lilly. Bothered by that, the leader of the Crashing Sharks raised his hand towards his opponent. He then fired a fireball from that hand that headed straight for Takashi. Fortunately, Takashi noticed the attack and was able to avoid it in time.

"I have no time for you to be standing there, looking at a girl who lost the will to continue!" Sasuke said. "You better focus all of your attention on me."

Takashi glared at Sasuke as he was annoyed by not only by his opponent's attitude, but also about what he just said about Lilly. It didn't take long for the young man to realize that it was Sasuke who broke Lilly's will and he was determined to make him pay for that.

"It's my turn," He said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

Upon drawing the card, Takashi looked at it for a few moments before placing it into his hand. Once he did that, he then took a card from his hand and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Masked Dragon, in Defense Mode!"

**Masked Dragon: ATK 1400 DEF 1100 LVL 3**

As Masked Dragon appeared beside Stardust Dragon, Takashi then placed his hand on his Duel Disk and changed Stardust's card from vertically too horizontally.

"I also switch Stardust Dragon into Defense Mode as well. After that, I end my turn."

Stardust Dragon landed on the ground and made a defensive position so that he could protect Takashi from any of Sasuke's attacks.

"Defending isn't going to help you," Sasuke said as he placed his hand on his deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

As he drew the top card from his deck and looked at it, a small smile appeared on Sasuke's face. He then proceeded to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I play the Equip Spell: Scar of the Phoenix! By equipping it to my Phoenix Dragon, this card grants it the power to deal Piercing Damage!"

Phoenix Dragon roared at the top of its lungs as several scars appeared onto its body. It then looked towards Takashi, as the young man braced himself for the attack that was about come.

"Go, Phoenix Dragon," Sasuke commanded. "Destroy Masked Dragon with your Scars of Creation!"

The dragon complied with its master's order and fired its flames towards Masked Dragon. When they attack landed the force of the blow created a tiny explosion around Takashi's side of the field. When the smoke cleared, Masked Dragon was gone and Takashi was lying on the ground in pain.

**Takashi: 600 LP**

"This Duel is over," Sasuke said. "I advise that you give up Takashi. It would be a shame for the leader of the Signers to lose their will to fight. Besides, you don't have any attachments to this place. What reason do you have to protect the Satellite Sector?"

As he listened to Sasuke's words, Takashi remembered everything that transpired over the past couple hours. Once he finished thinking, he slowly got back to his feet.

"You're right," He said. "I don't have any attachments to this place. Even so, I swore that I will protect the Satellite and all the people who reside here."

"You swore?" Sasuke questioned. "You swore it to whom?"

As he continued to get up, memories flooded the young man's mind. He soon remembered when told Lilly that despite the fact that she didn't want him to come, he came anyway. Once he got back on his feet, Takashi glared at Sasuke as blood dripped down his face.

"I swore it to no one," He answered. "I just swore it…TO MYSELF!"

Takashi yelled at the stop of his lungs as his blue aura erupted from his body. Soon, the amount of power the he released eventually caused all of his hair to turn blue. Sasuke was shocked by this scene as he didn't expect this from him. Despite the fact that Takashi was the, so-called, leader of the Signers, Sasuke believed that he was still too inexperienced to use that kind of power.

Meanwhile, more life was appeared in Lilly's eyes as she watched Takashi release his power. Despite the odds that were stacked against him, the young still continued to fight. This resolve slowly reawakened Lilly's own will and Dark Magician Girl noticed this.

"_C'mon Lilly," _She thought. _"You're almost there."_

"I activate Masked Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi declared as his powers started to stabilize. "When it's destroyed through Battle, I can Special Summon a Dragon-Type monster from my deck with 1500 or less Attack Points. The monster I choose is: Blackland Fire Dragon!"

**Blackland Fire Dragon: ATK 1500 DEF 800 LVL 4**

A card popped of Takashi's deck the moment he called out the name of the dragon that he wanted to summon. He then pulled out the card and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone. When he did so, a green dragon with yellow horns and talons appeared onto the field.

The sight of the new dragon didn't really bother Sasuke as much as the power that was surrounding Takashi. He knew that with each passing second the young man's power would only continue to grow. The fact that he saw Takashi's eyes turn from cerulean blue to green-blue was proof this. Sasuke knew that he needed to end Duel now before his opponent became a real threat to him. So he took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down on the field, right behind Phoenix Dragon.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that I end my turn."

"It's my turn," Takashi declared. "Draw!"

Upon drawing his next card, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face as he took a look at it. He then placed it within his hand before continuing on with his turn.

"It's been two turns since I activated Reincarnation of Hope, which means I can take a monster my deck and add it to my hand. The monster I choose is the Dark Magician!"

Lilly's eyes widen as she watched Takashi pulled Dark Magician's card from out of his deck and place it into his hand. She then continued to watch as her friend took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now activate the Spell Card: Ancient Rules! With it I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from hand! So appear, Dark Magician!"

**Dark Magician: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 7**

As Takashi placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone, a flash of purple light illuminated his side of the field. Soon, Dark Magician appeared from that very light and stood next to Stardust Dragon and Blackland Fire Dragon. Once that happened, Takashi took two more cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards appeared face-down on the field, right behind Stardust Dragon and Dark Magician respectively.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Sasuke analyzed Takashi's side of the field and seemed somewhat confused by his actions. Despite the fact that he summoned the Dark Magician, Takashi should realize that it doesn't have enough Attack Points to handle Phoenix Dragon. Also, with Stardust Dragon and Blackland Fire Dragon on the field, if Phoenix Dragon were to attack either of them then the Duel would be over. However, Takashi's eyes were filled with confidence and it looked like he didn't mind that he had weak monsters were on the field.

"What the hell is this boy planning?" He thought. "I can't read him."

"Hey!" Takashi yelled. "I'm not waiting for you to die of old age. Hurry up and begin your turn!"

Sasuke's glared at his opponent as his orange aura flared up due to his anger. He then decided to go on and attack him since any attack would seal him his victory.

"Fine then you little bastard," He said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing the card from his deck, Sasuke paid no attention to it as he placed it into his hand. He then turned his attention towards Takashi's monsters.

"Go Phoenix Dragon and end this Duel by destroying his Stardust Dragon!"

Phoenix complied with Sasuke's order and released his Scars of Creation attack. However, before it could land, Takashi quickly activated one his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Spellbinding Circle!" He declared. "With this, I can not only prevent Phoenix Dragon from attacking, but also prevent you from changing its Battle Position!"

Dark Magician created a magical circle from its staff and proceeded to launch the attack over to Phoenix Dragon. The circle wrapped around the dragon, sapping it of its strength and preventing it from moving.

"You bastard," Sasuke said under his teeth. He then activated his face-down card by pressing a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Revenge of the Phoenix! With this, I can deal you 500 points of damage since Phoenix wasn't able to attack this turn!"

Phoenix Dragon roared as it struggled to break free of the Spellbinding Circle. When it realized that it couldn't break free, the powerful beast fired a fireball towards Takashi. The attack struck the young man, but his powerful aura allowed him to keep standing.

**Takashi: 100 LP**

"There's no way for you win!" Sasuke yelled. "None of your monsters have enough strength to defeat Phoenix Dragon and, when it's my turn again, all I have to do is not attack and you'll be dealt another 500 points damage! There's no hope for you so just…"

"SHUT UP!" Takashi shouted, interrupting Sasuke. "I'm tired of listening to you talk. You're the type of person who believes that the world revolves around them and that only my problems matter! It's people like you that I hate the most. So just end your turn already because I'm sick and tired at looking at you!"

Lilly looked on in shock on how Takashi was causing Sasuke to become flustered. This sight allowed her to regain a lot of her lost will as it seemed that Takashi has the Duel in hand.

"It's my turn!" Takashi shouted. "Draw!"

Upon drawing a card from his deck, a small smile appeared on the young man's face. He then proceeded to place the card that he drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I sacrifice Blackland Fire Dragon in order to Summon: Junk Collector!"

**Junk Collector: ATK 1000 DEF 2200 LVL 5**

As Blackland disappeared from the field, a mysterious man appeared on the field to take its place. He was wearing green rags and was holding a bag of useless junk in the bag that he was holding around his back. Once it arrived, Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk so that his other face-down card could activate.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate! With it, Stardust Dragon now transforms into its Assault Mode!"

**Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 10**

Stardust Dragon roared as its Assault Armor magically appeared onto its body. Once it was on it completely, Stardust stopped defending and prepared itself for battle.

"And finally, I activate Junk Collector's Special Ability! By removing him and a Trap Card in my Graveyard, I can activate the removed Trap."

"Are you a fool?" Sasuke questioned. "I told you that Phoenix Dragon can't be destroyed through card effects!"

"I know that," Takashi replied. "However, the Trap that I'm removing doesn't destroy a monster. It instead increases a monster's Attack Points!"

As she looked on at the Duel, Lilly remembered that Takashi set two cards at the beginning of the Duel. However, at the beginning of Sasuke's turn, one of the cards was destroyed by Mystical Space Typhoon. The young woman soon came the conclusion that the card that was destroyed was the same card that Takashi was about to activate.

"I can't believe that he thought that far ahead in the Duel," She said to herself. "It's amazing."

"The Trap Card that I choose to activate is, Dark Spiral Force!" Takashi declared. "Although Dark Magician cannot attack in this turn, this card doubles the Attack Points of one other monster that I control. The monster I choose is my Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 6000 **

Sasuke looked on in shock as he watched Dark Magician transfer his power over to Stardust Dragon. Once it finished, Stardust flew into the air and looked down at both Sasuke and Phoenix Dragon.

"Stardust Dragon," Takashi said as he looked towards Sasuke. "Destroy Phoenix Dragon with your Hyper Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust roared one more time as it fired a blast of purple cosmic energy from its mouth. The attack struck both Phoenix Dragon and Sasuke, with the former screaming in agony upon being attacked.

**Sasuke: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, Takashi fell to both knees as his hair returned to being mostly black and his eyes returned to their original cerulean blue color. As he attempted to catch his break, Lilly ran over towards her weakened friend.<p>

"Takashi?" She said. "Are you okay?"

Takashi slowly looked up and saw that Lilly seemed to have returned to normal. This brought a smile onto his face as he attempted to get back up.

"Yeah," He said. "I'm okay."

As Lilly helped him up, Takashi looked out the nearby window and a stream of purple flames fly straight into the air. Recognizing the flames to be from Black Rose Dragon, Takashi remembered that he sent Akiza and the others to battle against the artificial Phoenix Dragon.

"Let's go Lilly," He said. "Sasuke is done, so all we need to do now is find a way to take out his dragon. Once we do that then we can prevent the New World."

"The New World cannot be stopped, especially not by you."

Takashi and Lilly opened their eyes in shocked as they slowly turned around and Sasuke get back up to his feet. He soon started yelling as he black hair turned orange and his eyes became yellow.

"I'm going to destroy you both, kill your friends, and then become the God of the New World!"

Meanwhile, on the outside, Akiza and the others were having a tough time handling the artificial Phoenix Dragon. Despite the fact that the young woman used her Psychic Powers to have Black Rose Dragon battle it, things weren't turning in their favor.

"Damn it," She cursed. "Why won't that thing just die already?"

As she contemplated on what to do, Toru and Aiku were busy attempting to weaken the dragon by using some high powered water hoses. Unfortunately, their efforts seemed to be in vain as the water didn't seem to have much effect on Phoenix Dragon.

"What the hell is that thing made of?!" Toru questioned. "It seems to have an infinite amount of power!"

"Not only that, but it seems to regenerate from any damage that we inflict upon it," Aiku followed. "If this keeps up then we're not going to last."

At the moment the boys finished their conversation, Phoenix Dragon turned its attention towards the both of them. It was about to fire its flames at them, but it was interrupted by Black Rose Dragon's flames. This forced the artificially created monster two turn its attention back towards Akiza and her dragon.

"Stop talking and more fighting!" Akiza shouted. "We promised Takashi that we would take handle things on our end while he took on Sasuke. We can't afford fail, especially since he's counting on us!"

Akiza ran towards Black Rose Dragon, attempting to avoid Phoenix Dragon's attacks in process. Once she reached her prized monster, the beautiful Psychic Duelist got on top of its back and held on as her dragon started flying back into the air.

Witnessing her resolve, Toru and Aiku decided to get serious so that they could help her out. So both of them set the water hoses up to maximum power and proceeded to run over to their Duel Runners. They then rode towards a nearby hill and started to unleash the water towards Phoenix Dragon's head, hoping it would be its weak spot.

As that was happening, Crow was trying his best to him them all out. However with no Psychic powers or any water to use, the Blackwing Duelist was quickly starting to run out of options.

"Damn it!" He yelled. "What am I going to do?! There has to be something that I can do to help them out!"

As he attempted to come up with a plan of his own, Crow started to hear the cry of a dragon coming from inside his head. Remembering the cry to be from his new Black-Winged Dragon card, the young man quickly pulled it out. Once he looked at it, Crow started to feel a strange sensation coming from the card and he remembered it that was the same sensation from when he Dueled Kazuki.

"You," He said silently. "You want me to summon you, right?"

Crow once again heard the cry of Black-Winged Dragon as a black aura covered his body again. He then nodded his head a little and proceeded to run over towards his Duel Runner. After he did that, the young man drove towards Phoenix Dragon as he placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"

A bright flash of light illuminated beside Crow as his Black-Winged Dragon appeared beside him. He then looked on and watched it join Black Rose Dragon in the fight against Phoenix Dragon. The addition of the new dragon surprised Akiza, who looked over and saw Crow covered in his black aura.

"Crow…," She thought quietly. "That power resembles the one that Takashi, Lilly, and I use. But what does that mean?"

As she pondered this, Akiza notice that flames were heading towards her. Acting quickly, Akiza had Black Rose Dragon evade the attack.

"Snap the hell out of it Akiza," She said as snapped her face. "I can worry about Crow's powers later. Right now Phoenix Dragon needs to be stopped!"

Black Rose Dragon opened its mouth and fired its Black Rose Flare attack while Black-Winged Dragon fired its Noble Stream attack at the same exact time. Both blasts combined with one another and struck Phoenix Dragon, slamming it into a nearby wall. Once that happened, Toru and Aiku combined the water for the hoses and struck the dragon in head.

With this combined effort, Phoenix Dragon fell the ground and started to lose its energy. The sight of this brought a smile on the faces of Akiza, Crow, Toru, and Aiku as they felt the battle was in hand.

"Only a little bit more!" Toru yelled. "We almost won!"

The others agreed with Toru and prepared to finish off Phoenix Dragon once and for all. However, before the final attack could be made, Akiza heard the sound a glass window breaking. She turned around and saw Takashi and Lilly falling towards the ground, the former of the two was covered in blood.

"Takashi!" She yelled.

The others heard Akiza's scream and saw their friends making their way towards ground. They made their way over towards them as Black Rose Dragon caught Takashi and Lilly before they hit the ground. Once Black Rose Dragon landed on the ground, Akiza helped her friends from off her dragon and gently placed her friends on the floor.

"Takashi," She said with tears in her eyes. "What happened to you?"

As Takashi flinched upon hearing Akiza's voice, Lilly slowly got up from the ground. She then looked on and saw the others make their way over to them.

"What happened to him Lilly?!" Toru questioned.

"It…it was Sasuke…"

The instant Lilly spoke those words, the hideout of the Crashing Sharks exploded. From those flames of the explosion, everyone looked on and saw Sasuke walk out the fire and make his way towards his weakened dragon.

"You fools have delayed me for too long," He said as he gently placed his hand on Phoenix Dragon. "I've waited too long for this day and nothing will stop me from creating the New World!"

Lilly, Akiza, Crow, Toru, and Aiku looked on in shock as Sasuke proceeded to absorb Phoenix Dragon into his own body. Once the dragon was inside his body, Sasuke's aura started to change shape. Soon his body was covered in red and orange armor and he was holding a sword in his right hand.

"Take a look fools," He said as he turned towards his enemies. "I am now the God of the New World!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Having absorbed the power of his artificially created Phoenix Dragon, Sasuke's powers now rival that of a god. Can our heroes defeat him or will the world as they know it come to an end?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 44: Phoenix Rising – Part 3_

_One way or another, this battle will come to an end._


	44. Chapter 44

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 44: **_Phoenix Rising – Part 3_

* * *

><p>"This is insane," Toru said as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing. "This…this can't possibly be real."<p>

The young man didn't want to believe at what he was looking at, but he deep down at he was seeing was indeed real. Sasuke had merge himself with his Phoenix Dragon and was now wearing an armor so powerful that caused some of the things around to catch on fire. Having encountered Psychic Duelists and seeing Duel Monster cards come to life, Toru thought that he saw it all. However, he never expected this and for the first time in his life he didn't know what to do.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was busy examining the armor that he received after absorbing Phoenix Dragon's power. He seemed entranced by the armor since he never took his eyes off of it ever since it materialized on him.

"This is our chance," Aiku said as he revved up his Duel Runner. "We have to take him out now while he's just standing there!"

Aiku sped towards Sasuke at great speeds, hoping to catch him off guard while just stood there and looked at his armor. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke did catch Aiku making his way towards him. The mastermind didn't seem concerned about him and simply waved his hand like he was saying goodbye. When he did that, a huge blast of golden flames appeared and consumed Aiku entirely.

"No, Aiku!" Toru yelled.

The others were just as shocked at Toru as they watched Aiku be sent flying towards a nearby wall. Everyone ran towards him so that they could make sure that he was ok. When they did, their hearts were filled with both relief and fear. While Aiku didn't die from Sasuke attack, he was injured as a result of it. Also, his Duel Runner was seriously damaged from the attack as well. Toru tried to wake up his friend, but nothing happened since the injuries Aiku received had left him unconscious. The sight of this caused him to grit his teeth in anger and turn his attention towards Sasuke.

"You're going to pay for doing this to him," He said as he turned himself around and face him.  
>"You're dead, Bastard!"<p>

Toru ran towards Sasuke in a rage, ignoring the others pleas for him to stop. Unfortunately, Toru's revenge went unanswered as Sasuke simply punch him before he could land a single hit. The force of the blow caused a tiny explosion to erupt behind Toru, severely burning back and sending him flying into the same wall that Aiku crashed at. The result of the attack left the young man unconscious, leaving the others to face Sasuke by themselves.

"Amazing," Sasuke said as he turned his attention back towards his armor. "My powers are increasing with each passing second. I'm truly at the level of a God."

Akiza contemplated on what they should do to combat this new problem, but she was having a hard time coming up with an idea that could actually work. Eventually she saw that both Black Rose Dragon and Black-Winged Dragon were still beside them and realized that they could still use them to battle Sasuke.

"This might work," She said as she placed, the still unconscious Takashi, down on the ground and looked towards Crow. "Crow, let's have your Black-Winged Dragon and my Black Rose Dragon attack Sasuke. Their combined powers should be enough to take him down!"

"Alright," Crow replied. "Black-Winged Dragon, attack Sasuke with Noble Stream!"

"Black Rose Dragon, attack him with your Black Rose Flare!"

Both dragons complied with their respective master's command and fired their attacks towards Sasuke. However, just before the attack landed, Sasuke jumped out of the way. Once he was clear from the resulting explosion, he then fire two powerful fireballs from both of his hands. The attack struck both Black Rose Dragon and Black-Winged Dragon, destroying both in an instant.

"How dare you oppose me, a God!" Sasuke told the both of them. "You'll pay for that with your lives. But before I kill the two you, I have some business to take care of with Takashi!"

Sasuke placed both of his hands together and started to create a giant fireball. Once enough energy was gathered, he threw the fireball towards Takashi. Akiza, not wanting the one she loved to die, ran in front of the attack and proceeded to shield Takashi using her own body. It was at that moment that Takashi regained consciousness

"No, Akiza!" Takashi yelled as he struggled to get up.

When the attack ended, Akiza was barely conscious as she fell towards the ground. Luckily, Takashi was able to catch and he proceeded to hold her close to him.

"Why did you protect me?" He asked her as tears started to form in his eyes.

"Because…," She said softly as she started pass out. "I…I love…"

As Akiza closed her eyes and lost consciousness, more tears ran down Takashi's face as he started to remember a similar incident from his past. He then started screaming at the top of his lungs as anger and sorrow filled his soul. Soon Takashi's hair turned golden, his eyes returned to being greenish blue, and his muscles started to expand a little. The sight of this scene caused Lilly to remember the first time she saw him unleash this type of power.

"It's the same," She thought as she watched Takashi continue to power up. "It's the same power that he unleashed when we saved Akiza from Sayer and the Arcadia Movement."

Meanwhile, Sasuke looked on with a smile on his as Takashi's power continued to grow. He soon took a battle position and prepared himself for battle.

"Excellent," He said to himself. "Unleash all of your power. It'll make that much sweeter when I show you how outclassed you really are."

Once he stopped screaming, Takashi turned his attention towards Sasuke and dashed towards him at incredible speeds. Once he was close enough, the young man attempted to punch his foe straight in the face.

"You're going to pay for that, you Bastard!" He shouted. "You've sacrificed innocent lives in order create a New World?! How, in the hell, can you delude yourself into thinking that's right?!"

Sasuke grabbed Takashi's hand and proceeded to throw him into a nearby metal platform. Fortunately though, Takashi saw the platform and was able to grab onto a metal pipe. He then used his momentum to swing onto the platform, snapping the pipe, just as Sasuke was making his way over to him.

"Spare me," Sasuke said to him as he created a sword from his own power. "This world is filled with people who take advantage of others, just so that they can improve their own miserable lives! The people of New Domino City are a perfect example of this. They left those in the Satellite to fend for themselves like dogs in the street. They also force small communities, like Crash Town, to work while they receive all the benefits. I see no reason to accept a world that accepts such atrocity. I'll use my power to purge it, once and for all!"

"You're only looking for an escape because you can't accept this reality!" Takashi countered as he picked up the pipe that he used to swing onto the platform. "You say you want to create a New World, but you can't use others as a tool to destroy what's real!"

"You know nothing!" Sasuke dashed towards Takashi and proceeded to slash him with his sword. "You don't know a damn thing!"

As the two warriors continued to fight, Crow and Lilly looked on in astonishment as they watched the result of the battle. Sparks started flying all across the area, some of which were so powerful that it destroyed objects upon contact. However, despite the amazing things that they witness, both Crow and Lilly were worried since it seemed that Takashi was losing the battle.

"Don't give up Takashi," Crow said as he watched him fight. "You can get him."

"Takashi…" Lilly spoke gently.

Back at the fight, the advantage was moving in Sasuke's favor as he continued to assault Takashi. Soon, he unleashed an attack that was so powerful that Takashi was sent flying off the platform.

"You can't defeat me boy!" Sasuke said as he stood on top of building, looking down at his opponent. "You can't change the coming of the New World!"

Takashi struggled to get back to his feet, as blood drip from all over his body. Once he was back up, the young man took a glance at Akiza and saw still unconscious on the ground. The sight of her like that caused a yellow aura to surround the young man and the pipe that he was holding was beginning to glow.

"If it really is a New World you're after," He spoke as the pipe turned into a blue and silver sword. "You won't find it by destroying everything. It begins here…WITH THE GROUND UNDER YOUR FEET!"

Takashi jumped high into the air and started diving towards Sasuke. Once he got close enough, he took his newly created sword and slashed his foe across his chest. The strike not only destroyed Sasuke's weapon, but also caused him some damage. However, upon looking at him, Takashi saw that Sasuke was glaring at him.

"You fool," He said. "You possibly understand the unbearable pain that I had to live with!"

Sasuke grabbed Takashi by the neck and started beating down the young man with the all power that he had. Each blow caused the landscape around them erupt and soon became apparent the platform was about to give way under the pressure of the attacks. Just as it collapsed, Sasuke threw the weakened Takashi off the building and proceeded to place his hands together.

"NOTHING IS GOING TO STOP ME! THERE WILL BE A NEW WORLD!"

From his hands, Sasuke unleashed a powerful stream of red flames towards Takashi. Unable to avoid the flames, the young man was struck by the attack and crashed towards the ground. Crow and Lilly ran over towards him and watched as his powers faded away, resulting in his body returned to normal.

"Damn…it…" Takashi silently said as he lost consciousness.

As Lilly desperately tried to wake Takashi back up, Crow looked on and saw Sasuke make his way over to them. The Blackwing Duelists started shivering with fear as his former leader got closer and closer with each passing step.

"What are we going to do?" He thought. "We don't have the power to stop him. What the hell are we going to do?!"

"_Promise me that you'll never lose hope."_

Rin's words ran through Crow's head as he remembered the promise that he made to her 4 years ago. It was at that moment that his black aura returned to being around him as the young man stood up and got in front of Lilly.

"Get everyone out of here Lilly," He said as he watched Sasuke get closer to them. "I'll try and buy you time!"

"But Crow…!" Lilly replied, obviously protesting the idea.

"Just go Lilly!"

Crow ran over to Sasuke and attempted to fight him. However, despite his courageous effort, Sasuke's skills were too much him and Crow was quickly getting destroyed. It soon came to the point that despair started return back into Lilly's eyes.

"Stop Crow," She said. "You don't have to do this. Please stop."

But Crow didn't stop. He kept going, despite all the pain he received. The Blackwing Duelist swore that he would protect his friends, no matter what the cost. Even if it meant that he had to die in the process, Crow wasn't about to let his friends suffer the same fate. Eventually, as he watched blood pour from every corner of Crow's face, Sasuke grabbed the young man by the first.

"Any last words before you die?" He said as he prepared to finish him off.

"Yeah…," Crow replied as looked towards his former leader. "Go to hell!"

A small smile appeared on Sasuke's face as he prepared to put an end to Crow's life. The thought of having her closest friend die right in front of her eyes was too much for Lilly to take and the young woman release a power scream.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Sasuke looked on as a powerful burst of energy burst from Lilly's body as the young woman's hair turned from scarlet red to green-blue and her eyes turned from purple to gray-gold. Once her appearance change, Lilly dashed over to Sasuke and landed a powerful punch on his face. The blow was so epic that Sasuke was sent flying a couple of meters away. Once he was gone, Lilly turned her attention towards Crow.

"Are you okay?" She asked him with a look on concern on her face.

Crow didn't respond as he left speechless by Lilly's new appearance. Even more shocking, Crow saw that his wounds were slowly being healed just by being close to her.

"I'm sorry Crow, but you'll need to take care of the others. I need to take care of Sasuke, once and for all!"

Lilly ran over towards her Duel Runner and drove away from the area so that her friends wouldn't be involved. Upon recovering, Sasuke saw her and created a Duel Runner by using his powers. The Runner was golden and red in appearance and had sharp protrusions coming from its edges. He soon created a helmet of a similar design and proceeded to chase after her. Eventually, after catching up with her, Sasuke's face appeared on Lilly's Duel Monitor.

"How dare you do that to me!" He said to her. "I swear I'll repay the blow you dealt me 10-fold, no 100-fold!"

"If anyone going to repay anything Sasuke, it's going to be me!" Lilly countered. "This thing between us is going to end now!"

"I activate the Speed Spell: Speed World 2!"

Both Lilly and Sasuke pressed a button of the Runners as the aura of Speed World 2 covered the entire area that they were riding through.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Sasuke: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Sasuke said as he drove closer to Lilly. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 1**

**Sasuke: SPC – 1**

Upon drawing the top card from his deck, a small smile appeared on his face as he placed the card into his hand. Once he did that, Sasuke grabbed another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Phoenix Jaguar, in Attack Mode!"

**Phoenix Jaguar: ATK 1600 DEF 1100 LVL 4**

A small fireball appeared before Sasuke and slowly took the shape a powerful jaguar. As the beast starting running next to him, Sasuke took the card that he drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared, face-down, next to him for a few moments before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Lilly said. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 2**

**Sasuke: SPC – 2**

Lilly drew a card from her deck and quickly placed it into her hand. After that she then took a card and firmly placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Blast Magician, in Attack Mode!"

**Blast Magician: ATK 1400 DEF 1700 LVL 4**

A small portal appeared beside Lilly as she continued to drive along the path that she was following. From that portal, Blast Magician arrived and prepared himself for battle. Once that happened, Lilly took another card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder! When I have two or more Speed Counters, this card allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!"

Lilly grabbed a third card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Arcane Apprentice!"

**Arcane Apprentice: ATK 1000 DEF 400 LVL 2**

Another portal appeared before Lilly as her Arcane Apprentice came out of it and started flying next to Blast Magician. With both monsters out on her side of the field, Lilly then took a card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Tune my Level 4 Blast Magician with my Level 2 Arcane Apprentice! Magical wind, envelop the sky and protects those from evil! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Tempest Magician!"

**Tempest Magician: ATK 2200 DEF 1400 LVL 6**

Both of Lilly's Spellcaster-Type monsters flew high into the air and performed the process for a Synchro Summoning. When they finished, a bright flash of light covered the sky as a beautiful magician with blue hair and blue robes appeared onto the field. In the magician's hand was a large scythe, which was around the size of her own body.

"I activate Arcane Apprentice's Special Ability! When it's sent to the Graveyard for a Synchro Summon, I can add Assault Mode Activate to my hand!"

As the trap card popped out of Lilly's deck, Sasuke's smile grew as he watched her place the card into her hand.

"Go Tempest Magician," The young woman commanded. "Destroy Phoenix Jaguar!"

Tempest complied with Lilly's order and made its way over towards Phoenix Jaguar. Once she was close enough, Tempest Magician bisected the beast in one swoop.

**Sasuke: 3400 LP**

Once she saw Sasuke's Phoenix monster leave the field, Lilly took two cards from her hand and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The cards appeared face-down on her field for a few moments before disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"I activate Phoenix Jaguar's Special Ability!" Sasuke declared. "On the turn that it's destroyed through Battle, Phoenix Jaguar is Special Summoned back onto the field!"

Lilly looked on and watched the bifurcated Phoenix Jaguar rebuild its own body by using the flames of its own being. Once it was fully healed, Jaguar continued running next to Sasuke as he began to conduct his turn.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 3**

**Sasuke: SPC – 3**

Sasuke drew a card from his deck and quickly placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he then took another card and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Phoenix Serpent, in Attack Mode!"

**Phoenix Serpent: ATK 1300 DEF 300 LVL 4**

Another blast of flames appeared next to Sasuke as both he and Phoenix Jaguar continued to make their way over towards their opponent. The flames quickly started to change shape and soon manifested into a large cobra.

"I Tune my Level 4 Phoenix Jaguar with my Level 4 Phoenix Serpent!"

Both Phoenix monsters flew into the air and prepared themselves to perform the Synchro Summoning process. As that was happening, Sasuke took a card from his Extra Deck and started chanting to himself.

"From the ashes of your own being, appear now and create a New World! Synchro Summon! Be revived, Phoenix Dragon!"

**Phoenix Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2400 LVL 8**

A bright flash of light covered the sky as Lilly watched Phoenix Dragon appear before Sasuke again. Despite the fact that she was defeated by the dragon, Lilly was determined that the same thing wouldn't happen twice. Meanwhile, Sasuke promptly activated his face-down card the moment his dragon appeared onto the field.

"I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate, which transforms Phoenix Dragon into Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3500 DEF 2900 LVL 10**

Lilly's eyes widen from shock as watched red and orange armor cover Phoenix Dragon's body. The young woman also witnessed that the more armor that covered the dragon, the more its power it received as result.

"Behold Lilly," Sasuke told her. "My powers weren't the only thing that increased when I absorbed my artificial Phoenix Dragon. It also increased the power of the real Phoenix Dragon. Now witness its power. Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode, destroy Tempest Magician with your Hyper Flames of Creation!"

Phoenix Dragon roared and released its power flames towards Lilly's Tempest Magician. When the flames struck her, Tempest was incinerated and Lilly was dealt actual damage as a result.

**Lilly: 2700 LP**

As she struggled to regain control of her Duel Runner, Lilly watched as Sasuke moved past her. Once that happened, he then turned his own Runner around and started drifting backwards.

"I'm done with you yet Lilly," He said. "I told you that I was going to repay you 100-fold and that's exactly what I intend to do. I activate Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability! When it destroys a monster through Battle, Phoenix Dragon deals you damage equal to your destroyed monster's Level multiplied by 200! Your Tempest Magician was a Level 6 monster, which means you take 1200 points of damage!"

Phoenix Dragon turned its attention towards Lilly and proceeded to release a large fireball from its mouth. The attack struck the young woman, inflicting more pain upon her.

**Lilly: 1500 LP**

Once the attack ended, Sasuke started laughing out loud as he turned himself back around and started driving away. Meanwhile, Lilly was able to straighten out her Duel Runner and proceeded to activate one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Miracle's Wake!" She declared. "When one of my monsters is destroyed through Battle this turn, this card brings it back! Be revived, Tempest Magician!"

A mid-sized tornado appeared in front of Lilly as her Tempest Magician returned to her. Sasuke didn't seem too concerned about this since he had his Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode out on his field.

"I end my turn." He said in calm tone of voice.

"It's my turn," Lilly said as he placed her hand on her deck. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 4**

**Sasuke: SPC – 4**

As she drew the top card from her deck, Lilly took a quick glance at it and realized that it would be best if she used it now instead of using it later. So the young woman promptly placed the card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner: Effect Veiler!"

**Effect Veiler: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

Another portal appeared next to Lilly as her Effect Veiler flew out of it and started flying next to Tempest Magician.

"I Tune my Level 6 Tempest Magician with my Level 1 Effect Veiler!"

As both monsters flew up into the air, Lilly's aura appeared around her. However, instead of being light blue it was now green. Once the aura was around her, Lilly then pulled out a card from her Extra Deck as her monsters were about to finish the Synchro Summoning process.

"From out of the darkness, a new force appears to fill the world with light! Synchro Summon! Now shine, Arcanite Magician!"

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

A bright flash of light covered Lilly as he Arcanite Magician appeared beside her. Once it arrived, the young woman then activated her other face-down card.

"You're not the only one who can summon Assault Monsters," Lilly said to Sasuke as she began to close the distance between them. "I activate the Trap: Assault Mode Activate! With it, Arcanite Magician is transformed into its Assault Mode!"

**Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode: ATK 900 DEF 2300 LVL 2**

A dark aura surrounded Arcanite Magician as it armor slowly turned from blue and white to orange and purple.

"When Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode is successfully summoned, 2 Spell Counters are placed on it. Also, for each Spell Counter it holds, Arcanite Magician gains 1000 Attack Points!"

**Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode: ATK 2900 SC – 2**

Sasuke looked on as he watched the aura that covered Arcanite Magician increased in power. He also took notice that Lilly took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now activate the Speed Spell: Half Seize!" She declared. "When I have 3 or more Speed Counters, I can cut the Attack Points of one of my opponent's monsters and gain Life Points equal to the points it lost!"

A blue blast of energy shot from Lilly's Speed Spell and struck Phoenix Dragon, draining half its power. Once it was done, that same blue energy struck Lilly and healed the wounds that she received early in the Duel.

**Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 1750**

**Lilly: 3250 LP**

"Arcanite Magician, destroy Phoenix Dragon with your Crimson Light!"

The magician complied too Lilly's order and proceeded to fire a blast of red energy from its staff. The attack struck Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode, blasting the monster to bits.

**Sasuke: 2250 LP**

As he watched his Life Point meter decrease, rage filled Sasuke's eyes and flames erupted from his body. He then turned his head around and looked at Lilly, who still closing the gap that he made between them.

"I end my turn," She said to him. "Now let's see what you got!"

"I'll show you that and much more!" Sasuke yelled. "When Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode is destroyed through battle, it's brought back to the field at the End Phase!"

Phoenix Dragon's remains started to rebuild themselves until it return to field completely. Once it appeared all the power that it lost due to Lilly's Speed Spell now returned, increasing its Attack Points back to their original value.

**Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3500**

"It's my turn now, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 5**

**Sasuke: SPC – 5**

As soon as Sasuke drew his next card, he turned his Duel Runner around again and started glaring at Lilly. As he did that, his anger transferred over towards his Phoenix Dragon whose power grew as a result.

"Phoenix Dragon," he said. "Destroy her Arcanite Magician…NOW!"

The dragon complied with its masters orders and started building up power from within its body. Once it gathered enough, Phoenix Dragon fired its flames towards Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode. The flames incinerated the magician and caused Lilly to lose control of her Duel Runner again.

**Lilly: 2650 LP**

"I activate Phoenix Dragon's Special Ability! You now take damage equal the level of your destroyed magician, multiplied by 200!"

Phoenix Dragon looked down towards Lilly and fired a giant fireball. When the attack struck the young woman, she started screaming as her Life Points went by 1800.

**Lilly: 850**

Sasuke looked on with a huge smile on his face as he watched the flames consume Lilly entirely. He soon started laugh hysterically as he turned his Duel Runner around and started driving away.

"This is what you deserve Lilly," He said. "You deserve to become a pile of ashes! There was nothing you could have done to prevent the New World! Now…I think I'll turn my attention over to Martha's. She, and her precious foster kids, can become the foundation for the New World."

"I'm not about to let that happen…"

Sasuke's eyes widen as he turned his head around and saw something moving from Phoenix Dragon's flames. After a few seconds, he looked on and saw Lilly ride out of the flames. Despite the fact that her Duel Runner was damaged and her body was bloodied all over, Lilly was still in the Duel and was quickly making his way towards Sasuke.

"I won't let you hurt anyone ever again!" She yelled. "I activate the Special Ability of my Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode! When it's destroyed, I can Special Summon my normal Arcanite Magician from my Graveyard!"

A bright flash of light shined in front of the young woman as her Arcanite Magician returned to the field. The sight of the Spellcaster brought more rage into Sasuke's already corrupted soul as it meant that the Duel would still continue.

"You bitch," He said. "Can't you see that I'm trying to make this world a better place?!"

"You're not trying to make the world a better place!" Lilly shouted. "It's like what Takashi told you. You're only looking for an escape because you can't handle this reality! A New World can't be created by taking the lives of other people. It can only begin when we have the will to move forward with our lives!"

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can deal you 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand. I only have 1 Speed Spell, but that's fine because it'll leave you with only 50 Life Points!"

**Sasuke: SPC – 1 **

Sasuke's created Duel Runner shot out two fireballs from out of its taillights, which exploded upon making contact with Lilly. However, through sheer determination, the young woman was able to shake off the attack and continue moving forward.

**Lilly: 50 LP**

"I end my turn." Sasuke said in an angry tone of voice. "Now, hurry up and start yours!"

"No problem," Lilly replied. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 6**

**Sasuke: SPC – 2**

Lilly took a glance at the card she just drew and a small smile appeared onto her face. However, before playing the card, the young woman took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton! When I have two or more Speed Counters, I can draw two cards from my deck and then send one card from my hand into the Graveyard."

Obeying the effect of her Spell, Lilly swiftly drew two cards from her deck and placed them into her hand. After that she then took a card, which she didn't need, from her hand and inserted it into her Graveyard. After that, she then took the card that she drew at the beginning of the turn and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I sacrifice Arcanite Magician to Summon: Dark Magician Girl!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

Arcanite Magician slowly disappeared from the field as Dark Magician Girl appeared in a bright flash of light. When she did, the Spellcaster looked towards her partner and smiled.

"_It's good to see that you're back to your normal self," _She telepathically said to Lilly.

"It's good to be back," Lilly replied. "Now let's go and kick some ass!"

Dark Magician Girl smiled and proceeded to nod her before turning her attention towards the Duel. Lilly then took three cards, two of them being the cards she drew via Angel Baton, and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The three cards appeared beside her in a face-down position before disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"It's over," Sasuke said. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 7**

**Sasuke: SPC – 3**

After drawing a card from his deck, Sasuke turned his attention towards his Phoenix Dragon. He then channeled all the power that he currently had inside of him towards the beast. When he did, the armor that surrounded his body disappeared and his hair and eyes returned to their normal color.

"It's over for you Lilly," He said. "The time has come for me to put an end to this long battle and finally bring in the New World! Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode, destroy Dark Magician Girl and her master with your Hyper Flames of Creation!"

Phoenix Dragon complied with Sasuke's order and fired a stream of flames that was several times more powerful than the ones it fired before. As the attack approached her, Lilly closed her eyes and thought about everything that led to this point.

"It's been 13 years since I first met Sasuke," She thought. "During that time, I've did some things that I'm not particularly proud of. I've also ended up losing some of my closest friends. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and prevent those things from happening, but I can't. However, despite the sins I've committed and the friends that I've lost, I have to keep moving forward and protect the people who are here now. Only by doing that can I truly repent for everything that's happened. I have to win this Duel, I will win this Duel!"

As her resolve grew, Lilly's powers also grew as a result. She then quickly activated one of her two face-down cards, moments before Phoenix Dragon's attack struck her.

"I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack!" She declared. "With this card, I can negate your Phoenix Dragon's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

A giant vortex appeared in front of Dark Magician Girl and proceeded to suck in the flames that were about hit her. Once the attack ended, the vortex disappeared and Sasuke had a look of disbelief on his face.

"I told you Sasuke," She said. "I'm going to stop you because, unlike you, I have the resolve to move forward!"

With most of his powers now residing in his Phoenix Dragon card, Sasuke was hoping that his last attack would be enough to kill Lilly. However, despite all the odds, she was still standing. The sight of that caused fear to appear into his heart and his resolve started to falter as a result.

"I…I end my turn…" He said in a low tone of voice.

"It's my turn," Lilly declared as she placed her hand on deck. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 8**

**Sasuke: SPC – 4**

Upon drawing the card, Lilly inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone without even needing to take a look at it.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Sage's Stone! By removing 2 Speed Counters, I can Special Summon Dark Magician from either my hand or deck since I already have Dark Magician Girl out on the field!"

**Lilly: SPC – 6 **

**Dark Magician: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 7**

Dark Magician Girl looked on with a smile on her face as watched her master, Dark Magician, appear in a bright flash of light. Once she had both Dark Magicians out on her field, Lilly promptly activated one of her two remaining face-down cards.

"Next, I activate another Speed Spell: Dark Magic Twin Burst! By removing 4 Speed Counters, Dark Magician's Attack Points are increased by the total Attack Points of Dark Magician Girl's!"

**Lilly: SPC - 2**

**Dark Magician: ATK 4500**

Both Dark Magician and Dark Magician girl flew into the air and proceeded to place their staffs next to one another. They then combined all of their magical energies together and got ready to attack Phoenix Dragon. It was at that moment Lilly activated her final face-down card.

"Finally, I activate the Trap Card: Strike of the Dark Magicians! When either Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl destroys a monster through Battle, then you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

Sasuke's eyes widen with shock as he looked on and saw both magicians prepare themselves to put an end to not only the Duel, but to his plans as well. He then turned his attention towards Lilly who has her attention focused solely on him.

"Sasuke…," She said. "About an hour ago, you told me that you were glad that you met me all those years ago. I feel the same way. If it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't be here today. Because of that…I want to say thank you Sasuke."

Tears started to form in Lilly's eyes and the young woman wiped them away before her opponent could see them. Once she did that she turned his attention towards her Dark Magicians.

"Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, attack Phoenix Dragon/Assault Mode with Dark Magic Twin Burst!"

The Spellcasters complied with Lilly's orders and proceeded to unleash a powerful blast of dark magic towards Phoenix Dragon. When the blast struck the dragon, an explosion occurred that not only destroyed parts of the area but also consumed Sasuke in the process.

**Sasuke: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms started to fade away, Lilly looked on and saw Sasuke lying on the ground. She was about to go over to him, but she stopped upon hearing something behind her. She looked up and saw Black-Winged Dragon making its way towards her. When it landed, Crow got off of it and immediately rushed over to see if Lilly was fine.<p>

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah…," She replied. "What about the others?"

Crow smiled and turned his attention towards Black-Winged Dragon. She then showed Lilly that Takashi, Akiza, Toru, and Aiku were all fine. Soon, both Takashi Akiza woke up and proceeded to walk over towards them. Despite the fact that they didn't see the Duel, both of them knew that Lilly had won.

"Good job Lilly." Takashi said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah," Akiza followed. "You deserve this victory."

Lilly smiled at her friends as they watched both her hair and eyes return to their normal color. Once that happened, all 4 of them walked over to Sasuke and saw that he was fatally injured. Realizing that it was too late to save him, Lilly gently took her former friend by the hand and looked him in the eyes.

"Do you have any last words?" She asked him.

Sasuke coughed up some blood as he slowly turned his head towards Lilly. Despite the fact that the life had already faded from his eyes, Sasuke was able to hear her and proceeded to respond.

"You were right," He said. "I didn't have the resolve to move forward with my life and that's the reason why I lost. I wanted to change the world for the better so that way no one would suffer, but in the end I was the one who was making people suffer. I'm such a fool…"

As Sasuke continued to cough up more blood, Lilly got closer to her so that he could her voice better.

"No…you're not a fool," She said to him. "It's not wrong to change the world for the better. It's just the way you did it was wrong. Humans are not perfect, we all make mistakes. It's only by learning from these experiences that we're able to move forward and fight for what we believe is right."

"…I…see…"

Sasuke smiled a little as he closed his eyes and passed away. When that happened, everyone pitched in and proceeded to make a grave for him. Once they finished the grave, and placed Sasuke inside of it, they prayed that Sasuke will hopefully find peace in his next life.

Once they finished, Black-Winged Dragon roared as Crow's right arm started glowing. When he moved the sleeve on his right arm, the young man witnessed that Sasuke's Dragon Mark was now on his arm.

"What the hell?" He asked himself. "What is this?"

Everyone turned their attention towards the dragon, which was now starting to disappear. It proceeded to nod its head before them before releasing another cry. Once Black-Winged Dragon was gone, everyone turned their attention back to Crow's new birthmark and questioned why it transferred from Sasuke to him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Two weeks have passed since the battle between Sasuke ended and the time has come for Takashi and the others to return to New Domino City. However, the group learns that while someone is leaving the group while someone else is joining them. Just who are these people and how will their decisions affect our heroes?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 45: New Beginnings_


	45. Chapter 45

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 45: **_New Beginnings_

* * *

><p>It's been 2 weeks since the battle against Sasuke has come to an end and everything seems to have returned to normal for Takashi and his friends. Without their leader, and their base, the Crashing Sharks have permanently disbanded and all members have since returned to their normal lives. The Lieutenants, with the exception of Kazuki, have split up to the several sectors of the Satellite and proceeded to use their skills in order to protect the people who reside there. As for Kazuki, the young man hasn't been seen since the night Sasuke was defeated and Crow's been wondering where he is. Martha has tried to assure her foster son that Kazuki is fine and that he can take care of himself, but Crow wasn't too convinced and was still worried about his former friend.<p>

Meanwhile, the kids at the orphanage have really grown attached to Takashi, Akiza, and Toru. The teenagers have acted as older siblings towards them and have proceeded to teach them to either play Duel Monsters or have told them stories about their past. Having never grown up with any real brothers of sisters, the fact that they were bonding with the young kids was very pleasing for Takashi and the others.

One morning, Lilly had decided to hold a meeting and requested that everyone attended. When Toru asked her why she wanted everyone at the orphanage to listen, Lilly explained that what she was about to say would affect the way things are now. Once everyone was gathered in the living room, Lilly conducted the meeting.

"Alright guys," She started off. "The reason why I conducted this meeting is very simple. It's been 2 weeks since my friends and I have arrived in the Satellite and it's about time returned to New Domino City."

Upon hearing Lilly's announcement, all kids had sad expressions of their faces. None of them wanted new friends to leave and wished that they could stay longer. However, despite their pleas, Lilly was committed to her decision.

"I know you're upset, but the time has come for us to leave. We've stopped Sasuke from achieving his New World and most of our wounds have been healed. Also, Aiku and I have repaired our Duel Runners. With no other excuse to stay here, it's time for us to return to the city."

The kids were still upset and attempted to convince Lilly to change her mind. It wasn't until Takashi got up and clapped his hands. The sound of the clap caught everyone's attention and they became silent as the young man started to talk.

"I know that all of you are upset, but Lilly is right," He said. "It's time for us to return to New Domino. However, I promise that we'll come back to the Satellite one day."

Takashi smiled for a moment before placing his hand in front of the kids. Once he did that he had everyone in the room gently place their hands on top of his. They then promised one another that they would meet again one day before raising their hands in the air and cheering. After that, Martha stepped up and started addressing everyone in the room.

"Excuse me," She said. "But I have something to say."

Everyone looked at Martha and immediately stopped whatever they were doing so that they could pay attention to her. Once the room was quiet, Martha turned her attention towards Takashi and his friends.

"First thing, I want to thank all of you for coming all this way. If it wasn't for you then we probably wouldn't be here today. For that, you have my deepest gratitude and you're always welcomed here. Now, since you're going home soon, I would like if you do me a favor."

"Sure," Takashi complied. "But can I ask what that favor is?"

Martha nodded her head slightly before turning her attention towards Crow. The Blackwing Duelist didn't understand why his foster mother was looking at him and hoped that she would explain soon.

"What I want you to bring Crow with you to New Domino City."

Everyone in the room was shocked by Martha's suggestion, especially Crow who immediately got to his feet and walked over towards his foster mother.

"Why do you want me to go to New Domino City?" He asked her. "Is there something wrong with me being here?"

"No," Martha said while shaking her head in disapproval. "It's just that during the time that Takashi and his friends have been here, I know you've become really close with them. Also, I know that you still haven't found another place to stay ever since Crashing Sharks burned down your house."

"I…I know that…but still,"

As Crow contemplated on whether or not he should leave for the city, Takashi and the others got together and started discussing the same thing. After a few minutes, Lilly got up and walked over towards her friend.

"It's okay with us Crow," She said to him. "Besides, I know that it's been your dream since you were little to leave the Satellite Sector and become a champion Turbo Duelist. This is probably the best chance you have to fulfill that dream."

Despite the fact that Lilly was right and that going to the city would be his best chance to fulfill his dream, Crow was still reluctant to leave the Satellite Sector. The young man made a promise to himself to protect all the people that he cared about and something told him that if he left the Satellite then he couldn't keep that promise. As he thought about what he truly wanted to do, the kids gathered around him.

"It's okay Crow," Saya said, speaking for everyone. "You're always talking about how great of a Turbo Duelist you're going to be. If you really think that you're going to be the best, then you should go to the city and prove it."

"Is that really what you want me to do?" Crow asked them.

All the kids nodded their heads in approval as all of them wanted Crow to go out and fulfill his dream. Despite the fact that they were going to miss him, all the kids wanted him to fulfill their dream as a way of repaying him for all the things that he's done for them. Seeing the look of approval on their faces, Crow smiled a little as tears started to form in his eyes.

"Okay you guys," He said as he wiped his tears away. "I'll go to New Domino City but, like the others, I'll return back here every once in a while."

Everyone in the room was happy for the decision Crow made and promised to give him their full support. Once everyone calmed down, Wendy walked over towards Lilly and whispered something in her ear. Once she finished, Lilly nodded her head and proceeded to clap her hands again.

"Everyone, Wendy has something to say to everybody," She said. "Please be quiet."

Everyone turned her attention towards Wendy as the little girl on top of chair so that she could get a better look at everyone in the room. Once she had everyone's attention, Wendy started to speak.

"I've been thinking about this for a while a now and since Crow is leaving for New Domino City I've figured now is a good enough time to say it," Wendy took a deep breath and gathered all the courage that she could muster. "I've decided to stay here in the Satellite."

Takashi, Akiza, Lilly, and Toru were surprised to hear this revelation from Wendy as they figured she would want to continue living with them in the city. They were about to comment on it, but Wendy started talking before they got a chance to ask.

"The reason why I want to stay here is because I want to greater control over my Psychic Powers. Saeko, the Lieutenant that Akiza fought, has agreed to train Toshiro and me in the use of our powers and I've decided that this is a perfect opportunity for me. Despite the fact that I was able heal your wounds after the battle, I've noticed that Lilly's newly acquired healing abilities far surpass mine. I bet that even if wasn't here, you all would probably be just fine. I want to be more useful to you guys in the future and I'm hoping that Saeko's training will help me to do that."

Wendy looked down at the ground and waited for a response from her friends. As she did, the memories of her time with ran through her mind. She knew very well that if it wasn't for them then she probably wouldn't be here now. She had to make it up them anyway she could and felt that if went along with the training then she could protect them better.

Eventually, Takashi looked over towards all of his friends and saw them nod their heads at them. When he nodded his head in return, the young man walked over to Wendy and gently placed his head on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, Wendy saw Takashi kneel down to her height level proceeded to smile at her.

"If this is what you really want Wendy then we'll support you all the way," He said. "Just know that you'll always be welcomed to stay with us again."

Tears started to form in Wendy's eyes as listened to Takashi's words. When she turned her attention towards the others she saw that they felt the same way as Takashi, Wendy couldn't hold back her emotions and started crying.

"Thank you…," She said as she wept. "Thank you…so much. I promise I'll make it up to you all."

Akiza, Toru, and Lilly walked over towards Wendt and comforted her as more tears ran down her face. After a few minutes, Wendy calmed down and listened as Lilly proceeded to conclude the meeting.

"Well, now that everything been settled, this is now concluded. Those of us who are leaving for New Domino City should pack up their things since we're leaving at midnight."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Takashi was busy in one of the guest rooms. After he packed most of his things, the only thing that was left was the sword that he created during his fight against Sasuke. Even though he had the blade for about 2 weeks, the young man was still puzzled on how he was able to create it. Not only that, but Takashi felt that his new sword was somehow related to his Dragon Mark. He turned his attention towards the mark itself and started looking at it.<p>

"Just what the hell is this thing?" He asked himself. "I know for a fact that it's not an ordinary birthmark, but how is it possible that I'm able to do all these things?"

Takashi closed his eyes and started remember what Sasuke told him during their battle. He said that those who possessed these special marks were called Signers and that the mark themselves were given to them by a being known as the Crimson Dragon. Having never heard of such things until now, Takashi had his doubts about whether or not Sasuke's words were true. However, after being able to use his newly obtained powers over the last couple of months, a part of Takashi felt that he was told was the truth.

"There's a truth about these marks that hasn't be told yet and something tells me that I need to figure that out before it's too late."

As he continued to ponder the question that plagued his thoughts, someone started knocking on the door. Upon hearing it, Takashi dropped everything and walked over to the door. When he opened it, he saw that it was Akiza.

"It's time to remove your bandages Takashi," The young woman said to him. "Can I come in?"

Takashi nodded his head and welcomed her into his room. Once both of them were inside the room, Takashi took off his shirt and allowed Akiza to remove the bandages that were around his chest since the battle against Sasuke came to an end. Even though she suffered serious injuries of her own, Akiza has been deathly worried over the wounds that Takashi had suffered. Lilly had commented that if it wasn't for his mysterious golden transformation, then he probably would have died from his wounds. Because of that, Akiza has spent almost every day tending to Takashi and making sure that injuries healed completely.

Once she removed all the bandages from off his, Takashi noticed that Akiza had a sad expression on her face. He was about to comment on it, but soon figured out why she looked so sad. Akiza was staring at the X-shaped scar that was on Takashi's chest, the same scar that she gave to him on the first day they met. For the two weeks that she's been attending to his injuries, Takashi has always seen Akiza become sad every time she had to look at his scar. This sight worried the young man as he never liked it when Akiza was sad.

"Please stop beating yourself up over this scar Akiza," He said in a comforting tone of voice. "It's been about 3 months since you gave it to me and doesn't hurt anymore. Besides, I think it looks pretty cool. It just shows how tough I am."

Akiza heard his words, but she was still really sad about giving him the scar. Takashi was the first person who actually treated like a person and not some type of monster of weapon. However, she wasn't able to see that in time and treated him like an enemy like anyone else she encountered. Because of that, Akiza gave her first friend a scar that will probably never heal for as long as he lives.

"I'm sorry Takashi." She said as put her head down and gently placed her hand on his chest. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry over this scar Akiza," Takashi replied as he gently grabbed her hand. "Besides, if anyone should be sorry it's me."

"What do you mean?"

Akiza looked on and watched as a sad expression appeared in Takashi's eyes. After a few minutes of silence, the young man proceeded to explain what he meant.

"I'm sorry that Sasuke was able to harm you during the battle," He said. "If I wasn't injured then I could have protected you from his attack. But instead you nearly sacrificed your life just to protect me. Akiza…if I would have lost you then…I don't know what I do."

As Takashi placed his head down in disappointment, Akiza remembered the conversation that she had with Toru a couple of weeks ago. According to him, Takashi lost a girl that he really cared for right before his eyes. The fact that the same thing nearly happened to her must've caused those memories to resurface and cause him an immense amount of pain. Akiza couldn't stand seeing Takashi look like this as she always saw him as a kind young man who gave strength to those who didn't have any themselves.

"Don't be upset Takashi," She said as she looked at him. "The reason why I protected you from Sasuke's attack is because I wanted too. You did so much for me despite the fact I nearly tried to kill you on more than once. Protecting you from harm is the least I can do for everything that you've done for me. If the situation called for it, then I would gladly sacrifice my life for you. It just proves how much I care about you Takashi.

A small blush appeared on the young man's face as he looked towards his Psychic friend. For as long as he's known her, Takashi has never heard Akiza be this open with her feelings. A small smile soon reappeared on Takashi's face as he gently placed his hand on Akiza's cheek.

"Thank you Akiza," He said. "I promise that nothing like that will ever happen to you again. I'll protect even if it means the end of me."

Just like with Takashi, a small blush appeared on Akiza's face as she continued to listen to words that she was hearing. She soon started to remember the rest of her conversation with Toru how he said that Takashi might have the same feelings she has for him. After remembering her last failed attempts into confessing her feelings, Akiza felt that now was the best time to do it. So the young woman looked into the eyes of the man that she loved and slowly began to close the distance between them.

"Takashi…," She said. "There's something that I've wanted to tell you for a while now. I was afraid to tell you at first because I was afraid on how you would react, but now that doesn't matter. I can't hide it anymore and I really want you to know how I really feel about you."

"I see," Takashi replied. "To tell you the truth, there's been something that I've wanted to tell you too. I didn't really want to tell you because, at first, I didn't really want to believe it. However, as time went, I've come to realize that it is the truth. I can't hide these feelings I have for you any longer."

As they continued to gaze at one another, the gap between Takashi and Akiza slowly began to close some more. Eventually, both of them closed their eyes and were about to kiss one another. However, before that could happen, both Toru and Aiku entered the room at the last second.

"Hey guys," The two boys said in unison. "What are you doing?"

Toru and Aiku smiled at their friends for a few moments, but their smiles soon vanished when they saw both Takashi and Akiza glaring at them. They soon started shivering in fear as they felt a massive killing intent coming from the both of them.

"You idiots," The both of them said as they made their way towards their friends. "Look at what you just…DONE!"

As soon as they started to yell, Toru and Aiku ran away in order to avoid their wrath. However, Takashi and Akiza were right on their tail and they intended on making them pay for interrupting them. As that happened, Lilly looked at the scene and refused to stop it. Having witness the passionate moment between both Takashi and Akiza, all could do was shake her head in disappointment.

"Damn it you two," She said silently to herself. "They were so close."

Meanwhile, Crow had finished packing up all of his things and was busy at a graveyard that the people of the Satellite set up. He was looking at one grave in particular.

"It's been a long time Rin," He said. "Sorry I haven't been here. I just came to let you know that Sasuke is dead and his plan to bring about a New World has been thwarted. Also, I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving for New Domino City tonight. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I promise that I'll return someday and place flowers on your grave. You have my word."

As he continued to pay his respects to his deceased friend, Crow started to hear footsteps coming from behind him. When he turned around he Kazuki making his way towards both him and Rin's grave. Having not seen him since their Duel two weeks ago, Crow didn't know how to respond to him and proceeded to remain silent. It wasn't until Kazuki reached the grave that the silence was broken.

"Don't worry," He said. "I'm not here to fight you. I've given up on that."

"What do you mean?" Crow asked him.

"I learned that you weren't responsible for Rin's death. It was Sasuke. He killed her knowing that I would react the way he did. In some ways, he used me just as much as he used you."

Crow remained silent as comprehended what Kazuki just said to him. Having learned that Sasuke was the one responsible for Rin's death, the Blackwing Duelist's hatred for his former leader only grew. However he felt satisfied at the realization that he was dead, thus avenging Rin the process. Soon, after paying his respects to her, Kazuki turned his attention solely towards Crow.

"I'm sorry Crow," He said. "I never should have blamed you for what happened to Rin. I'll understand if you want to beat me up for it."

Kazuki closed his eyes and prepared himself for an attack. However, instead of being stuck by his former friend, the young felt Crow's hand touch his shoulder. When he opened his eyes he saw Crow smiling at him.

"Don't worry about it Kazuki," The Blackwing Duelist said. "What's done is done. I'm just glad you've returned to being the person I use to know. But, if you really are sorry for what you did, there is something you can do for me."

"What is it?" Kazuki asked him.

"Well, I'm leaving for New Domino City today and it's going to be a while until I come back. Until then, I want you to watch over Martha and the kids for me. Please make sure that they're okay. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course I can," Kazuki said. "It's the least I can do to repent for all that I've done."

The two boys shook each other's hand and proceeded to leave the graveyard. As they did that, Crow turned around one more time and looked at Rin's grave. He then smiled and silently thanked her before continuing on his way. It was at that moment that Rin's spirit appeared before her grave and started smiling at her friend.

"_Good Luck Crow."_

* * *

><p>Hours passed and soon it was close to midnight. Takashi, Lilly, Akiza, Crow, Toru, and Aiku were all outside, making sure that they had everything prepared for their trip back home. Once they saw that they did, everyone got on their Duel Runners and got ready to leave. Everyone then looked back at the orphanage and saw Martha and the kids waving at them.<p>

"Goodbye!" The kids yelled in unison. "Come back soon!"

"We will!" Takashi and the others replied.

Once the goodbyes were said, everyone revved up their Duel Runners and proceeded to make their way towards the junkyard. As they did so, they encountered some of the Lieutenants that they've fought and said their goodbyes to them as well. After doing that, everyone reached the junkyard and quickly entered the underground pipeline that connected the Satellite to New Domino City. After about 3 minutes of driving through the pipes, everyone entered the city.

"Okay guys," Aiku said. "This is where I split. However, I promise that we'll meet again someday. When that happens, allow me to introduce you all to my parents."

"Sure thing," Takashi said with a smile on his face. "I'm sure all of us would love to meet your family Aiku."

The others nodded their heads in approval, which caused Aiku to smile. He soon drove his Duel Runner in a different direction and quickly made his way home. Once he was gone, Takashi and the others proceeded to do the same and were able to make it back to Poppo Time in only about 30 minutes.

As they got off the Duel Runners and proceeded to place them into the garage, Crow noticed that Lilly was the only who wasn't moving. Wanting to know why she stopped, the Blackwing Duelist parked his Runner into the garage and made his way back to her.

"Is something wrong Lilly?" He asked her.

Everyone else noticed the same thing and proceeded make their way towards Lilly after placing the other Duel Runners into the garage. Once everyone was by her, Lilly began to speak.

"You guys," She said. "I want to thank you for helping me. If it wasn't for you then who knows what could have happened. I'm eternally grateful to all of you and I'll make sure to make it up to you one day."

"There's no need to thank us Lilly," Takashi said. "The reason why we went with you to the Satellite is because we wanted to. You're our friend and friends help one another, even when things get rough. So there's no reason to thank us or feel indebted to either."

Lilly looked and saw that Akiza, Crow, and Toru all felt the same way that Takashi did. This scene brought tears to her eyes and the young woman started crying tears of joy. She then started thanking her friends repeatedly as a heavy weight was now off her soul.

Meanwhile, in a large building on the other side of New Domino City, a middle-age man with long white hair was busy looking at the window. He seemed entranced by the sight of the city, which looked beautiful due to all the lights that were on. Eventually, a man who had the appearance of a clown, entered the room.

"Excuse me Director Goodwin," He said.

"What is it Lazar?" Goodwin said without turning his attention away from the window. "Is something wrong?"

"No sir," Lazar walked over to Goodwin's desk and proceeded to place a clipboard on top of it. "We just received information that they've returned to New Domino City. Not only that, but they've seem to have brought with them the 4th."

Goodwin turned himself around and walked over towards the desk so that he could pick up the clipboard. Once he had it in his hand, he looked towards Lazar and gently bowed his head towards him.

"Thank you Lazar," He said. "You may leave now."

Lazar complied too Goodwin's request and promptly left the room. Once he was all alone, Goodwin made his back towards the window and began looking over the clipboard, which contained pictures of Takashi, Lilly, Akiza, Crow, and another individual.

"At long last, all 5 Signers are in New Domino City. The time for war will soon be upon us."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Upon hearing that a tournament, which will determine the Duel King of Japan, is about to take place, Takashi and the others are eager to compete. While training for the tournament, Toru comes across a young man who's also competing. What will happen when these two individuals come together and how will it affect their standing in the tournament?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 46: Preparing for Fortune_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, I hope you all the enjoyed the Grand Fire Arc. I'm here today to make two big announcements._

_The first is about the OC's that you guys have been giving me. As you can tell from the Chapter Preview, the next story arc will involve a tournament will Duelist from all over Japan will attempt to become the Country's Duel King. Wanting to include interesting people into the competition, I would like it if you continue to send me various OC's so that they can be involved. By doing that, I can not only gather enough people for the event, but it's also a good way for all of you to be involved in the progress of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus._

_To send an OC's, please give me their name, age, appearance, personality, history, deck, and ace monster. If the Ace for your OC is a Synchro Monster, then please create a Synchro Chant for it. You may also create a deck that features your own unique monsters, but they cannot unbeatable. _

_The second announcement is that there will be no new chapter until the premier of the anniversary of Over the Nexus. After consulting it with a couple of my readers, I've decided to write a Q&A segment so that everyone can get a better understanding of the story and its characters. I need at least a week to plan everything out and then a couple of days to write it. Please expect the next chapter to be out around November 9__th__ to the 16__th__. (Please know that those dates might change.)_

_The __Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus Q&A will be out on November 7, the same day that the series premiered a year ago. Please look for to it._

_Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off._


	46. Chapter 46

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks to: **_KR-Orion_

**Chapter 46: **_Preparing for Fortune_

* * *

><p>It's now been 2 months since the battle against Sasuke has come to an end and spring has officially come to New Domino City. For our heroes, life has returned to normal for them as they continued on with their daily lives. However, despite the peace, Takashi has spent his spare time perfecting his Dueling skills.<p>

Ever since he first arrived in New Domino City 6 months ago, Takashi has been thrown into many life or death situations that required him to bring his skills to the very limit. Despite that however, the young man failed to defeat both Sayer and Sasuke when they were at their strongest and had to rely on his friends to defeat them instead. Even though things turned out alright in the end, Takashi was upset with himself that his friends had to do all the work when it matter the most. To prevent that from happening again, Takashi vowed to become stronger so that he can protect his friends, especially Akiza, from harm.

Over the past few weeks, the young man has spent his free time attempting to construct a new deck that best suit his Dueling Style. Reflecting on all of the Duels that he had since he was a child, Takashi realized that his style resembled that of Akiza's and Crow's. He preferred to swarm the field with multiple monsters in order to Synchro Summon is most powerful creatures, mainly his Stardust Dragon. However, since most Dragon-Type Synchro Monsters were extremely hard to summon, Takashi decided to stop using his dragon deck and switch to a new Archetype that would allow him to focus more on Synchros.

One day, while he was eating breakfast, Takashi was busy writing notes in a small notepad that he found inside his room. Whenever he wanted to make changes to his deck, Takashi would always write down what cards that he wanted to add and how their effects would either add to his victory or to his defeat. It would also contain multiple Dueling Puzzles, in which the young man would attempt to solve with the use of his new deck. Whenever Takashi would successfully complete a puzzle he would move on to the next one. If he failed then he would stop, make changes to his deck, and then go back and finish the puzzle. The process was long and difficult, but Takashi was determined to make his newest deck the strongest one he's ever constructed.

As he worked, Akiza was busy making her way downstairs and noticed that Takashi was so focused on his work that he neglected to eat his breakfast. The sight of this worried the Psychic Duelist as Takashi spent most of his time working instead of tending to himself. Akiza knew that if this continued then Takashi would mostly likely overwork himself and become sick as a result. Not wanting that to happened, the young woman walked over to Takashi and gently pulled his notepad away from his hand.

"What the hell are you doing Akiza?" Takashi questioned as he looked towards her. "I was using that."

"I know," Akiza replied. "That's exactly the reason why I took it. You're spending so much time working that you're forgetting to eat your breakfast. Just look, you barely touched your food."

Takashi looked towards his breakfast and saw that Akiza was right. He hardly touched the pancakes that he made for himself and saw that they were quickly becoming cold.

"I know that constructing your new deck is important to you Takashi, but you can't forget to take care of yourself. I mean, didn't you use to say the same thing to me?"

Listening to her words, Takashi remembered how Akiza would act shortly after rescuing her from the Arcadia Movement for the first time. She would hardly eat anything and would spend most of her time in her room. Not wanting her to become ill, Takashi would constantly remind Akiza to take better care of herself. Once she became more open, Akiza took Takashi's words to heart and began to do just that.

Realizing that he was about to go against his own advice, Takashi slapped himself in the face for acting so stupid and quickly started eating his food. The sight of that brought a smile onto Akiza face as she decided to get something to eat herself. She proceeded to walk into kitchen and saw there were several pancakes leftover from Takashi's first batch. Helping herself to some, Akiza grabbed a plate and placed 3 pancakes on it. The proceeded to place some eggs and sausages on the plate as well before walking back over towards Takashi and sat next to him by the couch.

As she started eating her breakfast, Akiza looked over towards Takashi as a small blush appeared on her face. She then the conversation that the two of them had and they were so close to kissing one another. The mere thought of that kiss caused the blush on her face to become even deeper as she slowly began to close the distance between her and the man that she loved.

"Say…Takashi," She said to him.

"Yes Akiza," Takashi replied as he turned his attention towards her. "Is something the matter?"

"No, it's just that…I'm really glad I met you. You've helped me in ways no one else could. If it wasn't for you then I probably wouldn't be here now. For that, I want to say thank you for everything that you've done for me."

A small smile appeared on Takashi face as he appreciated the words that Akiza just said to him. Despite the fact that she didn't need to thank him as he would have helped her either way, Takashi was just happy to hear her thanks. After a few seconds, the young man remembered something important and proceeded to walk away.

"What's wrong?" Akiza asked him.

"It's nothing," He answered. "I'll be right back so don't go anywhere."

Takashi quickly ran up into his room and proceeded to searched through it until he found a small yellow box. Once he opened it and that what was inside, a smile reappeared on his face. He then closed the box and quickly made his way over to Akiza, who was still waiting for him in the living room. He then proceeded to hand her the box.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It's a gift for you." Takashi answered. "I just remembered that today is the 6 month anniversary of the day we first met. I wanted to give you something to mark the occasion."

Akiza nodded her head as she slowly opened the box. Once she looked inside, tears started to form in her eyes as she saw an emerald crested, golden cross-shaped medallion inside the box.

"I saw it a couple of week ago while I buying parts for my Duel Runner. Though I'm not really good when it comes to jewelry or other stuff like that, I figured that it might be something that you might like."

"I don't like it Takashi…" Akiza said as she held the medallion in her hand. "I love it. Thank you so much."

A small blush appeared on Takashi's face as he started to smile. He then proceeded to place the item around Akiza's neck and looked at as the young woman began to admire it. Akiza then wrapped her arms around Takashi, causing the blush on his face to deepen even more. After a few minutes of embracing one another, Takashi and Akiza took each others' hand. They then gazed at each other for moments before slowly closing the distance between them. However, before anything could happen, both of them heard noises coming from the garage door and quickly separated from one another.

"Man that was a long delivery," Said a familiar voice coming from the garage. "I'm not used to traveling through the city yet."

From the garage an exhausted Crow appeared and he was wearing a bright yellow jacket with black highlights. As he started to yawn, the young man saw both Takashi and Akiza looking at him with their faces a bit red from embarrassment.

"Are you guys okay?" He asked.

"Never better…," The two of them said, lying to Crow and to themselves.

Crow nodded his head as he yawned one more time before placing his jacket on a rack. Ever since he arrived in New Domino City, the Blackwing Duelist decided to start a delivery service in order to earn enough money to pay rent. Though the job itself wasn't bad the fact that Crow was still unfamiliar with all the places in New Domino made things a bit difficult for him. He also might have to make runs early in the morning, which annoyed him to no end since he hated getting up early to go to work.

As he attempted to shake all the cobwebs out of his head, Crow started smelling food from the kitchen and proceeded making his way towards it. Once he came back, Akiza saw that Crow's plate was almost as tall as Takashi's.

"Damn Crow," She said. "You must be really hungry."

"You can say that again," Crow replied as he sat down and started eating. "I haven't eaten anything since late last night so it's pretty obvious that I would want a lot to eat. But then again, both Lilly and Martha commented that, despite my size, I ate a lot. There was one time, when I was 14, that I nearly ate all the food in the orphanage and I was still hungry."

"Oh I remember that day," Replied a voice from upstairs. "Martha grounded you for two whole weeks for doing that."

The others looked up and saw both Lilly and Toru making their way downstairs from their respective rooms. The two of them quickly got themselves a plate full of food before walking back over to their friends and started eating with them.

"So," Toru said as he grabbed a remote and quickly cut on the television. "Do you guys have any plans today?"

"Not that I know of," Takashi answered. "I earn my keep by doing various odd jobs so my schedule, for the most part, is free most of the time."

"Same here," Lilly followed. "For the most part I just planned on finishing the final repairs that Sasuke made to my Duel Runner, but I can always put that off until later."

Crow and Akiza also gave their nods of approval as well, with the former stating that he didn't have any more deliveries to make today and the later saying that the Academy is currently on Spring Break.

"Alright," Toru said. "Since we're all free I would like it if…"

Toru was cut off when heard something interesting coming from the T.V. Wanting to hear what the announcer was saying, the young man quickly pushed the volume button on the remote and listened in closely.

"_Attention Duelist from all over Japan!" _The announcer said. _"The time has finally come to determine our country's Duel King! In only 4 short months, a tournament known as the Fortune Cup will take place where only the best Duelists will be allowed to compete!"_

"Holy crap…," Crow said as his were glued to the television. "Is this for real?"

"Shut the hell up Crow!" Takashi replied as he looked on too. "I'm trying to listen to this!"

"_The winner of the Fortune Cup will not only receive $1,000,000 in prize money, but also have the opportunity to challenge Alistair Miles for the title of Japan's Duel King! Now, in order to compete, a Duelist must gain the approval of a Fortune Cup judge who will be observing all the Duels that take place around the country. They can also gain approval by submitting their Duelist record over to the Fortune Cup website. If you receive a letter from the Fortune Cup committee then congratulations, you are now a participant in our country's greatest Dueling Competition!"_

Once the announcement ended Takashi, Crow, and Toru quickly ran over to the first computer that they could find and quickly logged into it. Once they reached the website for the Fortune Cup, the three of them each submitted their Duelist information so that the tournament committee could determine whether or not they had the talent to compete.

"This is my chance," Takashi said to himself as he looked over the plans for his new deck. "This is the chance that I've been waiting for all my life."

"You can say that again," Both Crow and Toru said at the same time.

As she looked on at her friends, Akiza remembered a lecture that her teacher gave her about the title of Duel King. Before the introduction of the World King title, the title of Duel King was bestowed upon the person believed to be the greatest Duelist in the world. It's been said that first Duel King was Yugi Muto, the man who supposedly had the spirit of a legendary nameless pharaoh trapped inside of him. Since those days, there have been many Duelists who have obtained the title and it soon came to the point that they needed a title even greater than that in order to determine the world's strongest Duelist. Thus, that led to the creation of the World King title.

Seeing Takashi and the others become this excited for the opportunity to become Japan's best Duelist caused a smile to appear on the Psychic's face. Despite the battles that they've faced, Akiza knew that all of them were Duelists and that the opportunity to become the best was just something that they couldn't let fly by. So, with no hesitation, the young woman walked over towards the computer and quickly entered her Duelist information into it.

"Awesome," Takashi said as he looked towards her. "It's great that you're entering too Akiza, but don't expect me to go easy on you if we happen to face each other."

"I don't expect you too," Akiza said with a confident smile on her face. "I'm going to come at you, and everyone else, with everything I got!"

"Don't you forget about me?" Toru said as he caught the attention of his two friends. "If anyone going to win this tournament and defeat Alistair it's me!"

As he looked on at his friends, Crow smiled as he felt that this tournament was going to be something to remember. He then turned his attention towards Lilly and saw that she was registering for the Fortune Cup as well. However, he also noticed that there was a hint in anger in her eyes as she was typing down her information.

"Lilly…," He said as he walked over towards her. "Are you okay?"

"I will be Crow," She replied. "Very soon, I will be."

Once she finished typing her Duelist information, Lilly walked into the garage and proceeded to work on her Duel Runner. As she was doing that, Takashi and Toru decided that they would begin their training for the Fortune Cup right away. So, along with Akiza, they got on their Duel Runners and made their way to the practice track. Crow, on the other hand, decided to go somewhere else to train since he felt that Lilly wanted to be alone for now.

As soon as Crow left and Lilly was all alone, Dark Magician Girl appeared before her and looked on as she was still working on her Runner.

"_So I guess the time has finally come," _The magician said.

"That's right," Lilly replied. "The time has come for me to get back what I lost. Just you wait Alistair…"

* * *

><p>At the practice field, Akiza was looking on intently as she watched both Takashi and Toru race around the track. The two of them were neck and neck with one another, as it seemed that both of them would reach the finish line at the same time. Despite the fact that she's seen this scene many times, Akiza was amazed by this particular race.<p>

"Wow," She said to herself. "It's like Takashi and Toru are communicating with each other just by racing. It's unbelievable."

As she continued to look on at this scene, a young spectator was busy watching the boys from the bleachers. He had black hair with a brownish tint to it, blue eyes, and had a slight tan from being outside in the sun a lot. He was also wearing a white t-shirt with a blue sword crest on the front, a pair blue jeans, brown boots, and brown bomber jacket.

The young man seemed particularly interested in Toru rather than Takashi as his eyes remained solely on him for the majority of the race. Once he saw the two of make their final push for the finish line, he proceeded walked down from the bleachers and made his way towards his Duel Runner. It resembled Takashi's as it blue with white and black highlights, but it was almost twice as big.

"It's been a long time Toru," The young man said as he put on his helmet as placed its visor over his entire face. "It's time for out rematch!"

Meanwhile, back at the race track, Takashi and Toru were only a few feet away from the finish line. It was at that moment that the former was beginning to make his move and pass the later. When Toru saw this, the young man wasn't too surprised since he knew that Takashi's skills as a Turbo Duelist has drastically increased over the past 6 months. However, despite being impressed by his friend's skills, Toru was determined to win this race. So, with no hesitation, Toru revved up his Duel Runner and quickly began speed up towards Takashi. After a few seconds, he soon passed his friend and reached the finish line before him.

Once the race was over, both Takashi and Toru parked their Runners by Akiza and proceeded to get off of them. They then walked towards each other and shook hands.

"Good race man," Toru said with a smile on his face. "You've gotten even better than last time."

"Same here Toru," Takashi replied. "But I'm still not at your level yet. I'm going to need to train even harder if I want to win the Fortune Cup."

As the two boys complemented each other, Akiza started to hear the engine of another Duel Runner coming from behind her. When she turned around the young woman saw the boy, who was watching the race from bleachers, looking at the three of them.

"Hey guys," She said. "It looks like someone wants to talk to us."

Takashi and Toru turned their heads around and also noticed the boy looking at them. After taking a closer look, Toru was the first to recognize him/

"Well I'll be damned," He said. "It's been a long time Tem."

As Takashi and Akiza looked on with confused look on their faces, Toru walked over towards them as his moved his visor from his face. He then got off his Duel Runner and quickly began to shake Toru's hand.

"It's been a long time man," Tem said. "I haven't seen you since the Falling Star Tournament, nearly 8 months ago. How you've been? I haven't seen you in any of the major tournaments recently."

"I'm been fine," Toru answered, not wanting to mention the battles he's had against the Arcadia Movement and Sasuke. "I just needed to take a break from the big tournaments. Don't worry though, because I plan on competing in the recent Fortune Cup competition."

Tem smiled as he nodded his head in approval. Despite the fact that he hasn't seen him in a long time, the young man knew that opportunity to become the Duel King of all of Japan was simply too big of chance for Toru to pass by. Soon, Tem noticed that both Takashi and Akiza were looking at him and proceeded to point towards them as a result. When Toru noticed this he shook his head in disbelief as he forgot introduce his friends to Tem and vice versa.

"Takashi and Akiza," Toru called. "I would like to introduce to Tem Uraki, a talented Duelist and one of my biggest rivals ever since I arrived in New Domino City."

As both Takashi and Akiza waved their hands and smiled at him, Tem quickly recognized Takashi's name and quickly made his way over to him.

"So you're Takashi," He said as he extended his hand out to him. "I've heard a lot about you from Toru. He's said that you're a very talented Duelist in your own right."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," Takashi replied as he shook Tem's hand. "I still have a long way to go if I'm going to make it as a Turbo Duelist. But I do thank you for the compliment."

As they continued to shake hands, Tem started to recall all the others things that Toru said about Takashi. However, the one thing that ran through his head the most was that Toru always talked about the special dragon that Takashi always used in his Duels. Always intrigued by the mere mention of this dragon, Tem saw that this was the perfect opportunity to talk about it.

"Hey Takashi," He started off. "Toru always mentioned that you own an extremely rare Dragon-Type Synchro Monster. I would appreciate if you show it me."

"No problem," Takashi opened the deck case that he keeps strapped to his belt and proceeded to pull out his Stardust Dragon card. Once he had it in hand, the young man presented his Ace to his newest friend. "Here you go. This is Stardust Dragon."

As he examined the card, Tem was amazed by the mere look of it. Stardust's design was something he's never seen before and he knew that if it look this amazing in card form then it probably looks even better when projected onto a Duel Disk. As Tem continued to look at the card, Takashi pointed his left index figure towards Akiza's deck. Quickly getting the message, the young woman opened his deck case and pulled out her Black Rose Dragon card. When Tem noticed the card, his eyes widen and quickly turned his attention towards Akiza's Ace Monster.

"Wow," He said in astonishment. "Here's another unique dragon! Toru, you sure have some amazing friends."

Toru nodded his head in approval as he remembered all the things that Takashi and Akiza can when the two of them use their powers. He then started to smile to himself as he imagine how Tem would react if he actually saw them use their powers out in the open and how more amazed he would be by them. Eventually, Toru walked about over towards his friend and gently placed his hand on his shoulder.

"So Tem," He said. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here training," Tem answered as he returned Black Rose Dragon to Akiza. "Just like you, I intend to compete in the Fortune Cup and thought coming here would be place for one of the judges to notice me."

"I see. Takashi and I had the same idea, which is one of the main reasons why we decided to race one another."

"Is that so?" Tem started smiling confidently as Takashi started to feel the young man's Duelist Energy begin to flare up. "Well, you do know that the Fortune Cup is Dueling competition, not a race. If you truly want to prepare yourself, then it's best that you do it the right way."

"What are you trying to say Tem?" Toru asked as he started to smile confidently as well.

"Toru Ishida, I challenge you to a Duel! The time has come for the rematch you promised ever since the last time you defeated me!"

Toru nodded his head in approval as he remembered the promise he made to Tem during the finals of the South Pacific Tournament. It was tough competition but, after a last second turnaround, Toru was able to come out on top and defeat Tem. Since that day, Toru promised to face his rival again in a rematch and he saw that now was the perfect opportunity to fulfill that promise.

So, without saying another word, both Duelists got on their respective Duel Runners and quickly started them up. They then drove around the race track, warming up before officially beginning their Duel. Meanwhile, Takashi and Akiza were making their way towards bleachers so that they could watch the Duel while sitting down.

"I can tell that this is going to be an interesting Duel," Akiza said as she sat down.

"You're right about that," Takashi replied. "Both them are emitting a powerful Dueling Energy, which means both them are going to give this Duel everything they got."

Back at the track, both Toru and Tem were finishing up their warm up laps and were getting ready to begin their Duel.

"Alright Toru, this is it!" Tem declared. "The one who can reach the next corner first can make the first move!"

"You got it!" Toru replied.

Both Duelists sped up as they each attempted to reach the first corner before the other. Eventually, just before they reached the corner, Toru attempted to use the same technique that used to defeat Takashi in their race. However, before he could implement it, the young man looked on in shock as Tem quickly passed by him and made it across the corner before him.

"Looks like I go first!" Tem began to distance himself from Toru as he proceeded to press a button on his Duel Runner. "Now I activate the Field Spell: Speed World 2!"

_**Duel Mode – Engage**_

As the aura from Speed World 2 projected around the entire practice field, both Toru and Tem quickly drew 5 cards from their deck and used them to form their hand. As they did that, everyone else around the track stopped what they were doing and proceeded to look towards the two Turbo Duelists.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Toru: 4000 LP**

**Tem: 4000 LP**

"It's my turn," Tem stated as he gently placed his hand onto his deck. "Draw!"

**Toru: SPC – 1**

**Tem: SPC – 1**

Once he drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand, Tem examined all of his cards and started to develop a strategy on how to counter Toru and his Scrap monsters. After a few seconds, the young man swiftly took a card and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon, Heroic Challenger – Spartan!"

**Heroic Challenger Spartan: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

From a small portal that appeared beside Tem, a warrior wearing Spartan armor appeared beside him. In his hands was a large spear, which was about as tall as his body, and a yellow and red shield. Once his monster was by his side, Tem quickly took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down beside him, but vanished shortly afterwards.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Toru said. "Draw!"

**Toru: SPC – 2**

**Tem: SPC – 2**

As Toru drew a card from his deck, the young man looked at his monitor and examined his opponent's opening move. He paid special attention to his face-down card, obviously knowing that it was Trap Card. Realizing that he needed to get rid of the card before it hindered him in the future, Toru quickly grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"From my hand, I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton! When I have 2 or more Speed Counters I can draw 2 cards from my deck and then discard one card from my hand to the Graveyard."

Toru swiftly drew two cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. After that he then picked up the card that he wanted to discard and placed it into his Graveyard. Once he did that, Toru then took another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next I Summon, Scrap Chimera!"

**Scrap Chimera: ATK 1700 DEF 500 LVL 4**

As Scrap Chimera appeared onto the field, Toru quickly grabbed the card that he discarded a few moments ago and also placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When Scrap Chimera is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Scrap Tuner Monster from my Graveyard. So appear, Scrap Beast!"

**Scrap Beast: ATK 1600 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

From the same portal that Scrap Chimera appeared from, Scrap Beast made its way onto the field and started running next to its master. The sight of the two monsters together made it obvious to both Takashi and Akiza as they knew what was going to happen next.

"I Tune my Level 4 Scrap Chimera with my Level 4 Scrap Beast!"

Both Scrap monsters flew into the air and quickly began to the process for a Synchro Summoning. Scrap Beast transformed its body into 4 green rings as Scrap Chimera jumped in between them.

The Earth's discarded pieces will now come together and form a new power! Synchro Summon! Reanimate, Scrap Dragon!"

**Scrap Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

A bright flash of light shot through the 4 rings and covered Scrap Chimera. From there, Scrap Dragon appeared from that light and started flying next to its master.

"Scrap Dragon right off the bat," Tem said as he looked towards the beast. "I didn't expect you start off this big right away."

"Well you should have!" Toru declared. "Scrap Dragon, attack Heroic Challenger – Spartan with Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Scrap Dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs as the mighty beast began gathering energy from inside its body. Once it gathered enough power, the dragon released a giant blast of wind and iron towards Challenger – Spartan.

"I don't think so Toru!" Tem yelled as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate the Trap Card, Dimensional Prison! With this card, since your Scrap Dragon just declared an attack, it's now removed from the Duel!"

Toru's eyes widen somewhat as he watched a powerful vortex appeared in front of Spartan, protecting him from Scrap Dragon's attack. The vortex then sucked the powerful beast into it before disappearing. Once that happened, the Scrap Duelist took a card from his Graveyard and put it away before taking another card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Nice move Tem," He said. "But now I'm activating the Special Ability of The Rock Spirit! By removing 1 Earth Attribute monster from my Graveyard from play, Rock Spirit can be Special Summoned onto the field!"

**The Rock Spirit: ATK 1700 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Another portal appeared beside Toru as a man with light skin, wearing red and silver armor, came from within it. In his hands was a large ax, which was about the size of his entire body. Once The Rock Spirit was flying next to him, Toru quickly took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared right beside him for a few moments before disappearing from the field.

"I set one card face-down and that will do it for now."

Back at the bleachers, Akiza was analyzing the first turns of the Duel and could tell right away that both Tour and Tem were evenly matched with one another.

"Despite losing his Scrap Dragon, Toru was wise to wait until the Battle Phase was over until he summoned his Rock Spirit," The young woman said.

"You're right," Takashi commented. "If he had summoned it earlier and Tem's face-down been Mirror Force, then Toru would have lost both of his monsters and be left vulnerable to a Direct Attack. However, with the Rock Spirit Out, that shouldn't happen."

"Yeah…," Akiza agreed.

Back at the Duel, Tem was beginning to conduct his next turn as the young man gently placed his right hand on top of his deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Toru: SPC – 3**

**Tem: SPC – 3**

After looking at the card that he just drew, a small smile appeared on Tem's face. Without missing a beat, he quickly placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster, Comrade Swordsman of Landstar!"

**Comrade Swordsman of Landstar: ATK 500 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

From out of another portal, a cute little elf appeared next to Tem and started flying next to him. The creature was a knight's outfit and was holding a sword and shield in both of its hands.

"I now Tune my Level 4 Heroic Challenger – Spartan with my Level 3 Comrade Swordsman of Landstar!"

Both of Tem's monsters flew into the air and quickly performed the process for a Synchro Summoning. As that was happening, the young man started chanting to himself.

"Great warrior of the sky, appear now and pass judgment of those that spread evil! Synchro Summon! Shine, Lightning Warrior!"

**Lightning Warrior: ATK 2400 DEF 1200 LVL 7**

A bright flash of light illuminated around Tem as Lightning Warrior appeared onto the field, flying right next to his master.

"Lightning Warrior, attack The Rock Spirit with Lightning Punisher!"

Lightning Warrior complied with Tem's order and proceeded to gather a large amount of electrical energy into his right palm. Once he gathered enough, the warrior made his way towards The Rock Spirit.

"I activate Rock Spirit's Special Ability!" Toru declared. "During my opponent's Battle Phase, it gains 300 Attack Points!"

**The Rock Spirit: ATK 2000**

Despite the power boost it received via its Special Ability, Rock Spirit was still no match for the overwhelming power of Lightning Warrior as he easily obliterated it into a million pieces. However, the damage the Toru received as a result was reduced to some extent.

**Toru: 3600 LP**

"Nice move using Rock Spirit's Special Ability to protect some of your Life Points," Tem commented. "However, that won't do you any good. I activate Lightning Warrior's Special Ability! When he destroys a monster through battle, you take 300 Points of damage for ever card that's in your hand!"

"What…?!"

Toru's eyes widen from shock as he watched Lightning Warrior approach him. The powerful Synchro Monster placed his hand over the young man's head and proceeded to shock his entire body with electricity.

"You have 4 cards in your hand Toru," Tem said as he watched the scene between his monster and his opponent. "That means you lose 1200 Life Points!"

**Toru: 2400 LP**

Once Lightning Warrior finished his attack and returned to his master, Tem looked over his hand and saw that there was nothing he could do this turn. Still, despite that face, he was confident that Lightning Warrior can get him through until his next turn.

"I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again," Toru replied as he attempted to get himself refocused on the Duel. "Draw!"

**Toru: SPC – 4**

**Tem: SPC – 4**

As he drew a card from his deck, Toru's eyes widen upon taking a look at it. After taking a glance at all the other cards that were in his hand, the Scrap Duelist smiled to himself as he figured how to take out Tem's Lighting Warrior. To begin his strategy, Toru took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon, Alpha the Magnet Warrior!"

**Alpha the Magnet Warrior: ATK 1400 DEF 1700 LVL 4**

A giant warrior, made out of several grey magnets, appeared from out of a portal and started flying next to Toru. Once that happened, he then took the card that he drew at the beginning of this turn and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now activate the Speed Spell, Synchro Return! When I have 3 or more Speed Counters, this card allows me to Special Summon 1 Synchro Monster that's been removed from play!"

"What…?" Tem said in shock.

"Be revived, Scrap Dragon!"

A bright flash of light illuminated Toru's side of the field as his Scrap Dragon was once again by his side. The sight of this scene amazed all of the other spectators who was watching the Duel, especially Takashi and Akiza.

"Next, I activate Scrap Dragon's Special Ability!" Toru continued. "Once per turn, I can select one card I can control and one card you control and destroy them both!"

The surprise on Tem's face only increased as he watched Alpha, the only other card on Toru's field, and Lightning Warrior explode. Once both monsters were gone, the young man was now all alone as he faced Toru's Ace Monster.

"Scrap Dragon, attack Tem's Life Points Directly with Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Scrap Dragon complied with Toru's demand and proceeded to fire its attack onto its target. The blast was so powerful that not only did Tem lose 2800 Life Points, but also started to lose control of his Duel Runner.

**Tem: 1200 LP**

As he watched Tem attempt to straighten himself out, Toru quickly drove past him and continued on with his turn. The Scrap Duelist swiftly took one more card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field and began to fade away at the same moment Scrap Dragon began to fade away as well.

"It's the End Phase, so Scrap Dragon is once again removed from play due to the effect of Synchro Return. I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Upon getting himself back together, Tem sped over towards Toru as he attempted to catch up with his rival. As he did so, Takashi was impressed by his friend's sudden comeback.

"Tem sure didn't see that one coming," He said with a smile on his face. "Now he's the one trying to play catch up."

"Don't celebrate just yet," Akiza pointed out. "Toru may have taken out more than half of Tem's Life Points, but doing so also left himself open to attack."

"Don't worry Akiza. Toru wouldn't do something like that and prepared for what comes next. I'm confident that he'll be fine."

Akiza looked towards Takashi and saw that he truly had faith that Toru would be okay. The sight of that didn't surprise her as she knew that Takashi was the type of person who would always believe in the victory of his friends. All she did was smile before turning her attention back towards the Duel.

Meanwhile Tem, who finally caught back up with Toru, was still a little shaken up by his opponent's attack.

"Amazing," He thought. "He's gotten even stronger than last time. If I don't get my shit together soon, I'm going to lose this Duel!"

Determined to turn things around in his favor, Tem gently placed his hand on his deck and closed his eyes. He then hoped that the card he was about to draw would be one that help him turn this Duel back into his favor.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Toru: SPC – 5**

**Tem: SPC – 5**

Upon drawing the card, Tem looked at it and was slightly disappointed that it wasn't the card that he was looking for. However, the young man felt that even though it couldn't win the Duel for him the card could at least help him regain the lead. So he firmly placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as another portal appeared next to him.

"I Summon, Heroic Challenger – Double Lance!"

**Heroic Challenger – Double Lance: ATK 1700 DEF 900 LVL 4**

From the portal, a new warrior appeared and started flying next to Tem. This one had the appearance of knight who was completely covered in white and grey armor. He was carrying to sharp lances, both of which were about as tall as he was.

"I use Double Lance to attack your Life Points Directly!"

As he watched Challenger – Double Lance prepare himself to attack, Toru quickly took action and activated the face-down card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" He declared. "With this, your attack is negated!"

The Scrap-Iron Scarecrow materialized in front of Toru as it protected him from Double Lance's attack. Once that happened, the device proceeded to return to its face-down position.

"Also, due to this card's effect, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow can be set face-down instead of being sent to the Graveyard."

Tem was annoyed by the fact that Toru was able avoid his attack by using a Trap Card that practically never ends. Still, not wanting to let that move get the better of him, the young man went over to his hand and picked out a card. He then proceeded to insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as it appeared face-down on the field for a few moments before finally disappearing completely.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said.

"It's my turn," Toru declared as he drew a card. "Draw!

**Toru: SPC – 6**

**Tem: SPC – 6**

As Toru looked at the card that he just drew, the smile on his face only increased in size. Without wasting a second, the young man quickly placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as another portal appeared beside him.

"Now Tem, since you're the only one with a monster out on the field, I can Special Summon, Cyber Dragon from hand!"

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

As Cyber Dragon appeared from the portal and starting roaring at the top of its lung, Toru continued on with his turn by activating his other face-down card.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card, Call of the Haunted! With this Trap, I can Special Summon my Scrap Beast from my Graveyard!"

From out of another portal, Scrap Beast appeared and it started running next to Cyber Dragon. Once both of those monsters were out on the field, Toru took one more card from his hand and also placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now I Summon, Beta the Magnet Warrior!"

**Beta the Magnet Warrior: ATK 1700 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

One last portal appeared beside Toru as a new monster emerged from inside it. This one looked very similar to Alpha the Magnet Warrior, but it had some obvious key differences. Unlike Alpha, Beta was somewhat smaller and its body was a golden color in contrast to Alpha's silver.

"I now Tune my Level 5 Cyber Dragon with my Level 4 Scrap Beast!"

As all the spectators looked on in astonishment, both Cyber Dragon and Scrap Beast flew high into the air and performed a Synchro Summoning.

"From the remains, a dragon with the power of two appears and makes itself known to the world! Synchro Summon! Combine, Scrap Twin Dragon!"

**Scrap Twin Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2200 LVL 9**

A bright flash of light covered both Scrap Beast and Cyber Dragon as the cries of two creatures could be heard across the practice field. Once the light faded, every saw Scrap Twin Dragon appear beside Toru and the beast seemed ready to put an end to this Duel.

"I activate Scrap Twin Dragon's Special Ability! By sacrificing Beta, Twin Dragon can take two cards you control and return them to your hand!"

The two heads of Scrap Twin Dragon proceeded to eat the body of Beta the Magnet Warrior before turning its attention towards Tem. It then proceeded to zap Heroic Challenger – Double Lance and the face-down card, forcing Tem to return the cards back into his hand. Once he saw his opponent's field empty, Toru turned his Duel Runner around and started drifting backwards.

"You've improved a lot Tem," He said with a smile on his face. "Unfortunately, this is where the Duel ends! Scrap Twin Dragon, attack his Life Points Directly!"

As Toru's two headed beast prepared itself for the final blow, Tem quickly grabbed a card from his hand and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"This Duel is not over yet Toru!" He declared. "I activate the Special Ability of my Battle Fader! When I'm about to be attacked directly, I can Special Summon this card and end the Battle Phase!"

**Battle Fader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

When Battle Fader appeared onto the field, its Special Ability kicked in at the last moment, preventing Scrap Twin Dragon from attack Tem this turn. Still, despite the fact that he wasn't about to deal him damage through battle, Toru still had ways to inflict damage onto his opponent.

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" He said as he turned his Duel Runner back around. "By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can deal you 800 points of damage from every Speed Spell that's in my hand. Fortunately for you, I only have one Speed Spell in my hand so you only lose 800 Life Points!"

**Toru: SPC – 2**

From the end of Toru's Duel Runner, two laser beams shot out from the taillight and proceeded to hit Tem and drop his Life Points even further.

**Tem: 400 LP**

"Tem has gone across the Turbo Duel safety line," Takashi pointed it out.

"What do you mean?" Akiza asked him.

"As you just saw, Speed World 2's effect deals you 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in your opponent's hand. On Toru's next turn, he'll have 4 Speed Counters thus allowing him to activate the effect again and win the Duel."

"I see," Akiza said. "So in a Turbo Duel, if you're below 800 Life Points it's considered going across the safety line. If that's the case then Tem has no choice but win on his next turn."

Takashi nodded his head as he continued to look on at the Duel. Despite feeling that Toru had the match in hand, he knew that everything can change depending on Tem's next draw.

"I end my turn Tem." Toru said. "Now let's see if you can turn this situation around!"

Tem nodded his head and proceeded to place his hand on top of his deck. He then thought back of the last time he face-down Toru and realized that their roles were now reversed. It was Tem was the advantage while Toru was the one struggling to make a comeback. However, despite all the odds, his opponent was able to believe in his cards and win the Duel in the end. Tem realized that if he wanted to win then he would have to do the same thing.

"Here we go," The young man said to himself. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Toru: SPC – 3**

**Tem: SPC – 7**

As he watched Tem look at the card that he just drew, Toru attempted to read his opponent's facial expression. However, Tem's face was unreadable thus making it impossible to tell if the card he just drew was good or bad. Eventually, Toru got his answer when Tem placed the card that he drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon, Heroic Challenger – Double Lance!" He declared.

All of the spectators looked on in shocked as they watched another Double Lance appear beside Tem. Toru was about to comment on the strange play, but Tem quickly placed another card onto his Monster Card Zone before he had a chance to speak.

"I activate Double Lance's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned, I can Special Summon another Heroic Challenger – Double Lance from either my hand or my Graveyard in Defense Mode!"

As Tem looked on and watch his second Double Lance appear onto the field, the young man quickly made his way towards Toru. He then smiled towards him as placed both his cards on top of one another.

"I Overlay my Level 4 Heroic Challenger – Double Lances in order to activate the Overlay Network and Xyz Summon, Heroic Champion – Excalibur!"

**Heroic Champion – Excalibur: ATK 2000 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

Both Double Lances dove into the ground and performed the process for a Xyz Summoning. When they finished, a warrior with blue a red armor appeared from the ground and started flying next Tem in their place. The sight of Excalibur confused a lot of people, especially Toru, since it was still much weaker than Scrap Twin Dragon.

"I activate Excalibur's Special Ability!" Tem continued. "By using both of its Overlay units, Excalibur's Attack Points are doubled until my opponent's next End Phase!"

The two Overlay units that circled around Excalibur's entered its body, causing a golden around to surround it. As that was happening, the warrior's strength was beginning to increase at an alarming rate.

**Heroic Champion – Excalibur: ATK 4000**

"Go Excalibur and attack Scrap Twin Dragon!"

Excalibur complied with Tem's order and proceeded to draw its sword. Once it did, the mighty beast made its way towards Scrap Twin Dragon.

"Did you already forget Tem?" Toru asked with a confident smile on his face. "I still have my Scrap-Iron Scarecrow set on the field!"

Activating his Trap Card, Toru looked on and watched the metal scarecrow block Excalibur's attack. However, as the trap was beginning to re-set, the Scrap Duelist noticed that Tem still had a confident look on his face.

"I didn't forget about your Trap Toru," He said as he grabbed a card from his hand. "In fact, I was planning on you activating it this turn. Doing so would allow me to play this card!"

Tem inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as the golden light that surrounded Excalibur began to intensify.

"I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell, Double or Nothing! By removing 4 Speed Counters, this card can have Excalibur attack again with double the power since its first attack was negated this turn!"

**Tem: SPC – 3**

**Heroic Champion – Excalibur: ATK 8000**

Excalibur charged towards Scrap Twin Dragon again, this time not needing to worry about having its attack blocked, and preceded to cut down the beast. The resulting attack caused an explosion to surround Toru as his Life Points drop.

**Toru: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms began to fade away, all of the spectators started cheering for both Duelists. Takashi and Akiza also joined in the praise, despite the fact that they were a little disappointed that their friend lost. Eventually, the two of them made their way over towards Toru just as the young man was getting himself together.<p>

"Nice match Toru," Takashi said. "I'm sorry that you lost though."

"It's fine," Toru replied as he took off his helmet. "It's my fault for not realizing Tem's plan at the beginning. However, that just means I'll have to pay them back the next time we Duel."

"That's the spirit," Akiza commented with a smile on her face.

As Toru continued to catch his breath, Tem was approached by somebody the instant he got off his Duel Runner. After spending a few short minutes talking to the individual, Tem made his way back towards his friends with an excited look on his face.

"Guys, you won't believe just happened!" He said, attempting to calm himself down.

"What happened?" Takashi asked.

"I just talk to one of the judges of the Fortune Cup! Apparently, he saw me and Toru's Duel and was very interested in our skills. He said that the both of would worthy candidates for the competition and said he would recommend to his superiors that we should be allowed to compete!"

Takashi, Akiza, and Toru were all excited to hear the recent news as it meant that their skills were quickly being noticed by the higher ups. As they tried to contain their excitement, Tem continued on with his explanation.

"The judge also said that if we get a letter from the Fortune Cup committee in the next few days then that'll be the proof that we're officially entered into the Fortune Cup!"

"Awesome!" Takashi said as he raised his fist towards the heavens. "Then we better keep training so that we can continue to get notice by the committee! That way all of us will be allowed to enter the Fortune Cup and have a chance to become Japan's Duel King!"

The others raised their fists in the air as well and proceeded to join Takashi in his enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Goodwin was continuing to examine the information that he received from Lazar a few weeks ago. As he did that, a young woman with blue hair and gold eyes entered the room. She was wearing a blue business dress and was wearing a black necklace as well. When Goodwin noticed the young woman, he quickly got up from his deck and walked towards her.

"Has he arrived Mina?" He asked her.

"Yes he has sir," Mina said as she gave Goodwin a slight bow. "We've just arrived a few minutes ago."

A small smile appeared on Goodwin's face as he walked passed Mina and proceeded to leave his office. Now all alone, Mina walked over towards Goodwin's deck and began tiding up all of his paperwork. As she did that, she noticed the notepad and saw the faces of Takashi and the others. However, it was the final individual that really took Mina's interest as she examined his picture closely.

"Alistair…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Crow begins his training for the Fortune Cup, he quickly notices that his Duel Runner is still damaged from his the battle against Sasuke. As he attempts to fix it, a young female mechanic arrives to save the day. However, despite the fact that she's willing to fix his Runner, the young woman explains that Crow has to make it up to her. Just what exactly will Crow have to do and will it cost him in the long run?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 47 – Paying with Photons_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys and welcome to the 3__rd__ arc in Over the Nexus, the Fortune Cup. New characters will make themselves known as the battle to determine Japan's Duel King is fast approaching. Please look forward to all the exciting things to come. _

_I want to again thank __**KR-Orion**__ for allowing me to use Tem Uraki. I promise to use him to best of my abilities as story continues. For everyone else, I'm still accepting OC's so feel free to send me your own characters as well._

_Until next time this is Spirit Reader signing off! _


	47. Chapter 47

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks to: **_Catatonic Inspiration and Ten Commandments_

**Chapter 47: **_Paying with Photons_

* * *

><p>While preparing for the upcoming Fortune Cup Competition, Crow Hogan was busy riding through the back ends of New Domino City on his Duel Runner. Realizing that the best Turbo Duelists from all over the country were going to compete, Crow knew that he would need to improve his riding skills if he hoped to stand a chance against them. Even though he was a very talented Turbo Duelist, Crow's greatest weakness was his inability to turn which would result in his opponents being allowed to make the first move at the beginning of the Duel. Making the first move is essential since it would allow you implement your strategy right away, thus paving the way for victory. The number of sharp turns and narrow spaces that the back ends provided would help out with his training, since it would gradually improve the way he maneuvered his Duel Runner.<p>

As he went about his training, Crow started to think about how the Fortune Cup was an amazing opportunity for him. Like most aspiring Duelists, it's been Crow's dream to one day become the greatest Duelist in the world and he knew that winning the Fortune Cup would be the first real step into accomplishing this dream.

"This is going to be sweet!" The Blackwing Duelist proclaimed as he continued driving throughout the area. "I'm going to fly by this tournament and defeat anyone who gets in my way! After I win, it'll be time to finally settle things with him instead. Lilly shouldn't have to dirty her hands with someone like him, especially after what he did."

As Crow began to turn his attention towards the past, the Blackwing Duelist gripped the handles of his Duel Runner tighter than usual and began to accelerate as a result. By speeding up, the engine inside the Duel Runner began to heat up more than usual. Once it heated up to a certain level, a loud noise sounded from within the Runner.

"What the hell was that?!" Crow questioned as he looked down and saw the hood of his Duel Runner begin to emit smoke. "What's going on with my Runner?"

Concerned, Crow parked his Runner by the side of the road and quickly got off so he could check to see what was wrong. Upon lifting the hood, and blowing the smoke that came from it, Crow saw that his engine exploded. The sight of the destroyed engine confused the young man as he thought all the repairs that were made to his Runner were complete before coming to New Domino City. As he thought about how something like this could happen, Crow remembered something important that Lilly said to him just before they left for the city.

_Crow, with Aiku's help I managed to get your Duel Runner back into working condition. However, your Duel against Kazuki and the battle against Sasuke has severely damaged the engine. Until I can gather the parts needed to construct a new one for you, don't try to push your Runner beyond its limits._

"Damn it!" Crow placed his hand over his face in frustration as he remembered Lilly's words. "I'm such an idiot!"

As he continued to berate himself, Crow examined his engine more closely and tried to find some way to get it work for him. However, the young man was having a hard time doing that since he wasn't as skilled a mechanic as Lilly. He usually would have her or someone else work on the more complicated features while he just work on the simple things like the brakes or the deck interface. However, fixing an engine is an entirely different matter and Crow had no idea on how to repair it.

"God damn it!"

Meanwhile, as he closed his eyes and pondered on what to do, a young woman with dark brown hair that reached past her shoulders noticed him. In her hair were feather extensions, which girls sometime get when they go to beauty salon. She was also wearing a very basic set of clothing, which consisted of a blue dress, black jeans, and a jacket of the same color.

Upon noticing that Crow was still having trouble working on his Duel Runner, the young woman decided to see if there was anything she could do to help. She quickly made her way over to him and began to examine every inch of Crow's ride. She saw that the handles were pretty worn and that brakes were slightly damaged. However, she also noticed that all the main Dueling features were kept in pretty good shape which caused her to believe that Crow's Duel Runner has been taken good care of for the most part.

She eventually turned her attention over to the engine and began to examine it very closely. Crow noticed this and began to wonder what she was doing. He attempted to grab her attention, but the young woman was so focused on examining the engine that she neglected to pay attention to anything else.

"Just who the heck is this chick?" Crow questioned as he continued to look on at this scene. "I've never seen anyone be so fixated on a Duel Runner before. Well, anyone besides Lilly that is."

Crow looked on intently as the girl continued to look at his engine. Eventually, after about 7 minutes, she stopped looking and turned her attention towards Crow. The Blackwing Duelist looked on with a surprising look on his face as he watched the girl glare at him.

"You know, I initially believed that you've been taking excellent care of this Duel Runner of yours," She said. "However, after looking at the terrible condition of your engine, I'm starting to think otherwise. Just what the hell have you been doing to bring your engine into this state?!"

Crow continued to look on with a look of surprise on his face, but it was not because the girl was berating him. It was because of her eyes. He saw the young woman had very light grey eyes and it made him think that she was blind. He soon began to wave his hand back in forth in front of the girl's face, hoping to get some type of reaction from her. Eventually Crow did get a reaction from her, just not the one he wanted. The girl proceeded to grab Crow's hand and began to squeeze it has hard as she could. The force of the squeeze caused Crow to fall to one knee, as the pain that he was feeling was quickly becoming too much for him to bear.

"I'm not blind, you dumbass!" The girl declared as her grip on Crow tightened. "I just have very light eyes!"

"Okay, I get it!" Crow replied, trying his best not to scream from the pain. "Please let go of my hand now!"

The young woman kept her grip on Crow's hand for a few moments before finally letting go. She then turned her attention back towards the broken engine while Crow was busy tending to his hand.

"Let me ask you again," She said. "What happened to you engine? From what I can tell this engine has already been repaired once, so the fact that it broke down doesn't really surprise me. What I want to know is how it broke the first time. The marks all around it makes it seem like a laser beam struck it or something."

The girl wasn't completely wrong in her theory, but Crow couldn't bring himself to explain the real reason why his engine was in the state that it was in. Not only would she probably wouldn't believe the story, but a part of Crow still had hard time believing it himself. He proceeded to take a look at his Dragon Tail mark and started to wonder just what the heck it was. After a few minutes, Crow got off from the ground and looked towards the girl.

"Let's just say I ran into some old friends a few months ago and decided to make some modifications to my Duel Runner," He said, telling the truth while at the same time lying to her. "I was told that I would have to make do with a patch job until I can get a new engine, but I didn't think that it would break down that easily."

"Well of course it did," The girl replied. "Taking care of a Duel Runner is like taking care of child. Unless it's well taken care of things can go wrong very easily."

Crow nodded his head as he agreed with every word that girl said. He then gently placed his hand on his Runner and began to stroke it gently.

"I know," He said. "This Runner means more to me then you could possibly imagine and I'm pretty upset with myself for getting it into this condition. I should have taken it easy until I got my new engine, but I was confident that it could last."

The girl looked on and saw a look of sadness on Crow's face. She then remembered that while the inner working of his Runner was pretty damage, everything else was still in working shape. She then sighed gently to herself before making her way over towards the young man.

"Are you truly sorry for what happened?" She asked.

"Yes," Crow replied as he nodded his head. "I truly am."

"Alright then, I'll help fix your Duel Runner for you,"

Crow's eyes widen as he couldn't at what he just heard. Was it really possibly for her to repair his Duel Runner?

"However," The girl followed. "I'm not doing this free. If you really want me to repair your Duel Runner then you must do me a favor."

"No problem," Crow said with a smile on his face. "If you can really fix my Runner then I'll do anything you want me to."

The girl nodded her head in approval and began to push Crow's Runner so that she can take it to the place where it can be repaired. The Blackwing Duelist helped her out and soon the two of them were on their way.

"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself," He said. "My name is Crow Hogan. What's your name?"

"Miyagi," She replied. "My name is Miri Miyagi."

Meanwhile, Goodwin was making his way down into the building's lobby. Once he made it there he saw a young man with black hair and dark eyes looking towards him. He was wearing a fiery-red jacket and set of black jeans to go with it. Goodwin proceeded to smile towards the young man as he made his way over to him.

"It's been about 6 months since we've seen each other in person," He said. "How have you been, Alistair?"

Alistair ignored Goodwin's warm welcome as he proceeded to place the backpack that he was wearing onto a nearby couch. He then proceeded to walked towards the old man and looked him dead in the eyes.

"What's the meaning of this Goodwin?!" Alistair asked. "I demand to know why my tour through Kyoto had to be interrupted. If you don't have a damn good explanation for this then I swear that I'll make you regret it!"

The look on Goodwin's face made it seem that he wasn't too concerned with the Duel King's threat. This only annoyed Alistair even more and he prepared strike him down with a powerful punch. However, before the attack could land…

"Director Goodwin brought you here so that you can prepare yourself for your next title defense."

Alistair looked towards his left and saw Mina making her way towards both him and Goodwin. Once she reached them, the young woman handed the Duel King a computerized newspaper that contained a flyer for the Fortune Cup.

"Just what the hell is this?" Alistair questioned.

"It's called the Fortune Cup." Mina explained. "It's a tournament set up by Director Goodwin in order to determine the Number 1 Contender for your title of Duel King of all of Japan."

"Oh really," Alistair said, instantly having his suspicions about the tournament. "This has never happened before. You usually decide my next challenger by analyzing the current Dueling Record. So why do you need to set up a tournament all of sudden? Just what is the real reason for this Fortune Cup, Goodwin?"

Goodwin looked on and saw that the young man was determined to learn the truth. Deciding that now wasn't the time to tell him, the Director grabbed the computerize newspaper and proceeded to press the touch screen. Once he reached a certain article, Goodwin presented the newspaper back to Alistair.

"All will be explained when the time is right," He said. "And speaking of time, I think it's about time for you to have a warm-up before the Fortune Cup. I've already set up an Exhibition Duel between you and a promising young Turbo Duelist. I think he might give you a run for your money."

Alistair looked at the face of the person that Goodwin said he was going face and frowned upon seeing him. He then turned his attention back towards Goodwin and watched as the Director proceeded to make his way back towards his office.

"Damn it," He said quietly to himself. "This is going to be a pain in the ass."

* * *

><p>Back at Crow's location, the Blackwing Duelist was continuing to push his Duel Runner along the side of the road with Miri. Eventually, the two of them reached a small apartment that had its garage.<p>

"We're here," Miri declared.

"This is it?" Crow questioned the location as he was hoping for something a lot more. "This place almost looks like my own apartment. Is this really the place where you can fix my Duel Runner?"

Miri nodded her head and proceeded to walked towards the garage door. She then pulled out a key and unlocked the door before lifting it up. It was at that moment that Crow's eyes widen upon looking inside the garage. No, calling it a garage would be an injustice. To him, the inside was more like a workshop as it contained enough tools to make several Duel Runners. As he walked inside to get a better look, Crow saw designs for engines, Duel Disks, and several other things. The sight of this caused the young man to believe that Miri is a mechanic genius.

As he continued to look around the garage, Miri placed Crow's Duel Runner by a nearby table and proceeded to open its hood. She then put on a set of gloves and pulled the broken engine.

"Everything else on the inside of this Runner can easily be repaired," The young woman thought. "However, after taking another look at it, there's no way this engine can be returned to its former state. Maybe I should just give him that…"

Miri looked over towards the corner of the garage and saw a piece of white cloth covering something. She then looked back towards Crow and remembered the expression on his face when he said that he was sorry. It was then that she came to the conclusion that maybe she could give it to him.

"Hey Crow," She called.

Crow turned his attention towards Miri and saw her pointing towards the piece of cloth. Without having being asked, the Blackwing Duelist nodded his head in response and proceeded to walk over towards it. He then picked up the heavy object and slowly, but surely, brought over towards Miri.

"What the hell is this?" He asked her.

"It's…"

Just before she could finish, both Miri and Crow heard something enter the garage from the other side. It was a mid-sized teenager with jelled red hair and brown eyes. He had tan skin and was wearing a black and red suit with two coattails that reached the end of his knees. The young man looked over towards the two of them, but mostly had his eyes focused on Miri.

"Hey Miri," He said. "Have you finished working on my Duel Disk? You told me yesterday that it was okay for me to pick it up."

"Of course I finished it," Miri replied as she walked over towards a drawer and pulled out a black and red Duel Disk. "I wouldn't have told you to come and get it if it wasn't ready."

The young woman picked up the Duel Disk and handed it to the young man. After checking to see that it was in working order, the young looked towards Miri again and smiled.

"As always I can count on you to get the job done Miri," He said to her.

"Don't mention it Madas," Miri replied.

As he Crow looked on and watched the two of them converse, one thing was on his mind. Just what the hell is going on?! Meanwhile, Madas looked over towards Crow and the first thing that he noticed about him was the Criminal Marks that were all over his face, especially the one on his forehead.

"Hey Miri," He said. "Just who is this M-head?"

"Who the hell are you calling an M-Head?!" Crow asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Who do you think, M-Head." Madas replied. "Or are you as dumb as you look?"

The former Satellite resident snap and was about to confront Madas. However, before he could do so, Miri swiftly through two wrenches, one hitting each boy. The force of the impact caused them both to fall ground and hold their heads in pain.

"What the hell was that for?!" The boys yelled in unison.

"I don't need to have two boys fighting in garage like their a couple of children," Miri answered as she went back to work. "Besides Madas Elvin, you also have a Criminal Mark so you have no right to make fun of Crow just because he has one too."

Miri's words caused Madas to become silently embarrassed and began to put his head down a little. Crow began snicker at this scene, but he was soon silenced as Miri soon turned her wrath towards him.

"You have no right to laugh Crow! Even though Madas a 1 Criminal Mark, you have 3 and all of them on your face! You have a hard time getting laid."

Like Madas, Crow was embarrassed by Miri's comment and began to put his head down in disappointment. He soon started to hear Madas laughing at him and quickly confronted him about it. This led to the two of them fighting again, leading to Miri throwing another set of wrenches at the two boys.

"Jesus…this is why I hate boys," The young woman said to herself. "They're so fucking retarded."

Miri sighed silently to herself as she walked over towards Crow's Duel Runner and quickly pulled out the extra Duel Disk that the young man kept inside of his trunk. He then tossed it over to Crow, who caught it just after he finish recovering from Miri's last attack.

"Look, it's going to take me bit to finish working on this Runner so why don't the two of you have a Duel. That way, the two of you can settle your petty differences and I can get some work done."

Crow and Madas looked at one another and decided Miri's suggestion sounded pretty good. So the both of them walked outside of the garage and closed the door so that the young woman wouldn't hear anything. Once that happened they proceeded activate their respective Duel Disks and watched as the devices shuffled their decks.

"Alright M-head," Madas said with a confident look on his face. "It's time for me to put you in your place!"

"Oh really," Crow replied. "I was just thinking the same thing!"

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Crow: 4000 LP**

**Madas: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first, Draw!" Crow swiftly drew a card from his deck and added to the 5 other cards that made up his hand. He then looked over all of his cards before grabbing one and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. "To start things off, I Summon: Blackwing – Zephyrus the Elite!"

**Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

In a bright flash of light, Crow's Zephyros the Elite appeared beside the Blackwing Duelist and prepared itself for his next commanded. Once that happened, Crow took two more cards from his hand and inserted them both into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on the field, right behind Zephyros.

"I then set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn, Draw!" Madas drew a card from his deck and swiftly added it into his hand. Then, without missing a beat, the young man took a card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "When I have no monsters on the field, I can Special Summon: Photon Thrasher!"

**Photon Thrasher: ATK 2100 DEF 0 LVL 4**

On Madas' side of the field, a warrior with blue armor appeared the young man and prepared himself for battle. He was holding a large blue sword in his right hand, which was almost as tall as Thrasher's own body.

"No go Thrasher!" Madas declared. "Destroy his Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite!"

Photon Thrasher complied with his master's demanded and swiftly made his way over towards Zephyrus. Without much effort, Thrasher destroyed his opponent with one swipe of his mighty sword.

**Crow: 3500 LP**

Once Zephyros was gone and Crow's Life Points dropped, Madas continued on with his turn by placing another card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Galaxy Wizard, in Defense Mode!"

**Galaxy Wizard: ATK 0 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

In another flash of light, a blue wizard appeared onto field and proceeded to take a defensive position in front of Madas. In his hand, Galaxy Wizard was holding a magic staff which he used to create a barrier around himself. Once his newest monster finished making all of its defensive measures, Madas took two more cards from his hand and inserted them both into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized behind both of his monsters.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Crow nodded his head and proceeded to place his hand onto his deck. "It's my turn, Draw!" After drawing his next card and looking at it, a small smile appeared on the young man's face. He then proceeded to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone. "Since you're the only one with a monster on the field I can Special Summon: Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn!"

**Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn: ATK 2000 DEF 900 LVL 5**

As Sirocco made his appearance onto the field, Crow acted quickly and promptly activated on the face-down cards that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap: Delta Crow – Anti Reverse! Now, since I have a Blackwing Monster on the field, all face-down Spell and Trap Cards that you control are destroyed!"

Sirocco the Dawn flew up into the air and began firing razor sharp feather towards Madas' face-down cards. However, before they could connect, the young man activated one of those face-downs.

"I activate the Counter Trap: Seven Tools of the Bandit!" He declared. "By paying 1000 Life Points, this card negates the effect of your Trap Card and destroys it!"

**Madas: 3000 LP**

Crow gritted his teeth in anger as he watched Sirocco's feathers implode inches before they reached Madas' other face-down card. However, despite his plan failing, the Blackwing Duelist wasn't about to give up and continued on with his turn by placing a card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow!" He stated.

**Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow: ATK 600 DEF 500 LVL 1**

In another flash of light, Jin the Rain Shadow appeared on Crow's side of the field and started flying next to him and Sirocco the Dawn. Upon seeing both monsters, Madas instantly knew what was coming next.

"I Tune my Level 5 Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn with my Level 1 Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow!"

Sirocco and Jin nodded their head simultaneously and quickly flew up into air for the Synchro Summoning process. As they began the ritual, Crow pulled out a card from his Extra Deck and promptly placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Pitch-dark power, lodge in its great wings and stir up the divine winds! Synchro Summon! Gust fiercely, Blackwing Armed Wing!"

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2300 DEF 1000 LVL 6**

A bright flash of light briefly consumed Crow's side of the field as both of his Blackwing Monsters finished their ritual. Once the light faded, Blackwing Armed Wing appeared and stood beside its master in all of its might.

"Blackwing Armed Wing, attack Madas' Galaxy Wizard!"

Madas' eyes widen in shock as he watched Armed Wing make its way over towards his wizard. The young man thought for sure that Crow would attempt damage him by destroying his Photon Thrasher. Little did he know however that Crow still had that intention in mind.

"I activate Armed Wing's Special Ability!" Crow declared. "When it attacks a monster in Defense Mode, its Attack Points increase by 500 during the Damage Step and it's also granted the Piercing Ability!"

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2800**

The tip of Armed Wing's spear gun sharpen as the monster proceeded to fire it towards Galaxy Wizard. Once it struck him, the mage exploded and its Solid Vision remains struck Madas.

**Madas: 2000 LP**

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2300**

"I have to admit, that was a pretty nice move," Madas complemented as he recovered and activated his second face-down card. "However, it will take more than that to destroy my Galaxy Wizard. I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted, which revives my Wizard in Attack Mode."

Crow looked on as he watched Galaxy Wizard return to the field. He was also impressed with his opponent's skill, but he confident that he still had the upper hand in this Duel. To conclude his turn, the Blackwing Duelist took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized Blackwing Armed Wing, seconds after the beast returned to Crow's field.

"I end my turn by setting one card face-down." He said.

"It's my turn, Draw!" Madas swiftly drew his next card and looked at it from a few moments. He knew that it could be useful to him later, but now wasn't the time from him to play it. He instead decided to do something else. "I Overlay my Level 4 Photon Thrasher and Galaxy Wizard!"

Both Duelists looked on and both Galaxy Wizard and Photon Thrasher began to turn to colorful orbs. They then began flying around the field for a few moments before finally striking the ground.

"With these two monsters, I can construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Arrive in light, Radiant Photon Paradios!"

**Radiant Photon Paradios: ATK 2000 DEF 1000 Rank 4**

From the ground, a beautiful warrior holding a white a blue saber appeared onto the field and began to stare down both Crow and his Blackwing Armed Wing. The mere sight of warrior amazed Crow, even though the young man tried his best not to show it.

"I activate my Photon Paradios' Special Ability!" Madas declared. "By removing both of its Overlay Units, Paradios can drain the Attack Points of one of my opponent's monster and negate all of its Special Abilities!"

Crow looked on in shock as he watched the Overlay units that were surrounding Radiant Photon Paradios fly into the warrior's sword. Once that happened, Paradios fired a laser beam from his sword which struck Blackwing Armed Wing and drained it of all of its powers.

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 0**

"Now go Paradios!" Madas ordered. "Destroy his Blackwing Armed Wing with Photon Slash!"

Paradios complied with Madas' command and obliterated Armed Wing with one slash of its mighty sword.

**Crow: 1500 LP**

"Damn," Crow thought to himself as he recovered from his opponent's play. "I thought I had him on the ropes, but easily monster like it was nothing. I have to step up my game and fast."

As he watched his opponent ponder his next move, Madas decided that he should do the same thing. The young man took a look back at the card that he drew and again came to the conclusion that now wasn't the time to play. With no other moves that he could make, Madas did the only he could do.

"That's it for me," He said. "I end my turn."

Crow gently placed his hand onto his deck and hoped that his next draw would help him turn the Duel back into his favor.

"It's my turn, Draw!" He declared.

Upon looking the card he just drew, Crow was realized that though it was useful the card couldn't be used at the moment. He looked over at the rest of his hand and saw that none of the cards he had could be of any use either, so he came to conclusion that he needed to draw again. Luckily, the young man had a card that could do that for him and proceeded to insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Pot of Greed! With it, I can draw two more cards from my deck."

Crow looked towards his deck again and swiftly drew two more cards. Upon looking at them, a small smile appeared on his face as the Blackwing Duelist as instantly came up with a winning strategy. However, he would need one more turn before he could implement it so he decided to activate his face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Synchro Spirits! By removing from play one Synchro Monster that's in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon the monsters I used to summon it. Right now the only Synchro that's in my grave is Blackwing Armed Wing. So I remove it in order to Special Summon both Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn and Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow in Defense Mode!"

In a bright flash of light, both Sirocco and Jin returned to Crow's side of the field and quickly took defensive positions in front of him.

"With that, I end my turn."

"It's my turn now, Draw!" Madas declared as he drew a card and placed it into his hand. "Radiant Photon Paradios, attack his Blackwing Sirocco the Dawn! Go, Photon Slash!"

Again, Paradios obeyed his master's orders and struck down Sirocco with his mighty blade. Once that happened, the young man took a glance at his hand and promptly inserted two cards into his Spell/Trap Zone. Both cards materialized behind Paradios.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn."

Crow nodded his head in response as he gently placed his hand back on top of his deck. He then closed his eyes and heard the cry, of one his monsters. That cry caused him to smile confidently as he got ready to begin his turn.

"It's my turn, Draw!" He shouted.

The Blackwing Duelist glanced over towards the card he just drew and smile widen as he firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Blackwing – Ghibli the Searing Wind!"

**Blackwing – Ghibli the Searing Wind: ATK 0 DEF 1600 LVL 3**

In a bright flash of light, a new Blackwing appeared onto Crow's side of the field. This Blackwing had the appearance of a small bird with black and red feathers. However, what truly made this monster unique that it had 6 wings instead of 2.

"Hey, that's a pretty interesting monster you have there," Madas complemented, as Ghibli appearance matched his own. "However, do you really think it can stand against my Photon Paradios?"

"If it was by itself then no," Crow said as he grabbed another card from his hand. "However, as the old saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. When there's a Blackwing Monster on my side of the field, I can Special Summon: Blackwing – Bora the Spear!"

**Blackwing – Bora the Spear: ATK 1700 DEF 800 LVL 4**

Crow placed Bora's card onto his Duel Disk and, in an instant, his trusty monster appeared beside him and his other monsters. It was at that moment that the young raised his hand in the air as his Dragon Tail mark began to glow a little.

"I Tune my Level 3 Blackwing – Ghibli the Searing Wind and Level 4 Blackwing – Bora the Spear with my Level 1 Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow!"

All of Crow's monsters flew high into the air and prepared themselves for the Synchro Summoning ritual. As that was happening, Crow's mark began to glow a little bit brighter.

"Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 1600 LVL 8**

Once all three monsters finished the ritual, another bright flash of light covered Crow's side of the field. Once it faded, Black-Winged Dragon arrived in all of its glory.

"Black-Winged Dragon…?" Madas questioned as he both amazed and afraid at the same time. "I've never seen that card before. Just what the hell is it?"

"Black-Winged Dragon is my Ace Monster," Crow answered as he grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "And soon, you'll see its power first hand. But first, I activate the Spell: Monster Reborn! With it, I can revive a monster from either of our Graveyards. I choose my Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow!"

In a flash, Jin the Rain Shadow reappeared onto the field for the third time and prepared itself for battle. However, Crow as other plans for it as he proceeded to take its card and place it in his hand.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite! By returning Jin the Rain Shadow back into my hand, Zephyros can be Special Summoned onto the field!"

Jin vanished from the field and in its place, Zephyros returned and proceeded to stand beside Black-Winged Dragon.

"However, if I summon Zephyros via this effect, I take 400 points of damage!"

Zephyros turned his attention towards his master and was ready strike him with his metal claw. However, before he could even get close, Black-Winged Dragon blocked the strike with its wings.

"What the hell was that?" Madas asked he noticed that Crow's Life Points didn't decrease. "Why didn't you lose any Life Points?"

"You can thank Black-Winged Dragon for that," Crow answered. "You see, if I'm about to take damage due to an effect, Black-Winged Dragon's Special Ability activates. It negates the damage and gives Black-Winged Dragon one Blackwing Counter! However, it also loses 700 Attack Points as a result."

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2100 BWC 1**

Madas was amazed by Crow's recent moves. Not only did he manage to an extremely rare and powerful monster, but he's also now immune to all effect damage. He then realized that he'll need to hold on for dear life if he wants to make to his next turn.

"I think it's time to end this," Crow stated as he activated another face-down card. "I activate the Trap Card: Icarus Attack! By sacrificing 1 Winged Beast-Type monster on my side of the field, I can destroy 2 other cards on the field. I choose to sacrifice Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite in order to destroy both of your face-down cards!"

Zephyros started glowing a bright orange/yellow color before eventually imploding on itself. The remains of its body began scattering all over the place, two of which made its way over towards Madas' face-down cards.

"I don't think so!" The young man declared as he activated one of the cards. "I activate the Trap: Dark Bribe! By letting you draw a card from your deck, this Trap negates the effect of your Trap Card and destroys it."

As Crow drew a card from his deck, Zephyros' remains vanished inches before striking the other face-down card. However, despite the setback, the Blackwing Duelists still had the Duel in the palm of his hand.

"I activate Black-Winged Dragon's second Special Ability!" He declared. "By removing all of its Blackwing Counters, my dragon can drain the Attack Points of one my opponent's monsters by 700 for each Counter. Black-Winged Dragon currently only has 1 Blackwing Counter, which means your Radiant Photon Paradios loses 700 Attack Points!"

From the end of Black-Winged Dragon's legs, Madas watched as a giant black sphere began to form. Once it finished, the Dragon-Type monster threw the sphere over towards Paradios and effectively drained its Attack Power.

**Radiant Photon Paradios: ATK 1300**

"I'm not done yet Madas," Crow said, continuing on with his move. "Since Black-Winged Dragon doesn't have any Blackwing Counters on it anymore, it regains all of its Attack Points!"

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATL 2800**

"And to top it off, you take damage equal to the amount of points that your Paradios just lost!"

Madas' eyes widen as he watched Black-Winged Dragon strike him with 700 points of damage, bringing his Life Points down to equal his weakened Paradios'.

**Madas: 1300 LP**

"I have to say, this has been a really fun Duel," Crow said with a smile on his face. "However, this is where it ends. Black-Winged Dragon, attack Radiant Photon Paradios with Noble Steam!"

Black-Winged Dragon complied with Crow's order and prepared to fire its attack towards Paradios. Knowing that the destruction of his monster was unavoidable at this moment, Madas decided that the least he could do was reduce the damage of the attack. So, without wasting anytime, the young man activated his second face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Photon Light!" He declared. "When a Photon Monster I control is targeted for an attack, Photon Light reduces the Attack Points of the attacking monster equal to its Level multiplied by 100 until the End Phase of this turn! "You're Black-Winged Dragon's Level is 8 so that means it loses 800 Attack Points!"

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2000**

Paradios released a blinding light from his armor as he prepared to be struck by Black-Winged Dragon's attack. The light was enough to dim the Dragon's vision, causing it decrease the power of its attack just before firing. With that the damage Madas took from Paradios' attack was decreased by just enough for him to stay in the Duel.

**Madas: 600 LP**

Crow was amazed that his plan was thwarted and that Madas still had Life Points. However, a part of him was glad that he was still in the Duel as it meant that the fun could continue.

"With that, I end my turn."

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800**

Madas nodded his head in and proceeded to look over at his hand. He began looking at the card that he drew a few turns ago and decided that now was time to play it. However, he would need one more card in order to bring it out. Realizing that it was still in his deck, Madas gently placed his hand on the top card and gently shut his eyes.

"Here goes everything," He said to himself. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing the card, Madas turned his head and opened his eyes. Once he took at the card, a confidently smile appeared on his face as he proceeded to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Photon Sanctuary! With this card, I can Special Summon 2 Photon Tokens onto the field!"

**Photon Token: ATK 2000 DEF 0 LVL 4**

**Photon Token: ATK 2000 DEF 0 LVL 4**

In a bright flash of light, two blue spheres appeared in front of Madas. Once that happened, the young man quickly took the card that he wanted play and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I sacrifice both of my Photon Tokens in order to Special Summon: Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon!"

**Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

Crow's eyes widen in shock as he watched both of Madas' Photon Tokens disappear right before his eyes. His shock then turned to fear as he watched Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon appear onto the field.

"Damn it," He said to himself. "I'm sorry Black-Winged Dragon, but looks like this is it for you."

Crow prepared himself for Madas' attack, but before it could be carried out, his opponent decided to make one more move and promptly placed another card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Galaxy Knight!" He stated. "If a monster with Galaxy or Photon is on my side of the field, I can summon it without the need of a sacrifice!"

**Galaxy Knight: ATK 2800 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

Once again, another flash of light appeared onto the field as a new monster arrived and stood beside Madas. This Galaxy monster's body wasn't as shiny as the ones before it and it seemed to have more of a robotic appearance to it. However, it was carrying a beautiful sword that rivaled if not surprised the others.

"Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon, attack Black-Winged Dragon with Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy Eyes complied with Madas' order and proceeded to fire a blast of blue energy towards Black-Winged Dragon. Crow's monster attempted to block it with its Noble Stream attack but, in the end, the powerful Synchro Monster was overpowered and destroyed.

**Crow: 1300 LP**

With his field completely empty and no other cards left in his hand, Crow realized that lost this battle and simply prepared himself for the final blow. Madas also realized this and decided to end the Duel without further delay.

"Galaxy Knight, attack his Life Points directly with Galaxy Slash!"

Galaxy Knight nodded its head and swiftly slashed its sword across Crow's chest, effectively depleting all of his Life Points.

**Crow: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms began to fade away, Crow sat down on the ground and proceeded to deactivate his Duel Disk. He then, after gathering all of his cards, began looking at his deck with a look of intent in his eyes.<p>

"Not yet," He thought. "I'm not there yet. If I'm going to win the Fortune Cup and defeat him, I must become several times stronger than I am now."

The Blackwing Duelist was upset with his defeat, as he was sure that the confrontation with Sasuke had brought his Dueling skills to the next level. However, this Duel with Madas reminded the young man that a True Duelist never stops improving on his skills. He knows that with every Duel he faces, his opponent becomes stronger and stronger. This defeat Crow about just that and the young man swore to himself that he could improve his skills so that next he will be victorious.

As he was pondering this, Crow soon noticed that Madas was making his way towards him. He was expecting him to laugh and brag about his victory, but he was surprised at what he did instead. The Galaxy/Photon Duelist extended his hand out to Crow.

"Hey," He said. "That was a great Duel. I can't remember the last time I was pushed so hard."

Crow looked up at his opponent and saw him smiling, which caused a smile to appear of the Blackwing Duelist as well. He then took Madas' hand and slowly got up from the ground.

"Yeah, same here," He replied. "I was amazed on how easily you were avoided my strategies like that. You're obviously the best Galaxy/Photon Duelist that I've ever seen before."

"Thank you," Madas said as he nodded his head gently. "I'm also impressed with your skills, especially when you summoned that Black-Winged Dragon. If I didn't have Photon Light set face-down then I did then I would lost. Thank you Crow, I continue to face Duelists like you in the nearby future then I should be more than prepare for that Fortune Cup competition."

Crow's eyes widen in shock after hearing Madas' words. Even though it was just announced a couple of hours ago, he didn't think that word of the Fortune Cup with spread so quickly. But then again, that's just another aspect of the big city that he had to get used to.

"So you're competing in the Fortune Cup as well," He said. "I guess that makes the two of us rivals."

Madas nodded his head and agreement as the handshake that both Duelists shared began to tighten. Without having to say anything, both Duelists agreed that they would attempt to face each other in rematch when the Fortune Cup arrives in the summer.

Soon, as the hours passed and day was quickly turning into night, Crow was back inside of the garage, helping Miri put the finishing touches on his Duel Runner. Though he wasn't as skilled as mechanic, the young man wanted to help out in any way he could. Miri decided to let Crow help, coming to the conclusion that with the help of another she could get the repairs done much quicker than she could alone. Eventually, the two of the finished the repairs just the clock was about to strike 10.

"It's done," Miri said.

"Amazing," Crow replied. "So what did you do?"

Miri wiped the grease from her face and gently lifted the hood of Crow's Duel Runner. It was then that the Blackwing Duelist saw that his Runner had an all knew engine, which looked far superior to his old one.

"This is my newest engine prototype," Miri explained. "I've spending months working on it, learning from the mistakes of past failures and I truly believe that I created an engine that can go the distance. However, up until now, I didn't have a rider that was capable of using to its fullest potential. But now do have a rider."

"Me?" Crow questioned as he pointed to himself. "You want me to test out this engine?"

Miri nodded her head in approval and proceeded to close the hood on the Duel Runner. She then handed Crow a card which contained her phone number and the address to this apartment.

"Remember when I told you that I wanted you to do something for me in exchange for fixing your Runner?" Miri looked on and watched as Crow nodded his head. Once that happened, the young woman continued on with her explanation. "Well this is it. If anyone can bring out the true potential of this engine it's you Crow. With that information I gave you, I want you to contact me regularly on how it's holding up and if there's any problems with it."

"Okay," Crow said as he nodded his head and smiled. "Thanks for helping me Miri. I promise I'll make it up to you in the future."

Miri simply nodded her head in response to Crow's replied. Since it was her suggestion, Miri felt that Crow didn't have to pay her back. However, he decided just to let it go since he didn't want to mess with his ego.

Soon, the time came for the Blackwing Duelist to leave and proceeded to get on his newly repaired Duel Runner. He then began to rev up the engine and smiled upon hearing its roar. Crow then put on his helmet and placed the visor over his eyes.

"See you later Miri," He said. "And thanks again for the repairs."

Miri nodded her head and began to back away so that her newest friend could leave the garage. Before he could however, Madas appeared beside the young man and extended his hand again. Crow smiled and once again shook the young man's hand, reconfirming the silent promise they made that they would face each other again in the Fortune Cup. With that, Crow left and began to make his way back home.

Meanwhile, at his penthouse suite, Alistair was busy relaxing on his couch while drinking a fancy cup of expensive coffee. As he did that, Mina appeared and looked as she watched the young man enjoying himself.

"Um…, Alistair," She called.

Alistair heard her assistant's voice and gently turned his head towards her. He then placed the cup onto a metal coaster and began to get up from the couch.

"What is it Mina?" He asked. "As you can see, I'm trying to relax here."

"I know sir," Mina said as she presented Alistair with the article of the opponent he was going to face in the Exhibition Match. "But shouldn't you be getting ready for your match? You opponent isn't some pushover."

Alistair sighed to himself as he was annoyed that Mina would remind him about something, at to him, so trivial. He then walked over and grabbed a black Duel Disk from off a nearby counter. The Duel King then placed it on his wrist and activated the device.

"I don't need to prepare," He replied as he placed a card from his Extra Deck onto his Monster Card Zone. The card quickly materialized and Mina was frightened by its mere appearance. "As long as I have my Red Dragon Archfiend, I'm invincible!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_While eating dinner, our heroes decided to tune to the Exhibition Match and take a good look at the Duel King's skills. Just how impressed will they be and can Alistair truly dominate his opponent like he said he can?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 48 – Red Dragon Archfiend_

_Finally, Japan's Duel King is about to reveal himself._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, sorry for the long update but preparing for Finals have be delaying him considerably. I hope to have Chapter 48 up by the upcoming weekend. _

_I'm also hear to announce that I'm preparing an Over the Nexus Holiday Special, which should be up just before Christmas. I hope that all of you will take a look at it when the time comes._

_Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	48. Chapter 48

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 48: **_Red Dragon Archfiend_

* * *

><p>When word got out that the Duel King, Alistair Miles, was going to compete in an exhibition match at the end of the week, every Duelist in Japan was excited for the chance to see him Duel. For the past 6 months, Alistair has been spreading his image by touring all around the country. During that time, no one has really seem him compete in a open Duel and they had to go by watching DVDs of his matches in order to get an idea of his style of play. This is especially true for those individual wishing to compete in the Fortune Cup, for whoever wins gets the opportunity to face him for his title. It's for that reason that everyone wanted to pay close attention to his match, as they wanted to see just how strong Alistair has gotten during these last 6 months.<p>

On the day of the match, Takashi was busy working on his new deck while waiting for the match to begin. It's been a little over a week since he decided to create this new Deck and, for the most part, the young man hasn't had much result. He felt that he had the right number Spell and Trap cards needed to build his deck, but he felt he didn't have the right type of Monsters. Whenever he wanted to create a new deck, Takashi usually spent most of his time adding new Spell or Trap cards and not focusing much on his Monsters. However, since he wanted to create a deck that focuses on Synchro Summoning, he knew that he needed to put more emphasis on his Monsters.

As he looked through all the monsters he had, both from his and his late mother's collection, the young man was looking intently on which cards to add. As he did that Takashi would take some glances at his Stardust Dragon, hoping to gather some inspiration from looking at his Ace Monster.

"What cards would work well with Stardust?" He thought to himself. "It's a Level 8 Dragon-Type monster who has 2500 Attack Points and 2000 Defense Points. Its strength doesn't really match its level, but its ability to sacrifice itself to protect others makes up for it. So maybe I should focus on summoning monsters who have powers to make up for Stardust's lack of strength."

Hours quickly passed by as Takashi continued examining all the monsters that he had. When the clock hit 7:30, the young man still wasn't making much progress with his new deck. Eventually, as she was making her way downstairs, Akiza noticed Takashi working hard and decided to see if she could help him. So the young woman quickly made her way down to him and began examining all of his cards.

"It seems you still having a hard time," She pointed it out. "Mind if I help you?"

Takashi smiled at her request and quickly made some room so that she could sit down on the couch. Once she sat down, Akiza began to look through all the cards that Takashi had and attempted to retrieve the ones that best reflected his style of play. As the two of them worked together, Akiza began to notice something about Takashi's Duel Disk that she never really saw before. Having seen him wear it all the time, the young Psychic Duelist initially thought that it was just an ordinary Duel Disk. However, after taking another good luck at it, she soon realized that it wasn't just an ordinary Duel Disk.

"Hey Takashi," She said. "Can I please look at your Duel Disk for a second?"

Takashi looked at her for a moment and questioned why she wanted to look at his Duel Disk. However, he quickly pushed that question into the back of his mind and promptly removed his Dueling device from his wrist. Once he presented it to her, Akiza quickly pulled out one of her academy textbooks and began flipping through the pages. Once she found the page that she was looking for, Akiza noticed that Takashi's Duel Disk resembled a Duel Disk that was on the page of the textbook.

"I thought this looked familiar," She said. "Takashi…, your Duel Disk resembled the original Duel Disks that were used in the Battle City Tournament."

"I know." Takashi quickly said.

Akiza's eyes widen after hearing what Takashi just said. The Battle City Tournament was not only the first competition that used first prototype Duel Disks, but it was also the same competition where Yugi Muto, the original Duel King, won the 3 Legendary Egyptian God Cards. Despite knowing all of this, and wielding something so rare, Akiza saw that Takashi wasn't really surprise like she was.

"Where…where did you get something like this?" She asked him. "These Duel Disks haven't been made in forever. Hell, not even the most famous auctioneers have something like this. So how the heck to you get one?"

Takashi began scratching the back of his head as he watched Akiza continue examining his Duel Disk. It was the first time he actually seen her become this interested in one of his things before. Usually she would only get this way when it implied to him, so this made Takashi happy as it meant that Akiza had the same level of passion for Dueling as he did.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I actually found the Duel Disk by accident," He explained.

"Really," Akiza replied as he paid close attention to his explanation.

"Yeah," Takashi said as he nodded his head. "You see, while I was 7-years-old, my grandpa and I were busy taking a hike by a nearby canyon. As we walked around, I happen to came across this Duel Disk by chance. Klaus told me about the era in which this Duel Disk came from and, obviously, I was excited and practically begged him to fix it for me. Eventually, after about 4 months of hard work, he fixed it and quickly this Duel Disk was operating at near perfect conditions."

"Amazing," Akiza said. "But why didn't you just get a more modern Duel Disk?"

Takashi thought for a moment as he tried to come up with the words in order to properly explain his answer to Akiza. As he was trying to do that, the young man noticed his Junk Synchron Tuner Monster and immediately found inspiration. He proceeded to pick up the card and handed it over to her before he started talking.

"Take a look at Junk Synchron. It's not a very powerful monster, but its Special Ability helps it bring its allies onto the field. When that happens, a stronger fighting force is created."

"What are you trying to say?" Akiza questioned.

"What I'm saying is that the reason I didn't get a more modern Duel Disk is because the one I have now still has it uses," He explained. "No matter what people may say, nothing is useless in this world. Everything has its purpose, especially this Duel Disk. I plan on keeping it for as long as I continue to Duel because it's the catalyst for my desire to become the world's greatest Duelist. "

A small smile appeared on the beautiful Psychic's face as she continued listening to Takashi's explanation. Having already obtained a large amount of respect for his character, Akiza was extremely impressed that the man that she loved respected the idea that nothing in the world is useless. It's through this that the love Akiza felt for him grew even more than it did before. Soon, the two of them went back to work as they continued to wait for the Exhibition Duel to begin.

Eventually, the two of them notice both Crow and Aiku enter the apartment. The two of them were carrying a couple of bags of take-out in their hands, as they wanted to have something nice to eat while they watch the Duel. Upon seeing them, Takashi and Akiza decided to take a break for now and proceeded to help them carrying the food. Once they placed it on the table, they began to divide the things that they wanted amongst themselves.

Once they finished, the boys began to sit by the TV and starting eating as the awaited the beginning of the match. Meanwhile Akiza, who still fixing her plate, noticed that Lilly was still in the garage. The young woman hasn't been herself as of late, which caused Akiza to become a little bit worried. She soon entered the garage and saw that Lilly was working on her Duel Runner.

"Um…Lilly," She said to her in a somewhat low tone of voice. "Crow and Toru are back with the food. Do you want to come eat with us?"

"….I'm not hungry right now," Lilly answered, not even turning her head towards Akiza. "I'll eat later."

Akiza looked on and watched as Lilly continued on with her work. It seemed to the young Psychic that her friend had something personal on her mind and she really didn't want to be disturbed. Despite the fact that she wanted to know what was wrong, Akiza respected Lilly's privacy and proceeded to leave the garage so that she could join the rest of her friends.

Eventually, the clock stuck 8:00 and the Exhibition Duel was about to begin. Everyone was at the edge of their seats as the prepared watch the exciting Duel. This also included Lilly, who made sure to listen in closely as she continued on with her work.

Meanwhile, in the middle of New Domino City, thousands of spectators were making their way inside a giant domed stadium. This stadium was known as the Kaiba Dome, a memorial arena in honor of the late Seto Kaiba, one of the greatest Duelists to ever pick up a deck. It is in this large dome that the Exhibition Duel, which featured the Duel King, was about to take place.

As people attempted to find themselves seats and prepare for the excitement to come, the lights around the stadium began to dim slowly. Eventually, once all the lights were off, a large spotlight shined in one particular location. It is here that everyone who at the stadium, and those watching on TV, saw a man in a red tuxedo standing in the middle of light while holding a microphone in his right hand. He also had a very thin mustache, a sharp goatee, and was sporting an extremely large pompadour.

"_EVERYBODY LISTEN!_" He declared over the microphone. "_Get ready as another exciting Turbo Duel is about to commence!_"

The crowd started cheering at the top of their lungs as the Master of Ceremonies, or MC, was talking to them. All of them knew very well that the MC appears, the fun is just about to get underway.

"_As you may have heard, it's been recently announced that our country's Duel King, Alistair Miles, will be defending his title at the highly anticipated Fortune Cup competition. However, since the tournament is still 4 months away, it's been decided that Alistair Miles will be participating in this Exhibition Duel in order to promote the event!"_

As the crowd listened on intently, they noticed that a second spotlight was shining towards a tunnel that was right by the racetrack. Smoke was soon starting to come out of the tunnel as the MC continued on talking.

"_Now, let me introduce to you the individual who will be facing our Duel King!_" He stated in an enthusiastic tone of voice. "_He's a talented Duelist who's considered to be one of Japan's best! He not only has a Dueling record of 151-17-3, but he's also the winner of the recent Tokyo Grand Championships! Ladies and Gentleman please give a warm welcome to….Tyler Campbell!_"

Fireworks starting shooting from the sides of the tunnel as a young man in a black jumpsuit and silver Duel Runner started racing onto the track. The crowd instantly started cheering upon seeing Tyler as they were very impressed with the resume that young star was able to accomplish. Eventually, as Tyler finished his warm-up lap and made his way over towards the starting line, the lights from his tunnel began to fade and a new set of lights shinned towards another tunnel. Also, just like with Tyler's tunnel, smoke began to emit from the inside of it just as the MC started talking again.

"_When this young man appeared on the scene over 2 years ago, he's took the Dueling World by storm!_" He explained. "_In no time at all, he obtained fame, fortune, and illustrious title of Japan's Duel King. In fact, his skills with a deck has caused many people to believe that his skills rival, if not surpass, those of our late World Queen; Sakura Nakamura! Ladies and Gentleman please welcome our Duel King….ALISTAIR MILES!_"

Just like from before, a large amount of fireworks began to erupt as Alistair jumped from inside the tunnel on a black and red Duel Runner, while wearing a jumpsuit of the same color. The people in the stadium screamed with excitement as they not only saw the Duel King fly right before their eyes as he began to make his way towards the ground. Once that happened, Alistair began racing throughout the track just as his face appeared on giant, holographic orb that was floating in the middle of the stadium.

"Behold, people of New Domino City!" Alistair declared as he raised his right fist into the air. "Your Duel King as returned!"

The crowd acknowledge the King's declaration with another barrage of cheers as it has been nearly 6 months since they last seen him in public. Eventually, Alistair swiftly finished up his warm-up laps and made his way over to the starting line. Once he arrived, Tyler looked over towards him and he wasn't really impressed at what he saw.

"It's very nice to meet you…Duel King," He said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "I hope you've enjoyed your time at the top because I'm about to bring you back down to Earth.

"Is that so?" Alistair responded as he looked towards his opponent. "A Duelist such as yourself has no right to say such things. I'll defeat you before the 7th turn even begins."

"_Oh My God!_" The MC screamed. "_Alistair has just declared that Tyler will be defeated before the 7__th__ turn! Is that really possible?! Can the Duel King really do this?!_"

The crowd was amazed by Alistair's words and immediately started rooting for him, hoping to see if he really did have the skills needed to pull off such a feat. Meanwhile, Tyler wasn't really amused by the Duel King's declaration and silently swore that such a thing wouldn't take place.

Soon, a holographic countdown appeared in front of the two Turbo Duelists has they both prepared themselves to begin the Duel. As the countdown down started, both Alistair and Tyler activated the effects of the Speed World 2 Field Spell, causing a holographic aura to surround the entire stadium.

"_Let's get this match started!_" MC declared as he began time himself with the clock. "_3…2…1…DUEL!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Alistair: 4000 LP<strong>

**Tyler: 4000 LP**

Both Duelists launched themselves from the starting line and began racing along the track, attempting to pass the first corner before the other. At first, it seemed like Tyler would be the one to reach the corner before Alistair. However, the Duel King released a massive burst of acceleration from his Duel Runner and managed to pass Tyler and reach the corner seconds before he did. With that, Alistair was now allowed to go first and got ready to draw a card from his deck.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Alistair: SPC – 1**

**Tyler: SPC – 1 **

Upon drawing the top card from his deck, Alistair took a few minutes to look at it before placing it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster, Dark Resonator, in Defense Mode!"

**Dark Resonator: ATK 1300 DEF 300 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light shined onto the field as a small monster appeared beside Alistair. It had the appearance of a fiend and was covered in dark ropes. In each of its hands, Dark Resonator was holding an item; a tuning fork and tuning wire.

Once his Tuner fully materialized onto the field, the Duel King continued on with his turn by grabbing a card from his hand. He then proceeded to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as it materialized, face-down, onto field before disappearing.

"I then set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

Tyler snickered upon seeing the move that his opponent just made. He wasn't expecting the Duel King of all of Japan to summon a monster who only had 300 Defense Points. The sight of it caused the young man to believe that if Alistair continued playing weak monsters like that then defeating him would hardly be worth his time and his effort.

"It's my turn," He said as he placed his hand on top of his deck. "Draw!"

**Alistair: SPC – 2**

**Tyler: SPC – 2 **

As he drew the card, Tyler quickly placed it into his hand and proceeded to grab another card. He then firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon, Cyber Dragon Zwei!"

**Cyber Dragon Zwei: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A small flash of light shined beside Tyler as his monster began to materialize onto the field. The creature had the appearance of metal serpent that had yellow highlights all over its body.

"Go Zwei, destroy his Dark Resonator now!"

Cyber Dragon Zwei gave out a metallic hiss as it proceeded to make its way over towards Dark Resonator. Once it got close, the metal snake wrapped its body around the Tuner Monster so that it wouldn't escape its grasp. As soon as it had Dark Resonator firmly in its grasps, Zwei bit into the monster's body using its power jaws.

"That was too easy," Tyler said as he looked towards Alistair. "Next time, summon a monster with a bit more power!"

Alistair ignored the words of his cocky opponent and simply pointed his finger towards the two monsters. When Tyler looked into the direction in which Alistair was pointing, his eyes quickly began to widen from shock. He saw that Cyber Dragon Zwei was unable to fully sink its teeth into Dark Resonator and that the Tuner Monster survived.

"What the hell is going on?" He questioned.

"It's the Special Ability of my Dark Resonator," Alistair explained. "You see, once per turn, it can't be destroyed through battle!"

Dark Resonator started wiggling its body around, as it attempted to get Cyber Dragon Zwei to stop biting it. Once it accomplished this goal, the Tuner Monster then knocked Zwei back over to Tyler's side of the field.

"Hmph…you got luck Duel King," Tyler said as he grabbed a card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down, right behind Cyber Dragon Zwei, before disappearing. "I promise you that things will turn out different next time. I set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again," Alistair stated. "Draw!"

**Alistair: SPC – 3**

**Tyler: SPC – 3**

Upon drawing his next card, Alistair looked over his entire hand and examined all the possible moves that he could make. However, since he wanted to get this Duel over with at the time he wanted it too, the young man decided to stop playing games and get serious. So he quickly grabbed another card from his hand and proceeded to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon, Archfiend Interceptor!"

**Archfiend Interceptor: ATK 1400 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

In a bright flash of white light, a monster that resembled football player with 6 arms appeared onto the field and started flying next to Dark Resonator.

"Next, I Tune my Level 4 Archfiend Interceptor with my Level 3 Dark Resonator!"

Dark Resonator banged its tuning ware before flying into the air with Archfiend Interceptor. Once that happened, the crowd looked on in awe as the two monsters began the process for a Synchro Summoning.

"The beating pulse of the new ruler, show the chaos inside you! Synchro Summon! With pride, Chaos King Archfiend!"

**Chaos King Archfiend: ATK 2600 DEF 2600 LVL 7**

When the Synchro ritual ended, everyone saw a mid-sized monster with flaming wings appear and began flying beside Alistair. The mere sight of this powerful creature amazed almost everyone inside the stadium and those watching match TV.

"_Here it is, Chaos King Archfiend!_" The MC excitedly stated. "_This monster has battle alongside Alistair many times in the past and has always ripped through his opponent's defenses. Will the same thing happen to Tyler and his monsters?!_"

"Yes, it will!" Alistair responded. "Chaos King Archfiend, destroy his Cyber Dragon Zwei!"

Chaos King Archfiend complied with its master's orders and began to make its way over towards the Cyber Dragon. Tyler, knowing that his monster was about to be destroyed, braced himself for the attack. However, the young Turbo Duelist didn't expect the move that Alistair was about to make.

"I activate Chaos King Archfiend's Special Ability! When it attacks, it switches the Attack and Defense Points of all the monsters that my opponent controls!"

"What…!" Tyler shouted in shock.

**Cyber Dragon Zwei: ATK 1000 DEF 1500**

As Zwei's Attack Power began to decrease, Chaos King Archfiend finally reached the weakened monster. It then swiftly, but powerfully, struck down Zwei with one strike of its flaming wing.

**Tyler: 2400 LP**

As the crowd started cheering for their King, Alistair continued on with his turn by grabbing one card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap. Like with his other face-down card, the card appeared on the field for only a few moments before disappearing.

"I set another card face-down and end my turn."

"_What an excellent play by Alistair!_" The MC declared. "_Even though his Chaos King Archfiend already had an advantage over Cyber Dragon Zwei, Alistair utilized his monster's Special Ability to deal even more damage! It's those types of plays that make him worthy of being a Duel King! How can Tyler possibly come back from something like this?"_

"Like this," Tyler responded as he placed his hand on top of his deck. "Draw!"

**Alistair: SPC – 4**

**Tyler: SPC – 4**

Upon drawing his next card a small smile appeared on Tyler's face. He then started to rev up his Duel Runner and began to make his way towards Alistair. Once he got close enough, the young Turbo Duelist proceeded to insert the card that he drew into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Since I have 2 or more Speed Counters I can activate the Speed Spell, Angel Baton! With it, I can draw two cards from my deck and then discard one card from my hand to the Graveyard!"

Tyler swiftly drew the top two cards from his deck and smiled more upon seeing them. He then took a card that he didn't need and proceeded to place into Graveyard before inserting another card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I activate the Speed Spell, Speed Fusion! With it, I fuse the two Cyber Dragons that are in my hand in order to Fusion Summon, Cyber Twin Dragon!"

**Cyber Twin Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Two Cyber Dragons appeared onto the field and quickly began to combine into the powerful Cyber Twin Dragon. Once it was on the field, Cyber Twin Dragon looked down towards both Alistair and his Chaos King Archfiend, preparing itself for attack.

"Cyber Twin Dragon," Tyler commanded. "Destroy his Chaos King Archfiend!"

One of the metal mouths of the two headed dragon fired a powerful laser beam at Chaos King Archfiend, incinerating the monster and putting a dint into Alistair's Life Points.

**Alistair: 3800 LP**

As the smoke from the first attack began to disappear, Cyber Twin Dragon's second head was looking dead at Alistair and began gather energy from inside its mouth.

"I activate Cyber Twin Dragon's Special Ability!" Tyler declared as he looked over towards the Duel King. "During the Battle Phase, this monster can attack twice!"

Cyber Twin's second mouth responded to its master's words just as it finished gathering enough energy. It then proceeded to launch its laser attack towards Alistair as the crowd watch in a combination of both shock and fear.

Meanwhile, having seen such a move coming, Alistair quickly grabbed a card from his hand and firmly placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone. When the monster materialized onto the field, it turned out to be Battle Fader.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Battle Fader!" Alistair explained. "When I'm the target of a Direct Attack, Battle Fader can immediately be Special Summoned onto the field! Also, when it's summoned via this effect, the Battle Phase automatically ends!"

Tyler looked on with a look of annoyance on his face as he watched the laser beam that Cyber Twin Dragon fired disappear. He then continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"You got lucky Duel King," The young man pointed out. "But sooner or later, your luck is going to run out! I set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

"_A lucky break for Alistair, as his Battle Fader saved him from 2800 points of Direct Damage by the hands of Tyler's Cyber Twin Dragon!_" MC pointed out as he continued commentating the match. _"However, it's obvious to this announcer that odds clearly don't favor him. Our Duel King will need to pull a rabbit from out of his hat if wants to end the Duel before the 7__th__ turn, just as he foretold it would!"_

Alistair obviously knew that MC was right and that he was in a tough situation. It seemed practically impossible for to defeat Cyber Twin Dragon before the start of the 7th turn, but the Duel King was determined to make that happen. Without a glimmer of fear in his eyes, the young gently placed his hand on top of his deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Alistair: SPC – 5**

**Tyler: SPC – 5**

Upon drawing the card and looking at it, the Duel King smiled to himself as his confidence began to grow. He knew that he just drew the card needed to fulfill his vow and show Tyler just how weak the young Duelist really is. However, before playing it, Alistair began his turn by activating one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap, Descending Lost Star!" He declared. "This card revives one Synchro Monster that's in my Graveyard and places it into Defense Mode! In exchange, its effects are negated, its Level drops by 1, and it loses all of its Defense Points. So be revived, Chaos King Archfiend!"

**Chaos King Archfiend: DEF 0 LVL 6**

As Chaos King Archfiend returned onto the field, everyone was confused at what Alistair was trying to accomplish. Even with his Synchro Monster back onto the field, the effects of his Descending Lost Star made it impossible for it to attack. Also, with Cyber Twin Dragon's Special Ability, all Tyler had to do next turn is summon another monster and he'll have a clear shot at the Duel King's Life Points.

As everyone attempted to figure out his plan, Alistair continued on with his turn. His next move began with him taking a card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I now Summon the Tuner Monster, Barrier Resonator!"

**Barrier Resonator: ATK 300 DEF 800 LVL 1**

A bright flash of light shined across the field as Alistair's newest Tuner Monster made its appearance. Barrier Resonator practically had the same appearance as Dark Resonator, with the only exception being the large battery pack that was attached to its back. As it started flying next to both Battle Fader and Chaos King Archfiend, Alistair revved his Duel Runner up to maximum power and began to separate himself from Tyler.

"Behold everyone," He shouted. "I'm about to show you the very soul, of Alistair Miles! I Tune my Level 1 Battle Fader and Level 6 Chaos King Archfiend with my Level 1 Barrier Resonator!"

As the 3 monster jumped into the air and performed the process for another Synchro Summoning, everyone looked on in amazement as a giant fireball appeared just above Alistair. As the flames began to materialize into a tangible being, the Duel King began to recite another Summon Chant.

"The ruler's heartbeat, will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

**Red Dragon Archfiend: ATK 3000 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

When the giant fireball finished materializing, everyone witness the appearance of giant red and black dragon with 3 sharps horns protruding from the top of its head. It had very large wings, razor sharp claws, and also had a tail with a spear-like tip. Just looking at the beast caused the people in the audience, and those watching at home, to feel fear like they never known before. The fear was so great, that it overshadowed the one that had for Cyber Twin Dragon.

"_It's Here, It's Here, It's Here!_" The MC declared. "_The mighty Red Dragon Archfiend has finally made its appearance! This one monster, the Ace of Alistair's Deck, has won him championship after championship until it finally helped him attain the title of Duel King of all of Japan. It is an honor, no, a privilege to see this all powerful beast in action once again!_"

The crowd cheered on as they also were excited at the appearance of Red Dragon Archfiend. Even though it was Alistair's Ace, the Duel King rarely brought it out in Duels as he normally defeated his opponents without it. The fact that he's using it, especially in an Exhibition Duel, only means that he's doing it for his fans.

Meanwhile, Tyler was sharing the same enthusiasm as watched Red Dragon Archfiend stare straight at him. Having never seen the King's Ace before, the young Turbo Duelist had no idea how strong it was or how to counter it. He immediately knew that he would lose his Cyber Twin Dragon this turn and a part of him resented himself for letting that happen. However, if he could just get through the remaining of this turn then he could not only turn things around, but also prove Alistair wrong by having this Duel extend to the 7th turn.

"Red Dragon Archfiend," Alistair called. "Attack Cyber Twin Dragon…Absolute Power Force!"

Red Dragon Archfiend began roaring at the stop of its lungs as flames began gathering onto its right palm. Once it gathered enough, the Dragon-Type Synchro Monster flew over towards Cyber Twin Dragon and proceeded to destroy it with its flaming palm. The force of the impact created a holographic explosion that surrounded Tyler for a few moments as his Life Points began to drop.

**Tyler: 2200 LP**

As the smoke from the explosion began to die down, the crowd saw that Tyler was way behind in terms of distance between him and Alistair. The Duel King was more than ¾ ahead of him and was getting closer and closer to overlapping him. As he getting closer, Alistair promptly took the card that he drew at the beginning of the Duel and proceeded to insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

As soon as Alistair ended his turn everyone's attention turned towards Tyler. It was the 6th turn; the turn that Alistair said would be the last turn of the Duel. If Tyler managed to get through this turn, then he would've proved the Duel King wrong and force him to continue onto a 7th turn. However, he knew all too well that getting through this turn wasn't going to be a cake walk.

True, he could just skip this turn entirely by just putting a monster in Defense Mode, but the up and coming Turbo Duelist didn't want to do things that way. Doing that would be the coward's way out and Tyler was, by no means, a coward. He intended to get through to the 7th turn, but he planned on doing it legitimately. He wanted to prove to himself, the world, and especially Alistair that he wasn't just some kid would happen to get luck in all the Duels he faced. He was a legitimate contender and he was going to prove it…right here and right now.

"It's my turn," The young man declared as he placed his hand onto his deck. "Draw!"

**Alistair: SPC – 6**

**Tyler: SPC – 6**

Upon drawing the card that he just pulled, Tyler slowly flipped it over and took a good look at it. When he did, a powerful smile appeared on his face as he began to rev his Duel Runner up to levels he never knew he had. Soon the large distance between him and the Duel King began to slowly disappear until he finally was a couple of feet away from him. Once he was behind Alistair, Tyler firmly took the card that he drew and firmly placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"When my opponent has a monster on the field while I don't then I can Special Summon from hand…, Cyber Dragon!"

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

A bright flash of light shined over Tyler has Cyber Dragon appeared beside him and started staring down Red Dragon Archfiend. Despite the points difference between the two monsters, Cyber Dragon was not deterred and was ready to face this challenge. Tyler felt the same exact way and proceeded to exact one of his face-down cards in order to prove it.

"I activate the Trap Card, Call of the Haunted! With it, I can revive the Cyber Twin Dragon that you destroyed last turn!"

Cyber Twin Dragon's card popped out of Tyler's Graveyard and the young man quickly placed it back onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did, Cyber Twin returned onto the field and started flying next to Cyber Dragon.

"What do you plan to do with those weaklings?!" Alistair questioned. "Even with your Cyber Twin Dragon back onto the field, it's still not strong enough to take on my Red Dragon Archfiend!"

"…Who said I was going to attack with my Cyber Twin Dragon?" Tyler responded. "The only reason why I brought it back is so that I could bring out an even greater beast!"

The Duel King was puzzled by his opponent's words so Tyler decided to let his actions speak for him. He proceeded to activate his second face-down card and watched as it began to flip up from its previous face-down position.

"I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell, De-Fusion! By removing 2 Speed Counters, I can return one Fusion Monster back into my Extra Deck and Special Summon the monsters I used to summon it!"

**Tyler: SPC – 4**

Cyber Twin Dragon's body started glowing as its body began to split apart. Soon, two more Cyber Dragons were on the field thus bringing the total up to 3.

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

Once all 3 Cyber Dragons were out on the field at the same time, Alistair quickly understood the meaning behind Tyler's words and prepared himself for what was about to come. Meanwhile Tyler, who now had all the pieces in place, swiftly grabbed one more card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card materialized onto the field, everyone saw that it was card that he played earlier in the Duel.

"I activate the Speed Spell, Speed Fusion!" He shouted. "Since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I'm allowed to conduct a Fusion Summoning. I fuse all 3 of my Cyber Dragons in order to Fusion Summon, Cyber End Dragon!"

**Cyber End Dragon: ATK 4000 DEF 2800 LVL 10**

The three Cyber Dragons started to combine into one and when they finished, the menacing Cyber End Dragon made its way onto the field. Once it arrived, all three of heads roared at the same time, causing an echo that stretched to nearly all of New Domino City.

"_The tables have turned once again!_" The MC declared as the Master of Ceremonies was practically at the edge of his seat. "_It seemed that once Alistair summoned his Red Dragon Archfiend, the Duel was practically in the palm of his hand. However, Tyler never gave up and has able to bring out the ultimate Cyber Monster; Cyber End Dragon! Can Tyler do it?! Can he prove Alistair wrong and bring this Duel to a 7__th__ turn?!_"

"You bet your ass I will!" Tyler responded. "Cyber End Dragon, attack his Red Dragon Archfiend…Eternal Evolution Burst!"

Cyber End Dragon complied with Tyler's order and began charging energy into all 3 of its mouths. Once it gather enough, the metallic beast fired 3 fireballs towards Red Dragon Archfiend and it looked like the Duel King's Ace was about to be destroyed. Or so it would seem.

"Your dragon may be mighty," Alistair said. "But it's no match to the power of my very soul! I activate the Trap Card, Prideful Roar! Now, since Cyber End Dragon's Attack Points exceeds that of my Red Dragon Archfiend's, I take damage equal to the difference between the two beasts! In exchange, Red Dragon Archfiend gains Attack Points equal to the difference along with an additional 300 extra Attack Points!"

Tyler looked on in shock as he watched Red Dragon Archfiend fly towards Cyber End Dragon. As it made its way over towards it, Red Dragon started to absorb energy from the attacks that were coming its way. Even though one fireball hit its master, Red Dragon continued on absorbing energy until its strength surpassed that of Cyber End's.

**Alistair: 2800 LP**

**Red Dragon Archfiend: ATK 4300**

As Red Dragon Archfiend prepared itself to destroy Cyber End Dragon, Tyler was conflicted on what was about to happen. Even though he went through all the trouble to summon Cyber End Dragon, Alistair easily read his play and set up an effective counter for it. However, since Red Dragon Archfiend was the only monster that Alistair had out at the moment, Tyler was somewhat happy that he was able to push the Duel onto the 7th turn.

"This Duel ends right now!" Alistair declared as he activated his final face-down card. "I activate the Trap Card, Absolute Power Force! When Red Dragon Archfiend destroys a monster through battle, my opponent takes damage equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

Red Dragon Archfiend started roaring at the top of its lungs as the flames that covered its hand began to extend all over its entire body. Once that happened, the dragon made its way over towards Cyber End Dragon.

"Go…Absolute Power Force!"

Again, Red Dragon Archfiend roared as it ran its entire body through Cyber End Dragon. The action caused an explosion that surrounded Tyler, causing him to lose the remaining of his Life Points.

**Tyler: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>IT'S OVER!<em>" The MC shouted as all the holograms faded away. "_Just as he predicted, the Duel has come to an end before the 7__th__ turn commenced. Ladies and Gentleman, our winner is the Duel King…Alistair Miles!_"

The audience started cheering at the top of their lungs as Alistair began doing victory laps all around the Kaiba Dome. As he did so he looked towards all the cameras that were flashing at him and declared something to everyone who hear the sound of his voice.

"Listen here, Duelists from all over Japan!" He started off. "You can train all day, every day until the Fortune Cup arrives. However, no matter wins in the end, your fate will be the same as Tyler's! No one will defeat Alistair Miles, the greatest Duel King who has ever lived!"

As the audience cheered at the Duel King's proclamation, Duelists from all over the country were now more determined than ever to qualify for the Fortune Cup. It soon became clear to them that the Duel King title wasn't the only thing at stake during the tournament. Their pride as Duelists were also on the line and that was something that they couldn't afford to lose.

Meanwhile, back at Poppo Time, Takashi and the others were busy comprehending at what they just saw. All of them knew that Alistair had to be a strong Duelist since he obtained the title of Duel King. However, all their expectations were thrown out the window after seeing his skills in person.

"This…this isn't good," Toru silently said as he grabbed his deck and looked at it. "We need to get stronger…much stronger. If we don't then…"

Toru didn't need to finish his sentence as Takashi, Akiza, and Crow all felt the same way as he. Despite growing through many trials in the past 6 months, the 4 of them knew that their level of skill wasn't enough to take on Alistair and his Red Dragon Archfiend. To make matters worse, all 4 of them knew Alistair wasn't even using half of his true power which only meant he's been toying with Tyler throughout the entire match. If their skills didn't match him while he's at less than half of his full power, then how in the world would they compete with him?

As the 4 contemplated on what they were going to do, Lilly got the jest of the situation while working on her Duel Runner. As she finished for the evening, the young woman walked over towards a nearby window and looked at the night sky. She began staring at the moon for a few moments before grabbing her Dueling Deck and looking at it.

"I don't care with kind of training I have to go through," She mentally said to herself. "I'll defeat you Alistair…and get back what's mine. I swear it!"

As she turned her attention back towards the moon, Dark Magician Girl appeared above her and started looking at her partner. As she looked at her facial expression, the beautiful Spellcaster didn't really know how to feel and simply spent her time look at Lilly.

"_I don't know what to say to her,_" She thought. "_Maybe if you were here, you would have answer for her…Ancient Fairy Dragon._"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Next Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With Spring Break now over, Akiza returns to Duel Academy to finish off the remainder of her Freshman Year. As she contemplates the Fortune Cup and her relationship with Takashi, a new student enters the class. Just who is this new student and how she interact with our favorite Psychic Duelist?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-OH! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 49: The New Girl – Misaki Himura_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcement <strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, sorry for the late update. I was busy gathering data by reading the GX and 5D's manga (two stories which I highly recommend you pick up and read). Anyway, I'm here to let you know that the Holiday Special is coming along fine and it should be out around December 21 to December 24. _

_Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	49. Chapter 49

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 49: **_New Girl – Misaki Himura_

* * *

><p>It's been a few days since the Exhibition Match took place and, for the most part, things seemed to have cooled off to an extent. While everyone was still worried about what would happen when they face Alistair, they decided to put that problem to the side for now. They realized that they needed to focus their time on their training so that, if they won the Tournament, they'll at least have the strength needed to go head-to-head with the Duel King.<p>

Lilly spent most of her time continuing working on her Duel Runner. Despite being the most experienced Turbo Duelist out of her group of friends, the young woman knew that her Duel Runner wasn't in the state needed to win the Fortune Cup. She would spend hours on in installing new modifications to the Runner so that it would function at its absolute best. Lilly would even skip on hanging out with her friends just so that she could focus solely on the task at hand. The others were worried about the workaholic attitude she had of late, but Lilly informed them that it was nothing and that she just wanted focus on the task at hand and that she would hang out with them later. The problem with that is...later hasn't come yet.

Crow, to some extent, focused on the same approach as Lilly and focus much on his time on his Duel Runner. However, instead on working on the Runner itself, the Blackwing Duelist would instead work on his overall riding skills. Miri Miyagi, Crow's new friend, would also help with his training by making sure that the engine she installed was still working to full capacity. She would also give some advice on to best handle his Duel Runner. Through her, Crow was learning to use the track to his advantage and how to get a sudden boost of speed by revving his Runner a certain way. Crow was very grateful for Miri's teachings and promise to make it to her by winning the Fortune Cup and giving her a portion of the million dollar prize money.

As for Takashi and Toru, the two of them decided that they would continue their usual routine of evaluating each other's styles. However, progress has been slow as of late since Takashi was still working on his new deck. Even though he slightly scared by the way Alistair Dueled, Takashi made sure to pay close attention on how the Duel King played. It was during his observation that Takashi finally obtained the missing piece in his deck that he was looking for and quickly began making the necessary changes to it. Through those changes, the young Duelist saw that all the pieces were falling into place and he knew that it wouldn't be too much longer until his brand new deck was completed. When that happens, Takashi would focus more on his training with Toru and be fully prepared when the Fortune Cup arrives.

Akiza's training session was slightly different from the rest of her friends as she decided to focus more on the learning aspect of Dueling. The young Psychic wanted to work on setting up her strategies better, making sure that she was always several steps ahead than her opponents. Even though Akiza was already considered to an extremely talented Duelist, most of the students at Duel Academy considered her to be best in her class, she still felt that there were still areas that she needed to improve on. To help with that, Akiza decided that she would attend the special Tournament classes that the Academy provided so that she can fully understand the things she would need to learn if she truly wanted to win the Fortune Cup.

One morning while preparing for the first class since the beginning on Spring Break, Akiza was busy packing her backpack with all her textbooks. Once she finished doing that, the young woman walked over to her dresser and began checking herself in the mirror. Even though she wasn't really into fashion or how she looked, Akiza wanted to make sure she was presentable to other people.

As she continued to look at herself, she noticed the necklace that Takashi gave to her at the beginning of her Spring Break and gently held the item in the palm of her hand. As she saw her reflection in the emerald in the middle of the necklace, a small blush appeared on Akiza's face and she began to recall the second reason on why she wanted to participate in the Fortune Cup.

Even though she saw the aspect of becoming the Duel Queen of all of Japan very promising, the real reason why she wanted to enter the Fortune Cup was because of Takashi. Throughout the past 6 months since she's known him, Akiza's feelings for Takashi has drastically changed from hatred into love. She would attempt to confess her feelings for him whenever she got the chance to do so, but she would either be too afraid to do it or someone would interrupt her at the last minute. These incidents began to have an effect on her confidence and Akiza began to have her doubts on whether or not she would ever be able to tell Takashi that she loved him. So, when the announcement for the Fortune Cup was made, Akiza found the perfect opportunity. If she managed to get through all the other competitors then she knew her confidence would grow as a result. This is even more so if she managed to win the entire tournament. So, after thinking long and hard about this, Akiza decided that she would win the Fortune Cup. Once she did that she would then confess her truest feelings towards Takashi, as she felt it was the most appropriate way for her to do so.

Once she finished looking at her necklace, and proceeded to place it around her neck, Akiza grabbed her things and made her way downstairs. As she did, she noticed several boxes all around the house and carefully maneuvered her way around him. Once she made it into the kitchen, she quickly prepared herself a bowl of cereal and began eating at the table. As she ate, she saw Takashi sitting across from her, putting the finishing touches on his deck.

"How's it going?" She asked him.

"Better than I hoped," Takashi responded as he lifted his head and faced her. "I'm about 80% done. I hope to have it finished later on today, tomorrow at the very latest."

"That's good to know," Akiza was happy that Takashi was making progress with his new deck as it meant that he would soon get back to doing the thing he loved; Dueling. "How'd you make so much progress?"

"Well, to be honest, I have kind of have to think Alistair for that," Takashi answered as he gently scratched the back on his head. "During his Duel, I saw him use a unique brand of Tuner Monsters called Resonators. When I looked them up, I saw that they're a group of Fiend-Type monsters whose abilities focus on Synchro Summoning and stalling. Realizing that, I decided to focus on a group of Tuners that have similar effects to the Resonators, but on a different scale."

"Different scale…?" Akiza questioned, confused by the meaning behind Takashi's words. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well…that's kind of hard to explain," Takashi said. "But, to put it simply, I intend for them to focus less on stalling and more on swarming. I want the monsters to be on the field as quickly as possible. That way I Synchro Summon faster and breakthrough my opponent's strategies before they have a chance to form."

Understanding the meaning behind his explanation, Akiza nodded her head in approval. As a Duelist who also focuses on rapid Synchro Summoning, the young Psychic Duelist knew very well on the type of strategy that Takashi was attempting to build for himself. She hoped to learn more about his new deck, hoping to help him out in anyway. However when Takashi decided to reveal that information on another day, Akiza accepted that response and began waiting patiently until the day came that he would reveal it.

After about a half an hour of eating and talking to the man she loved, Akiza finished up her breakfast and got ready to head to Duel Academy. As she prepared to leave Poppo Time, Takashi remembered something important and proceeded to walk over towards Akiza just before left out the door.

"Akiza," He called. "Before I forget, Zora told us earlier last week that her granddaughter is moving in with us. We promised that we would help her move her stuff in so we need to you come back from school as soon as you can."

"No problem," Akiza replied as she smiled and nodded her head. "I'll head back here as soon as the final bell sounds."

With that said, the young woman proceeded to leave Poppo Time and quickly made her way over towards Duel Academy. As she walked, Akiza began to wonder what type of person Zora's granddaughter was like. Even though she was relatively good terms with her landlord, Akiza never really asked her anything that happened to involve her personal life. So, when she learned that her granddaughter was coming to stay with them, she didn't really know on how to truly feel about it. All Akiza hoped for is that her newest roommate happened to be a person that she could get along with.

As she continued on her way to school, a young woman with short black hair and brown eyes saw Akiza making her way towards the Academy. Like her, she was wearing the standard burgundy uniform that all female students were required to wear and she was also carrying a brown bag that was holding various textbooks. Upon seeing Akiza, a small smiled appeared on the girl's face and she proceeded to make her way towards her.

"Hey Akiza," The girl called. "Wait up.'

Akiza turned around and saw the girl walking towards her. When she saw her, a small smiled appeared on her face as she proceeded to wave her hand towards the girl.

"Good morning Mei," She said.

Mei Kamiya is one of the few individuals, outside Akiza's usual circle, that the young Psychic Duelist could actually call her friend. She was a kind and attractive 17-year-old girl who's very popular amongst all the students within the Academy. However, despite her popularity, Mei would usually spend most of her time hanging out with Akiza. The two girls have a lot of common interest and have the same level of passion when it comes to Dueling. Because of that they were able to become good friends very quickly and they're usually seen hanging out with each other whenever they spare time or the same class.

Akiza is particularly grateful towards Mei as she proved Takashi's theory that not all people were bad as she initially perceived them to be. It's also because of her that she's been able to be more open with other people around the school and to her usual group of friends. In other words, it's through Mei that Akiza was able to open her heart more to the people that were around her.

"So how was young Spring Break?" Mei asked as she finally reached her friend. "Did anything exciting happen?"

During her Spring Break Mei's father, Kenji Kamiya, took her out of the country so that she could tour Paris. Since he works for New Domino's Public Security Maintenance Bureau, Kenji usually doesn't spend as much time with her daughter as he would like. To make up for that, he decided to set up some father-daughter quality time during her time off from school. Because of that, Mei didn't know about the announcements that involved the Fortune Cup and Akiza was forced to tell her in order for her to get the heads up.

"That's amazing," She said as she absorbed all the knowledge that was given to her. "And you say that you're trying to enter this Fortune Cup tournament too?"

"Yes," Akiza answered as she nodded her head slightly. "However, I've yet to receive the letter of recognition which would allow me to participate. I'm hoping that if I continue doing well this year, then they might notice me and allow me to compete."

"They have to notice you Akiza," Mei pointed it out as she gently wrapped her around Akiza's neck. "You're obviously the best Freshman that Duel Academy has. As a matter of fact, I've been hearing rumors that you may be the best student in the entire school and that it's a sure thing that you'll make the Dean's List."

"Maybe…"

As Mei continued to reassure Akiza, the young woman noticed the necklace that she had around her neck and began to examine it very closely. After seeing how beautiful it was, a small smile appeared on Mei's face as she looked towards her friend.

"So who gave this to you?" She asked in a sly tone of voice. "Was it your boyfriend?"

A large blush appeared on Akiza's face as she was embarrassed by Mei's words. She attempted to come up with the right words in order to prove her wrong, but her frantic expressions had already confirmed Mei's suspicions.

"You don't have to be embarrassed by it Akiza," She said. "Man, I don't get why you always become so sensitive whenever I mention that guy you like. I mean, is this Takashi really as nice a person as you say he is?"

"He's more than that," Akiza placed her hand upon her necklace and gently held it around her heart. "Takashi is kind, funny, brave, and a person who you can always count on when things get rough. It's thanks to him that I've become the person that I am now. I owe him a lot…so you can see why I have these feelings for him."

Mei understood Akiza's feelings very well. Even though she never met Takashi in person she could tell that everything that her friend said about him was true. Also, the fact that he was the one who turned Akiza from anti-social girl to a girl who is more outgoing is proof by itself. So, with a smile on her face, Mei gently patted her friend's back.

"Well, if that's the case, then you better get a move on." She said.

A small smiled reappeared upon Akiza's face as she agreed with Mei's response. The two friends then proceeded to continue on their way towards Duel Academy.

As the two of them walked, both Akiza and Mei noticed a very peculiar scene. A group of thugs were busy surrounding a young girl who was wearing the same Academy uniform as them. She had cerulean blue hair with black bangs and dark pink eyes. The girl also had a somewhat slender build to her and had a pair of above average breasts.

Akiza was slightly concerned about the situation and wanted to do something about it before something serious happened. As she was making her way towards them, the young Psychic Duelist noticed that the conflict between the two sides had already gone underway. However, as she continued to watch the scene, Akiza saw something that she really didn't expect.

The girl was not holding her own against all the thugs, but they were actually dominating most of them. She was utilizing several methods of Martial Arts, using each of them to predict the movements of her attackers and counterattack accordingly. Both Akiza and Mei were shocked at this display as neither of them expected to see something like this.

"…Jesus," The girl said as she closed her eyes and let a out a small sigh. "…I've never thought the thugs in New Domino City were this weak."

As she began shaking her head in disappointment, the girl didn't realize that some of the thugs she defeated were getting back to their feet. All of them had fierce some expressions on their faces, wanting the girl to pay for making them look like fools. They were about to attack her with a couple of lead pipes, but they were stopped by Akiza.

"That's enough," The young woman said as she gripped the hand of one of thugs. "You've already lost this fight. Take your friends and leave this place before things get worse for you."

To prove her point, Akiza continued squeezing the thug's hand until she broke it. As he screamed in agony, the thug noticed the menacing glare that Akiza was giving and felt a large amount of killing intent coming from her. Realizing that she meant business, the thug got off from the ground and proceeded to leave the area with the rest of his friends. Once she was gone, Akiza walked over to the girl.

"Well that was pretty interesting," She said with a small smile. "Are you okay?"

"…I'm fine," The girl replied.

She proceeded to grab her blue backpack from off the ground and began making her way towards the Academy. However, before she could get far, Mei confronted her.

"Hey…!" She called out. "Aren't you going to thank her for helping you? If Akiza wasn't there to stop those guys then who knows what could've happened."

"…I didn't ask for her help," The girl replied. "…I already knew that those guys were coming for me and I already had an effective means to counter them."

With that said, the girl quickly went on her way towards Duel Academy. Mei was irritated by her lack of respect, but Akiza calmed her down before things got too heated. For some reason, she felt that this girl was very similar to her former self. Because that she came to conclusion that she was just shy and she didn't want to interact with other people unless she really had to.

"That girl," She thought to herself. "I wonder who she is…"

* * *

><p>Later on that day, during her Strategic Dueling class, Akiza was busy writing in her notebook while her teacher was talking. As she was taking down some notes, Akiza's mind was focusing on the incident that took place earlier today. She very interested in that girl as she saw a lot of herself in her. Also, the way how she took down all those thugs was also very impressive. Having been learning Martial Arts from Takashi and Lilly, Akiza recognize some of the moves that the girl employed and was amazed on how well she executed them. She'd hoped that she would get the chance to see her again before the day ended.<p>

As she was thinking about this, Akiza's teacher got a notice from the office and exited the classroom as a result. After about a few minutes, the teacher came back inside the classroom along with another person. When Akiza saw who the person was her eyes widen from shock. It was the girl who she saw earlier this morning.

"Attention everyone," The teacher said, gathering the attention of all of the students. "I would like to introduce to you a new student to our class. Her name is Misaki Himura a transfer student from North Academy. Please treat her kindly as she gets acquainted to life here at Duel Academy."

As the student greeted her, Misaki kept to herself and didn't really pay much attention to them. She began scanning the entire room, hoping to find a place to sit. As she did that, the young woman happened to notice Akiza and kept her eyes upon her for a few moments before turning away.

"So Misaki," The teacher said. "As the newest student to our class, I would like everyone to see just how strong a Duelist you are. So I would like for you to choose any student here and the two of you will have a friendly Duel."

"…Very well," Misaki said in a somewhat low tone of voice. "…If you don't mind, I would like to face to strongest Duelist in this class."

Misaki's proposal shocked a lot of the students in the class as they never expected for the new girl to go right out and challenge the top student. Usually they would pick somebody who seemed easy to beat, just to prove how strong they were. However, since she wanted to challenge the strongest Duelist, that caused everyone to question whether or not she was a really strong Duelist herself or just plain arrogant.

In order to determine which of the two was true, most of the students decided to give Misaki what she wanted. They proceeded to raise their fingers into the air and began pointing towards the strongest Duelist in the class; Akiza Izinski.

"It seems your opponent has already been chosen for you," The teacher commented. "Well, it is true that Akiza is the top Freshman student at the Academy. I'm sure she'll be a strong opponent for you."

"…We'll see," Misaki silently replied.

As everyone got ready for the Duel, Akiza was trying to figure what the hell was going on. In a matter of only 5 minutes she not only encountered the girl she met this morning, but now is about to Duel her right in front of her entire class. Truth be told, the Psychic Duelist was becoming very confused. Still, despite her confusion, a small part of her was slightly excited about the Duel she was about to partake in.

"This is going to be interesting," She thought to herself as she picked up her Duel Disk and placed it around her left arm. "Even though I'm surprised about what just happened, I'm somewhat glad that this happening. I can tell right away that she's a good Duelist and now I get to see that strength in person. Hmm…it's funny. I guess this is the sensation that Takashi feels whenever he faces a powerful opponent."

Eventually, everyone left the class and quickly made their way towards the Dueling Arena. Once they were there, all the other students sat down in stands and prepared themselves for the action while Akiza and Misaki made their way towards the middle of the arena. The two girls began shuffling the other's deck, which is customary for Academy students to do before a Duel, and proceeded to give them back to each other once they were done. They then separated from one another before placing their decks into their Duel Disks and activating them.

"Alright…," The teacher said as prepared to prepare to announce the start of the Duel. "I want you two to give it you all and make sure to have fun."

Akiza and Misaki nodded their heads at the same time as they quickly drew five cards from their decks. Once they did that they looked intently at one another has their Duel began.

"DUEL!"

* * *

><p><strong>Akiza: 4000 LP<strong>

**Misaki: 4000 LP**

"…I'll make the first move," Misaki declared as she drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. After that, she immediately took another card and placed it horizontally onto her Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Morphtronic Celfon, in Defense Mode."

**Morphtronic Celfon: ATK 100 DEF 100 LVL 1**

A bright flash of light shined on Misaki's side of the field as a small and yellow cell phone appeared in front of her. Akiza, along with the rest of her classmates, was surprised by the appearance of this monster as they never heard of Morphtronic monsters before.

"I activate Celfon's Special Ability," Misaki continued. "Once per turn, while it's in Defense Mode, I can roll a six-sided die and I can look at the top cards of my deck equal to the number rolled."

A large six-sided die appeared in the middle of the air, right in between both Duelists. When it landed on the ground, it started rolling for a few moments before finally stopping. When that happened, the number that was face-up was 5.

"It's five. So now I can look at the top 5 cards of my deck."

Misaki swiftly picked up the top 5 cards of her deck with one draw and proceeded to look at each of them for a moment. After that she placed all the cards back on her deck in the order in which she saw them. She then took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down on the field, right behind Morphtronic Celfon.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn!" Akiza declared as she drew her first card of the Duel. As she took a look at the card, the young woman began wonder what other abilities that Morphtronic Celfon had. Eventually, she decided that she'll find out the old fashion way and proceeded to place a card onto her Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Lord Poison!"

**Lord Poison: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

In a bright flash of light, Lord Poison appeared and prepared itself for battle. However, before conducting her Battle Phase, Akiza took another card from hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Foolish Burial. With this card, I can take one card from my deck and place it into my Graveyard."

As Akiza took out her deck and began searching for the card that she wanted to discard, Misaki closed her eyes for a moment and began picturing all the moves that her opponent could possibly make by using Foolish Burial. After a while, the young woman had a pretty good theory on what Akiza's move might be and proceeded to open her eyes as a result. It was at that moment that Akiza found the card that she was looking for and quickly placed it into her Graveyard. Once that happened she put her deck back into her Duel Disk, watch it shuffle automatically, and continued on with her turn.

"With that, Lord Poison now attacks Morphtronic Celfon!" She ordered.

Poison complied with its mistress' orders and quickly made its way over to Celfon. However, before one claw could even touch her monster, Misaki activated her face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Morphtransition." She stated. "When a Morphtronic monster I control is targeted for an attack, this card negates it and switches the position of the selected Morphtronic monster."

Yellow electrical sparks began firing out of Morphtronic Celfon's body as Lord Poison continued to make its way over to it. When some of the sparks hit Poison, the Plant-Type monster was electrocuted and sent back to Akiza's side of the field. Then, Celfon began to change shape and began transforming itself into a small yellow robot.

Akiza kept her cool at the recent events, as she didn't want Misaki to her flustered. Still, she would lying to herself if she wasn't slightly concerned by her opponent's move. To prepare herself for what might happen, the young woman took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on her side of the field, right behind Lord Poison.

"I end my turn by setting one card face-down."

"It's my turn," Misaki said as she drew another card from her deck. Since she already knew what it was, the young woman immediately placed the card onto her Monster Card Zone. "I Summon: Morphtronic Magnen."

**Morphtronic Magnen: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 3**

Another bright flash of light shined on Misaki's side of the field as a new Morphtronic monster appeared. This one had the appearance of a blue and red robot with a magnet shaped head.

"Next, I activate the second ability of my Morphtronic Celfon. Once per turn, while in Attack Mode, Celfon allows me to roll a six-sided die. Depending on the number rolled, I can reveal the top cards from my deck and then Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Morphtronic monster from among them, ignoring the Summoning conditions. I then shuffle the remaining cards back into my deck."

As the six-sided die reappeared onto the field, Akiza finally figured out Misaki's strategy. She purposely placed Celfon in Defense Mode so that she can confirm which cards she was about to draw. Then played her Morphtransition Trap Card to not only protect her monster, but also set things up to activate its second ability. The thought of all this caused a small smile to appear on the Psychic's face as she watched the die roll across the ground.

"As I thought," She thought. "She is good."

Once the die stopped rolling, it revealed a 4. This allowed Misaki to pull the top 4 cards from her deck. Since she already seen them, Misaki knew which card she wanted to summon and immediately placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Morphtronic Scopen."

**Morphtronic Scopen: ATK 800 DEF 1400 LVL 3**

As Misaki took her remaining cards and shuffled them into her deck, another Morphtronic arrived onto her field. This one had the appearance of a black and white scientific telescope. With 3 monsters on the field, Akiza already knew what was about to happen.

"I Tune my Level 1 Morphtronic Celfon and Level 3 Morphtronic Magnen with my Level 3 Morphtronic Scopen!" Misaki declared.

The three Morphtronic monsters jumped into the air and proceeded to begin the Synchro Summoning ritual. As that was happening, Misaki pulled a card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Synchro Summon! Appear now, Ancient Sacred Wyvern!"

**Ancient Sacred Wyvern: ATK 2100 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

Once the ritual was finished, a beautiful white dragon with red eyebrows and blonde hair appeared onto the field and began staring down at Akiza. The beast then started roaring at the Psychic Duelist, which didn't really have much effect.

"Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack Lord Poison…Sacred Light!"

Wyvern complied with Misaki's order and proceeded to fire a blast of light energy towards Lord Poison. When it connected, the blast consumed the Plant-Type monster and dealt Akiza 600 points of damage.

**Akiza: 3400 LP**

Once the attack ended, Akiza noticed that the fragments of light energy that the blast gave off were transferring over to Ancient Sacred Wyvern. Once it finished, Wyvern grew about one foot taller.

"What's going on?" She questioned.

"…It's Wyvern's Special Ability." Misaki responded. "When my Life Points are greater than yours then Ancient Sacred Wyvern gains Attack Points equal to the difference."

**Ancient Sacred Wyvern: ATK 2700 **

As Wyvern starting to roar again, due to its power boost, Akiza was amazed that Misaki was able to take advantage of the difference between their Life Points. Still, despite how amaze she was, the young wanted to win this Duel and was prepared just in case something like that happened.

"I activate Lord Poison's Special Ability!" She declared. "When it's destroyed through battle, I can Special Summon one Plant-Type monster from my Graveyard."

From her Duel Disk, the card that Akiza discarded via the effect of Foolish Burial popped out of her Graveyard. Upon seeing it, she quickly picked up the card and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Gigaplant!"

**Gigaplant: ATK 2400 DEF 1200 LVL 6**

As soon as Akiza placed the card onto her Duel Disk, a giant plant monster appeared on her side of the field. The beast had the mutated appearance of a Venus flytrap that was combined with several bugs. While the other students were surprised by the sudden appearance of the beast, Misaki managed to maintain her cold and calculated look.

"Gigaplant huh…," She thought to herself. "So she decided to summon a Gemini Monster."

A Gemini Monster is a unique Effect Monster that initially doesn't carry its effects when it's first summoned onto the field. When it's first summoned, a Gemini Monster is treated like regular Normal Monster. In order to activate its effect, a Duelist must conduct a Gemini Summoning which is just like Normal Summoning the monster again. However, just like with a Normal Summoning, a Duelist cannot Normal Summon again once they Gemini Summon a monster.

"Now I get it." Misaki thought. "Akiza wanted discarded placed Gigaplant in the Graveyard so that she could Special Summon it later. By doing that she wouldn't have to wait an extra turn to Gemini Summon Gigaplant and activate its abilities."

Fully realizing that Akiza wasn't some Duelist that she could push over, Misaki decided that she needed to take the Duel more seriously. She didn't want to take any chances so the young woman took two cards from her hand and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on her side of the field, right behind her Ancient Sacred Wyvern.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again," Akiza declared as she drew a card, signifying the beginning of her turn. "To start things off, I Gemini Summon: Gigaplant!"

Akiza grabbed Gigaplant's card and took it off her Duel Disk. She then firmly placed it back on the device and watched a Gigaplant roared at the top of its lungs.

"Next, I activate Gigaplant's Special Ability! Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Insect-Type or Plant-Type monster from either my hand or Graveyard. I choose to Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Nettles!"

**Nettles: ATK 1200 DEF 400 LVL 2**

A bright flash of light shined on Akiza's field as the young woman placed a card from her hand onto her Monster Card Zone. When that happened, Nettles appeared onto the field and started standing next to Gigaplant. Once that happened, Akiza then activated the face-down card she set last turn.

"I now activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I can revive the Lord Poison that's currently resting in my Graveyard!"

Poison's card popped out of Akiza's Graveyard, allowing the young woman to pick it up and place it back onto her Monster Card Zone. When that happened, Lord Poison reappeared onto the field and stood next to both Gigaplant and Nettles.

"I Tune my Level 4 Lord Poison with my Level 2 Nettles!"

The selected monsters jumped into the air and prepared themselves for the Synchro Summoning ritual. As everybody in the arena looked on, Akiza grabbed a card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. She then started chanting to herself.

"Splendid hunter and dweller of the sacred forest, with your whip of punishment in hand, come forth now! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Splendid Rose!"

**Splendid Rose: ATK 2200 DEF 2000 LVL 6**

Once the ritual was completed, Splendid Rose appeared onto the field and began staring down both Misaki and her Ancient Sacred Wyvern. The sight of the Plant-Type Synchro Monster didn't really impress Misaki, but she knew that Akiza wouldn't have summoned it if it didn't have a powerful ability.

"I activate Splendid Rose's Special Ability!" Akiza stated. "By removing a Plant-Type monster from my Graveyard from play, Splendid Rose can cut the Attack Points of one monster on your side of the field!"

As the Plant-Type Duelist pulled out Lord Poison's card from her Graveyard, Splendid Rose used the thorn whips that were on its arms and proceeded to wrap them around Ancient Sacred Wyvern. As those thorns penetrated its body, Wyvern roared in agony as its strength by to decrease.

**Ancient Sacred Wyvern: ATK 1350**

"Now, since your monster is now weaker, I'll have my Gigaplant destroy your Wyvern!"

Gigaplant made its way over to Wyvern as Splendid Rose continued to hold the monster down. Once it got close enough, Gigaplant began to devour Misaki's monster right in front of her eyes. However, unlike her classmates, the young woman didn't look away from the scene and just looked on with an emotionless expression on her face.

**Misaki: 2950 LP**

With Ancient Sacred Wyvern now gone from the Duel, Misaki was now left with no monsters to protect her Life Points from a Direct Attack. However, even with this disastrous situation, Misaki still remained calm as if nothing was going on.

"What's with her?" One of the students commented.

"Yeah," Another followed. "Once Akiza attack her Life Points directly with Splendid Rose, she'll have only 750 Life Points left."

Akiza's was also wondering about Misaki's lack of expression, but now for the same reason as her fellow classmates. She knew she still had two face-down cards, which was the most likely reason why she was so calm, but it was more than that. It was like Misaki was still ahead of her, even though her Life Points were lower. This caused Akiza to believe that destroying Wyvern was part of Misaki's overall plan.

"This isn't good," She thought. "I've probably been walking in the palm of her hand since the very beginning. I need to end this now before she can execute her truest strategy."

With that in mind, Akiza pointed towards Misaki and prepared herself to launch attack on her Life Points.

"Splendid Rose, attack her Life Points directly!"

Rose nodded his head and quickly made his way over to Misaki. However, before anything could happen, the young woman activated one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Offensive Guard!" She declared. "When I'm the target of a Direct Attack, this card cuts your monster's Attack Points in half and allows me to draw a card from my deck."

**Splendid Rose: ATK 1100 **

As Misaki drew a card from her deck, Splendid Rose came over to her and slashed her with her thorn whip. Despite flinching from the attack, the young woman was satisfied that the damaged she took wasn't as bad as it could've been.

**Misaki: 1850 LP**

With her Splendid Rose only having 1100 Attack Points, Akiza wondered whether or not to activate its second Special Ability. Even though it would allow her attack with him again, its Attack Points would be cut in half even further. Also, Misaki still had another face-down out on her field, which could destroy Splendid Rose all together. Eventually, Akiza decided to do the wisest move available to her.

"I end my turn."

**Splendid Rose: ATK 2200**

"…Then it's my turn again," Misaki stated as she drew another card from her deck. Once the card was in her hand, Misaki then activated her second face-down card. "To begin this turn, I activate the Trap: Synchro Spirits! By removing Ancient Sacred Wyvern from play, this Trap allows me to Special Summon the monsters I used to Synchro Summon it."

All of the students looked on as they watched a bright flash of light cover Misaki's side of the field. From that light, Morphtronic Celfon, Magnen, and Scopen returned to the field and stood by their master.

"Next, I Tune my Level 1 Morphtronic Celfon and Level 3 Morphtronic Magnen with my Level 3 Morphtronic Scopen!"

Once again, the three monsters jumped into the air and quickly performed the Synchro Summoning ritual. And, like before, Misaki quickly grabbed a card from her Extra Deck and placed it upon her Duel Disk.

"Docking strength with courage to protect the world's peace! Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!"

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 2300 DEF 2500 LVL 7**

Once all three of Misaki's monsters finished the ritual, Akiza looked on in shocked as watched a mechanical dragon arrive on her opponent's field. It had a yellow and grey body and had several construction tools attached to its limps. Having never seen a dragon like that before, the Psychic Duelist was at a loss for words as she didn't really know what to make of it.

"Next, I activate Power Tool Dragon's Special Ability," Misaki continued. "Once per turn, I can add one random Equip Spell from my deck to my hand."

Misaki's deck started to shuffle for a few moments before finally stopping. When that happened, she drew the top card from her deck and looked at it. Misaki then inserted the card into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now equip Power Tool Dragon with the Spell Card: Axe of Despair. With it, my dragon gains 1000 Attack Points!"

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 3300**

Power Tool Dragon raised it shovel-shaped right arm and watched as it transformed into a menacing axe. Once that happened, it turned its attention towards Akiza's monsters.

"Power Tool Dragon, attack her Gigaplant!"

Power Tool complied and gave out an electronic roar. It then flew over towards Gigaplant and swiftly chopped the monster in two with its power axe.

**Akiza: 2500 LP**

"With that, I end my turn." Misaki said.

As she prepared to begin her next turn, Akiza attempted to find a way to destroy Misaki's Power Tool Dragon. She simply considered using Splendid Rose's Special Ability again, but wasn't sure whether or not it had another ability that could protect itself. In the end, she had to do something now otherwise things would only get worse for her.

"It's my turn!" She declared as she drew a card from her deck. Once she placed the card from her hand, Akiza proceeded to pull out a card from her Graveyard. "I activate Splendid Rose's Ability! Now you Power Tool Dragon loses half of its Attack Points until the End Phase!"

Splendid Rose launched his thorn whips over to Power Tool Dragon, causing Misaki's mechanical beast to lose half of its power.

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 1650**

"Now Splendid Rose, destroy her Power Tool Dragon!"

Splendid Rose nodded his head and quickly made its way over to the weaken Power Tool Dragon. As it proceeded to attack the monster, Misaki took the Axe of Despair from her Spell/Trap Zone and inserted it into her Graveyard.

"I activate Power Tool Dragon's Special Ability!" She declared. "When it about to be destroyed while equipped with an Equip Spell, I can instead send that card to the Graveyard in order to save my Dragon."

As both monsters continued to battle one another, Power Tool's Axe of Despair snapped in two. The bladed half of the axe struck Splendid Rose, causing it back off before it finish Power Tool Dragon off.

**Misaki: 1300 LP**

"I thought something like that might happen," Akiza said. "Fortunately I can use that ability to my advantage."

"…Oh really," Misaki replied. "…Don't you think you being a little bit too confident?"

"You may be right about that," Akiza took two cards from her hand and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on the field, right behind her Splendid Rose. "So let's find out. I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 2300**

Misaki looked at her opponent and saw that there wasn't any fear in Akiza's eyes. She then looked at her two face-down cards and believed that she was placing all of her hopes on them. Realizing that, Misaki knew that she needed to get rid of at least one of them before it was too late.

"It's my turn!" She said as she drew a card from her deck. "First off, I'm activating Power Tool Dragon's Special Ability!"

Like with before, Misaki's deck started shuffling as her Duel Disk randomly selected an Equip Spell from her deck. Once it finished, the young woman drew the card and looked at it before inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I equip Power Tool Dragon with the Equip Spell: Power Blaster! With this, whenever Power Tool Dragon destroys a monster through battle then you take damage equal to its Attack Points!"

Power Tool lifted its left arm and watched as a giant laser cannon was attached to it. Once that happened, Misaki then a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon, which will destroy one of your face-down cards!"

From the Spell, a giant typhoon appeared onto the field and began to consume Akiza's side of the field. The wind coming from typhoon caused one of her face-down cards to destroy itself, resulting in only leaving Akiza with one.

"Now Power Tool Dragon," Misaki said, wanting her monster to get ready. "Take aim and destroy Splendid Rose!"

Power Tool Dragon complied with Misaki's demand and fired its newly acquired laser cannon at Splendid Rose. When the blast struck the monster, Splendid Rose screamed in agony as it was obliterated until nothing was left.

**Akiza: 2400 LP**

Once her monster was gone, Akiza looked on as Power Tool Dragon soon turned its sights over to her. Due to the effect of the Power Blast Equip Spell, the Psychic Duelist knew that she was about to dealt damaged equal to Splendid Rose's Attack Points. So she prepared herself and watched as Power Tool Dragon launched another attack from its laser cannon, resulting in her losing 2200 Life Points.

**Akiza: 200 LP**

As her Life Points dropped, all of Akiza's classmates were shocked at what they were seeing. None of them never expected Misaki to be doing this well and thought that Akiza would defeat her easily. However, it was the exact opposite. Misaki was the one dominating the Duel while Akiza was trying to her best just to hold on. If something didn't happen soon, then all of the students knew that they were about to witness the upset of the year.

"With that," Misaki said. "I end my turn."

Akiza nodded her head and looked towards her hand. Even though things looked bad for her, she still had a plan for victory. However, she needed one more card in order implement her strategy. Realizing that this was probably her last turn, Akiza closed her eyes and placed everything on this one last draw.

"It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

As she slowly drew the card from her deck, Akiza opened her eyes and took a glance at the card that held her fate. Upon looking at it, a small smile appeared on her face as she inserted to the card into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With this, I can revive one monster from either of our Graveyards. The monster I choose is your Morphtronic Scopen!"

A bright flash of light appeared on Akiza's side of the field as Misaki's Morphtronic Scopen reappeared on her side the field. Once it was there, she then took a card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next I Summon: Bird of Roses!"

**Bird of Roses: ATK 1800 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Another bright flash of light appeared on Akiza's field as her Bird of Roses arrived. Now, with two monsters out on her field, everyone knew that Akiza was about to Synchro Summon another monster. The question is…which one?

"I Tune my Level 4 Bird of Roses with my Level 3 Morphtronic Scopen!"

The two monsters jumped into the air and prepared to begin to Synchro Summoning ritual. As that was happening, Akiza's claw mark gave off a faint glow that no one seemed to notice as she pulled a card from her Extra Deck.

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the Synchro ritual ended, a bright purple flash of light completely covered Akiza's side of the field. As all the classmates looked on in awe, Misaki slowly loss her emotionless expression and became shocked at what she was witnessing. She eventually started to feel fear as Black Rose Dragon appeared and faced off against her Power Tool Dragon.

"Black Rose Dragon, attack Power Tool Dragon…Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon roared as it began gathering energy from within its body. Soon it fired a blast of purple flames that made contact with Power Tool Dragon. During this collision, Akiza started feeling a stinging sensation coming from her right arm.

**Misaki: 1200 LP**

"That's not going to work!" Misaki yelled as she started to become flustered. "Don't forget that Power Tool Dragon can be spared from destruction while equipped with an Equip Spell!"

The young Duelist removed her Power Blaster Equip Spell from her Duel Disk, resulting in Power Tool Dragon losing its laser cannon. Once Misaki placed the card into her Graveyard, she watched as her monster escape Black Rose Dragon's attack with its life. However, her quick form of relief was shattered upon noticing that Akiza's second face-down card was now flipped face-up.

"I activate the Trap: Synchro Ring!" She declared. "When a Synchro Monster I control attacks, but fails to destroy a monster through battle, this card doubles its Attack Points and gives it the right to attack again!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 4800**

Black Rose Dragon roared at the top of its lungs as the power of Akiza's Synchro Ring Trap flowed into its body. As a result, the powerful Dragon-Type Synchro Monster grew about to about double its normal height and was prepared to battle Power Tool Dragon.

Misaki was at a loss for words as she couldn't believe how quickly Akiza turned the Duel around just after she took control of it. She could finally see why her opponent was deemed the strongest in her class, as she carefully analyzed her moves and moved according to them. With no cards on her field, Misaki realized that the Duel was over. So she quickly calmed herself down, closed her eyes, and prepared for what was to come.

"Black Rose Dragon," Akiza said. "Attack Power Tool Dragon again…Black Rose Flare!"

The dragon once again complied with Akiza's orders and proceeded to fire another blast of flames at Power Tool Dragon. When the flames connected with its target, the young Psychic once again felt pain coming from her right arm. When she looked down at it she saw her mark was glowing, she began to question what was causing it. She soon came to a realization and looked at Power Tool Dragon before it turned to ashes.

"Maybe…"

**Misaki: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As all the holograms faded away, Akiza's teacher promptly announced her the winner of the Duel which caused the other students to cheer in unison. However, instead of basking in victory, Akiza simply deactivated her Duel Disk and made her way to Misaki, who was doing the same thing.<p>

"That was a nice Duel," She said with a smile on her face. "I had a lot of fun."

Akiza extended her hand out to Misaki, waiting for a response from her. Misaki simply looked on for a few moments before finally accepting her handshake.

"…Yeah…I had fun too."

As the girls shook each other's hands, Akiza looked on at Misaki's right arm and saw that wasn't any Dragon Mark on it. She then looked on at her own mark and noticed that the glow it was emitting was gone. This caused her to wonder whether or not the feeling she felt during the Duel was just a figment of her imagination.

Later on the day, with classes now over, Akiza returned to Poppo Time and proceeded to help her friends move the boxes that were around the apartment. As both she and Takashi moved some into Wendy's old room, the young woman started to wonder about the sensation she felt again.

"Hey Takashi," She said.

"What is it Akiza?" Takashi replied as he turned his attention towards her. "Is something wrong?"

"Well…I'm not really sure," Akiza explained the events of today and what happened during her Duel with Misaki. "When Black Rose Dragon attacked Power Tool Dragon I felt, for a moment, my arm burning. I looked down to see what was wrong and saw that my mark was glowing slightly."

"I see," Takashi nodded his head as he listened to her explanation. He then looked down at his Dragon Head Mark for moment before turning back to her. "But you said Power Tool Dragon is a Machine-Type monster. Our marks only give out that pain when we either face a dangerous situation or when our dragons due battle."

"I know…that's what bothering me."

Akiza moved her gloves a little and took a look at her Dragon Claw Mark and wondered what caused it to burn. As she looked at it, both she and Takashi started to hear a revving noise coming from the garage.

"Hey guys!" Toru yelled, calling out to his two friends. "Zora wants us downstairs. Her granddaughter is finally here."

Takashi and Akiza looked at one another for a moment and silently decided to talk later. They then made their way down into the garage and met up with Toru, Crow, Lilly, and Zora. The two of them saw another individual in the garage as well. It was girl who was riding a pink and white Duel Runner. She was wearing a white jacket over a light purple shirt, black stockings and white shoes. She was also wearing a pink a white helmet, which covered most of her face.

"Everyone," Zora said with a smile on her face. "I would like to introduce to you my adorable little granddaughter."

The girl nodded her head as the others smiled and waved at her. As she looked at all of them, she notice of Akiza and looked at her for a few moments.

"…This is interesting" She said as she placed her hands on her helmet. "…I didn't think to see you here."

Akiza was confused by the girl's words, but that confusion quickly turned to shock upon seeing her face. It was a person she knew all too well.

"Misaki…Himura?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Next Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Takashi as finally constructed his new Deck and is ready to test it out for the first time. While he and his friends go to the practice the field, they happen to come across a few familiar faces and a couple of new ones. All the while, a mysterious individual sets his sights on our young hero._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 50: New Strength – Part 1_


	50. Chapter 50

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks: **_Serpentdragon, DeadlyThunder195, JJun _

**Chapter 50: **_New Strength – Part 1_

* * *

><p>It's been 5 days since the sudden arrival of Zora's granddaughter, Misaki Himura, to Poppo Time and, for the most part, it has had an effect on the others.<p>

Upon seeing her for the first time, Toru was instantly attracted to the emotionless girl and attempted to impress her whenever he had the opportunity to do so. He usually tries to show her some of the tournament trophies that he won or the number cards that he'd obtained. However, Misaki wasn't really impressed with all of that and simply said that those who brag about what they earned are nothing more than little children. Despite her harsh remark, Toru still remains determined on one day winning Misaki's heart.

As for, Lilly and Crow, the two of them were highly impressed by Misaki's skills as a mechanic. The two of them learned, while watching her work on her own Duel Runner, that Misaki's uncle was a highly accomplished mechanic. Before he passed away, he happened to teach Misaki everything he knew and she was able to bring that to an even greater level. Because of that, both Lilly and Crow attempted to learn as much as they could from their new roommate. This is especially true for Lilly, as she was having trouble with her new engine design and hoped that working with Misaki will turn things around in the right direction.

Akiza's relationship with Misaki is relatively good since the two of them go to the same school and have almost the same number of classes together. Both girls are generally at the top of each of their classes, causing some of the students to think that they're competing with one another in order to determine who the best is. However, both girls didn't really care who, out of the both of them, was the best as it really didn't mean anything to them. All they cared about was improving their Dueling skills to their absolute best. Also, since they were considered the best in their class, both Akiza and Misaki generally tend to learn from each other and improve at what their lacking in by watching the other's strength.

The only person who Misaki hadn't had any real development with is Takashi, but it wasn't because the two don't get along. Truth be told, both of them have a lot in common and share the same love for Duel Monsters and Turbo Dueling. Their awkward relationship mostly stems from their different personalities. Takashi is a generally outgoing person who's always wants to make new friends and help other people whenever possible. Misaki is generally very quiet and speaks only when the situation requires her too. She also not very fond of helping people that she doesn't know, believing that she's not kind enough of a person to do something like that. Still despite the awkwardness between them, everyone believed that Takashi's and Misaki's relationship will improve as time goes by.

One day, on an early Saturday morning, everyone in Poppo Time was still sleeping as the sun was beginning the rise over the horizon. Everyone except Takashi, who spent most of the night putting the finishing touches on his deck. The young man was so close to completing it that he could practically taste it and he didn't want to stop until he was done. Soon, as the clock was about to hit 6:30, Takashi only had one more card to place and that was his Stardust Dragon. Upon placing his Ace Monster on the top of his new deck, Takashi felt a huge weight leave his shoulders and suddenly dropped to his knees. He then held his deck in his hands and started to cry a little.

"Its…IT'S DONE!"

Takashi's loud scream woke the others up from their nice slumber, causing all of them to rush downstairs in order to see what was wrong. When all of them noticed Takashi on his knees, crying to himself, they all wondered what happened. However, before anyone could ask, Takashi started to explain the reason why he was crying.

"Guys," He started off. "It's been a long 2 months in the waiting, but I've finally done it. I've finally completed my new deck!"

Lilly was annoyed by the young man's answer while the others had unresponsive looks on their faces. Eventually, her annoyance transformed to anger and Lilly responded by grabbing a wrench and knocking Takashi out with it. As he lied on the floor with blood coming out of his head, Lilly stood over him and attempted to strike him again. Luckily, both Crow and Toru managed to hold her down before she could get the chance.

"You Dumbass!" She said to her unconscious friend. "Waking me up over something like this? You're lucky they're holding me back, otherwise I'd kill you!"

While Lilly broke free from the others embrace and made her way back into her room, the other helped Takashi from off the floor and gently placed him on the couch. Akiza grabbed a first-aid kit and gently began wrapping Takashi's wound. As she did that, Misaki was busy looking on at the scene while Toru and Crow were talking to one another.

"I don't know about Lilly, but I'm really looking forward on seeing Takashi's new deck," Toru said.

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Crow replied. "In fact, I wouldn't mind facing off against it myself. It's been nearly 4 years since I actually faced Takashi in a real Duel."

As the two of them continued to agree with one another, Akiza was putting the finishing touches on Takashi's head injury and looked down at him as his head was placed on her knees. She then looked over and saw him clinching his new deck in his sleep, a scene that caused her to smile a little.

"Okay, let's do this," Crow said as he continued talking to Toru. "Once Takashi recovers, and Lilly stops being her usual self, we'll head over to the practice field and give this new deck its first test."

"That's fine with me," Toru said as he nodded his head in approval. "I was planning to go there anyway. With this, I now have a good excuse to go."

With that said, both boys went back upstairs in order get some more sleep. Misaki was about to go up and do the same thing, but stopped after noticing that Akiza was still with the sleeping Takashi.

"…Aren't you going back to bed?" She asked.

"No," Akiza replied as he turned her attention to her. "I already got plenty of sleep so I'll be fine."

Misaki accepted Akiza's answer and promptly went upstairs, back into her room. Now alone, Akiza looked back down at Takashi and started blushing to herself. She then smiled a little and gently kissed the young man's forehead.

"Get some rest Takashi," She silently said to him. "You have a big day today."

Meanwhile, on the far outskirts of New Domino City, a young man with spiky black hair and green eyes was putting the finishing touches on his black and green Duel Runner. He had a pretty muscular build to him and was around 6'1" in height. He also had a very unique birthmark on his back, which looked like a large broadsword that had two serpentine dragons wrapping their bodies around it.

Once he was finished working on his Runner, the young man walked over to a desk and placed a silver dragon claw pendant around his neck. He then put on a black shirt and jacket before covering his face with a helmet of the same color. Once he placed the visor over his entire face, he walked back to his Duel Runner and proceeded to start it up.

"It's time," He said quietly to himself.

With those words, the young man's back started to glow a bright green color and it revealed his birthmark. After a few seconds, the glow faded way and he promptly rode away towards a destination that only he knew about.

* * *

><p>Later in the afternoon, around 3:00, everyone finally made their way to the practice field and noticed that more people were there than usual. This sight didn't really surprise them as they knew that everyone wanted to be noticed by the Fortune Cup Committee and receive an invitation for the event. Takashi believed that the large number of people worked in his favor as it not only allowed him the chance to test out his new deck, but it also gave him the opportunity to check out the competition.<p>

Upon parking his Duel Runner, the young man started looking around for an opponent for him to face. As he did that, the others were simply hanging out with one another.

"…This really must be a big deal for him," Misaki said.

"Of course," Toru replied. "Ever since he was little, it's been Takashi's dream on one day becoming the best Duelist in the entire world. Winning the Fortune Cup and becoming the Duel King of Japan would be the first real step in accomplishing this dream. As a matter of fact…"

As Toru went on with his explanation, Misaki already got the jest of it from his first sentence and completely ignored the rest. She then went on her way with the others and looked as Takashi continued searching for an opponent to face.

Eventually, as he was searching for one, two Duel Runners appeared before him and his friends. Of the two Duel Runners, one of them had a side-car attached to it and a young woman was in it. When she, and the other two riders got off the vehicles, they proceeded to take off their helmets as they walked over towards the others. When they did everyone, with the exception of Misaki and Lilly, were both shocked and happy at whom they were.

"Tem Uraki!" Takashi, Akiza, and Toru said in unison.

"Miri Miyagi and Madas Elvin!" Crow followed.

As everyone was excited to see one another, Lilly and Misaki wanted an explanation on who these people were. Toru went on to explained on who Tem was and how both Takashi and Akiza met him when the Fortune Cup was first announced. Crow would then go on to explain on how Miri was the one who gave him his new engine and Madas was the Duelist who defeated him a couple of weeks ago.

During the conversation between all of them, Tem went on to explain on how he met both Miri and Madas while he was practicing for the tournament. During that meeting, the two boys decided to have a friendly Turbo Duel that eventually ended in Madas' victory. Despite the loss, Tem wasn't too upset as it meant he still needed to improve on some areas. Fortunately for him though, a member of the Fortune Cup Committee noticed the Duel between the two boys and was highly impressed with them. After some thinking, the judge promptly gave both Tem and Madas their respective invitation for the Fortune Cup and wished them luck before leaving to search for more Duelists.

"That's amazing," Toru said in astonishment. "It's so cool that both of you are going to be competing."

"It sure is," Tem replied. "I can't wait for the tournament to finally get underway."

"Yeah," Madas followed. "Now don't forget Crow. Now you need to get your invitation so that we can have our rematch."

Crow nodded his head as both he and Toru were giving a competitive glare to both Tem and Madas, who responded with glares of their own. As that was happening, both Lilly and Misaki were having a conversation with Miri.

"So you're the one who made Crow's new engine," Lilly said. "I was impressed on how intricate the design was."

"…Same here," Misaki followed. "…I check it out and noticed you combined old and new engine models."

"Thank you," Miri replied with a small smile. "I tend to combine both designs in order to create something new. Even though it's a failure half of the time, the engine that I gave to Crow was my greatest creation and I'm happy on how the results turned out."

As everyone was talking to their friends, both Takashi and Akiza were looking on with smiles on their faces. It was good to see everyone having such a good time as Fortune Cup drew ever closer. As they continued looking on, both of them felt someone grab the both of them. When they turned around, the two of them smiled and saw that it was their good friend Aiku Gato.

"Sup guys," He said with a smile on his face. "What brings you here?"

"What the hell do you think?" Takashi replied as he turned around and shook Aiku's hand. "I'm preparing for the Fortune Cup. I'm going to assume that you're doing the same thing."

"Yeah," Aiku nodded. "My father told me that I need to test my skills against other opponents. This is especially true since I just got my invitation earlier this week."

"That's amazing Aiku," Akiza said with a smile on her face. "I'm glad you're going to be competing."

Aiku smiled as he gladly accepted Akiza's nice words. Eventually, everyone else noticed the young man's arrival and discovered about his Fortune Cup qualification. Like Takashi and Akiza, the others were extremely happy for him and were more than eager to face him when the competition day arrives. Everyone, with the exception of Lilly, Akiza, and Misaki, decided to have a friendly Duel in order to test everyone skills. However, before they could decide who faces who, Takashi noticed something interesting in the distance and walked over towards it.

"Hey Takashi," Toru called. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back." He replied as he continued on his way. "You all Duel without me."

As Takashi continued on his way, Aiku walked over to Toru and gently placed his arm around him. When Toru looked at his good friend, Aiku proceeded to point his hand towards a female Turbo Duelist. When he saw her, the Scrap Duelist's eyes widen and his mouth dropped.

"Is that Kagura?!" He asked.

"Yup," Aiku replied. "Rumors say that Kagura Toyoshima was the first one to qualify for the Fortune Cup. You better step it up because I learned that she kicked your ass the last time the two of you Dueled."

Toru gently nodded his head as he watched Kagura work on her Duel Runner. He knew that with Kagura in the tournament, things were going to get rough. However, a part of him was excited as it meant that things were only going to get interesting from here on out.

Meanwhile, as he continued walking, Takashi noticed that was a group of Duelists surrounding a young boy who was about 14 or 15-years-old. He also noticed that the Duelists were teasing the boy as he was able to hear someone of things that they said.

"Who the hell do you think you are, Jay Slade?" One of them said in a very insulting manner. "There's no way that someone like you has what it takes to become a Turbo Duelist!"

"That's right," Another one followed. "You're just a spoiled little rich kid who had everything presented to you. You don't have what it takes to become an actual Turbo Duelist."

Duelists continued bully Jay with barrage of insults which slowly caused the young boy to lose his confidence. Having overheard everything, Takashi reflected back to his past and remembered how people in Crash Town use to berate him for wanting to become a Turbo Duelist because he was so poor. However, though sheer perseverance and encouragement from his friends, Takashi was able to prove his doubters wrong and was able to become an actual Turbo Duelist.

Realizing that Jay needed that same type of encouragement, Takashi walked up and stepped in between him and his bullies. Once he did that, he then created space between them so that they wouldn't be crowding anybody.

"Who the hell are you?!" One Duelist asked.

"Who I am doesn't really matter," Takashi answered. "All I'm here for is to stop you from pushing around this kid. You don't have any right to say that he can't become a Turbo Duelist just because he's rich. That's just like saying that poor people can't get ahead in life because their poor. Anybody can do anything if they set their mind to it."

The Duelists were annoyed, both by Takashi's words and by his intervention. Wanting him to leave as soon as possible, they attempted to jump him all at the same time. Unfortunately for them, that tactic didn't work as Takashi was able to maneuver both Jay and himself from them. Once he made sure that the young boy was safe, Takashi then went over towards the group of bullies and retaliated with a barrage of punches of kicks. The force of the blows sent them flying in several directions, amazing Jay in the process.

Once he felt that he was finished, Takashi slapped his hands together and proceeded to make his way back over to Jay. However, before he could reach him, he failed to notice two of the bullies getting back up. When they got back to their feet, they attempted to attack Takashi from behind. It was at this moment that a young woman with spiky midnight blue hair and emerald green eyes appeared and stopped them in their tracks. She had a slightly tanned skin tone, an athletic build, and was around 5'7 tall. The girl proceeded to attack the bullies in a far harsher matter than Takashi, actually breaking a few of their limbs. Eventually, they were force to tell after realizing that she would kill them if they didn't.

With all the bullies gone, Takashi nodded his head a little before checking up on Jay again. Once he saw that he was okay, the young man smiled before getting up and walking over towards the girl.

"Well…that was interesting," He said. "Thanks for the assist. My name is Takashi Nakamura."

"Don't mention it," The girl replied. "I tend to get annoyed with bullies attempt to jump other people from behind. It just shows how weak and pathetic they are. My name is Eleanor Morris, but my friends just call me Ellie."

As Takashi and Ellie continued to greet each other, both of them started to hear someone crying. When they turned around, they saw that it was Jay and proceeded to walk over towards him in order to see what was wrong.

"Hey…what's wrong?" Takashi asked.

"…They're right about me," Jay said as he attempted to wipe away his tears. "Turbo Duelists are they toughest people around. Yet here I am, getting rescue by people I don't even know. How can I become a champion Turbo Duelist if I lack the mental and physical strength to become one?"

"That's simple," Ellie responded. "You have to train to overcome your doubts. If you continue to whine and moan like a little bitch then that's all you're going to become. A true Turbo Duelist is able to overcome all the doubts that she or he might have, work around them, and become stronger from it."

Takashi nodded his head in approval as he agreed with everything that Ellie just said. Every person who inspired to become a Turbo Duelist had to go through all the doubts that Jay is going through right now, how one must be able to overcome that if they truly wish to become great. He's done it, his friends have done it, Ellie was able to do it, and Takashi was sure that Jay would be able to do it too.

Still, despite the encouraging words that he was hearing, Jay was still slightly depressed by what have just transpired. Upon seeing that, Takashi thought to himself for a moment until he finally got himself an idea. With that in mind, the young man gently placed his hand on Jay's shoulder.

"Hey, your name is Jay right?" He asked.

"…Yeah," Jay answered. "My name is Jay Slade."

"Well Jay, how about watching a Duel?" Takashi suggested to him. "I always feel better whenever I see a good Duel."

Jay thought about the prospect of watching a Duel and liked the idea a lot. Not only would it probably get his mind off the doubts that he's feeling, but it would probably improve his overall self confidence. He soon smiled a little and proceeded to nod his head in approval of Takashi's suggestion. This caused Takashi to smile himself as he turned himself around and looked at Eleanor.

"So how about it Ellie," He said. "Feel like facing me in a Duel?"

"It's fine with me," She responded. "However, I would prefer it being a Turbo Duel. I need to prepare myself for the Fortune Cup."

Takashi nodded his head at her suggestion and the two of them left so that they could grab their Duel Runners. However, before he could get his, Takashi proceeded to introduce Jay to his friends and him sit with them so that he's not watching the Duel by himself. Once that was settle, the young man walked over towards his Duel Runner and got it ready for his upcoming Duel.

As that was happening, the people all around the practice field noticed that a Turbo Duel was getting ready to begin. Being considerate, they quickly made their way off of the track so that the two Duelists could have enough room to Duel. One of those individuals, Kagura Toyoshima, noticed that Takashi was one of Duelists and recognized him being one of Toru's friends. With that in mind, the Twilight Duelist decided to pay close attention as she remember hearing that Takashi was a pretty good Duelist in his own right.

Eventually, both Takashi and Ellie were ready to begin their Duel and promptly made their way over the starting line. As Takashi rode his blue and white Duel Runner, he noticed that Ellie's had a pink and silver design to it. She was also wearing a helmet that had the same color scheme as her Duel Runner. Once they reached the starting line, both Turbo Duelists looked at one another for a moment and gently nodded their heads. After that, both of them turned their attention back towards the track.

"Speed World 2 – Set On!"

Both Duelists activated their Speed World 2 Field Spell's, causing the entire practice field to be covered in a holographic glow. Once that happened, the two of them revved up their Runners and promptly left the starting line. They then raced towards the first corner, hoping to reach it first and earn the right to make the first move. It was a back and forth competition, but Ellie eventually passed the corner a few seconds before Takashi.

"DUEL!"

* * *

><p><strong>Takashi: 4000 LP<strong>

**Eleanor: 4000 LP**

"It's my turn," Ellie said as she placed her hand on her deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Eleanor: SPC – 1**

As she drew her first card of the Duel, Ellie took a quick glance at it and smiled silently to herself. She then proceeded to place the card into her hand before grabbing another one and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Atlantean Pikeman!"

**Atlantean Pikeman: ATK 1400 DEF 0 LVL 2**

A bright flash of light shined next to Ellie as a green Fish-Man appeared beside her. It was wearing golden armor on the prominent portions of its body and was holding a golden long spear. Once Pikeman was out onto the field, Ellie grabbed the card that she drew this turn and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down beside the young woman for a few moments before finally disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Takashi nodded his head and gently placed his hand on his deck in response. He then took a glance at his deck and remembered all the time he spent constructing it. All the long days and sleepless nights were all for this moment. It was here that Takashi will finally see whether or not he obtained the new strength that he had long craved for.

"It's my turn," He proclaimed. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Eleanor: SPC – 2**

Upon drawing a card and placing it into his hand, Takashi looked over all of his cards and liked what he saw. He then proceeded to grab one of those cards and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Speed Warrior!"

**Speed Warrior: ATK 900 DEF 400 LVL 2**

As everyone looked on at the Duel, a warrior who had his body completely covered in armor appeared beside Takashi. He had an oxygen mask that covered his mouth and was riding on a pair of skates, which he used to ride next to his master. The sight of Speed Warrior surprised Takashi's friends, as they never expect him to play it even with a new deck.

"What the heck is Takashi going to do with a monster that weak?" Toru questioned. "If Speed Warrior attacks Atlantean Pikeman, then it's the one going to be destroyed."

"Have patience," Lilly replied.

"Yeah," Akiza followed. "Takashi is a very intelligent Duelist. He wouldn't make a move whether thinking about what could happen. I'm certain that Speed Warrior has an ability that will work in his favor."

Akiza was right in her assumption as Speed Warrior did have an ability that would work in Takashi's favor. An ability that the young man would proceeded to activate.

"I activate Speed Warrior's Special Ability!" He declared. "During that Battle Phase in which he was successfully summoned, Speed Warrior's Attack Points are doubled!"

**Speed Warrior: ATK 1800**

Ellie looked on in shocked as she watched Speed Warrior's Attack Points increased to the point that it surpassed Atlantean Pikeman's. She then looked on as Speed Warrior made his way over Pikeman, ready to do battle.

"Speed Warrior, attack Atlantean Pikeman…Sonic Edge!"

The Warrior-Type monster complied with Takashi's demand and proceeded to spin around. As it did, Speed Warrior swiftly sliced off Atlantean Pikeman's head with one power kick.

**Eleanor: 3600 LP**

With his target now taken care of, Speed Warrior made his way back towards Takashi and once again started riding beside him. Also, with the Battle Phase now over, Warrior's Attack Points returned to their original point value.

**Speed Warrior: ATK 900**

"See," Akiza pointed out. "What did I tell you? I knew Takashi wouldn't summon a monster without thinking about it first."

"I admit," Tem said. "That move was impressive. However, he left him vulnerable to Ellie's next move."

"He's right," Aiku followed. "Eleanor is known for her well thought out strategies. She usually lets her opponents get the upper hand just to figure out the strategies. After that, she formulates her own plan and uses it dominate her foe. If Takashi wants to win this Duel, then he's going to have to think even farther than her."

As the Duel continued, Takashi continued on with his turn by taking two cards from his hands and inserting them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized beside him for a few short moments before disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn," He said.

"Then it's my turn again," Ellie replied. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Eleanor: SPC – 3**

Upon drawing a card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Ellie pulled out Atlantean Pikeman's card from out of her Graveyard and put in away. After that, the young woman took a card from her hand and placed it firmly upon her Monster Card Zone.

"By removing my Atlantean Pikeman from play, I can Special Summon: Aqua Spirit!"

**Aqua Spirit: ATK 1600 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A small ball of water appeared beside Ellie as the young woman continued on with her turn. The ball soon began to change shape and it quickly transformed into a young woman with blue hair and green skin. She also head fish-like ears and was wearing a blue night gown. Once Aqua Spirit was out on the field, Ellie then grabbed another card from her hand and also placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Dewdark of the Ice Barrier!"

**Dewdark of the Ice Barrier: ATK 1200 DEF 800 LVL 2**

A small blizzard covered Ellie's side of the field as a ninja with blonde hair appeared onto the field. He was wearing dark purple robes and was holding ice-shaped kunai knives in each of his hands.

"I now Tune my Level 4 Aqua Spirit with my Level 2 Dewdark of the Ice Barrier!" Ellie proclaimed. "Synchro Summon! Appear now, Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier!"

**Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier: ATK 2000 DEF 1400 LVL 6**

Both of Ellie's monsters jumped into the air and quickly performed the Synchro Summoning ritual. When they finished, a giant blue tiger appeared onto field and started running beside her. It was wearing blue and yellow armor and had icicles on several of its limbs.

"Dewloren, attack Takashi's Speed Warrior…Icicle Crash!"

Dewloren complied with Ellie's order and proceeded to make its way over towards Speed Warrior. The Tiger King soon jumped up and pounced on top of its target. As it prepared to attack, Takashi swiftly activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Defense Draw!" He declared. "This Trap reduces the Battle Damage of this attack to 0 and allows me to draw 1 card from my deck!"

As the young man drew a card, Dewloren proceeded to kill Speed Warrior by using its various ice claws. When that happened, several icicles popped out of the Tiger King's back and made their way over to Takashi. Fortunately for him though, a white shield surrounded him thus protecting him from the attack.

Ellie wasn't too impressed by Takashi's defensive play as it only meant that he wouldn't be able to use that Trap Card again. The young woman would continue on with her turn by grabbing a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared right beside her in face-down position and quickly disappeared after a few seconds.

"I set one more card face-down and end my turn," She said.

"It's my turn," Takashi said to himself. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Eleanor: SPC – 4 **

Upon drawing his next card, Takashi took a glance at it and saw that it was pretty good card. He then smiled to himself as he inserting the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton!" He said. "When I have 2 or more Speed Counter, I can draw 2 cards from my deck and then discard 1 card from my hand."

Takashi placed his hand back onto his deck and swiftly drew two more cards. After he placed them into his hand, he then took a card from that hand and placed it into his Graveyard. With that settled, Takashi then took one of the cards that he just drew and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Junk Synchron!"

**Junk Synchron: ATK 1300 DEF 500 LVL 3**

As Junk Synchron made its appearance back onto the field, Takashi went back to his Graveyard and proceeded to pull out two cards. Once he did that, the young man then placed one of the cards horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When Junk Synchron is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard. Be revived, Speed Warrior!"

In a bright flash of light, Speed Warrior returned onto the field and took a defensive position right beside Junk Synchron. Once that happened, Takashi then took the other card that he got from his Graveyard and also placed it on his Monster Card Zone.

"I now activate the effect of my Quillbolt Hedgehog! When there's a Tuner Monster on my side of the field, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard!"

**Quillbolt Hedgehog: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

When Quillbolt arrived onto the field, the others had a pretty good idea on what Takashi was planning to do next.

"I Tune my Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog with my Level 3 Junk Synchron!"

As Quillbolt and Junk Synchron jumped into the air and prepared the Synchro ritual, Takashi proceeded to grab a card from his Extra Deck. Once he got the card that he wanted, Takashi began chanting to himself.

"Gathering stars will call upon a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Junk Warrior!"

**Junk Warrior: ATK 2300 DEF 1300 LVL 5**

When the ritual ended, a blue and white robotic like monster appeared onto Takashi's side of the field. It had red eyes, jet-like shoulders, and had long white cloth around its neck. The sight of the monster surprised some of Takashi's friends as they never seen him summon it before.

"So this is one of Takashi's new Synchro Monsters," Crow said as he looked on at the Duel. "Junk Warrior…"

"New Synchro Monsters?" Aiku questioned. "What do you mean, did Takashi change up his cards or something?"

"Ever since the battle against Sasuke, Takashi has spent the last couple of months constructing a new Deck," Akiza explained. "He said he wanted to focus on fast Synchro Summonings, so I guess Junk Warrior is a result of that."

"I see," Aiku was intrigued by this recent discovery as this was the first time that he's actually seen Takashi in a Duel. He hadn't realized that he changed his cards in order to suit a new style of Dueling. "That's interesting. However…, why did he choose to summon Junk Warrior? He still had Speed Warrior out on the field so he could have used it to Synchro Summon a Level 7 monster instead."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Lilly replied.

Back at the Duel, Ellie was wondering the same thing that Aiku was. Why did Takashi summon Junk Warrior instead of something more powerful? Sure it was stronger than her Dewloren, but it could only deal 300 points of damage at the most. As she continued to ponder this question, Takashi could tell what she was thinking and decided to answer it for her.

"I activate Junk Warrior's Special Ability!" He said. "When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, it gains Attack Points equal to the total Attack Points of all Level 2 or lower monsters on my side of the field!"

Ellie's eyes widen from shock as she watched Speed Warrior, a Level 2 monster, transfer its energy into Junk Warrior. The added power boost increased the Warrior-Type monster's overall strength by 900 points.

**Junk Warrior: ATK 3200**

"Junk Warrior, attack Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier…Scrap Fist!"

Once Junk Warrior finished powering up, the power Synchro Monster made its way over towards Dewloren and prepared itself to punch the beast. As that was happening, a purple warrior surrounded its arm thus giving it more power. When Junk Warrior finally connected with Dewloren, everyone watched as the Ice Barrier exploded on contact.

**Eleanor: 2400 LP**

As the smoke from the explosion impaired her vision, Ellie failed to notice that Takashi took advantage and quickly drove pass her. When the smoke finally faded way, the young woman noticed this and attempted to catch up with her opponent. All the while, she proceeded to activate one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Miracle's Wake!" She said. "When a monster I control is destroyed through battle, this card Special Summons it back onto the field!"

A bright flash of light appeared beside Ellie has her Dewloren returned to the field and started running next to her again. Takashi was able to keep his cool upon seeing this development and promptly looked at his hand in order to see if he had any moves to counter with. When he didn't, he sighed quietly to himself.

"I end my turn," He said.

Despite the fact that he wasn't able to keep Dewloren off of the field, everyone else was very impressed by Takashi's recent moves. Not only did he deal Ellie 1200 points of damage, but he also has a monster with over 3000 Attack Points out on his field as well. It was clear to almost everybody that Takashi clearly had to advantage in this Duel.

"If this keeps up then this Duel is in the bag for Takashi," Toru said with look of approval on his face.

"I agree on that," Crow followed. "With Junk Warrior out, Eleanor can't make any reckless moves unless she wants to lose more of her Life Points."

As some of the others agreed, Aiku and Madas still weren't completely convinced. Ellie was simply too good a Duelist to be defeated that easily and was sure that she'll turn things around soon. Their points were soon validated when a certain individual appeared before them.

"Eleanor is about to summon it," A female voice said.

When everyone turned around, they saw that it was Kagura. The young woman became more interested in the Duel and wanted to have a closer look. As she watched, Kagura was indeed impressed with Takashi's moves, but she knew that it was still Ellie's match to lose.

"The fact that she kept Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier on the field only means that she plans to summon it very shortly," She continued. "The only question is when?"

"What monster does she plan to summon?" Misaki asked.

Kagura looked down at the young woman and looked her straight in the eyes. After a few moments, she turned her attention back towards the Duel and watched as Ellie was beginning her next turn.

"Her Ace Monster,"

"It's my turn," Ellie said as she placed her hand on her deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Eleanor: SPC – 5 **

As she drew a card from her deck, Ellie was disappointed that it wasn't the card she was hoping for. However she believed that it would at least be a card that would help her get trough Takashi's next turn. To that end, the young woman inserted the card into her Spell/Trap Zone and watched as it materialized for a few moments before finally disappearing. She then took Dewloren's card and turned it horizontally.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "I then switch Dewloren into Defense Mode before ending my turn."

Dewloren got in front of Ellie, preparing to protect her if things become bad. Once that happened, Takashi prepared himself to begin his turn.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Eleanor: SPC – 6**

Upon drawing his next card, Takashi didn't really respond to it and proceeded to simply place it into his hand it into his hand. Once he did that, Takashi then took Speed Warrior's card and turned it vertically.

"To begin, I switch Speed Warrior back into Attack Mode!" He declared.

Speed Warrior responded to his master's actions and stopped defending. He then rode next to Junk Warrior, waiting for his next command.

"Now Junk Warrior, destroy Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier…Scrap Fist!"

Junk Warrior complied with Takashi's request and prepared itself to attack Dewloren. It was at this moment that Ellie activated her recently set face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Negate Attack!" She said. "This card negates your Junk Warrior's attack and automatically ends your Battle Phase!"

A small barrier appeared around Dewloren as Junk Warrior prepared to strike with its power filled punch. However, the barrier not only protected Ellie's monster, but it also sent a shockwave that kept Takashi from making any more attacks this turn. With his plan foiled, the young man grabbed another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared behind Speed Warrior before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said.

"It's my turn," Ellie replied. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 7**

**Eleanor: SPC – 7**

Ellie placed all of her hopes on the card she just drew, hoping it was the one needed to initiate he secret strategy. When she looked at it and saw that it was, she smiled to herself and proceeded to speed up towards Takashi. Upon reaching him, Ellie placed the card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Effect Veiler!"

**Effect Veiler: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

A small flash of light appeared in front of Ellie as Effect Veiler made her appearance into the Duel. With the arrival of the Tuner Monster, Takashi pretty much had feeling on what was going to happen next and prepared himself for what was to come.

"I Tune my Level 6 Dewolren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier with my Level 1 Effect Veiler!"

As the two monsters responded to their master's words and began the Synchro ritual, Ellie went on to grab a card from her Extra Deck. When she placed it onto her Monster Card Zone, the young woman closed her eyes and started chanting to herself.

"May the icy waters sprout into a new aggressive force! Synchro Summon! Awaken form the depths, Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

**Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: ATK 2500 DEF 1700 LVL 7**

When the Synchro ritual ended, a large blizzard appeared around both Duelists as a giant dragon with blue and red scales arrived onto the field. It had red eyes, a large wingspan, and its body was completely made up of ice.

"It's here," Kagura said in a cold tone of voice.

Besides her and the just as quiet Misaki, everyone was amazed by the appearance of Gungnir. It was a very impressive dragon who seemed very powerful. However, despite the strength it had, the others remembered that Junk Warrior was still the strongest monster on the field. Even if Ellie had Gungnir destroy Speed Warrior, Takashi would simply counter by having Junk Warrior destroy it.

Ellie also realized this fact, but the young woman knew what she was doing when she summoned her prized Ace Monster. She continued on with her turn by taking 2 cards from her hand and placing them into her Graveyard.

"I activate Gungnir's Special Ability!" She declared. "By discarding 2 cards to the Graveyard, Gungnir can destroy the same number of cards on my opponent's side of the field!"

Takashi's eyes widen as he watched both his Speed Warrior and Junk Warrior slowly become encased in ice. Once they were completely frozen, Gungnir promptly grabbed both monsters with each of its claws and shattered them completely. With no monsters left on the field to protect his Life Points, Takashi could only look on hopelessly as Gungnir stared him down.

"Go Gungnir!" Ellie said. "Attack his Life Points directly…Sheer Cold!"

Gungnir responded to Ellie's demand and proceeded to gather energy into its mouth. As it did, its body turned into a midnight blue color as the energy it was gather was changing its body temperature to subzero levels. Once it gathered enough, the Dragon-Type monster struck Takashi with a blast of frozen energy.

**Takashi: 1500 LP**

As the attack caused Takashi to spin out of control, Ellie took advantage of the situation and proceeded to drive past him. However, even though she was done with her attack, Ellie still wasn't finished with her turn and was still intent on dealing her opponent more damage.

"I now activate the effect of Speed World 2!" She said. "By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can deal you 800 Points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand. I currently have 1 Speed Spell, so you're being dealt a solid 800 Points of damage!"

**Eleanor: SPC – 3 **

Ellie's Duel Runner shot out a white laser beam at Takashi, which not only caused him more problems, but also caused him to lose more of Life Points as well.

**Takashi: 700 LP**

"Takashi!" Akiza yelled out of concern.

"I knew that it was too easy," Aiku said. "Eleanor was setting things up just to summon Gungnir. Now that it's out, Takashi will have to summon a monster with over 2500 Attack Points if he wants to defeat it."

"That's not all," Miri followed. "That last move caused him to go past the safety line. If Takashi cannot defeat Ellie on his next turn, then Ellie will have over 4 Speed Counters again. With that, all she needs to do is activate Speed World 2's effect and deal him another 800 points of damage, thus winning the Duel."

As everyone talked about what was going to happen, Jay was simply concerned about what Takashi was going to do. If what Miri said was true, then this Duel is practically over on Ellie's next turn. Then young boy didn't know what was going to happen next, but he didn't want the Duel to end like that. So Jay silently hoped that Takashi would somehow regain the momentum and take advantage of his current predicament.

Back at the Duel, Ellie was still a good distance away from Takashi as the young man finally regained control over his Duel Runner. She felt good about the currently stage of things as she not only as her Ace Monster out on the field, but also dealt her opponent 3300 Points of damage in just one turn. Even though he still had 2 face-down cards on the field, the young woman wasn't too concerned about them and swore to get rid of them once her turn came around again.

"I end my turn," She said in a confident tone of voice.

With his opponent now just ending her turn, Takashi looked over all of the cards that were in his hand and on his field and questioned on what he was going to do. With no immediate answered, the young man closed her eyes and imagined a flow chart of all the cards that he had and the cards that Ellie had played this turn. Slowly, electricity began flowing into the charts in several directions, each on revealing a strategy that he could use to help turn situation around. Eventually, Takashi saw a strategy that could work and promptly opened his eyes as a result. He then looked over his hand and saw that he was missing two key pieces.

"This is it," He thought to himself. "This is the true test of this deck. If I truly obtained the new strength that longed for then I can't afford to have any doubts. I must believe in my cards just like my friends believe in me."

As Takashi placed his hand upon his deck, the young man drove past his friends in the stands and heard him cheering them on. Toru and Crow were giving the regular cheers of encouragement while Lilly was simply telling him not to give up. Misaki silently nodded her head in approval while Akiza silently wished for his victory. With all of them, and everyone else watching and cheering him on, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face as he got ready to begin his turn.

"It's my turn," He said with confidence. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 8**

**Eleanor: SPC – 4**

As he drew a card from his deck, Takashi took a quick glance at it and saw that was one of the cards that he was searching for. However, with still one more piece missing, the young knew that he was still in a lot of trouble. Fortunately, he still had a means to draw another card.

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" He declared. "By removing 7 Speed Counters, I can draw 1 card from my deck."

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

After drawing his second card, Takashi slowly flipped it over so that he could see what it was and was elated that it was card he was searching more. With his preparations now complete, he revved his Duel Runner and quickly began to close the distance between him and Ellie. Once he was close enough, the young man grabbed another card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard before placing the card that he just drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"By discarding a monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Quickdraw Synchron!"

**Quickdraw Synchron: ATK 700 DEF 1400 LVL 5**

A bright flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as a small robot, that had the appearance of cowboy, appeared. It had a large hat with a white feather in the cap, a red cape that covered its mouth and extended to its back, and had two guns in holsters that were on the side of its body.

The sight of the monster surprised a lot of people, especial Jay as he never seen a monster like Quickdraw Synchron before. Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Madas decided to explain who Quickdraw was.

"Quickdraw Synchron is a unique Tuner Monster who can be substituted for any other Synchron Tuner Monster," He explained.

"Substituted?" Jay questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Monsters of the Warrior-Archetype, which is the Archetype I believe that Takashi is using, can only be Synchro Summoned by using a specific Synchron Tuner Monster," Tem followed. "However, Quickdraw Synchron's Special Ability allows it to be substituted anyone of those monsters. This allows Takashi to practically summon any Warrior he wants, without the need of searching for the corresponding Tuner Monster."

Jay nodded his head, now understanding the abilities of Quickdraw, and proceeded to turn his attention back towards the Duel. He then wondered what monster Takashi would intend to Synchro Summon with it. As he was pondering that, Takashi continued on with his turn by activating one of his face-down cards.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted!" He said. "With it, I can Special Summon the Speed Warrior that you just destroyed!"

Once again, Speed Warrior returned from the Graveyard and started skating next to his master. As that was happening, Takashi pulled out another card from his hand placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"However, I'll release my Speed Warrior in order to Advance Summon: Salvage Warrior!"

**Salvage Warrior: ATK 1900 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

As Speed Warrior disappeared from the field, a blue monster wearing yellow and green clothes appeared onto the field. On its back, Salvage Warrior had a large machine that carried a chain from each of its ends.

"When Salvage Warrior is successfully Advanced Summoned," Takashi continued. "I can Special Summon a Tuner Monster from either my hand or Graveyard. So return, Junk Synchron!"

Salvage Warrior threw the chain that was to its left into a small portal that beside it. After a few seconds, it pulled onto the chain and Junk Synchron appeared on the other end of it. Once that happened, Takashi proceeded to activate his final face-down card.

"I now activate the Continuous Trap Card: Graceful Revival! With it, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard. I choose to Special Summon: Sonic Chick, which I discarded via the effect of Quickdraw Synchron!"

**Sonic Chick: ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL 1**

When Sonic appeared onto the field and started running next to Takashi and his other monsters, everyone in the stands were amazed at what just transpired. In just one turn, Takashi had summoned 4 monsters and set things up to Synchro Summon at least twice this turn.

"That's just like Takashi!" Toru said in an excited tone. "You can never count him out until the very end!"

Akiza, Lilly, and Crow all nodded their heads in approval as they continued watching the Duel. All three of them have faced Takashi in a Duel and they all believed that he was the toughest opponent that they've ever faced. Even Lilly, the only one out of the three to actual defeat him, admitted that if things turned out differently then she would've lost that Duel.

"I Tune my Level 1 Sonic Chick with my Level 5 Quickdraw Synchron!" Takashi declared.

As both Sonic Chick and Quickdraw Synchron jumped into the sky and prepared to perform a Synchro Summoning, Takashi swiftly pulled out another card from his Extra Deck. Once he did that, he placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone as he began chanting to himself.

"Gathering bonds weave a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Roar, Turbo Warrior!"

**Turbo Warrior: ATK 2500 DEF 1500 LVL 6**

When the Synchro ritual ended, a giant red robot appeared onto Takashi's side of the field. It had steel claws, rocket shaped boots, and had a car engine connected to its body. Once Turbo Warrior was out, Takashi continued on with his turn by performing his second consecutive Synchro Summoning.

"Next, I Tune my Level 5 Salvage Warrior with my Level 3 Junk Synchron!"

Both monsters complied with Takashi's order and prepared themselves to perform their Synchro Summoning. As before, Takashi proceeded to pull out another card from his Extra Deck. However, before he placed it onto his Monster Card Zone, the young man closed his eyes and placed the card next to his heart.

"Gathering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Upon placing the card onto his Monster Card Zone, a collection of stars appeared on Takashi's side of the field. The stars soon gathered together and transformed themselves into Stardust Dragon, much to the amazement of everyone watching the Duel.

"So that…is what Stardust Dragon looks like," Aiku said, trying to come up with the right words to say. "It's even more amazing than I thought."

Madas, Tem, and Miri all felt the same way as Aiku and they were at a loss for words as watched the beautiful dragon take the field. Misaki and Kagura just as equally amazed. Even though they tried their best not to show it, the two girls simply couldn't hold it back and were at awe over Stardust Dragon.

Ellie was also amazed by the appearance of Stardust, but wouldn't let its appearance stop her from winning the Duel. She then looked at all of the monsters that were on the field and saw that all 3 of them had the same number of Attack Points; 2500. It was at that moment that Ellie discovered that Takashi intended to have one of his monster's sacrifice itself in order destroy Gungnir before having the other attack her Life Points directly. Not wanting that to happen, the young woman went on to activate her face-down card.

"I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Ice Shield!" She declared. "When an Ice Barrier monster attacks or is attacked by a monster with the same Attack Points, then it survives the confrontation!"

Another layer of ice covered Gungnir, thus protecting the beast from attacks against monsters of the same Attack Power. However, Takashi wasn't worried about this development and simply conducted his Battle Phase.

"Turbo Warrior, attack Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier…Accel Slash!"

Turbo Warrior complied with Takashi's orders and proceeded to make its way over to Gungnir. Ellie was shocked by this move as she knew that her monster would survive the battle while Turbo Warrior would not. She would soon find out that her assumption wasn't the case.

"I activate Turbo Warrior's Special Ability!" Takashi declared. "When it attacks a Level 6 or higher Synchro Monster, that monster loses half of its Attack Points until the end of the Damage Step!"

**Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: ATK 1250**

Ellie looked on in disbelief as she watched Gungnir quickly lose half of its strength. It was at that moment that Turbo Warrior's right claw glowed a crimson red color and proceeded to strike down Gungnir with it, causing a massive explosion.

**Eleanor: 1150 LP**

Once her Ace Monster gone, Ellie could only just watch as Stardust Dragon prepared itself to attack.

"Stardust Dragon," Takashi called. "Attack Ellie's Life Points directly…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust roared after hearing its master's order and began gathering cosmic energy into its mouth. Once it finished, the powerful dragon fired a blast of the same cosmic energy towards Ellie, causing her to lose the remaining of her Life Points.

**Eleanor: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Once the holograms faded away, both Turbo Duelists returned to the starting line and made their way off of their Duel Runners. They then took off their helmets and shook each other's hand.<p>

"That was a nice Duel," Ellie said, slightly disappointed that she lost. "But I'll get you back the nice time we fight."

"I look forward to it," Takashi smiled.

As the two of them continued to complement the other's strength, everyone started cheering for the two of them as they enjoyed the amazing Duel. Akiza and the others made their way towards them, all of them congratulating both for the other's skills. Eventually, Takashi walked over towards Jay and saw that he was feeling much better.

"That Duel was awesome!" He said in a cheerful tone. "Just seeing the two of you Duel made feel a whole lot better."

Takashi was happy over this news and he gently placed his hand on the young boy's head. As he did that, the mysterious figure was looking down at them. He had watched the Duel between Takashi and Eleanor with great interest and simply nodded his head upon its conclusion.

"He's good," He said to himself. "But he's not good enough."

With that said, the individual placed a card onto his Duel Runner's Monster Card Zone. When he did, a giant green fireball appeared and struck the practice field. The attack caused an explosion that frightened nearly everyone present, forcing them to run for their lives. The only ones who remained were Takashi and the other's, who tried to figure out where the attack came from.

"What the hell was that?!" Madas asked.

"I don't know!" Miri replied.

As everyone tried to figure out what was going on, Takashi started to feel a burning sensation coming from his right arm. Akiza, Lilly, and Crow all felt the same sensation as well and proceeded to look down at their arms. When the 4 of them did, they saw that their respective Dragon Marks were glowing. It was here that the mysterious individual appeared before all of them and pointed his finger towards Takashi.

"Duel me," He said. "Duel me, Takashi Nakamura…Signer of the Dragon's Head."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Next Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Just who is the mysterious person and why does he want to Duel Takashi? Many questions runs through our hero's mind, but Takashi accepts the challenge anyway. However, does he really stand a chance against this opponent…especially when his identity is revealed?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 51: New Strength – Part 2_


	51. Chapter 51

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 51: **_New Strength – Part 2_

* * *

><p>"You want to Duel me?" Takashi questioned. "What the hell do you mean by that?"<p>

As people from all over the practice field continued running for their lives, Takashi and the others were staring down the mysterious individual that just confronted them. None of them have ever seen this person before in their lives, so it was very confusing that he seemed to know Takashi. Not only that, but he also called him a Signer, the same name that Sasuke called him during the battle back at the Satellite Sector.

"It's just as I said," The individual replied. "I want to Duel you Takashi Nakamura…Signer of the Dragon's Head."

"Wait just one damn minute!" Crow exclaimed as he stepped in between the two of them. "You just come here and attack us…and then you ask for a Duel?! We don't even know who the hell you are!"

The individual kept his eyes on Takashi has he listened to Crow's words. Eventually, without turning his head towards him, he replied to the Blackwing Duelist.

"You may not know who I am," He started off. "But I know who you are…Crow Hogan, Signer of the Dragon's Tail."

Crow's eyes widen from shock, surprised that the individual happened to know his name just as he knew Takashi's. The man then turned towards both Akiza and Lilly, as both of the girls marks began to glow brighter as a result.

"The same goes for the both of you…Lilly Muto and Akiza Izinski, Signers of the Front and Rear Claws. I've known about all of you for a quite a while."

Takashi, Crow, Lilly and Akiza were trying to make sense by what the mysterious individual was saying. How in the world did he know all of them and why did he choose to approach them now. Was he spying on all of them since they first got together or was it much longer than that? All of these and many more questions ran through their heads as each of their respective Dragon Marks continued to glow brighter.

Meanwhile, Toru and the others were also wondering why the mysterious person approached all of them. Not only that, they were even more curious about the marks that their 4 friends had on their arms. Even though they showed both of them the marks, Toru and Aiku still had many questions about them. Where did they come from and why did they appear on their arms in the first place? Why were they called Signers? And why do the marks give them special powers? Like their friends, they had many questions, but not enough answers.

Eventually, Takashi stepped up and started walking towards the individual. As he did, his mark began to glow brighter and brighter. However, instead of the stinging sensation that he usually feels, the young man wasn't feeling any pain coming from his arm. This confused him to some extent, but he let that go to talk the person who approached him and his friends.

"Before I answer your question, I want you to answer mine," He said. "Why do you want to Duel me? What are these marks? And just what the hell is a Signer?"

"…It would take too long to explain all of those questions to you," The individual replied. "However, I can say this. If you accept my Duel then you'll know why I want to face you."

Lilly was irritated by the individual's vague response as it wasn't really an answer. It seemed more like an assumption that only Takashi would understand. As she was about to call him out and demand a better explanation, Toru stepped up and stood in between his best friend.

"Don't fall for it Takashi!" He said. "I don't know who this guy is, but I don't trust him. Don't you remember Sayer and Sasuke? Both of them acted the same way as this guy and they ended up nearly killing all of us! We can't guarantee that this guy won't do the same thing!"

Toru wasn't wrong in his assumption, as both Sayer and Sasuke did attempt sway them into join their side. However, even though he had his suspicions, Takashi wasn't feeling a bad vibe coming from the individual. He felt that his Dragon Mark was responding to the green one of the person's back. To him, he felt that his mark was telling him that the individual wasn't an enemy at all.

The others felt the same feeling, but not to the same extent as Takashi. If the individual really was an enemy to them, their marks would have told them. However, they still weren't feeling any pain thus giving the hint that he wasn't an enemy.

"Alright," Takashi said. "I'll accept your challenge on 1 condition."

"Which is?" The individual asked.

"When you first approached us, you struck the field with a fireball that could have harmed a lot of people." Takashi continued on. "If there's one thing I won't tolerate is people getting hurt because of me. So, during this Duel, you must promise to leave it between you and me. "

The individual looked into Takashi's eyes and saw that they didn't waver. He could tell that he truly didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him and knew that Takashi would attack if he did involve anyone else. Liking that mindset of his, a small smile appeared on the individual's face as he gently nodded his head.

"Very well," He said. "I accept your conditions."

With that said, both Takashi and the individual walked away from the others and made their way to their respective Duel Runners. Lilly, Crow, and especially Akiza still had some doubts about this person, but a part of them felt that this Duel had to take place. Only by watching him Duel would they truly determine whether or not he means to do them harm. The three of them then turned towards their friends, most of whom were still surprised by what just transpired.

"Listen," Lilly said. "I know all of you have a lot of questions, but now isn't the time for them to be answered. I promise we'll explain everything once we get more information. However, in the meantime, you all need to leave. This Duel could get messy and we can't afford to have you get involved."

Lilly hoped that her friends, both old and new, would take her words to heart and leave the area. However, much to her shock, none of them left and simply stood where they were.

"Look…I admit that I have no idea what's going on here," Tem stated. "But, I think I can speak for everyone here and say that were not leaving you behind to handle this. Even though we just met, it doesn't change the fact that we're now friends and I never turn my back on my friends, no matter who or what they are!"

Madas, Miri, Jay, Aiku, and Toru all shared Tem's mindset and nodded their heads in approval. Both Misaki and Kagura stayed silent through the entire ordeal, so no one could really tell what both of them were thinking. However, both girls were determined to watch the Duel between Takashi and the mysterious individual and refused to leave no matter what they were told.

Upon seeing the resolve of their friends, Lilly turned to the others and asked them on what they should do. Without even needing to speak up, both Akiza and Crow looked towards their friend and gently nodded their heads in approval. Accepting their silent answer, Lilly turned back towards the others and gently nodded her head as well.

"You can stay," She said. "However, if things get rough then you need to leave and get somewhere safe."

Toru and the others nodded their heads, promising to leave if things got too dangerous for them. With that settled, everyone walked back towards the stands so that they would watch the Duel from there. However, before making her way over there, Akiza looked back towards Takashi and saw him working on his Duel Runner.

"…Takashi," She silently spoke. "Please be careful."

After finishing their preparations, both Duelists mounted their Duel Runners and prepared to begin their Duel. However, before they began, Takashi turned his attention towards the individual again and attempted to get a better look at his face. Unfortunately, his black helmet and shaded visor made it almost impossible to tell what he look like.

"Since you won't give me your name," He said. "I'm just going to call you Masked Man, since you're wearing your helmet like a mask."

"…That's fine with me," the individual spoke. "Call me anything you want."

With that said, both Duelists activated the Speed World 2 Field Spell from their Duel Runners. When they did that, both Runners released the purple illusionary field that covered the surrounding area. They then rode off towards the first corner of the track, hoping the reach it first and earn the right to make the opening move. The race was neck and neck for a moment, but the Masked Man decided to let his opponent have the corner by slowing down slightly. The others, with the exception of Akiza, Miri, and Jay, noticed this and questioned why he let Takashi take the corner.

"DUEL!"

* * *

><p><strong>Takashi: 4000 LP<strong>

**Masked Man: 4000 LP**

"It's my turn," Takashi pointed out. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Masked Man: SPC – 1**

After drawing his first card of the Duel, Takashi quickly placed the card into his hand before examining all 6 of his cards. Having never faced this masked individual in a Duel before, Takashi had no idea what to expect from him so he had to be on guard. Fortunately for him, since he took the first turn and won the right to make the opening move, the young man had the chance to lay low for a while a discern the Masked Man strategy until he came up with one of his own. With that mind, Takashi took another card from his hand and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Sangan, in Defense Mode!"

**Sangan: ATK 1000 DEF 600 LVL 3**

A small ball of light materialized in front of Takashi as he continued racing across the track. The ball soon transformed into Sangan and the Fiend-Type monster proceeded to take a defensive stance in front of him. Once that happened, Takashi pulled out another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down on the field, right beside Takashi, before disappearing.

"Next, I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn now," the Masked Man declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Masked Man: SPC – 2**

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, the Masked Man quickly began analyzing Takashi's strategy. He knew very well that he planned to use Sangan as bait to bring a monster of better fruit into his hand. Even so, he knew that Sangan might cause him problems later if he leave it alone for too long and he decided to get rid of it now. So, without even looking, the Masked Man pulled out a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Dragunity Militum!"

**Dragunity Militum: ATK 1700 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

Upon placing the monster card onto his Duel Disk, a female warrior that was completely covered in green a white armor appeared onto the Masked Man's field. She had a pair steel wings on the back of her armor and was holding a sword and a kunai in each of her hands.

"Dragunity Militum, attack Sangan now!"

Militum complied with her master's orders and proceeded to fly over to Sangan. Once she got close enough, she pierced the Fiend-Type monster with her kunai knife before slicing it up with her sword.

"I activate Sangan's Special Ability!" Takashi declared as he placed the monster's card into his Graveyard. "When it's sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can add a monster with 1500 of less Attack Points from my deck to my hand!"

A touch-screen selection of all the appropriate monster that Takashi could choose from appeared onto his Duel Runner's display screen. After some thinking, Takashi selected the monster he wanted and his Duel Disk added that card onto the top of his Deck. Once he pulled the card and placed it into his hand, his Duel Disk shuffled his deck.

"It's best to get rid of that annoyance now," the Masked Man stated as he grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"It's my turn," Takashi declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Masked Man: SPC – 3**

After drawing another card from his deck, Takashi quickly flipped over so that he could look at it. Once he saw what it was, a small smile appeared on his face as he placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Max Warrior!"

**Max Warrior: ATK 1800 DEF 800 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a powerful robotic warrior with silver and brown skin appeared in front of Takashi. In his hand was large staff, which looked similar to a war hammer. Once Max Warrior was out onto the field, Takashi continued on with his turn by taking a card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder! When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, this card lets me Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand! In exchange, the monster can't attack this turn!"

Following the effect of his Speed Spell, Takashi grabbed a monster from his hand and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Shield Wing, in Defense Mode!"

**Shield Wing: ATK 0 DEF 900 LVL 2**

A flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as a green bird with beautiful silver wings appeared before him. Once it arrived, Shield Wing took a defensive position in front of its master as he continued on with his turn.

"Max Warrior," Takashi called out. "Destroy his Dragunity Militum!"

Max Warrior shook its head and flew over towards Dragunity Militum. As it did, its war hammer started to glow a bright yellow color.

"When Max Warrior attacks a monster, it gains 400 Attack Points during the Damage Step!"

**Max Warrior: ATK 2200**

After it finished powering up its war hammer, Max raised the object above its head before swiftly slamming it down onto Dragunity Militum. When that happened, Militum's body was squashed like a bug.

**Masked Man: 3500 LP**

**Max Warrior: ATK 1800**

Once Max Warrior finished its attack, it made its way back over to Takashi. However, while it was doing that, a dark blue aura was surrounding its entire body.

"However," Takashi pointed out. "When Max Warrior destroys a monster through battle then its Level, Attack Points, and Defense Points are cut in half until my next Standby Phase."

**Max Warrior: ATK 900 DEF 400 LVL 2**

When the weakened Max Warrior finally returned back to Takashi, the young man took a card from hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field for a few short moments before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn,"

"It's my turn again," the Masked Man said. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Masked Man: SPC – 4**

Without even looking, the Masked Man took the card that he just drew and gently placed it in between his middle and ring fingers. He then used his index finger and thumb to grab another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dragunity Phalanx!"

**Dragunity Phalanx: ATK 500 DEF 1100 LVL 2**

A bright flash of light covered the Masked Man's side of the field as a brown and blue dragon appeared before him. The brown scales that covered the dragon's body had a metallic look as it seemed more like armor than dragon scales.

Once Phalanx was out onto the field, the Masked Man swiftly took its card and placed it into his Graveyard before taking the card that was in between his fingers and placing it into the same zone as Phalanx.

"Next, I release Dragunity Phalanx in order to Special Summon: Dragunity Arma Mystletanin!"

**Dragunity Arma Mystletanin: ATK 2100 DEF 1500 LVL 6**

Dragunity Phalanx slowly vanished from the field as another flash of light illuminated over the Masked Man's field. Once that happened, a much larger dragon appeared onto the field to take Phalanx's place. It was around 7 feet tall, had yellow scales all over its body, and was holding a large curved sword in its right claw.

The sight of the beast amazed Takashi as he never seen it before its life. Even though he was familiar with all sorts of Dragon-Type monsters, the Dragunity Archetype always gave him problems so he generally avoided using them if possible. Because of that, he was unfamiliar most of the Dragunity monsters that the Masked Man has been using thus far in this Turbo Duel. Even so, despite his amazement and unfamiliarity, Takashi was trying to keep his focus on his opponent and his movements.

"I now activate Dragunity Arma Mystletanin's Special Ability," the Masked Man stated. "When it's Normal or Special Summoned from my hand, I can select 1 Dragon-Type Dragunity monster from my Graveyard and equip it to Mystletanin. I choose my Dragunity Phalanx!"

In an instant, Dragunity Phalanx returned to the field and began morphing its body into that of a spear. Once it completed its transformation, Dragunity Arma Mystletanin grabbed hold of Phalanx and held it into its left claw.

"Now Mystletanin," the Masked Man called out. "Destroy Max Warrior now!"

Mystletanin complied with the Masked Man's orders and proceeded to slice Max Warrior into little tiny pieces with both of its weapons. However, just as that happened, Takashi took action and activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Desperate Tag!" He declared. "When an Attack Position monster I control is destroyed through battle, Desperate Tag reduces the Battle Damage I would've taken all the way down to 0. After that, I can then Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior-Type monster from my hand!"

As the remains of Max Warrior disappeared from the field, Takashi grabbed a card from his hand and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone. When that happened, a bright flash of light covered over his side of the field.

"I Special Summon: Speed Warrior, in Defense Mode!"

**Speed Warrior: ATK 900 DEF 400 LVL 2**

Once the light from Takashi's field faded away and Speed Warrior appeared on his side of the field, the Masked Man looked over his opponent's field and noticed that both Speed Warrior and Shield Wing were in Defense Mode.

"Now I see what he's up to," He thought to himself. "With two Level 2 monsters on his side of the field, he'll probably summon Junk Synchron on his next turn and use it to Synchro Summon a Level 7 monster. Even if I destroyed one of the monsters now, Synchron's Special Ability will only bring it back. It's a nearly flawless strategy. Too bad it won't do him any good in the long run."

With that thought in his mind, the Masked Man took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down on his side of the field for a few moments before disappearing.

"I set one card face and my turn," He stated.

As Takashi prepared to begin his next turn, his friends back at the stands were busy analyzing the overall flow of the Duel. From a distance, it would seem that Takashi did have the upper hand in the match, but something felt off to them.

"What the hell is going on here?" Lilly commented. "Is it just me or does it seem that this mysterious fellow is letting Takashi get the upper hand on purpose?"

"It's not just you," Crow replied. "I'm feeling the same thing. Even though I haven't watched this guy Duel before, I can tell that he's holding back considerably. It's almost like he isn't even trying to win."

As the two of them tried to figure out why they were having this feeling, Akiza was thinking about something else.

"What's with this guy?" She thought to herself. "Even though I agree with Lilly and Crow to some extent, it doesn't seem like this guy is holding back because he doesn't view Takashi as an equal. Because, if that were the case, he wouldn't have asked him for a Duel in the first place. It's…it's almost like he's…testing Takashi."

Akiza wasn't sure about her assumption, as she had no proof whether or not it was true or false. In the end, she just hoped that a test was all that was taking place and not something worse.

Meanwhile, back at the Duel, Takashi was preparing to begin his turn by gently placing his hand onto his deck. Once he did that, he turned his attention back towards the Masked Man and saw that he was staring straight at him. Even though they were making eye contact with one another, Takashi felt that his mysterious opponent wasn't really looking at him. This bothered the young man as he still couldn't tell whether or not he was a good or bad guy yet. Seeing the confusion on his face, the Masked Man decided to comment on it.

"Is something bothering you?" He asked. "You seem perplexed."

"…You can say that," Takashi replied. "Usually, when I Duel someone, I can understand the minds of the people I face. Though it's not like I can read their minds or anything like that. I've just been able to sense why that person is fighting and whether or not they look down on me or not. I can usually pick it up after the first couple turns of the Duel, but I haven't been able to do that with you. As a matter of fact, I can't tell why the hell you wanted to face me in the first place."

As he listened to Takashi's explanation, the Masked Man smiled behind his helmet. He was amazed that his opponent, despite his lack of experience, was able to pick up such a skill.

"I'm impressed that you're able to do that," He said. "However, the reason why you can't sense my motives is because the difference between our skills."

"What do mean?" Takashi questioned. "Are you saying I'm not your equal?!"

"That's right. Continue on with the Duel and you'll soon understand what I mean."

Takashi continued looking towards his mysterious opponent, hoping to get a much better explanation from him. However, when got no response, the young man simply gave up and drew the card that he was touching.

"Fine then," He said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Masked Man: SPC – 5**

Upon drawing the card from his deck, Takashi took a look at it and saw that it was just the card he was looking for. Without missing a beat, he firmly placed the card upon Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Junk Synchron!"

**Junk Synchron: ATK 1300 DEF 500 LVL 3**

When Junk Synchron appeared onto the field, the Masked Man nodded his head slightly as he was right in his mental prediction. He then proceeded to place his hand gently on his Spell/Trap Zone, ready to activate his face-down card once Takashi made the move that he wanted him to make.

"Get ready!" Takashi declared. "I'm about to show you the new strength that I've acquired. I Tune my Level 2 Shield Wing and Level 2 Speed Warrior with my Level 3 Junk Synchron!"

All three of Takashi's monsters jumped into the air and prepared themselves for the Synchro Summoning ritual. As that was happening, Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering anger becomes an entranced warrior born from a brutal god. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Howl, Junk Berserker!"

**Junk Berserker: ATK 2700 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the ritual ended, a bright flash of red light covered Takashi's side of the field. When that happened, a giant warrior covered in a red and yellow armor appeared before him. In the warrior hand was a giant battle axe which was nearly the same size as its own body.

"Junk Berserker," Takashi called out. "Destroy Dragunity Arma Mystletanin…Berserker's Slash!"

Junk Berserker complied with Takashi's orders and proceeded to swing its axe towards Mystletanin. It was at this moment that the Masked Man finally activated his face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Dragunity Barrier!" He declared. "When a Dragunity monster I control is attacked while equipped to another Dragunity monster, then it can't be destroyed through battle this turn!"

Mystletanin lifted the sword that was created from Dragunity Phalanx and used to block Junk Berserker's attack. As the monsters fought one another, a red electricity surrounded the Masked Man's body.

"It doesn't matter if your monster can't be destroyed through battle!" Takashi yelled. "You still take the Battle Damage from this attack!"

**Masked Man: 2900 LP**

Once both monsters finished attacking each other and returned to their respective sides of the field, Takashi looked over and noticed that the Masked Man's didn't even flinch. Even though his Life Points dropped, it seemed like he didn't really care. The sight of this, and the fact he still couldn't read him, only bother Takashi even more.

"I end my turn," He said.

"You said earlier that Junk Berserker was a sign of your newly acquired strength," the Masked Man commented. "If that's the case then allow me to show you…How your new strength pales in comparison to mine! It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Masked Man: SPC – 6**

After drawing a card from his deck, the Masked Man placed the card into his hand before grabbing another and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton!" He declared. "Since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards from my deck and then discard 1 from my hand."

Going back to his deck, the Masked Man swiftly pulled out two cards. When he did that, the green dragon mark on his back radiated until he took a card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard. He then took another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Dragunity Dux!"

**Dragunity Dux: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A flash of light covered the Masked Man's field as a new Dragunity monster appeared before him and Dragunity Arma Mystletanin. It was a warrior with silver armor covering its body. Also, like Dragunity Militum, it had a pair of steel-like wings attached to its back.

Once Dux was out on the field, the Masked Man went into his Graveyard and pulled out the card he discarded via the effect of Angel Baton. He then inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"When Dragunity Dux is successfully summoned, I can select 1 Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type Dragunity monster from my Graveyard and equip it to Dux. The one I choose is the Tuner Monster: Dragunity Brandistock!"

**Dragunity Brandistock: ATK 600 DEF 400 LVL 1**

Upon inserting Brandistock's card into his Spell/Trap Zone, a small blue dragon with a spear-like head appeared on the Masked Man's side of the field. Once that happened, Brandistock transformed into a shield and Dragunity proceeded to grab it in its right arm. The Masked Man then removed both cards from his Duel Disk before placing another card there to take their place.

"Now, by removing a monster that's equipped to a Dragunity card from play, I can Special Summon: Dragunity Arma Leyvaten!"

**Dragunity Arma Leyvaten: ATK 2600 DEF 1200 LVL 8**

When Dragunity Dux and Brandistock left the field, a powerful orange glow covered the entire practice field. The glow was so intense that it felt like the sun was shining in everyone's face. As soon as the light faded, a giant orange dragon holding a large sword appeared on the Masked Man's side of the field.

"What…what the heck is that thing?!" Jay questioned as fear crept into his soul. "I've never seen…that monster before…"

"Yeah…" Aiku replied. "I've seen my fair share of Dragunity monsters before, but never something like that. I...I can't even put it into words."

"It doesn't matter what that thing is!" Toru yelled as he stood up and pointed towards Takashi's Junk Berserker. "That monster only has 2600 Attack Points while Junk Berserker as 2700. That thing doesn't stand a chance against it!"

Despite Toru's optimistic words, everyone else was still in shock upon seeing Dragunity Arma Leyvaten. The Masked Man wouldn't have brought it out unless it had the power to defeat Junk Berserker. Even if it didn't have the ability to do that, then the Masked Man probably had the means to power it up. Unfortunately for them, and especially Takashi, the Masked Man had the very means to do just that and activated his face-down card as a result.

"I activate the Trap Card: Skill Successor!" He stated. "This card increases the Attack Points of one my monsters by 400 until the End Phase of this turn. The monster I choose is Dragunity Arma Leyvaten!"

**Dragunity Arma Leyvaten: ATK 3000**

A orange laser beam struck Leyvaten, thus increasing its overwhelming power even further than before. Once that happened, the Masked Man pointed his right index finger towards Takashi's Junk Berserker.

"Now Leyvaten," He called. "Destroy Junk Berserker…Dragon Saber Strike!"

Leyvaten roared at the top of its lungs as it gather energy into its sword. As it was doing that, Takashi's Dragon Mark started stinging, alerting him to danger. However, before the young man could react, Leyvaten finished charging its attack and struck down Berserker with its sword.

**Takashi: 3700 LP**

As his Life Points began to drop, a powerful sensation struck Takashi, causing him to lose control of his Duel Runner. When he finally regained control, Takashi noticed that the Masked Man noticed that Dragunity Arma Mystletanin was staring him straight him face.

"Mystletanin!" the Masked Man called. "Attack his Life Points directly!"

The dragon nodded its head and raised its sword towards Takashi. Once it swung it down upon him, the young man was struck by the same sensation that hit him before. However, not only did cause him to lose control again, but it also caused enough physical damage that Takashi started coughing up blood in large amounts.

**Takashi: 1600 LP**

"Takashi!" Akiza yelled at the top of her lungs.

"That guy…," Kagura said in a low tone of voice. "He just used Sense."

Everyone, with the exception of the dreadfully worried Akiza, turned their heads and face Kagura. They all noticed that the young woman no longer had her emotionless expression as her face was pale blue color.

"Sense is a secret technique that only the most experienced of Turbo Duelists could achieve. It's a physical sensation inflicted upon an opponent during a Turbo Duel."

"What…so it's like how a Psychic Duelist real damage onto people?!" Lilly questioned.

"No," Kagura replied. "It isn't that simple. Sense is created from the Solid Vision images created from Duel Runners. It power varies, depending on the Duelist who's wielding it, but normally its believed to be stronger than a blast created from a Psychic Duelist. If this guy can truly wield it…then he can kill Takashi at any moment."

Back at the Duel, Takashi continued coughing up blood as he tried to straighten out his Duel Runner. Once he managed to do so, the young Turbo Duelists used all of his remaining strength in order to avoid losing consciousness.

"What was that?" He thought to himself. "I never felt anything like that before in my life…What the hell was it?!"

As fear crept into Takashi's heart, the Masked Man took notice of this and saw that his opponent was falling into despair. Even though their Life Points weren't that far apart, he could tell just by looking at him that Takashi knew just how wide the difference in the power were. Having accomplished that portion of his objective, the Masked Man took two cards and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Good," He said. "You're beginning to see your own powerlessness. Now it's time to find out whether or not you can overcome it using your so-called, new strength. I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

Takashi slowly nodded his head towards the Masked Man before turning his attention towards his deck. As he attempted draw a card, he noticed that his right arm was shaking uncontrollably. This was the truest indication that he now afraid of the Masked Man and that he beginning to doubt whether or not he could win.

"Calm down Takashi," He silently told himself. "You…you have to draw. You have to draw now. But what if…I don't draw the right card? What if…what if I lose?"

All these questions ran through his mind as he attempted to place his hand upon his deck. When he was finally able to, Takashi slowly pulled a card from it and hoped for a miracle.

"It's…my turn, Draw."

**Takashi: SPC – 7**

**Masked Man: SPC – 7**

As he slowly turned the card over, Takashi was highly disappointed that it wasn't the card he could use to turn things around at this moment. With nothing left to do, the young man took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"…I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Scapegoat. By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can Special Summon 4 Sheep Tokens onto my side of the field, in Defense Mode."

**Takashi: SPC - 3**

**Sheep Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Sheep Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Sheep Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Sheep Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

As the 4 multi colored Sheep Token appeared in front of Takashi, their master decided to take the card that he drew at the beginning of his turn and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn…"

"Then it's my turn again!" the Masked Man exclaimed. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Masked Man: SPC – 8**

Upon drawing another card from his deck and placing it into his hand, the Masked Man turn his Duel Runner around and started drifting backwards. He then pointed towards Takashi's Sheep Tokens as his Dragunity monsters prepared themselves to do battle.

"Go Dragunity Arma Mystletanin and Leyvaten! Destroy two of his Sheep Tokens now!"

The two monsters complied too their master's orders and proceeded to strike 2 of the 4 Sheep Tokens. When they did that, the Sense of the two monsters consumed Takashi, causing him even more pain than before. Once that happened, the Masked Man drove towards his opponent at great speeds.

"I'm not done with you yet! I now activate the effect of Speed World 2! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can deal you 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand. I have 1 Speed Spell, so that means you're about to lose half of your Life Points!"

**Masked Man: SPC – 4**

Timing it perfectly, the Masked Man drove passed Takashi at the very instant the effect of Speed World 2 struck his opponent. Doing this caused the Sense released from the effect to multiply in power, nearly bringing Takashi to the point of unconsciousness.

**Takashi: 800 LP**

"Takashi Nakamura," the individual said as he drove back towards him. "If you can hear me then you should now that I can defeat you right here and now by using Speed World 2's effect one more time! However, I didn't come all this way just to defeat you that. You have a power that you have not yet realized…and I will bring it out."

"…What…are you talking…about?" Takashi questioned as he struggled to stay awake. "What…power?"

Upon watching the life fade from his opponent's eyes, the Masked Man realized that he needed some help if he wanted to bring out Takashi's full power. Fortunately for him, he had the means to do just that. So, when he drove past the others in the stands, he firmly pointed his index finger towards Akiza. When Takashi noticed this, his eyes widen.

"I know all about you Takashi Nakamura," He started off. "And I know about your ever increasing feelings for Akiza Izinski. If you don't managed to destroy both my Dragunity monsters on your next turn, then I swear to induce a torture upon her so great that she'll beg me to kill her just to make it stop! And then, when that happens, I will grant her wish."

The mere mention of Akiza's death brought old and pain memories back into Takashi's heart. The young man then started hearing several voices echoing in his head.

"_Takashi, please save her. Save my sister."_

"_What is this…Stardust Dragon...?"_

"_Run for the exit!"_

"_Takashi…Look out!"_

"…_Are you guys…okay?"_

"_HIKARI!"_

As all of these voices continued running through his head, Takashi started to imagine that he was holding a deceased Akiza in his arms. The mere thought of that image was too much for the young man to bare and he started screaming in agony as a result. It was here that his Dragon Mark started glowing brighter than it ever did before. The resulting glow even caused the other Dragon Marks to react to it as well.

"What's going on?" Crow pondered.

"I'm not sure," Lilly replied. "I've never felt something like this before."

As the two of them attempted to figure out what was going on, Akiza started shivering like she was in a blizzard. However, it wasn't the cold that was making her feel this way. For some reason, when Takashi started screaming, it was like she was also experiencing the same agony he was feeling. The beautiful Psychic Duelist never knew that the man she loved with all of her heart was suffering as much as he was.

"Takashi," She thought to herself. "Are you feeling in that much pain? Are you feeling that much despair? You always seemed so kind and warm, never looking back no matter how hard thing got. And yet you kept all this pain inside just to spare everyone's feelings…to spare my feelings."

As she continued to think about this, Akiza remembered her former outlook on the world and how she was suffering just as much as Takashi is now. She was all alone in the world, with no one to call a friend. For a long time, she believed in heart that things would remain the same for her. However, when she first met Takashi on that summer day over 6 months ago, everything changed. Akiza now has friends that she can rely on, friends who support her, and friends that she cares for with all of heart.

It was because of Takashi that Akiza was able to achieve those precious friends, as he was able to pry her heart from out the depths of despair. Realizing that she needed to the same thing for him, the young woman resolved her heart and started running towards the track. When the others saw this, some of them attempted to stop her. However, Misaki stopped them for moving and told them to simply watch.

Once she finally reached the track, Akiza noticed that Takashi's eyes still looked like the eyes of a dead person. The sight of them caused her to cry a little, as didn't quite know what to do in order to help him. Still, Akiza knew she had to do something and it had to be now.

"TAKASHI!' She yelled.

As her voiced echoed throughout the entire track, everyone turned their attention towards Akiza. This also included both the Masked Man and Takashi, the latter of which was surprised that she was getting herself involved.

"Don't give in Takashi!" She continued. "Don't let him get the better of you! You've overcome so many obstacles since I met you and I know that you can overcome this! Even if nobody believes in you…just know that I always will. So please Takashi…Please, you have to keep fighting!"

Once she finished her speech, everything that Akiza just said ran through Takashi's heart and soul. Even though things seemed bleak for him, she still had faith that he would be able to turn things around. It was because of her, that life slowly began to return in the young man's eyes.

"I won't let happen again," He thought to himself. "I won't lose the person who's most precious to me again. I will not let the same thing that happened to Hikari happen to Akiza! I WON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!"

Having regained his resolve, Takashi looked back towards Akiza smile towards her. The sight of this brought tears of happiness down Akiza's as she proceeded to nod her face in response to the smile. Once that happened, Takashi turned his attention back towards the Masked Man.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," He said to him. "You want me to bring out this new power you say that I have. That's fine with me…because it'll be your last mistake!"

With that said, Takashi's Dragon Mark turned into a bright blue color. This caused the blue aura that normally surrounds his body to appear in a new state. Now, instead of just covering the out portion of his body, the aura made Takashi's whole body glow a bright cerulean blue color.

"It's my turn," He said as he placed his hand firmly on his deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Masked Man: SPC – 5**

After drawing the top card from his deck, Takashi glanced at it and saw that it would do him some good this turn. With that, he promptly inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone and prepared himself to activate its effect.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton! Now, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards from deck and then discard 1 to the Graveyard."

Swiftly drawing 2 cards from his deck, Takashi noticed that one of them was exactly the card he needed to destroy both of his opponent's Dragunity monsters this turn. So, upon placing the other card into his Graveyard, the young man then took the first card and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Debris Dragon!"

**Debris Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light covered Takashi's field as Debris Dragon appeared and started flying next to him. Once that happened, he then took a card from his Graveyard and also placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When Debris Dragon is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a monster with 500 or less Attack Points from my Graveyard. "Be revived, Shield Wing!"

As Shield Wing returned to the field, the aura around Takashi's body began to intensify. When the Masked Man noticed this, he noticed that the side of his face was beginning to develop a cold sweat.

"This is it," He thought. "This is the power that they talked about…The power of Takashi Nakamura."

"I Tune both of Level 1 Sheep Tokens and Level 2 Shield Wing with my Level 4 Debris Dragon!" Takashi declared.

All 4 monsters complied with Takashi's demand and proceeded to prepare themselves for the Synchro Summoning ritual. As they did that, Takashi pulled a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Once the ritual ended, Stardust Dragon arrived in a ray of light and started staring down both of the Masked Man's monsters. When that happened, Takashi activated one of his 2 face-down cards.

"I now activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate! With this card, Stardust Dragon now transforms into Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 10**

Stardust started roaring at the top of its lungs as its Assault Armor started to cover its entire body. As that was happening, everyone in the stand was amazed by the dragon's new appearance. However, unbeknownst to all of them, the mere presence of Stardust Dragon/Assault was beginning to have an effect on Aiku, Kagura, and Misaki.

Meanwhile, back at the Duel, Takashi continued on with his turn by activating his second face-down card.

"Next, I activate the Trap: Call of the Haunted! With it, I'm going to revive the Junk Berserker that you destroyed a couple of turns ago!"

A flash of red light shined across the field for a few moments as Junk Berserker returned to the Duel. Once it was out, Takashi then pulled out another card from his Graveyard and proceeded to put it away.

"I activate Junk Berserker's Special Ability!" He declared. "By removing a Junk Monster from my Graveyard from play, Junk Berserker can lower the Attack Points of one monster my opponent controls equal to the Attack Points of the removed monster. I remove Junk Synchron from play to drain your Dragunity Arma Leyvaten of 1300 of its Attack Points!"

**Dragunity Arma Leyvaten: ATK 1300**

"Alright!" Madas exclaimed. "With that move, both of the Masked guy's Dragunity monsters are now weaker than Takashi's monsters!"

"…That's not all," Kagura pointed out. "I'm not entirely sure what's going on…, but I think Takashi is about to unleash a new power."

As they, and all the others looked on with excitement, Akiza simply smiled at the display she was witnessing. Thanks to her effort, not only was Takashi back to his normal self, but he was about to take complete control of the Duel. With that in mind, the young woman got closer to track and said the following words.

"Go get him, Takashi!"

"I will!" He replied as he looked back at her. "Junk Berserker, attack Dragunity Arma Mystletainn…Berserker's Slash!"

Junk Berserker nodded its head and proceeded to make its way over to Mystletainn. Once it got close enough, the mighty warrior swung its axe at the beast and sliced it in two.

**Masked Man: 2300 LP**

Once Dragunity Arma Mystletainn was gone from the field, Takashi revved up his Duel Runner and quickly made his away over to the Masked Man. As he watched this, the Masked Man noticed that the air around his opponent began to shift into different direction. It was because of this feeling, the he braced himself for what was about to happened.

"You've done it Takashi," He thought to himself.

"Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode," Takashi called out. "Destroy Dragunity Arma Leyvaten…Assault Sonic Burst!"

Stardust complied with Takashi's demand and started gathering cosmic energy from within its body. As it did so, the aura that was surrounding its master was now transferring over to him. Once the aura returned to its normal level of power, Stardust had finished gathering energy and proceeded to fire a cosmic blast at Leyvaten. When the blast struck the monsters, the Masked Man was caught in the resulting explosion and began spinning out of control.

**Masked Man: 600 LP**

"I know it," Kagura said. "Takashi just used Sense."

"Wait," Crow said. "So Takashi can use that Sense thing too?"

"…I don't think that's the case," Misaki pointed out. "…I doubt he was even consciously aware of it but, at the moment Stardust Dragon launched its attack, Takashi must sped up in order to increase its power. Though I not sure how to do it, I do know that speed is one of the factors in which Sense is created and increased."

Back at the Duel, the Masked Man finally regained control of his Duel Runner and started making his way back over to Takashi. As he did so, his helmet started to crack.

"That was amazing," He said with a smile on his face. "I knew that you could do it. All you needed was a little extra push."

Takashi was confused by his opponent's words as he watched as his helmet began to crumble down from his face. Once most of it was gone, and more of his face was revealed, Toru and Aiku jumped up upon recognizing who the Masked Man really was.

"Alex McQueen?!" They yelled in unison.

"What, so you know this guy?!" Lilly asked the both of them.

"Yeah," Aiku answered. "Although we only saw him once, Alex McQueen is the champion of New Domino City's Underground Dueling Circuit. No one really knows who he is because he rarely appears topside."

"But why the hell would he appear now?" Toru questioned. "And where did he get that strange mark?"

As they questioned this, Takashi looked into Alex's eyes and was finally able to read his intentions. He couldn't really tell why he was able to do so, but he fingered it was probably because the difference in their skills have now begun to close. However, even though he got a feeling why Alex was Dueling him now, the young man still had a lot of questions on his mind.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked him.

"To show you something," Alex answered as he placed his hand on his deck. "I'm here to show you that you've yet to reach your true potential. A potential that you will need to truly unlock in order to face what is to come."

A look of confusion appeared Takashi's face as he ended his turn. Once that happened, a small smile appeared on Alex's face as he prepared to begin his own turn.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Alex: SPC – 6**

Upon drawing the card and placing it into his hand, Alex promptly made it over to his Spell/Trap Zone and activated the face-down card that he set a few turns ago.

"I activate the Trap Card: Effect Jammer! With the power of this Trap Card, the effects of all my opponent's monsters are negated!"

"I don't think so!" Takashi countered. "I activate Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability! By releasing Stardust, it can negate the activation of a Spell, Trap, or Monster Effect, and destroy it! Also, upon successfully using this ability, Stardust Dragon returns to the field on the End Phase of this turn!"

Stardust roared as its body was beginning to be coming by a blinding white light. Once the light consumed it completely, Stardust Dragon was gone along with Alex's Trap Card.

"That's in impressive ability," the Underground Dueling Champion commented. "However, doing that left you vulnerable to my next form of attack."

As soon as he said that, Alex grabbed the Speed Spell that he could have used last turn and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Upon seeing it, Takashi's eyes widen upon seeing what it was.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Monster Reborn!" He declared. "By removing 4 Speed Counters, this card can revive any monster from our respective Graveyards. The monster I want is, Dragunity Arma Leyvaten!"

A bright flash of orange light consumed the fight as Dragunity Arma Leyvaten returned to the Duel. Once it was out, Alex continued on with his play by taking another card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Magna Drago!"

**Magna Drago: ATK 1400 DEF 600 LVL 2**

A small blast of flames appeared in front of Dragunity Arma Leyvaten as Magna Drago materialized onto the field. The sight of the two monsters forced Takashi to brace himself as he knew what was coming next.

"I Tune my Level 8 Dragunity Arma Leyvaten with my Level 2 Magna Drago!"

As both monsters flew into the air and performed the Synchro ritual, the green mark on Alex's back caused his body to transform. His spiky black hair started to become much spikier and soon changed from a pitch-black color to a bright green. His eyes also changed from green to an orange-red color. He then grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"As the winds ignite the unyielding flame, the strongest member of the Dragunity Arma awakens! Unleash your mighty inferno and burn away all evil! Synchro Summon! Blaze, Trident Dragion!"

**Trident Dragion: ATK 3000 DEF 2800 LVL 10**

Once the ritual was complete, an eruption of fire and magma shot into the air. As everyone else was amazed by the scene, Alex looked on with a smile on his face as he watched the flames and the lava begin to cluster together. Soon it took the shape of a giant red dragon that had 3 separate heads.

"Trident…Dragion?" Takashi questioned in shock. "Just what the hell is that?"

"It's my Ace!" Alex declared. "And I'm about to activate its Special Ability! When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, Trident Dragion can destroy up to 2 cards I control and for every card it destroys, it gains an additional attack this turn! So, I'm going to destroy my final face-down card in order for Dragion to attack twice!"

Trident Dragion roared with all 3 of its head as it proceeded to consume Alex's last face-down card. Once it did that, 2 of its head looked towards Takashi's side of the field. One of them looked down at Junk Berserker while the other looked at Takashi himself.

"It's been a fun Duel Takashi," Alex said with a smile on his face. "Trident Dragion, destroy Junk Berserker…Dragon's Fire Blast!"

Dragion complied and proceeded to fire a blast of flames and lava towards Junk Berserker. When it struck and killed the monster the resulting blast wave created a Sense blast so great that it nearly knocked Takashi off his Duel Runner.

**Takashi: 500 LP**

"Now Dragion, attack Takashi's Life Points directly!"

Trident Dragion's second head also complied and fired its attack towards Takashi. As the attack struck him, and drained the remaining of his Life Points, everyone was concerned by what the result might be.

"TAKASHI!" They all yelled in unison.

**Takashi: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms slowly began to fade away, Akiza ran out towards the track saw that Takashi's Duel Runner was covered in holographic flames. When they finally faded away, the young woman checked to see if Takashi was alright. Fortunately…<p>

"I'm…I'm still alive?" Takashi questioned as he looked over his body. "But…I was sure that attack would've finished me off."

As he continued to examine himself, tears ran down Akiza's face as she wrapped both arms around Takashi and hold him close to her. When he saw this, the young man realized just how worried she was about him and gently returned her hug with one of his own.

"I'm sorry for putting you through all that," He thought. "I'm so sorry."

Alex looked over and saw display between the two Singers. He proceeded to nod his head in approval as his body returned to its former state. Once that happened, he walked over towards the both of them and saw that they were looking at him as well.

"Hey," He started off. "Sorry about what I said. However, I needed to push you to your absolute physical and mental limits. Only by doing that, could I properly gauge your abilities and how far you've come."

Alex bowed his head towards both Takashi and Akiza, waiting to see if he would forgive him for what he did. As he waited, the others finally made it over to them and watched this display. Most of them didn't want to forgive Alex for doing what he did, while some didn't really know how to feel about the matter. In the end, Takashi walked over to him and gently touched his shoulder.

"It's fine," He said. "During your last attack, I finally completely understood why you wanted to fight me. It's because you wanted to show me a new power…right?"

The Underground Dueling King lifted his head and nodded upon hearing Takashi's answer. He then pointed to his mark and everyone saw that it was still glowing.

"That's right," He said. "I needed to test you in order to see if you were capable to achieving that new power. It was never my intention to do you or any of the Signers any harm. "

"Excuse me," Crow said as he walked towards him. "But will you now tell us, what the hell a Signer is? Does it somehow to these marks of outs?"

"I can't answer those questions yet." Alex replied. "However, everything will be explained in due time."

With that said, Alex placed the broken remains of his helmet over his face and proceeded to walk towards his Duel Runner. However, just before he left, the young man went into his pocket and pulled out a small white business card. He then tossed the card towards Takashi and signaled for him to flip it out. When he did, Takashi and others saw that it had an address on it.

"Takashi," Alex called. "A storm is on the horizon and you and the rest of the Singers must be prepared to face it. If you go to the location on that card, then I can teach how not only use your new power, but also help you achieve even greater strength."

Alex rode off as the others attempted to absorb the information that he just explained. He felt, someone deep in his heart, that Takashi would eventually accept his offer for greater strength.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Goodwin was busy looking over New Domino City from the roof a giant building. The Director felt a strange sensation early in the day and he decided to go outside in order to see what it was. As he continued to look, Lazar appeared from an elevator and proceeded to walk over to his boss.

"Director Goodwin," He said. "We've just received word that Alex McQueen has just made contact with the Signers."

"I see," Goodwin replied, not even turning around to face Lazar. "That explains the shift in air. If Alex has finally approached them, then that means my plans must be accelerated."

After spending a few more moments looking over the city, Goodwin turned around and faced Lazar. With determination in his eyes and a smile on his face, the Director walked over towards him and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Lazar…I want you to contact Mina. Tell her to bring Alistair and make sure he has _that _card with him."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_A few days have passed and Takashi continues to wonder whether or not to accept Alex's offer for more power. As he ponders this, he and the others are invited to come over Aiku's house in order to see his family. During this visit Takashi makes a decision and challenges Aiku._

_Next Time of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 52: Doubts – Part 1_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements <strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, I hope your Holiday Season has been going well. I want to give a shout-out my friend, Serpentdragon, who provided me with Alex McQueen. I promise to use him with the best of my abilities. Also, please know that I'm still accepting OCs so please feel free to send them to me._

_As I approach my 300__th__ review, that milestone constantly reminds me just how grateful I am to all of you. It's because of each and every one of you that Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus has become the story it is today. Please continue to read a review my work and any other future projects that I may have in store. My personal goal is to have 10 reviews a chapter. _

_Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader wishing you a Happy New Year. See you in 2013._


	52. Chapter 52

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 52: **_Doubts – Part 1_

* * *

><p>It's been 3 days since Alex McQueen, the Underground Duel King of New Domino City, first approached Takashi Nakamura in order to show him the new power of Sense. During that timeframe, things have quickly settled down as Sector Security wasn't able to locate Alex or find any clues to his whereabouts. In truth, they've intended to question those individuals who were scene with Alex, but they were stopped by Lazar, the vice-director of Sector Security. He gave the officer clear instructions that they were to leave the individuals with the glowing dragon marks, and they friends alone, since they had nothing to do with Alex. This order was a lie, set up by Director Goodwin in order to keep the Signers safe from harm until the time being. The officers had the suspicions about the order that they were given however, not wanting to be fired and lose their jobs, they decided to keep their mouths shut and do what they were told.<p>

Meanwhile, at Poppo Time, everyone was trying to come to terms with Alex's appearance and his threat that a dangerous storm was coming. Lilly had her doubts about this coming danger, which most likely resulted from her inability to fully trust Alex himself. Having seen him nearly kill Takashi and threaten Akiza, the young woman believed that the Underground Duel King was just messing with them in order to shift their attention away from something else. However, not one to through away all the possibilities, Lilly decided to keep an eye on the city just in case something bad really was coming.

As for Crow, the Blackwing Duelist felt the same way as Lilly. He wasn't sure whether or not to trust Alex's words since his actions didn't completely match up with them. However, after hearing his explanation for Dueling Takashi, Crow decided to keep his eyes and ears opened. To that end, he would always spend some time after work, traveling throughout the city. He would do this in order to check up on suspicious activity and to see if Alex's words were really true. However, much to his annoyance, that didn't seem to be the case as things were relatively quiet.

Toru tried his best to give a proper explanation to Misaki about the things she witnessed a couple of days ago. However, since he didn't really know how to explain all the things he seen and experienced during the 6 months that he's been involved in this Signer mess. Fortunately for him, Misaki wasn't sweating it as much as he was. All she said to him…

"…_Alex said that things will be revealed in time. So all we can do is wait patiently until that time comes."_

With that said, Misaki didn't bring the subject back up anymore and went back to doing her usual thing. Toru was amazed on how calm she was about the matter and a part of him wondered if she knew more than initially believed. However, since Misaki didn't want to talk about it anymore, Toru decided to push that thought into the back of his mind and went back to preparing for the Fortune Cup.

Meanwhile, Takashi has been in his room for the past 3 days resting from his Turbo Duel against Alex. Even though his opponent was holding back considerably, along with the fact that his powers reduced the damage of the attack, Takashi was in pain from the Sense blasts he received. Because of that Lilly, the one who tended to his injuries, told him to spend most of his time resting so that they can heal properly. Even though he hated sitting still, Takashi did was he was told and stayed in bed. Besides, the young man had a lot on his mind as of late and wanted some time to think to himself.

"Is it possible?" He thought as he sat down on his bed, looking at the card Alex gave him. "Can I achieve even greater strength if I train under him?"

Throughout his time as a Duelist, Takashi has hardly had to rely on others to help him improve his skills. Through his own methods and unique training regiments, Takashi's skills have vastly improved to the point that he can be a match for even the most powerful opponents and prevail. However, his Duel with Alex was causing him to have doubts, something that he wasn't use to having. These doubts caused the young man to question something.

_Should I really go and receive training or can I get by with my own devices?_

As he continued to ponder the question that was currently on his soul, Takashi decided to lay down his bed. However, as he did that, his arm happened to knock something off his desk and land on the ground next to him. When he turned and saw what dropped, Takashi saw that it was the sword that he created from his time in the Satellite.

"Oh yeah," He said to himself. "I almost forgot about this thing."

The sight of the sword caused Takashi to remember how he was able to create the blade in the first place. For some strange reason, while he was fighting Sasuke, he managed to transfer his power into a nearby pipe. That action caused the pipe to transform into the sword that he sees now. Since that day, the young man wondered how he actually happened to create the blade and decided to keep it with him in order to find the answer to that question. However, upon returning to New Domino City, Takashi put the sword away and forgot he even had it in the first place.

"This sword really is something," He continued. "Even after all this time, there's no damage on the blade at all. Usually swords get rusty when not tended to, but this sword looks just as new when I first made. In fact…wait a minute. What the hell is this?"

Examining the sword more closely, Takashi noticed the back end of the blade had strange marking engraved upon it. The markings were written in a language that was neither Japanese nor English. Because of that, Takashi wasn't able to figure out what was written on his sword.

"What's going on here? I'm sure that these markings weren't here the last time I examined this sword. So why the hell are they there now? Does it have to do with Alex's appearance?"

As he continued to question the sudden appearance of the strange markings, the door to Takashi's room was slowly beginning to open. Not wanting to let anyone see them yet, Takashi quickly grabbed the sheath and placed his sword in it. Afterwards, the young man placed the weapon on his desk in the same position it was before it fell. Once that was done, Takashi turned around and saw that it was Akiza who was making her way into his room. She was carrying a first-aid kit in her right hand and had a warm smile on her face.

"Hey Takashi," She said as she walked towards him. "Is something wrong? You seem pretty tense."

"…No," He responded, trying to calm himself down. "I just…sat up to fast and I became dizzy. I'm trying to get myself together. Anyway, what are you doing here? Are you going to tend to my injuries again?"

"That's right," Akiza said as she nodded her head a little. "Lilly told me that your wounds are almost fully healed, so I decided to come up and tend to them one last time before."

Takashi smiled as he listened to Akiza's explanation. Even though his injuries weren't life threatening and probably would've healed on their own, he liked it when Akiza would help tend to them. It was during these moments that the two of them would grow even closer and learn just how much they care about one another.

While she began to tend to the last of his injuries, Akiza noticed that Takashi's attention was focused more on the card that Alex gave him than on her. The sight of this caused her to wonder if he really wanted to go visit Alex in order to receive his training for more power. However, as she continued to watch him, Akiza also noticed that there was a lot of doubt in his eyes as well. She could tell that Takashi truly didn't know what to do and that this choice was causing to have internal conflicts. Although she didn't really know how she could help him get through this problem, Akiza decided to do something anyway.

"Takashi," She called out. "How know what you're feeling."

Takashi turned his head and looked at Akiza with a hint of confusion on his face. He didn't understand what she meant when she said she understood what he was feeling. He was about to ask her to explain herself, but Akiza was already ahead of him and did just that.

"During your end of your Duel against Alex, I was able sense what was going on inside your heart. I felt all the pain and despair that you were feeling at the moment, even though I haven't really experienced it myself. Since then, whether it be happiness or sadness, I've been able to sense your true feelings. And right now…I can tell you're really conflicted."

"Conflicted?" Takashi said as he looked back at his card. "That's the good word for it. I really don't know whether I should do what Alex said or not. I mean, I do want to become stronger, but I don't know if that's the right way to go about it."

As he continued to ponder his decision, Akiza looked at Takashi for a few moments before recalling the terrifying feeling she felt when Takashi was depressed. It was during that moment that the beautiful Psychic finally obtained an understanding of Takashi that she never had before. Usually he would be happy and friendly individual, always trying to help people because it was the right thing to do. However, she felt that was only half true. The other reason why Takashi helped other people is because he felt guilty about something he did…or was unable to do, in the past. It was here that Akiza recalled Toru's words from the Satellite, nearly 3 months ago.

_6 years ago, another girl that Takashi had feelings for died right in front of his eyes. Due to that incident, Takashi made a promise to himself. To protect anyone that he would happen to come across. That way, other people won't have to feel the same suffering that he's feeling now._

Upon recalling these words, Akiza realized that Takashi's continues to blame himself for the loss of the person he loved. This loss acted as the catalyst for which he would strive to achieve the strength needed to save anyone else. However, having just been shown just how weak he really was, Takashi was beginning to feel the same suffering that he felt in the past. Not wanting the man she loved to feel that way, Akiza gently placed her hand upon his cheek, just where his first cross-shape scar was.

"I'm not sure whether or not training under Alex is the right thing to do," She told him. "However, there is one thing that I do know. No matter what choice you make Takashi, I'll always support it. You're the strongest, wisest, and kindest person I know and I honestly believe that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. I trust you Takashi…and I always will."

Akiza's kind words brought a sense of peace into Takashi's heart as all the conflict that he held was beginning to slowly disappear. He then looked towards the card one more time before placing it into his pocket. He then gently held Akiza's hand as she continued to touch his cheek.

"Thank you," He said with a small smile on his face. "I needed that. I promise I'll make my decision soon."

The two of them continued to look at one another with intimate looks in their eyes. However, before anything could happen, both Takashi and Akiza heard that Toru was calling them from downstairs. Despite the fact that neither one wanted to break the moment that they were having, the two of them reluctantly did just that and proceeded to make their way down to Toru. However, before he went, Takashi grabbed his sword and placed it by his hip. He then looked towards Akiza with a look of determination in his eyes.

"No matter what choice I make, I will become stronger," He thought to himself. "I swear…I won't let Akiza suffer the same fate as Hikari."

Once everyone was downstairs in the living room, Toru was busy looking at them with a huge smile on his face. Having seen that smile before in the past, Takashi knew that his friend had pretty exciting news to tell them.

"Guys," Toru started off. "Do you remember what Aiku said to us just after we came home from the Satellite?"

"Yeah," Crow answered. "He said he wanted to take the time to introduce us to his family."

"That's right," Toru replied. "I just received a call from his a few minutes ago and he said today's a perfect opportunity to do just that. I've been over his house once before so I can take you all there if you want to come along."

As Toru waited a response, the others were contemplating whether or not they should go and visit Aiku's family. After talking about it amongst themselves Takashi, Akiza, and Misaki all decided to join Toru. Crow was about to say that he was going to join them, but he was stopped by Lilly at the last moment.

"I'm sorry Toru," She said. "But Crow and I have something to do today. Tell Aiku that we hope to meet up with his family on another day."

Crow was shocked by this statement as he didn't remember setting up any plans with Lilly today. He was about to comment on it, but Lilly shut his mouth before he could speak. The young woman then proceeded to glare at the Blackwing Duelist, silently telling him to shut up. When the others also noticed Lilly's glare, they all decided to mind to keep themselves out of it or else suffer her wrath.

With that settled, everyone left the living room and made their way over to the Duel Runners. Each of them then got on their respective vehicles, with the exception of Akiza who decided to ride with Takashi, and quickly made their way to their destinations.

Meanwhile, at New Domino's Public Security Maintenance Bureau, Goodwin was busy looking out a window like he usual does, waiting for someone to arrive. The Director of Sector Security was quietly pondering Alex's sudden appearance and how his actions have caused him to move his plans ahead of schedule.

"Alex McQueen," He thought to himself. "It seems we're getting closer to each other in equal steps. It will only be a matter of time until the thing we both want finally arrives. So be it. I'm ready whenever you are."

As he continued thinking to himself, Goodwin noticed that someone was entering his office. When he turned around, the Director saw that it was Alistair and Mina, the former approaching him with an angry expression on his face.

"What's the meaning of this Goodwin?!" Alistair questioned as he slammed his hands on the desk. "Why did you ask Mina to bring me here?"

Goodwin didn't respond to Alistair's questions and just kept to himself for a few moments. He then smiled at him, which only caused the young man to become more furious at the Director than he already was. Eventually, Goodwin turned back towards the window and looked at the city over the horizon.

"Alistair," He said. "Before you came back from your tour, a few of your old friends have made their way to New Domino City. I believe their names were Crow Hogan and…Lilly Muto."

Alistair's eyes widen upon hearing those names, especially Lilly's. He then went into his pocket and pulled out the card that Mina told him to bring. After looking at it for about a minute, the Duel King promptly left the office. When she saw this, Mina attempted to stop him.

"Where are you going Alistair?" She asked.

"…To settle an old score," He answered.

As Alistair continued to make his way out of the building, a small smile reappeared upon Goodwin's face. He then chuckled as he looked up towards the sky.

"All of the pieces are falling into place,"

* * *

><p>2 hours quickly passed by as Takashi, Akiza, Misaki, and Toru continued making their way over to Aiku's place. As he drove with his friends, Takashi was beginning to wonder about something.<p>

"Something doesn't seem right," He thought to himself. "Why does Aiku wants us to visit his family all of a sudden? Even though we promised we would, that was over 3 months ago. What makes today so special?"

As Takashi continued pondering this question, he and the rest of his friends finally reached their destination. It was a large estate that was nearly 5 times as big as Poppo Time and had a large backyard with an open track field. The place stunned everyone, with the exception of Toru, as they never seen such an amazing residence before. Eventually, after parking their Duel Runners and making their way to the front door, everyone noticed that Aiku was making his way towards all of them.

"What's up guys?" The young man said with a smile on his face. "It's good to finally have you all here."

Takashi and the others accepted Aiku's warm greeting and thanked him for letting them visit his home. They were about to go inside, but stopped when Aiku noticed that both Lilly and Crow weren't with them.

"What's going on here?" He asked. "I thought all of you were coming today."

"Well…Lilly said she and Crow had plans today," Toru explained. "She also says that she apologizes and promises to make it up to you in the future."

Upon hearing this explanation, a hint of depression appeared on Aiku's face. The young man was really looking forward to introducing all of his friends to his family and hope that would be exactly the case. However, with Lilly and Crow not being here, that wouldn't be the case. However, Aiku's sadness quickly faded away when he remembered that the others did arrive and swore to make the best of this situation.

Soon, all of them went inside and decided to take a tour of the estate. The place was filled with several trophies and awards that were almost 10 years old. The sight of all of these things caused Misaki to silently wonder if Aiku only brought them to his house just to show how good his was. Eventually, they all made their way into the living room and saw 3 people waiting for them.

The first of the 3 individuals was a middle-aged man with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a causal set of clothes which consisted of a pair of blue jeans and long-sleeved shirt. He also wore a pair of oval shaped glasses.

The second individual was middle-aged woman who appeared to be slightly younger than the man. She also had a pair of brown eyes, but her hair was blue just like Aiku's. She outfit consisted of a light blue dress that covered a yellow shirt.

The third and final individual was a young woman who seemed about 5 years younger than the kids. She had the man's eyes and hair, but retained the woman's face. She was wearing a similar blue dress, only much smaller.

"Everyone," Aiku started off. "I would like to introduce you to my father; Cecil Gato, my mother; Sharla Gato, and my little sister; Rachel Gato."

"Nice to meet you," Takashi and the others said in unison.

The kids bowed slightly to both Aiku's mother and father, to give them a sign or their respect. Once they did that, Aiku went on to introduce his friends to his family.

"Mom and Dad," He said. "These are Toru's friends; Misaki Himura, Akiza Izinski, and Takashi Nakamura."

Upon hearing Takashi's last name, Cecil's and Sharla's eyes widen a little. The former then walked over and examined the young man before finally speaking.

"So you're Takashi," He said. "Aiku has told me much about you and, after now seeing you in person, I can say that everything he said was true. You really are Sakura's son."

"You…you knew my mother?" Takashi questioned.

Cecil nodded his head and proceeded to walk over towards a nearby desk. Once he was there, he opened the cabinet that it provided and pulled out a scrapbook. He then flipped through several pages of the book before arriving at a certain set of pictures. Cecil then made his way back over to Takashi and showed him the pictures in the book. While some of them were different, each photo had the same individual in it; a beautiful young woman with cerulean blue hair and eyes of the same color. Upon looking at this woman, Takashi instantly knew who she was.

"Mother,"

"That's right," Cecil confirmed. "Your mother, Sakura Nakamura, was not only the strongest rival I had during my professional Dueling career, but she was also my best friend. The two of us would travel all around the world; winning championships and attempting to outdo one another. However, in all the times I faced Sakura, I never managed to defeat her."

Everyone was amazed by this revelation as they never even considered that Aiku's father could have such a close relationship with the legendary World Queen. As they continued looking at the pictures, Misaki realized something and went back to looking at the trophies and awards that were all around the mansion. Once she did that, the young woman then turned her attention back to Cecil.

"So all these trophies…they belong to you, don't they?" She asked.

"Correct," Cecil said. "With all the trophies that I have, they probably wouldn't fit in one particular room. So I decided to scattered them around most of the house in order to save some space."

"…And to spread your ego," Sharla pointed out.

Cecil blushed slightly as he listened to his wife's comment. He instantly knew that she was right and that the trophies were indeed used to spread is ego around the house. However, still having the pride of a young Turbo Duelist, Cecil wouldn't admit that out loud to everyone else.

Meanwhile, as he continued to look through each picture, Takashi was finally able to see his mother in a way he never imagined. Even though he heard stories about all the accomplishments she obtained, Takashi wasn't able to find any pictures or other form of proof that would confirm them. So the fact that he actually looking at some pictures gave the young man a sense of pride that he was wanted to have for his mother. However, as he continued looking through the pictures, sadness began to enter Takashi's heart.

"I wish I could have met her," He said to himself.

Takashi closed the scrapbook and handed it over to Aiku before walking around living room. As he did this, everyone else began to feel for the young man. Even though he was indeed proud that he was the son of such a legendary Duelist, it didn't change the fact that he always longed to have a mother's love. Akiza was about to go up and confront him, but Cecil stopped her and told her to wait. He then walked over towards Takashi and gently placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I know what you're feeling son," He said to the young man. "When you're mother passed away, I wasn't able to accept it and I frantically searched for any proof that she was still alive. However, all I was doing was running away from the truth. I bet if Sakura was alive today, she would probably kick my ass for being so stupid. Eventually, I was able to realize that Sakura wouldn't want us to be sad over her death. She was the type of person to always look up and be happy, no matter what the situation may be. So, even though she's not here anymore, we must try and continue living happy lives. For that is what Sakura always wanted."

Cecil's words strengthen Takashi's heart as he quickly got over his depression. He then looked up at another picture of his mother one more time before looking back at Cecil. He then proceeded to smile at him.

"Thank you sir," He said.

The middle-aged man nodded his head in response and saw a resemblance of Sakura within Takashi. Even though he could tell that the boy still had a ways to go before he could reach his mother's level of skill, Cecil could tell that he had the same drive and compassion as her. The sight of this brought a smile on his face and soon believed that Takashi could go places that neither his mother nor himself ever thought possible.

Later on in the day, as Aiku and his family continued showing everyone else around their house, Misaki looked out the window and noticed a large number of Duel Runner placed next to the track field. The young woman was silently impressed by this display as she never scene someone own that many Duel Runners before. However, as she continued to examine them, Misaki noticed something different about them. Even though she was far away from them, and thus wasn't able to good enough look, Misaki was able to notice the smallest details in all the Duel Runners she encountered. Because of that, she decided to voice her opinion about the Runners that she was looking at now.

"Excuse me sir," She said. "But those Duel Runners outside…they're custom made aren't they?"

"Why yes they are," Cecil confirmed as he looked towards her. "Even though I stopped riding professionally, my love for Duel Runners have made as strong as it was during my youth. To that end, I decided to become an engineer and create my very own Runners. After some time testing them, I would sell the most worthy Runners to shops who wanted them. It's a hard and challenging profession, but then, most things in life usually are."

Misaki silently agreed with Cecil's words and continued looking at the Duel Runners. Realizing that she wanted to examine them more closely, Mr. Gato decided to bring everyone outside to the track field. However, as they were about to do that, Sharla decided to stay inside in order make a big dinner for everyone.

Once the others were outside, Misaki spent her time examining each Duel Runner while the others looked at the track. Though its size was around same as the practice field that they usually go to, this track contained more sharp turns.

"My father made this track in order to test the capability of each Duel Runner his builds," Aiku explained. "From time to time, I also use it in order to improve my own skills."

As he continued to examine the track, Takashi put his hands into his pocket and felt the card that Alex gave to him. He then instantly remembered his proposal and all the doubts he was having because of it. Wanting to erase those doubts and prove his own strength, Takashi made a decision and turned to face Aiku and his father.

"Say Aiku," He said. "You have this perfectly good track here, yet no one is using it. Let's have a Turbo Duel and break it in!"

A hint of surprise appeared on Aiku's face as he listened to Takashi's proposal. However, that surprise quickly turned into excitement and anticipation as he turned to face his friend.

"That's fine with me," He replied. "To tell you truth, I've wanted to have a Duel with you for a while now."

Both boys turned their attention to Cecil, hoping that he would allow them to use the track for their Turbo Duel. Fortunately for them, Cecil already had that very idea in mind since he wanted to see Sakura's son in action.

"It's fine with me," He approved. "I believe this Duel will be a good indication to see how far the both of you have come."

With that settled, both boys thanked Cecil before making their way to their respective Duel Runners. As he was preparing his, Takashi noticed that Akiza was approaching him. The young woman was slightly confused why Takashi would suddenly challenge Aiku to a Duel and wanted to question him about it.

"Do you know what you're doing?" She asked him.

"Yeah," Takashi confirmed. "I'm tired of having these doubts and I'm sure that Dueling someone as strong as Aiku will help me erase them."

Once that was said, Takashi finished working on his Duel Runner and proceeded to make his way over to the starting line. However, before he left, the young man pulled out the sword that had with him and gave it to Akiza. He then gave her a warm smile.

"Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine."

Akiza gave a small smile as she held Takashi's sword and watched him make his way over to the starting line. However, despite her outward appearance, the young woman was silently worried and hoped that this Duel won't have a negative impact on the man she loved.

Soon, both Aiku and Takashi made their reached the starting line and prepared themselves to begin their Duel. As they waiting for Cecil to give the signal, both Duelists activated the Speed World 2 Field Spell, resulting in the entire track to be enveloped in a holographic light.

"I hope you're ready Takashi," Aiku told him. "Just because you're my friend doesn't mean I intend to hold back."

"I wouldn't want you too," Takashi replied.

With that said, Cecil signaled for the Duelists to go and both Takashi and Aiku sped across the race track. The two boys attempted to pass the first corner before the other, but Aiku's experience with the track gave him an advantage allowed him to reach it first.

"DUEL!"

* * *

><p><strong>Takashi: 4000 LP<strong>

**Aiku: 4000 LP**

"It's my turn," Aiku said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Aiku: SPC – 1**

Upon drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Aiku examined all of his cards for a moment. As he strategized about what move he should make, the young man was also thinking about what move Takashi would use to counter him.

"Takashi uses a Warrior deck," He thought to himself. "It focuses on swarming the field with a barrage of low Level monsters in order to Synchro Summon powerful Synchro Monsters. I don't have any cards in my deck that can stop the summoning of those monsters, but I can cripple their power if I summon my Bursting Soul Dragon. However, I'll need to get through this turn in order to do that. Fortunately I have just the way to do that."

Aiku went over to his hand and picked up a card. He then firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as the monster began to materialize beside him.

"I Summon: Marauding Captain!" He declared.

**Marauding Captain: ATK 1200 DEF 400 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light illuminated beside Aiku as his Marauding Captain appeared and started flying next to him. Once that happened, he then grabbed another card from his hand and also placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"When Marauding Captain is successfully summoned onto the field," Aiku continued. "I can then Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Torapart!"

**Torapart: ATK 600 DEF 600 LVL 2**

Another flash of light shined across Aiku's side of the field as a little boy that had the appearance of a witch appeared before him. He was flying on top of a floating disk, which was capable of keeping up with Aiku's Duel Runner.

"I now Tune my Level 3 Marauding Captain with my Level 2 Torapart!"

Both Marauding Captain and Torapart nodded their heads to Aiku's declaration and proceeded to jump high into the air. Once they were high enough, the two of them began the ritual for a Synchro Summoning just as Aiku pulled a card out from his Extra Deck. The young man then placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone, resulting in a giant flash of light covering his entire field.

"Synchro Summon! Appear, Scarred Warrior!"

**Scarred Warrior: ATK 2100 DEF 1000 LVL 5**

Once the light faded away, a man with scars all over his body made his way beside Aiku. A section of his face was covered with a metallic plating while his right arm was covered in bandages as had a knife popping out of it. His right leg was also replaced with a robotic replica.

"Scarred Warrior?" Takashi questioned quietly to himself. "So Aiku uses the Warrior-Archetype too?"

As Takashi began to ponder what other monsters that his opponent might have, Aiku continued on with his turn by grabbing another card from his hand. He then inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as it materialized face-down on the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Alright Takashi, let's see what you've got."

Takashi nodded his head in response to Aiku's words and prepared to begin his first move of the Duel. As he did that, both Akiza and Toru were cheering him on while Cecil was busy observing him closely.

"Alright Sakura," He thought. "It's time to see if your son can actually follow your legacy."

"It's my turn," Takashi declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Aiku: SPC – 2**

After drawing a card from his deck, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face as he looked at it. He then proceeded to place the card horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When my opponent is the only one with a monster on the field, I can Special Summon: Vice Dragon, in Defense Mode!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

A bright flash covered Takashi's side of the field as his trusty Vice Dragon appeared before him in Defense Mode. However, he saw that his dragon wasn't his usual self as it seemed weaker.

"However," He started to explain. "When Vice Dragon is Special Summoned this way, its Attack and Defense Points are cut in half."

**Vice Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 1200**

Once Vice Dragon's Attack and Defense Points were cut in half, Takashi continued on with his turn by picking up a card from his hand. He then went on to place the card vertically onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Turbo Synchron!"

**Turbo Synchron: ATK 100 DEF 500 LVL 1**

Once he placed the card upon his Duel Disk, a small flash of light shined before Takashi as his Turbo Synchron appeared and started flying next to Vice Dragon. Once they saw both monsters together, everyone realized what was coming next.

"I Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 1 Turbo Synchron!" Takashi shouted.

Both of Takashi's monsters nodded their heads and prepared themselves for the Synchro ritual. As they begun the process, Takashi swiftly pulled a card out from his Extra Deck and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering bonds weave a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Roar, Turbo Warrior!"

**Turbo Warrior: ATK 2500 DEF 1500 LVL 6**

When the Synchro ritual ended, a flash of blinding light covered Takashi's field as his Turbo Warrior appeared before him. Once that happened, the young man prepared himself to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Turbo Warrior, attack Scarred Warrior…Accel Slash!"

Turbo complied with its master's order and made its way over to Scarred Warrior. However, just as it gathered energy into its claw and rammed it into its foe, Takashi was shocked to see that Scarred Warrior wasn't destroyed.

"What the heck?" Toru questioned as he watched the Duel. "Turbo Warrior's Attack Points are higher than Scarred Warrior's, but nothing happened?"

"…Scarred Warrior must have some type of Special Ability that prevented its destruction." Akiza replied.

As the two of them debated what happened, Aiku proceeded to explain to Takashi why his Scarred Warrior managed to survive his fight against Turbo Warrior.

"Sorry Takashi," He started off. "But once per turn, my Scarred Warrior can't be destroyed through battle!"

"I see," Takashi said as he watched his opponent's monster bleed from his bandaged arm. "However, that doesn't mean you don't take any Battle Damage!"

**Aiku: 3600 LP**

Aiku didn't flinch when he noticed that his Life Points dropped by 400. He felt that making through this first turn was worth the damage he took, since Turbo Warrior couldn't activate its ability cut Scarred Warrior's Attack Points in half. Also, with his monster still on the field, the young man could properly set things up during his next turn.

Meanwhile, Takashi was slightly annoyed that he wasn't able to get rid of Scarred Warrior this turn. However, this just strengthened his resolve to do more damage next turn. With that mindset, Takashi grabbed one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Like with Aiku's, the card appeared face-down on the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said.

As the Duel prepared to enter its third turn, Misaki finally walked back over to the others and examined both Takashi's and Aiku's fields. The young woman could instantly tell how the flow of the Duel going and responded accordingly.

"This Duel isn't going anywhere if both of them continue to analyze the other's move," She said. "One of them is going to have make a big move soon, otherwise we might be here a while."

"I agree," Cecil followed up. "I trained Aiku to always think before he makes a move and I can tell that Takashi follows that same strategy. When two warriors of near equal power fight, the deciding factor will be the power in which they attack. I feel that the Duelist with the strongest power will be the one who emerges victorious."

Both Toru and Akiza agreed with Cecil's explanation as it made sense to them. The former, having Dueled both Takashi and Aiku before knew very well how both them play and what type of strategy they like use the most. While he believed that Aiku was the better overall Turbo Duelist, Takashi was better at strategy building. Because of that, Toru agreed that it would probably take one massive blow in order for them to achieve victory.

"It's my turn," Aiku declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Aiku: SPC – 3**

Upon drawing another card from his deck, Aiku took a glance at and his eyes began to widen somewhat. He then looked back over to Takashi for a second before placing the card into his hand. Once he did that, Aiku pulled out another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Sword Master!"

**Sword Master: ATK 1200 DEF 0 LVL 3**

A flash of light shined beside Aiku as a mysterious Arabian bandit who was wielding a pair of curved swords appeared before him. Once it was out, Aiku pounded his fist against his heart.

"My heart and soul are beating as one. They're telling to break through my limits and unleash my true power! I Tune my Level 5 Scarred Warrior with my Level 3 Sword Master!"

The two Warrior-Type monsters responded and quickly jumped into the air. As they prepared to begin the Synchro ritual, Aiku pulled out another card from his Extra Deck and placed it next to his heart.

"Golden flames of my soul, come together and form a new power! Synchro Summon! Descend, Bursting Soul Dragon!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2200 LVL 8**

Once the ritual ended, an explosion of golden flames covered Aiku's field in its entirety. From those flames, Bursting Soul Dragon appeared and began roaring at the top of its lungs. The sight of the beast amazed Takashi, as it was the first time he's seen it in action.

"Amazing," He said to himself. "So this is Aiku's Ace Monster; Bursting Soul Dragon."

As Bursting Soul continued to make its presence felt, both Akiza and Misaki were highly impressed with the powerful monster. Even though she's seen it once before, back at the Satellite, Akiza could tell that Bursting Soul Dragon wasn't your run of the mill Synchro Monster. There was something about it that made it different, similar to her Black Rose Dragon and Takashi's Stardust Dragon. Wanting to know more about the monster, the Psychic Duelist turned her attention towards Aiku's father.

"Mr. Gato," She called. "Just where did Aiku obtain his Bursting Soul Dragon?"

"I gave it to him during his 15th birthday," Cecil explained. "While I was looking for a present for him, I happen to come across and old man who selling Duel Monsters cards. Upon meeting him, he said he knew about my son's birthday and decided to give him a card as a result. So he gave Bursting Soul Dragon and told me to give it to Aiku."

"…I see," Aiku responded. "Did anything else happened or was that just it?"

Cecil looked at Akiza for a few moments, wondering why she was asking him these questions. He then remembered his son telling him that his new friends had a set of powerful dragons that weren't distributed to the public. Coming to the realization that Akiza probably had one of those dragons, Cecil decided to give her more information, hoping that it would help both her and her friends.

"Something interesting did happen afterwards," He said. "The old man explained that Bursting Soul Dragon would be the key to Aiku's future and that he should cherish it just as would his own life. I was confused by this statement and I wanted to question him about it, but he suddenly disappeared before I got the chance too."

Akiza thanked Cecil for his explanation and turned her attention back towards the Duel. As she looked at Bursting Soul Dragon, the young woman's mind was filled with questions. It seemed that the more answers that she and her friends found, 10 more questions would take their place. Akiza silently hoped that she, along with the rest her friends, would eventually solve the mystery behind their marks and their dragons.

Meanwhile, Aiku proceeded to continue on with his turn. With his Bursting Soul Dragon on the field with him, he felt that could take control of the Duel and he intended to do just that.

"I activate Bursting Soul Dragon's Special Ability!" He declared. "Once per turn, I can negate the effect of one my opponent's monsters and increase Bursting Soul Dragon's Attack Points equal to the Level of the selected monster, multiplied by 100. The monster I choose is your Turbo Warrior!"

Takashi looked on and watched as his Turbo Warrior was struck the flames that emitted from Bursting Soul's body. The fire quickly drained Turbo of all of its powers and increase Bursting Soul's Attack Points by 600.

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 3400**

"Now Bursting Soul," Aiku called. "Attack Turbo Warrior…Solar Flare!"

The dragon obeyed Aiku's commanded and proceeded to fire a stream of red-orange flames at Turbo Warrior. The attack incinerated Turbo Warrior into ashes and caused Takashi to lose 900 of his Life Points.

**Takashi: 3100 LP**

As he avoided the flames from his opponent's attack, Takashi was determined not to let Aiku get the better of him. Because of that, the young man activated the face-down card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap: Miracle's Wake!" He stated. "With this, I can revive Turbo Warrior since it was destroyed through battle this turn!"

In a bright flash of light, Turbo Warrior reappeared onto the field and started flying next to Takashi again. The sight of this scene didn't really surprise Aiku as he expected Takashi to do such a thing. He instead responded by taking the card that he drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Like before, the card appeared face-down for a moment before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

Takashi nodded his head and gently placed his hand on his deck. Once he did that the young man gently closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them.

"It's my turn," He declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Aiku: SPC – 4**

Upon drawing the card from his deck, Takashi looked at it and saw that it wasn't a card that he could help him take the advantage in the Duel. However, he knew the card could help obtain the cards that he needed. To that end, he inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton!" He said. "When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards from my deck and then discard 1 card from hand to the Graveyard!"

Following the instructions of his Speed Spell, Takashi swiftly drew 2 cards and looked upon them. When he did, the young man noticed something about them and his mind instantly imagined a flow chart. The chart contained the two cards he just drew and Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon. Soon, electricity ran through each of the charts, flipping over several different cards along the way. Once the last card was flipped, Takashi heard the cry of his beloved Stardust Dragon.

"I see it," He said to himself. "I see the way to defeat Aiku."

With a strategy now developed, Takashi quickly placed the cards he drew into his hand before taking 1 and placing it into his Graveyard. He then grabbed another card and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dread Dragon!" He said.

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

As Dread Dragon appeared onto the field, Takashi's Dragon Mark began to pulsate a little. At that moment, Akiza's mark did the same thing and the Psychic Duelist instantly knew what was coming next.

"I see," She thought to herself. "So it's going to be Ace vs. Ace."

"I Tune my Level 6 Turbo Warrior with my Level 2 Dread Dragon!" Takashi shouted.

The two monsters flew into the air and quickly began the Synchro ritual. Once that happened, Takashi pulled out another card from his Extra Deck and placed it against his heart.

"Gathering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

As soon as the ritual ended, Takashi placed Stardust's card onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as his Ace appeared in a ray of light. Once it was out, the young man looked at Aiku and saw him and his Bursting Soul Dragon staring at Stardust.

"Alright Aiku," He said to him. "It's time to see which dragon is stronger; Bursting Soul Dragon or Stardust Dragon!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As the Turbo Duel between Takashi and Aiku reaches its conclusion, the latter unleashes a new power against the former. Meanwhile, Lilly and Crow are in the middle of Turbo Duel themselves and the Blackwing Duelist also reveals a new power._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 53: Doubts – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader:**_ Hey guys, I want wish you a Happy New Year and hope your 2013 turns out great. _

_I also want to let all of you know that I'm still accepting OCs. All you need to do is either send them to me via PM or review. However, if you do choose review, please comment on the chapter you chose as well. _

_Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	53. Chapter 53

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks: **_PokeRescue18_

**Chapter 53: **_Doubts – Part 2_

* * *

><p>"Everything is coming together…"<p>

As the sun was beginning to set upon New Domino City, Alex McQueen was busying looking over the city from his underground hideout. For a long time, the Underground Duel King has been waiting for this day to come and now it's here. The 5 Signers were now in one place and the stage was getting set for the events that were soon to come. However, as the young man thought about this, one particular thought was on his mind.

"Rex Goodwin," He said to himself. "I've made the first real move. So how will you counter?"

Even though he never met the Director of Sector Security in person, Alex was fully aware of Goodwin's true objective and has been planning for years on how to prevent him from achieving his goals. However, despite all the planning he's been preparing, Alex knew very well that Goodwin was also aware of his moments. With both sides on a one-way collision course, Alex knew that in the end, the one with the better strategy would prevail.

As he continued to ponder Goodwin's next form of action, another individual quietly entered Alex's hideout. Blending in with the shadows, the individual slowly crept towards the Underground Duel King, making sure he wasn't able to pick up his presence. Once he got close enough, he pulled out a small kunai knife and seemed prepared to stab Alex in the back. However…

"Long time no see…Enoch," Alex said.

The individual flinched upon hearing Alex's words. However, he quickly calmed down and proceeded to put his kunai knife away. After that, he came out from the shadows and stepped into the light. He had jet-black hair with brown eyes. He was wearing red shirt with a black and grey jacket over top and had on a pair of dark blue jeans. When Alex turned around and faced him, the two boys looked at one another for a few moments before smiling.

"You've gotten better Enoch," Alex continued. "You're ability to conceal your presence has improved drastically since the last time I saw you."

"Thank you Alex," Enoch replied. "It's because of all my time as a freelance spy that my ability to hide myself has increased. Still, despite all of that, you were still able to find me."

"Well," Alex followed. "It doesn't help that you have strong Psychic powers. Even if you conceal them, I can still sense where you are if you get close enough to me."

Enoch Wylie is a 21-year-old man from America, who was brought to Japan at the young age of 4. Due to his strong Psychic abilities, Enoch instantly caught the attention of Sayer and was abruptly taken from his family and force to join the Arcadia Movement. For 10 long years, Sayer conducted savage experiments upon him in order to increase his abilities. Those cruel experiments nearly drove poor Enoch to the brink of insanity. Fortunately, thanks to the kindness of one individual, Enoch managed to endure his suffering.

One day, Enoch had grown sick of being Sayer's lab rat and decided to escape the Arcadia Movement. It was on this day that he met up with Alex for the first time. The Underground Duelist was attempting a rescue mission, but was overwhelmed by the number of Psychics Duelists that were attacking him. Fortunately, Enoch was there and the two of them teamed together in order to escape with their lives. Since then, the two of them have grown close and they continue to meet with each other even though they went about their separate paths.

Shortly after leaving the Arcadia Movement, Enoch started traveling around the world as a freelance spy. His job would include handling situations that government agencies from all around the world couldn't handle themselves. With the help of his abilities and the training he received from his travels, Enoch managed to complete every one of his assigned missions with little to no difficulty. Enoch would also go on missions for Alex, as a way paying him back for helping him escape Sayer.

Enoch Wylie's life may have improved for the better, but the scars that were inflicted upon him will remain for the rest of his life. Whenever that pain becomes too much, he remembers Alex and the person who comforted him at the Arcadia Movement in order ease his suffering. It was because of the two of them that his life became what it is now and for that, he was eternally grateful. He then promised to make it up to the both of them, no matter how long it took for him to do so.

"So Enoch," Alex said to him as they both sat down at a table. "What brings you to New Domino City this time? Did you just want to hang out like usual?"

"Actually, I came back to tell you something," Enoch explained. "I just received Intel from a very credible source and knew right away that you would be interested in it. It seems…that Rex Goodwin is moving forward with the second stage of his plans for the 5 Signers."

Alex's eyes widen upon hearing Enoch's information. He was about to question whether or not it was really true, but his friend stopped him by handing him some documents. When Alex looked at them, the young man's expression became more serious as he never expected Goodwin to move so quickly.

"Alex," Enoch said. "For the past couple of months, you've been telling me to spy on Sector Security in to keep an eye on Goodwin. However, despite all of that, you've still haven't explained the real reason why you wanted me to do that. Just what the heck is going on and how does it affect the Singers?"

Alex closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He then placed the documents on the table and looked towards his friend.

"Goodwin is planning something big," He said. "And unless someone stops him then the world as we know it will soon cease to exist. However, as things are now, we can't stop him from continuing his plans. All we can do is prepare and make our move when the time is right."

The Underground Duel King looked at the dragon pendent he had around his neck as he began to recall his Duel with Takashi. If Goodwin truly was moving forward with the next stage of his plan then it's important for him to train Takashi as soon as possible. However, Alex knew that he needed more than just his help when it comes to this matter.

"Enoch," He continued. "Have you heard about the Fortune Cup?"

"Yes," The spy answered. "It's the tournament that will determine the Duel King of all of Japan. Why do you ask?"

"I want you to enter it," Alex explained. "Goodwin is pulling the strings of the Fortune Cup and if you compete then we can discover more about what he's planning to do."

Enoch nodded his head, understanding what he had to do and how it affected his and Alex's plans to stop Goodwin. He was about to leave hideout, but stopped at the last moment. He then turned around and faced his friend one last time.

"Alex," He said. "If Goodwin truly is making his next move, then there's a good chance that _she'll _be competing too. If so, then her life could be in danger."

"I know Enoch," Alex replied. "But everything is going to be fine. _She _has something looking out for her, and it's my job to make sure he's strong enough to protect her."

Meanwhile, back at the Gato estate, the Turbo Duel between Takashi Nakamura and Aiku Gato was still underway.

* * *

><p><strong>Takashi: 3100 LP<strong>

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

**Aiku: 3600 LP**

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 3400 DEF 2200 LVL 8**

"Alright Aiku," Takashi said as he rode along the race track. "It's time to see which dragon is stronger; Stardust Dragon or Bursting Soul Dragon!"

"That's fine with me Takashi," Aiku replied. "To tell you the truth, I've been waiting for this match up for a long time now!"

As the two of them continue to keep up with one another, their friends and Aiku's father was watching the Duel intently. All of them wanted to see which of the two, either Takashi or Aiku, was the strongest and knew that this Duel was a good way to determine that. However, only Akiza knew the real reason why this Duel was taking place.

"Takashi," She quietly thought to herself. "You said that you're using this Duel in order to rid yourself of all of your doubts. I hope that turns out to be the case."

Akiza was concerned for Takashi as it was the first time she's seen him question his own strength and skills. Even though she told him that she would support any decision he made, Akiza silently wished that Takashi would forget about Alex's offer for power and continue on with his own power. The reason for this is because the young Psychic didn't want the man she loved to leave, even if it was for a little while.

As she thought about this, Takashi continued on with his turn. Having successfully brought his Ace Monster, Stardust Dragon, a portion of Takashi's strategy was now complete. However he still needed to last one more turn before he could execute his move. So the young man took 2 cards from his hand and swiftly inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards appeared face-down on the field beside both him and Stardust before eventually disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn," He stated. "On the End Phase of this turn, the effect of your Bursting Soul Dragon ends and its Attack Points return to their original value!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 2800**

A blue aura surrounded Bursting Soul as its Attack Points quickly began to decrease. However, even though the dragon's Attack Points were now back to normal, the others knew that Bursting Soul Dragon still had the advantage over Stardust Dragon.

"…What is Takashi trying to accomplish?" Misaki thought out loud. "Even though he summoned Stardust Dragon, it won't stop Aiku from activating Bursting Soul's Special Ability. When that happens, Stardust will lose its ability and Bursting Soul's Attack Points will increase by its Level."

"It is strange?" Toru followed. "However…we just have to hope that Takashi has some type of plan to delay Aiku until he comes up with another plan."

As the two of them continued to analyze the Duel, Cecil Gato simply looked on intently. He could instantly tell that Takashi had a means of protecting Stardust Dragon this turn. Now, it was up to his son to figure out what that was and counter it before it's too late.

"It's my turn," Aiku declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Aiku: SPC – 5**

Upon drawing a card from his deck, Aiku quickly placed it into his hand before turning his attention back towards the Duel. The young man could tell that Takashi had a plan, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. After spending a few moments thinking about it, Aiku decided to go with his feelings.

"I activate Bursting Soul Dragon's Special Ability! Once per turn, I can negate the effect of one monster on the field and increase Bursting Soul's Attack Points equal to the selected monster's level, multiplied by 100!"

Bursting Soul Dragon roared upon hearing its master's declaration and prepared to sap Stardust Dragon of its powers. However, before that could happen, Takashi quickly activated one of his face-down cards.

"I don't think so," Takashi countered. "I activate the Trap Card: Interdimensional Matter Transporter! With this, I can remove Stardust Dragon from play until the End Phase of this turn!"

A futuristic device appeared beside Takashi as he continued to make his way around the race track. The device proceeded to shoot out a laser beam that sent Stardust Dragon into another dimension before Bursting Soul Dragon's flames could touch it.

"Nice move," Aiku said as he turned his head around. "With Stardust Dragon gone, Bursting Soul Dragon's effect can't be activated since you don't have any other monsters on the field. However, you should know that with no monsters on your side of the field, your Life Points are mine for the taking!"

"If that's true, then attack!" Takashi proposed.

"I will," Aiku said. "However, before that happens, I activate the effect of Speed World 2! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can deal 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand. I can 1 Speed Spell, so you'll be dealt 800 points of damage!"

**Aiku: SPC – 1**

A white laser beam quickly shot out from Aiku's Duel Runner and proceeded to make its way over to Takashi. When it struck him, the young man started to lose his balance for a moment as his Life Points began to drop.

**Takashi: 2300 LP**

"And now, Bursting Soul Dragon will attack your Life Points directly!" Aiku stated. "Go…Solar Flare!"

Bursting Soul Dragon complied with Aiku's command and prepared to launch its flames towards Takashi. As everyone looked on in anticipation, Takashi held his ground and swiftly placed a card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Battle Fader!" He said. "When I'm the target of a direct attack, I can Special Summon it and end the Battle Phase!"

**Battle Fader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

A small flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as his Battle Fader appeared before him. The sight of the tiny monster caused Bursting Soul Dragon to cease its attack and return back over to Aiku's side of the field.

"That was a nice move," Cecil commented. "By removing his Stardust Dragon, Takashi made sure Aiku couldn't use Bursting Soul Dragon's effect. He then Special Summoned Battle Fader, in order prevent himself from losing all of his Life Points. It's not what Sakura would have done, but still pretty good."

"Awesome," Aiku said with a smile on his face. "This Duel is getting good, I can't wait to see what happens next."

Continuing on with his turn, Aiku took 2 cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on his side of the field for a few short moments before disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn."

Once Aiku ended his turn, a bright flash of light consumed Takashi's side of the field. From that light, Stardust Dragon reappeared and once again flew next to its master.

"Then it's my turn," Takashi said. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Aiku: SPC – 2**

After drawing a card from his deck, Takashi took a glance at it and saw that it was the card needed to complete his strategy. With nothing stopping him from making his move, the young man discarded one card from his hand before placing the card he drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"By discarding 1 monster from my hand, I can Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Quickdraw Synchron!"

**Quickdraw Synchron: ATK 700 DEF 1400 LVL 5**

Another flash of light appeared beside Takashi as his Quickdraw Synchron made its appearance into the Duel. Once it was out, Takashi went on to place another card from his hand onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Stardust Xiaolong!"

**Stardust Xiaolong: ATK 100 DEF 100 LVL 1**

When another flash of light shined across Takashi's field, a small blue and green Chinese dragon started flying next to him and all of his other monsters.

"I now Tune my Level 1 Battle Fader and Level 1 Stardust Xiaolong with my Level 5 Quickdraw Synchron!"

The 3 monsters nodded their heads and quickly prepared themselves for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and firmly placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering roars turn into an echoing arrow which tears through the sky! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take aim, Junk Archer!"

**Junk Archer: ATK 2300 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

When the Synchro ritual ended, an orange colored light consumed Takashi entirely. When the light faded, a machine-like warrior who was wielding a bow and arrow appeared next to him and Stardust Dragon.

"Nice monster Takashi," Aiku complemented. "However, both it and Stardust are too weak to handle my Bursting Soul Dragon."

"I know that," Takashi replied. "However, my objective isn't to destroy your Bursting Soul Dragon. It's to get at your Life Points! I activate my Junk Archer's Special Ability! Once per turn, my archer can select one monster you control and remove it from play until the End Phase of this turn!"

Aiku's eyes widen from shock as Junk Archer's arrow started to glow a bright blue color. Once it was completely enveloped by that color, Archer arched the arrow against the bow and strung it back.

"Go," Takashi shouted. "…Dimension Bow!'

Junk Archer released the arrow from the bow and watched as it struck Bursting Soul Dragon in the heart. When that happened, the bow now only caused the beast to vanish into another dimension, but also left Aiku all alone.

"Now Aiku," Takashi went on. "With Bursting Soul Dragon now gone, your Life Points are mine to take! Stardust Dragon, attack Aiku's Life Points directly…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust Dragon roared as it began to gather cosmic energy from inside its body. However, before it could fire it, Aiku activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Synchro Spirits!" He declared. "By removing a Synchro Monster in my graveyard from play, I can Special Summon the monsters I used to summon it. I remove Scarred Warrior from play in order to Special Summon: Marauding Captain and Torapart, both in Defense Mode!"

As Aiku removed Scarred Warrior's card from his Graveyard, both Marauding Captain and Torapart reappeared before him and took a defensive position. Takashi was annoyed that he wasn't able to get at Aiku's Life Points during that exchange, but he wasn't going let that stop him.

"Stardust Dragon, attack Marauding Captain!" He said. "Junk Archer, attack Torapart…Scrap Arrow!"

Both of Takashi's monsters complied with his orders and went on to destroy Marauding Captain and Torapart respectively. Once that happened, everyone wondered what was going to happen next.

"This is just great," Toru said in a sarcastic tone. "Takashi was on the verge of winning, but Aiku forces him to waste both of his attacks. Now there's nothing stopping Aiku from using Bursting Soul Dragon once it returns on the End Phase."

"I'm not sure about that," Akiza pointed out.

Toru, Misaki, and Cecil looked on towards Akiza as the beautiful Psychic had her eyes solely on the Duel at hand. She then went on to point towards Takashi and everyone saw him activate a face-down card.

"I'm not done yet Aiku!" He shouted. "I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate! With it, I transform Stardust Dragon into its Assault Mode!"

**Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 10**

Stardust Dragon roared at the top of its lungs as its Assault Armor was instantly placed upon its body. Once it was completely covered in its armor, Stardust looked towards Aiku and seemed prepared to strike him.

"Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, attack Aiku's Life Points directly…Assault Sonic Burst!"

Stardust nodded its head and once again started gathering energy from within its body. Once it gathered enough, the dragon released the cosmic energy from its mouth and struck Aiku with it.

**Aiku: 600 LP**

Once the attack ended, Takashi drove past Aiku as his opponent was trying to regain himself from that last attack. Once that happened, Aiku attempted to catch up to his opponent.

"That was good move Takashi," He said. "I thought I had you, but it seems you were the one who had me."

"Maybe so," Takashi replied. "However, I didn't want it to come to this. I had hoped to defeat you without having to use Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, but that didn't turn out to be the case. Oh well…I end my turn."

A flash of light illuminated across Aiku's side of the field as his Bursting Soul Dragon finally returned from the other dimension. Once that happened, the young man gently placed his hand upon his deck before looking at Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode one more time.

"Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode is really impressive," He said to himself. "However, I have something just as impressive…and it's about time I bring it out. It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 7**

**Aiku: SPC – 3**

Upon drawing the top card from his deck and placing it in his hand, Aiku looked towards Stardust again and pointed his index finger towards the dragon.

"I activate Bursting Soul Dragon's Special Ability!"

"I don't think so!" Takashi shouted. "I activate Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability! When a Monster, Spell, or Trap effect is activated, I can negate and destroy it by releasing Stardust to the Graveyard!"

Stardust Dragon roared as it body was beginning to be consumed by a bright light. However, before the light could get to Bursting Soul Dragon, Aiku acted quickly and activated his face-down card.

"Takashi," He said. "When I told you before that I wanted to Duel you, it was not just that I wanted to see how good you were. The other reason is because I just acquired a power that's similar to yours! I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate!"

Everyone, with the exception of Aiku and Cecil, was shocked upon seeing that the Trap Card that was just activated was indeed Assault Mode Activate. Soon, an orange colored light wrapped around Bursting Soul Dragon as Assault Armor was beginning to materialize on its body. Aiku's Ace was now no longer the monster he knew, it was now Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode!

**Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3300 DEF 2700 LVL 10**

Once the light that Stardust Dragon created vanished, the creature was gone and only Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode and Junk Archer were left. The sight of this scene frightened Takashi as it caused him to remember that Alex did a similar move during their Turbo Duel a couple of days ago.

"I activate Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability!" Aiku continued. "Once per turn, I can remove from play one monster on the field and Bursting Soul gains Attack Points equal to the monster's Level, multiplied by 100 until my opponent's next End Phase! The monster I choose is your Junk Archer!"

Bursting Soul Dragon roared as it launched red flames from the tip its wings. Once the flames struck Junk Archer, the warrior was transported to another dimension just as Bursting Soul sapped its power from it.

**Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 4000 **

"Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode," Aiku called. "Attack Takashi's Life Points directly…Assault Firestorm!"

Bursting Soul nodded its head and proceeded to fire a powerful stream of red flames towards Takashi. However, as the flames consumed his body and caused his Life Points to drop, all Takashi was thinking about was when Alex did the same thing to him during their Duel.

"…Damn it,"

**Takashi: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms faded away, everyone made their way towards both Duelists as they parked their Duel Runners by the finish line. They saw that Takashi was obviously upset that he lost the Duel as his head was down and he wasn't saying anything. The young man's mind was pondering how things went so wrong for him as he honestly felt that he had everything in hand. However, things didn't turn out the way he wanted and he lost the Duel as a result.<p>

"Takashi…" Akiza called, hoping to grab his attention. "That was great Duel. You really showed what you could do."

"Yeah," Toru followed. "Everyone loses from time to time. It's no big deal."

If Takashi had heard his friends speaking to him, he didn't show it on his face. He just continued looking towards ground, trying to figure out what happened. As he did that, Misaki made her way over to Aiku.

"…Where did you get that card?" She asked him.

Aiku pulled out his deck and searched through it until his found the card Misaki was talking about, his Assault Mode Activate. Once he found it, the young man looked at it for a few moments before turning his attention towards Misaki.

"I'm not sure," He answered. "To tell you the truth, I just happened to find it while I was working on my deck. However, this happened on the same day that we saw Takashi's Duel against Alex McQueen. I don't know if he did something that allowed me to obtain the card or if I had it all along."

Upon hearing Aiku's explanation, Misaki started to ponder something and began recalling the Duel between Takashi and Alex as a result. During that Duel, when Takashi summoned Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode, a bright flash of light consumed the entire race track. While enveloped in that light, the young woman started to feel ill as a surge of power rushed through her entire body. She then wondered if Aiku felt the same thing and whether or not that power caused Assault Mode Activate to appear in his deck. However, Misaki couldn't prove whether or not that was really the case and decided to comment about her theory until more information was revealed to her.

"…There's something missing here." She thought. "But what is it?"

As she continued to think about what happened, Cecil walked over to his son and congratulated him on a job well done. He then looked towards Takashi and noticed that the young man had a lot of doubt in his eyes.

"He still has a long way to go," He said to himself.

Meanwhile, on the other side of New Domino, an event was taking place at a local practice field. All alone, Lilly and Crow were busy participating in a Turbo Duel. The reason why Lilly said that she and Crow had something to do is because the young woman wanted to work on her skills in private. Realizing that Crow was a good person to work with, Lilly saw that this was an opportunity that she could let fly by, even if it meant not joining the rest of her friends.

* * *

><p><strong>Lilly: 1000 LP<strong>

**SPC – 6**

**Dark Magician: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

**Crow: 2800 LP**

**SPC – 6**

**Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn: ATK 2000 DEF 900 LVL 5**

"Alright Crow," Lilly said as she took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. "It's time to take this Duel to the next level. I activate the Speed Spell: Dark Magic Twin Burst! By removing 4 Speed Counters, Dark Magician's Attack Points are increased by the total Attack Points of Dark Magician Girl!"

**Lilly: SPC – 2**

**Dark Magician: ATK 4500**

Dark Magician Girl placed her wand against Dark Magician's and began channeling her power into it. Once that happened, both Spellcasters flew up into the air and prepared themselves to attack Sirocco the Dawn.

"Dark Magician," Lilly called. "Attack Crow's Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn!"

Dark Magician nodded his head and he, along with Dark Magician Girl, launched a blast of dark energy towards Sirocco. When the attack connected, a huge explosion consumed Crow, causing him to lose the majority of his Life Points.

**Crow: 300 LP**

Once the attack ended, Lilly took advantage of the situation and started ahead of Crow. However, the Blackwing Duelist quickly regained his balance and managed to at least keep up with his friend.

"…Damn it," He said to himself. "That's the third time today that I've fallen for that combo."

"You have to push yourself harder Crow," Lilly said to him as she took one card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. "You won't be able to defeat me if you don't push pass your limits! I set 1 card face-down and end my turn."

Crow nodded his head as he listened to Lilly's words. Even though the two of them have been Dueling each other for most of the day, the Blackwing Duelist still wasn't pushing himself as hard as he normally does. Crow couldn't tell whether or not he was simply too tired to keep on Dueling or if it was because he was Dueling his friend. However, Crow did know that Lilly would simply request for another Duel if things didn't turn around for him and he didn't want that to happen. So, after gritting his teeth, Crow gently placed his hand upon his deck and prepared himself for the draw that would decide the entire match.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 3**

**Crow: SPC – 7**

Upon drawing the top card of his deck, Crow glanced at it for a moment before looking towards Lilly. The young then started to develop a theory and decided that the card he just drew could help confirm it. However, before playing it, the Blackwing Duelist took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Monster Reborn! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can Special Summon 1 monster from either of our Graveyards. The monster I choose is my Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn!"

**Crow: SPC - 3**

A flash of light covered Crow's side of the field for a moment as his Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn reappeared before him. When it did, the young man then took another card from his hand and proceeded to place it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

**Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind: ATK 1300 DEF 400 LVL 3**

Another flash of light appeared across Crow's field as his favorite Tuner Monster, Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind appeared and started flying next to him. When she saw the two Blackwing Monsters, Lilly gripped the handles of her Duel Runner and prepared herself for what was about to happen.

"I Tune my Level 5 Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn with my Level 3 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!" Crow declared.

The two monsters nodded their heads and swiftly flew up into the air. As they began to conduct the Synchro ritual, Crow took a card from his Extra Deck and firmly placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 1600 LVL 8**

When the Synchro ritual ended, a black light consumed Crow's side of the field for a few moments. When it faded, Black-Winged Dragon arrived and began staring down at Lilly and her 2 Dark Magicians.

"Now we're talking," Lilly said. "It's about time you brought out Black-Winged Dragon Crow. Now we can get down to business!"

"If you say so," Crow replied. "Black-Winged Dragon, attack Dark Magician…Noble Stream!"

The dragon complied with Crow's order and proceeded to launch a blast of red and black energy from its mouth. The blast went on to consume Dark Magician, creating an explosion that destroyed the Spellcaster in his entirety.

**Lilly: 700 LP**

Once the smoke from the explosion cleared, Crow looked on and saw that Lilly was okay. However, he also noticed that her Dark Magician Girl was beginning to radiate a pink aura from her body.

"Thanks for destroying Dark Magician Crow," She said to him. "By doing that, you've just activated the Special Ability of my Dark Magician Girl. She now gains 300 extra Attack Points since her master is now in the Graveyard."

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2300**

Crow kept his cool when he saw Lilly's Dark Magician Girl become stronger with every second. With his Black-Winged Dragon on the field, the young man knew that he still had the advantage in terms in overall Attack Power. Also, with his Ace Monster out on the field, Crow was now immune to all effect damage.

However, the Blackwing Duelist also knew that Lilly still had her face-down card out on the field. Since he was able to successfully launch an attack, Crow realized that the face-down wasn't something that could destroy his monsters. This only supported the theory he thought of and realized that Lilly was going for an even more dangerous strategy. With that in mind, Crow took the card that he drew at the beginning of this turn and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized on the field for a few short moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set 1 card face-down and end my turn," He said.

"Then it's my turn," Lilly pointed out. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 4**

**Crow: SPC – 4**

As she drew a card from her deck, Lilly took a glance at it and saw it was the card she needed to defeat Crow and win the Duel. With that, the young woman firmly placed the card onto her Monster Card Zone and watched as a tiny white light shined across her field.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Hanewata!"

**Hanewata: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

When the light faded, a small and cute monster appeared before Lilly and Dark Magician Girl. It had the appearance puffball with big eyes, wings, short antennae. In a lot of ways, Hanewata had the appearance of another of Lilly's monsters; Watapon.

"I Tune my Level 6 Dark Magician Girl with my Level 1 Hanewata!"

The two monsters nodded their heads and quickly jumped into the air. As the prepared themselves to begin the Synchro ritual, Lilly took a card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"From out of the darkness, a new force appears to fill the world with light! Synchro Summon! Shine, Arcanite Magician!"

**Arcanite Magician: ATK 400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the ritual ended, a bright flash of light consumed Lilly's side of the field and her Arcanite Magician appeared before her. Along with the Spellcaster, two yellow spheres materialized onto the field and began circling around the magician.

"I activate Arcanite Magician's Special Ability! When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, it gains 2 Spell Counters and also receives 1000 extra Attack Points for every Counter it gains."

The yellow spheres responded to Lilly's words and prepared to have themselves absorbed into Arcanite Magician. However, before that could happen, Crow took a card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Effect Veiler!" He declared. "By discarding it to the Graveyard, I can negate the Special Abilities of one of my opponent's monsters until the End Phase of this turn!"

Once Effect Veiler's card was placed into Crow's Graveyard, the fairy-like Spellcaster appeared and promptly stood in between Arcanite Magician and the Spell Counters. She then created a temporary barrier that separated the two. Despite this development however, Lilly kept her cool and activated her face-down card as a result.

"Sorry Crow," She said. "But I was one step ahead of you. I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate!"

"You wrong Lilly!" Crow countered. "This time, I was one step ahead of you. I activate the Counter Trap: Curse Transfer! With it, I can negate the activation of your Assault Mode Activate and use it as my own. So I transform Black-Winged Dragon into Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3300 DEF 2100 LVL 10**

Lilly looked on in disbelief as the power of her trap card transferred from Arcanite Magician to Black-Winged Dragon. She then watched as black armor began to cover its entire body.

"I activate Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability!" Crow continued. "When it's successfully summoned, I can select 1 monster on the field and inflict damage onto my opponent equal to its Level, multiplied by 100! The monster I choose is your Level 7 Arcanite Magician!"

From the tip of Black-Winged Dragon's legs, black electricity appeared and started to form into a giant sphere. Once it finished making the sphere, Black-Winged Dragon launched it towards Arcanite Magician and watched as the electricity shocked the Spellcaster. Some of that electricity made its way over to Lilly, shocking her as well and causing her to lose the rest of her Life Points.

**Lilly: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms began to disappeared, Crow looked at his Black-Winged DragonAssault Mode one last time and watched as it gave out one final roar. Once it was gone, the Blackwing Duelist made his way over to Lilly.

"There," He started off. "After 10 straight Duels, I finally defeated you. Can we please take a break now?"

"No!" Lilly replied as she turned her attention towards him. "We're going to keep on Dueling until I say we can stop! The Fortune Cup is only 3 months away now and unless I get stronger I won't be able to defeat him and get back what he stole from me!"

The young woman started to grit her teeth in anger as her mind began to reflect upon the past. When he saw this, Crow wanted to comfort Lilly anyway he could. However, nothing he thought of seemed to be the right way to make his friend feel better. Eventually, the Blackwing Duelist decided to just go with his feelings and was about to touch Lilly's shoulder.

"You're still just as pathetic as ever…Weasel Girl."

Lilly's and Crow's eyes widen as the recognized the voice of the individual that just spoke. Soon their respective Dragon Marks started glowing as they both turned around and saw a person that they never expected to see. Soon, the shock on Lilly's face turned into anger.

"There you are," She said. "Alistair Miles…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_At long last, Lilly comes face-to-face with Alistair Miles, the man who stole the one thing she cherishes more than anything else in the world. What will happen now that the two of them have reunited and how will it affect their standing in the Fortune Cup?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 54: Clash against the King – Part 1_


	54. Chapter 54

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 54: **_Clash against the King – Part 1_

* * *

><p>In the 19 years she's been on the Earth, Lilly Muto has felt a lot of emotions for many different people. She's been happy, sad, annoyed, and even confused with some of things that people have done. However, out of all of those emotions, Lilly has never openly admitted one. And that was…Hatred. She would always try to keep that emotion in check and never let herself feel that way about anyone. Lilly would try and forgive the things that those people have done to her and her friends, no matter what may have happened. However, to her, there was one person who was exception to this rule. No matter how much time passed, no matter how many happy times she's experienced along the way, the hatred she had for that individual would always remain in her heart. Lilly swore to herself that she would find that person and make him pay for what he did to her. And the name of that person was…<p>

"There you are…Alistair Miles!"

As Lilly attempted to hold herself back, both she and Crow looked on as the Duel King of all of Japan looked down at them. He was sitting on top of his Duel Runner, looking down at the two of them with a cocky smile on his face. It's been over 2 years since the three former members of Team Satisfaction have been together in one place. Normally, this would be a joyous occasion. However, there was no joy from this reunion. All that was there was a combination of amusement, confusion, and hatred.

"It's been a while," Alistair said as he slowly got up from his Duel Runner. "I never thought I'd see you here, Crow…and Lilly. Tell me, what brings the two of you to New Domino City?"

Crow was at a slight loss for words. He knew that when the Fortune Cup arrived he would finally come face-to-face with his former friend. However, he never expected Alistair to confront him like he has now. The Blackwing Duelist wasn't prepared for this situation and he didn't know what to do at the moment. Fortunately for him, Lilly was prepared and proceeded to step forward.

"Why the hell do you think I'm here?" She asked with anger in her voice. "I've come to reclaim what's mine…you bastard."

Alistair's small smile slowly grow bigger as he watched the anger in Lilly's eyes become more and more clear. The Duel King always found it amusing to see his former friend flustered and the fact that she was angry made it all the more funny to him.

"What do you mean Lilly?" He asked, even though he already knew what she meant. "I don't quite understand."

"DON'T F**K WITH ME!" Lilly shouted. "WHERE IS SHE? WHERE'S ANCIENT FAIRY DRAGON ALISTAIR?! TELL ME RIGHT NOW!"

Lilly's Dragon Mark started to glow a bright red color as her hatred for Alistair continued to grow second by second. As a light green aura began to surround her whole body, the young woman began to recall all the things that lead to this point. She left her friends in the Satellite and came to New Domino City just so she could find Alistair. She got involved with conflicts with Sayer, even though it was never her intention to do so. She went back to the Satellite in order to resolve the situation with Sasuke. And now that she's back in the city, the man she's been looking for all this time finally appears and is treating her like a child. Lilly couldn't stand it and she wouldn't allow herself to take Alistair's crap anymore. In a rage, Lilly ran over towards Alistair, prepared strike him down with all the power she had.

"Now, now Lilly," Alistair said as he went into his coat pocket and pulled out a card. "If you want it so bad, you can have it. I have no more use for it anyway."

The Duel King tossed the card towards Lilly, which the young woman proceeded to catch before she even got close to the Duel King. Once she examined the card, Lilly's eyes widen and tears began to form. She then looked up towards the sky and saw a beautiful blue dragon with fairy-like wings, solid amber colored eyes, light green hair, and human-like arms. It was the monster that Alistair stole all those years ago. It was Lilly's Ancient Fairy Dragon.

"_Lilly_," The beautiful creature spoke telepathically. "_It's been so long since I'd last saw you. I'm glad to see that you're doing well._"

Lilly fell to her knees as more tears fell from her face. After being separated from Ancient Dragon for so long, she honestly believed that the Duel Monster Spirit would hold contempt for her. However, it was exactly the opposite. Ancient Fairy Dragon wasn't mad, she was actually pleased to see Lilly again. This revelation brought a sense of happiness that Lilly never experienced before as a reunion she had long sought after was now here and it was better than she hoped.

As she continued to cry, Dark Magician Girl materialized before both Lilly and Ancient Fairy Dragon. The magician gently placed her hand onto Lilly's shoulder for a few moments, comforting her as all of her pent up emotions fell from her body. After a few moments of doing that, Dark Magician Girl then turned her attention towards Ancient Fairy Dragon and proceeded to kneel down before it.

"_Milady,_" She started off. "_I'm pleased to see that you're alright. Forgive me for not rescuing you when I had the chance to do so._"

"_It is alright Dark Magician Girl,_" Ancient Fairy Dragon complied. "_I'm glad that you were able to be there for Lilly when I was unable to do so. I knew I made the right decision when I made you her guardian._"

Dark Magician Girl gently nodded her head, while at the same time trying to hide the tears that were coming from her face. Eventually, the female magician faded away and left Lilly alone with her master. As that was happening, the smile on Alistair's face grew some more until he finally couldn't hold it anymore and started laughing.

"You're still the same," He declared as he continued to laugh. "You're still that little weasel girl who would always burst into tears when something happens to you! You're pathetic Lilly Muto, utterly pathetic!"

"Shut your mouth, Alistair!"

The Duel King stopped laughing and turned his attention to Crow. He saw that the Blackwing Duelist had a look of complete irritation on his face.

"You have no right to say that Lilly is pathetic!" Crow continued. "If anyone is utterly pathetic here, it's you! You took something precious to Lilly, sold out your friends, and for what?! Just so you could become popular?"

"What are you trying to get at Crow?" Alistair questioned. "I did what I did because I had the opportunity to do those. A human's life is determined by the opportunities that are given to them. I know for a fact that if the same thing happened to you, then you would have done the same thing that I did."

Crow eyes widen a little as he listened to Alistair's statement. He knew for a fact that his words were only meant to shake him, however it still posed the question into his heart. If the same thing did happen to Crow, would he actually betray his friends just so he could become famous? Even though it was his dream to one day become the greatest Duelist in the world, Crow couldn't bring himself to turn his back on his friends just so he could do that. Still, he always knew that anything could happen and that even the nicest people can be motivated by greed and selfishness. Eventually, Crow was about to reply to Alistair's words, but he was stopped by Lilly at the last second.

"Crow," She said. "You don't have to say anything. I know that no matter how much you're tempted, you wouldn't betray others just to obtain glory. Your resolve has proved that to me countless times in the past. So don't say anything. That bastard doesn't deserve to hear you speak."

A small blush appeared on Crow's face as he watched the determination return to Lilly's eyes. This sight caused the young man to smile as he always loved that about her. Eventually, Lilly took Ancient Fairy Dragon's card and put it in her Extra Deck before turning her attention back towards Alistair.

"Listen you s**t head," She continued. "Maybe your right and that I'm still the crybaby weasel girl that you knew from the past. However, from what I recall, this crybaby weasel girl always defeated you whenever we had Duel! That's something that hasn't changed and will continue to change! Alistair…, I challenge you to a Duel!"

A hint of anger appeared on Alistair's face as he thought about Lilly's challenge. However, the anger quickly turned into more amusement for him as he gave his former friend an answer.

"Alright," He said. "I accept your challenge. However, for a Duel such as this, we'll need a much better arena."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at the Gato Estate, Takashi has spent the past few hours alone outside. The young man had a lot on his mind and he wanted to be alone in order to settle those issues. Honoring his request, the rest of his friends proceeded to go inside and eat the dinner that Aiku's mother prepared for them.<p>

As a small gust of wind blow through the air, Takashi closed his eyes as he felt the breeze run against his face. This sensation reminded him how it feels when he rides his Duel Runner, as he would normally ride with or against the wind whenever he did so. It always helped him feel better as it allowed him to clear his thoughts and go with the flow, just like the wind does. However, things were different this time.

"What am I going do?" He thought. "What can I do?"

His recent defeats at the hand of Alex and Aiku respectively has filled doubts into Takashi's normally hopeful heart. Having spent almost 2 months working on his new Deck, the young man hoped he would be able to take on anyone that would come his way. He honestly felt that with his new deck, he could actually win the Fortune Cup and become the next Duel King of Japan. However, with these losses, Takashi wasn't so sure anymore.

He soon pulled his deck from within his Duel Case and began examining every single card that he had. He wanted to see if he was missing something, a key piece that would explain his defeats and help him become stronger. Unfortunately, after spending nearly an hour looking through his cards, Takashi wasn't able to find anything.

"What is it?" He continued thinking. "If I'm not missing any cards then am I missing? What am I doing wrong?"

As he continued to ponder this, Takashi's thoughts flashed back to his Duels against Alex and Aiku. Throughout most of those matches, the young man was on the ropes as he was overwhelmed by his opponent's monsters. However, he tried to not let that faze him and continued to press onward. This allowed him to make a comeback and successfully bring out Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode. Still, despite the fact that he had his strongest monster out on the field with him, Alex and Aiku regained the advantage in only one turn and both them managed to defeat Takashi with their respective Ace Monsters. Even though he suffered defeats in the past and was able to become stronger because of them, Takashi began to question whether or not this time would be the same. Could he actually overcome this challenge and achieve the strength he longed for or will he continued to fall into a pool of his own self doubt? Takashi didn't know the answer to that question and he soon began to feel that he wouldn't be able to answer it.

_If you go to the location on that card, then I can teach how to not only use your new power, but also help you achieve even greater strength._

Recalling the words that Alex told him before he left, Takashi went into his pocket and pulled out the business card that he was given. As he examined the card, the young man started to wonder if going through with Alex's training was the only way to get stronger. Though it was true that the Underground Duel King was a far greater Duelist than he was and was probably holding back considerably during their match, Takashi was still hesitant to go along with him. He questioned whether or not it was fear or something else that was holding him back, but he soon realized what it was. It was his pride.

Growing up in Crash Town, Takashi wasn't privileged with the opportunity of going to high-class Dueling schools like Duel Academy. He was forced to learn the game of Duel Monsters all on his own and he soon found out that he had a natural talent for it. As years quickly passed by, Takashi's skills also grew and many people believed that he was strongest Duelist in his hometown. Hearing those comments made Takashi really happy, but it also fueled his slowly growing ego. Even when he left Crash Town, Takashi's ego didn't diminish as he quickly began to impress the Duelists he met in New Domino City and the Satellite Sector respectively. As more people began to praise his skills, the more his confidence grew and the bigger his ego became. He soon started to believe that he was the best Duelist around and that nobody could defeat him if he really put his mind to it. However, his recent defeats have quickly and firmly brought back down to earth.

"I thought I was good enough," Takashi said to himself. "I thought I was strong enough. I thought I could do it all by myself. But…maybe I was just fooling myself."

"I don't think that's the case,"

Takashi's eyes widen a little as he turned his head around in order to see who just spoke to him. He saw that it was Akiza and that she had a look of concern in her eyes. Ever since the Duel with Aiku ended, the young woman wanted to give Takashi his space and let him have some time to himself. However, as time went by, Akiza soon started to feel the conflict that was inside his heart and she wanted to see if there was anything she could do to help cheer him up. So she slowly made her way up to Takashi and proceeded to sit next to him.

"Takashi," She continued. "I really don't believe that you were fooling yourself. If you were, then there's no doubt in my mind that neither of us would be here right now. You would still be at home and I would still be alone, abusing my powers. However, that wasn't the case. You did come and you proved your strength by being able to save me. Not only that, you were essential in both Sayer's and Sasuke's defeats. If that's not a sign of strength then I don't what is. So please, don't doubt your skills and don't doubt yourself."

As a kind smile appeared on Akiza's face, her words began to resonate within Takashi's heart. He has heard from his other friends that his words always had a positive impact on others, especially Akiza. However, when it came to her words, Takashi always felt better upon hearing as it helped him regain his own self-worth. Out of all the people he's met in his life, Akiza is only one of two people who has had such a positive impact on the young man's life.

Grateful to her kindness, Takashi took Akiza's hand and gently held it with his own. She then looked at her intimately as she started to blush a little.

"Thanks Akiza," He said. "You don't know how much that means to me."

The blush on Akiza's face slowly began to deepen as she gently nodded her head towards the man she loved. She then gently grasped Takashi's hand with her other one and slowly began to close the distance between the two of them. However, before they could get closer, both of their Dragon Marks began to glow at the exact same time. The burning sensation coming from their marks caused the both of them to let go of another and hold their arms.

"What's this burning all about?" She asked.

"I'm not sure," Takashi replied. "But something tells me it can't be good."

Wanting to know why his mark was reacting this way, Takashi closed his eyes and attempted to sense what was going on. As he did that, Toru and Misaki noticed that both of their friend's marks were glowing and quickly made their way outside as a result.

"What's going on?" Toru questioned. "Is it something bad?"

"I don't know," Akiza answered as she turned her attention towards him. "But Takashi feels that something bad is about to happen?"

As they discussed the situation, Takashi continued in his attempt to sense the location of the danger. He could feel that it was somewhere in the city, yet far away from where he and his friends were now. As this went on, the young man started to sense something very familiar to him. After examining the feeling more closely, Takashi opened his eyes in shock and proceeded to stand up from the ground.

"We need to go," He said. "We have to find Lilly!"

With those words said, Takashi immediately made his way over towards Duel Runner and prepared himself to make his way over to Lilly's location. He wasn't sure where she was or what was going to happen. All he knew that he had to find her before something bad happened. The others, though not to the same extent, felt the same way and also prepared themselves to find their friend.

As that was happening, Alistair and the others finally to their destination. When they saw it, both Lilly and Crow were surprised that Alistair would bring them there for a Duel, but they soon realized that the location fit his overconfident personality.

"Welcome," the Duel King said as he parked his Runner. "This is the Kaiba Dome. I felt this was the only proper location for us to have our Duel."

Lilly examined the large arena more closely and noticed that it was much bigger than she initially thought it was. Although she was amazed on how the Kaiba Dome looked up close, the young woman kept her focus on Alistair and prepared herself for her Duel against him. Before it began however, Crow made his way over to his friend.

"Lilly, are you sure you want to go through with this?" He asked out of concern. "I mean, you just got back Ancient Fairy Dragon. Maybe you should spend some time with it and let me handle Alistair."

"No," Lilly boldly stated. "This is my fight. Alistair has to pay for what he did and I'm going to make sure that he does. Now that's the last I'm going to talk about the matter. Do not interfere Crow, no matter what."

Crow was hesitant to agree with Lilly's request as he had a bad feeling about this. However, he knew that it would be pointless to argue with her as she was simply to angry to reason with. So, with much reluctance to do so, Crow made his way to the stands so that he could watch the Duel from afar. Once that happened, Lilly slowly made her way towards Alistair.

"I hope you're ready Lilly," the Duel King said to her. "I'll show the power that comes with being the King."

"We'll see," Lilly replied in a low tone of voice.

With that said, the two Duelists revved up their Duel Runners and proceeded to activate the Speed World 2 Field Spell. This resulted in a holographic aura surrounding the entire Kaiba Dome. Lilly and Alistair then sped off, trying to reach the first corner before the other. At it first, it seemed that Lilly would reach it as she maintained a firm lead over her opponent. However, at the last moment, Alistair revved his Duel Runner one last time. This caused the Duel King to accelerate past Lilly and reach the corner before her.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Alistair: 4000 LP**

"As the King, I'll make the first move," Alistair said in a cocky tone. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 1**

**Alistair: SPC – 1**

Upon drawing a card from his deck, Alistair quickly placed it into his hand before making his next move. He then examined all of his cards before grabbing one and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. This caused a bright flash of light to illuminate a portion of his side of the field.

"I Summon: Melchid the Four-Face Beast!"

**Melchid the Four-Face Beast: ATK 1500 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

As the light faded away, Lilly noticed that a hideous creature with 4 different faces appeared onto Alistair's side of the field. Each of Melchid's faces had a different facial expression upon it. The first face was happy while the second one sad. The third face was scared while the last one was mad. Though each facial expression was different, Lilly noticed one similarity between all four of them. Each of the faces had a devilish appearance to it and that bothered her to some extent.

Meanwhile, as she continued to examine Melchid, Alistair continued on with his turn. The Duel King took one more card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He concluded. "Now Lilly, let's see what you can do."

"Oh, I'll be more than happy to show you!" She angrily replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 2**

**Alistair: SPC – 2**

After drawing the top card from her deck, Lilly took a glance at it and saw that it was a pretty good card. With missing a beat, she placed the card onto her Monster Card Zone and watched as a flash of light illuminated a portion of her field.

"I Summon: Magician's Valkyria!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

When the light faded away, Magician's Valkyria appeared before Lilly and started flying next to her as she road along the track. The sight of the Spellcaster didn't surprise Alistair as he remembered that Lilly would summon Valkyria several times in the past. In fact, seeing Valkyria again caused the Duel King to sigh in disappointed, as he was upset that Lilly's style of Dueling hasn't changed.

"Go Magician's Valkyria," Lilly continued. "Destroy Alistair's Melchid…Mystic Scepter Blast!"

Valkyria complied with Lilly's order and began channeling energy into the tip of her hook shaped wand. Once she gathered enough, the beautiful magician fired the energy towards Melchid, destroying the monster on contact.

**Alistair: 3900 LP**

As holographic smoke from the attack surrounded Alistair, Lilly took the opportunity to make her way towards the Duel King. Once she at the same position that he was, Lilly turned her head towards her opponent.

"So how was that?!" She asked him. "Looks like your Melchid wasn't as much use to you as you thought it would be."

Lilly continued looking over towards Alistair with a confident look on her face. However, as the smoke started to fade away, the young woman noticed that Duel King's facial expression hadn't changed in the slightest.

"So that's your Sense," He said with his eyes closed. "It's more pathetic then I thought it would be."

Lilly was confused by Alistair's words as he wasn't sure what he was talking about. However, after recalling Takashi's Duel against Alex, she remembered that Kagura mentioned the word Sense to her and the rest of her friends. She was about to comment on it, but Alistair activated his face-down card before she had to chance.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I Special Summon: Melchid the Four-Face Beast from my Graveyard!"

Another flash of light illuminated across Alistair's side of the field as his Melchid reappeared before him. Once it was out, the beast turned is angry expression towards Lilly, scaring her a little and her to back away. The sight of this caused Alistair to laugh a little as he found it amusing that Lilly would be so afraid of a monster of Melchid's Level.

"What's wrong Lilly?" He asked. "Did you lose your nerve?"

Lilly quickly regained her focus upon hearing Alistair's words and firmly shook her head in disapproval. Even though Melchid's appearance surprised her a little, the young woman wasn't going to let it stop her from defeating her hated opponent. She continued on with her turn by looking over her entire hand and taking 2 cards from it. She then inserted both of the cards into her Spell/Trap Zone and watched as materialized face-down on the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down," She said. "I end my turn."

"Humph," Alistair sighed. "You're hopeless. Let me show you show how it's done. Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 3**

**Alistair: SPC – 3**

As he drew a card from his deck, Alistair's arm started to glow and revealed his very own Dragon Mark. As the mark started to glow brighter with each passing second, the young placed the card that he just drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dark Resonator!"

**Dark Resonator: ATK 1300 DEF 300 LVL 3**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a black flash of light erupted from Alistair's side of the field. When it faded, Dark Resonator arrived and started levitating next to Melchid and its master. The sight of the two monsters together made Lilly realize what was coming next.

"I Tune my Level 4 Melchid the Four-Face Beast with my Level 3 Dark Resonator!"

Both monsters nodded their heads in unison as they proceeded to jump into the air. As they initiated the Synchro Summoning ritual, Alistair took a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Synchro Summon! Appear now, Dark Highlander!"

**Dark Highlander: ATK 2800 DEF 2300 LVL 7**

Once the ritual ended, Lilly looked on in shock as black lightning began to erupt from the sky. The lightning cracked in all directions, making it hard to tell where the lightning bolts might strike next. Eventually, a monster slowly began to appear from the lightning. It had the appearance of a dark warrior, covered in black and grey armor. Its face was completely covered by a helmet that it was wearing and was also holding a large death scythe in both of its hands.

"Whoa…" Crow said to himself in a state of both shock and amazement. "Just what the hell is that thing?"

Lilly questioned the same thing that her friend did as she never even heard of Dark Highlander before. Unfortunately for her, the young woman was about to find out the hard way as the monster pointed its scythe towards her and Magician's Valkyria.

"Dark Highlander," Alistair called. "Destroy Magician's Valkyria…Demon Hunter!"

Highlander complied with its orders and proceeded to make its wave towards Valkyria. Once it got close enough to the Spellcaster, the monster swung its scythe and bifurcated the mage in one swipe.

**Lilly: 2800 LP**

The sight of watching her monster be bisected right before eyes caused Lilly to shout Valkyria's name in agony. However, before she could react any further, a large shockwave consumed her completely. To her, it felt like she was being crushed in between to walls. When the shockwave finally ended, Lilly attempted to catch her breath while trying to regain control of her Duel Runner at the same time.

"What was that?" She thought as she continued breathing hard. "I never felt anything like that before in my life…"

As she continued to think about what transpired, Lilly started to recall Takashi's Duel again. It was then that she remembered what Kagura said to her about Sense.

_Sense is a secret technique that only the most experienced Turbo Duelists could achieve. It's the physical sensation inflicted upon an opponent during a Turbo Duel. The power of Sense varies, depending on the person who's wielding it, but _it's_ normally believed to be stronger than blast created from a Psychic Duelist._

"Damn it…" Lilly cursed after finally recovered from Alistair's Sense attack. "I didn't think he had the power to pull something like that off…"

As the young woman attempted to catch up with him, Alistair looked on with a smile on his face as he continued on with his turn. He started by taking another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Like from before, the card materialized face-down on the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing from the field.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now make your move Lilly and let's see if it won't be a waste!"

Lilly gritted her teeth in anger as she continued to listening to Alistair's words. To her, the more he talked the more frustrated she became and the more anger she felt. She was getting sick and tired of listening to this overconfident prick and she decided to finally put him in his place…once and for all.

"It's my turn, you bastard!" She declared. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 4**

**Alistair: SPC – 4**

As she drew a card from her deck, Lilly took a look at it and noticed that while the card wasn't the one she was looking for at the moment, she could still use it to help her win the Duel. With that point in mind, she quickly inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Pot of Greed!" She stated. "By removing 2 Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards from my deck."

**Lilly: SPC – 2**

Following the instructions of her Speed Spell, Lilly went back to her deck and swiftly drew two more cards. When looked at them, she saw that one of them was exactly the card she needed. With a small smile on her face, she placed the card into her hand before taking the other and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Dark Elf!"

**Dark Elf: ATK 2000 DEF 800 LVL 4**

A flash of light illuminated Lilly's side of the field for a few moments as a beautiful mage with dark clothing appeared before her. Once the Spellcaster was out, Lilly went back to her hand and grabbed another card from it. She then proceeded to insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now activate another Speed Spell: Summon Speeder! When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. In exchange, the monster can't attack this turn."

Going back to her hand once again, Lilly grabbed one more cards and placed it horizontally onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, another flash of light covered her field.

"I Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Counselor Lilly, in Defense Mode!"

**Counselor Lilly: ATK 400 DEF 1500 LVL 3**

When light started to fade away, a beautiful angel with glossy pink hair and eyes appeared onto the field. She was wearing a counselor's uniform and had a pair of oval-shaped glasses on her face.

"Now, with both monsters on the field, I think you know what's next! I Tune my Level 4 Dark Elf with my Level 3 Counselor Lilly!"

The two monsters nodded their heads and prepared themselves for a Synchro Summoning. However, as that was happening, Alistair started smiling again. The sight of this scene annoyed Lilly and she decided to find out what he was smiling for.

"What's so funny?" She asked him. "Are you happy that I'm about to Synchro Summon?"

"That's not it," Alistair replied, trying his best to contain his laughter. "It just never ceases to amaze me on how stupid you really are."

The look of annoyance that appeared on Lilly's face swiftly turned into anger as watched Alistair let out some chuckles whenever he had the chance to do so. She soon became fed up with it and about to go at him, but she stopped when the Duel King started pointing upward. When Lilly looked up her anger turned into shock as she saw something she never expected to see.

As both Dark Elf and Counselor Lilly got ready to begin the Synchro ritual, Dark Highlander soon confronted the two of them. The monster released a deadly gaze upon the two monsters, frightening them and causing the both of them to retreat back to their master.

"What the hell is going on?!" Lilly questioned. "Why didn't they Synchro Summon?"

"It's because of my Dark Highlander's Special Ability." Alistair explained. "As long as it remains on the field, neither Duelist can Synchro Summon!"

A look of disbelief appeared on Lilly's face upon hearing the revelation. She had hoped that she would be able to Synchro Summon this turn and be able to rid herself of Dark Highlander. However, it's now because of that very same monster that her Synchros have now been effectively sealed.

Still, despite how bleak the situation seemed, Lilly still held on to faith. After everything Alistair had put her through the past 2 years, the young woman wasn't able to let him get the better of her. She was going to defeat him no matter what it took for her to do so.

With her resolve greater than ever, Lilly continued on with her turn by grabbing one more card from her hand. She then inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone and watched as it materialized onto the field for a few moments.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "Now Duel King, let's see what you got."

"Oh, I'll be glad to show you." Alistair replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 3**

**Alistair: SPC – 5**

Drawing a card from his deck, Alistair looked at it for a few short moments before placing it into his hand. He then pulled out another card and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Archfiend Soldier!"

**Archfiend Soldier: ATK 1900 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Another dark flash of light illuminated across Alistair's side of the field as a new Archfiend monster appeared before him. This one had the appearance of a demon that had razor sharp claws, long horns, and was wearing a fiendish cape on its back. The Duel King was about to make his next move, but was stopped when he saw Lilly take last card that was in her hand and place it into her Graveyard.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Effect Veiler!" She declared. "By sending it to the Graveyard, I can negate your Dark Highlander's Special Ability until the End Phase of this turn!"

A tiny flash of light materialized in front of Lilly as her Effect Veiler appeared before her. The tiny Spellcaster acknowledged the existence of her master before making her way towards Dark Highlander. She then used her powers to cancel out Highlander's until the End Phase.

"What are you trying to accomplish Weasel Girl?" The Duel King questioned. "Even if you negate Dark Highlander's Special Abilities, that won't stop me from attacking with it!"

As soon as Alistair finished that statement, Dark Highlander perceived it as an order to attack and quickly made its way over towards Lilly's monsters. However, as it was about to strike down Dark Elf, Lilly reacted by activating one of her face-down cards.

"I don't think so!" She said. "I activate the Trap Card: Urgent Tuning! With it, I can Synchro Summon during the Battle Phase!"

Dark Elf and Counselor Lilly quickly jumped into the air again, the former nearly avoiding Dark Highlander's scythe. As the two monsters prepared themselves to conduct the Synchro ritual, Lilly grabbed a card from her Extra Deck and placed it next to heart.

"The holy light of protection, shine now and become eternal life! Synchro Summon! A regal birth, Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 3000 LVL 7**

Once she finished her chant, Lilly placed the card horizontally onto her Monster Card Zone. It was then that a giant flash of light covered the entire Kaiba Dome.

"All…right," Crow acknowledge as he covered his eyes from the blinding light. "It's been a long time since I've seen this."

Once the light slowly faded away, Ancient Fairy Dragon appeared onto the field and began staring down both Alistair and his monsters. With it on the field, the Duel King knew that it would be foolish to attack since Ancient Fairy Dragon's Defense Points surpassed his monsters Attack Points.

"I see," He said. "Now that you summoned your precious Ancient Fairy Dragon, things might become interesting. Still, don't think it'll save your Life Points."

Lilly didn't let Alistair's words bother her and she knew that he had the advantage in the Duel. However, she kept her eyes opened and paid close attention when she watched her former friend activate one of his face-down cards.

"I release my Archfiend Soldier in order activate the Trap Card: Nightmare Archfiends!" He stated. "With this, I can Special Summon 3 Nightmare Archfiend Tokens onto your side of the field!"

**Nightmare Archfiend Token: ATK 2000 DEF 2000 LVL 6**

**Nightmare Archfiend Token: ATK 2000 DEF 2000 LVL 6**

**Nightmare Archfiend Token: ATK 2000 DEF 2000 LVL 6**

Lilly looked with a look of confusion on her face as she watch Alistair's Archfiend Soldier vanish from his side of the field. Once that happened, 3 devilish looking Archfiends appeared and proudly placed themselves onto her side of the field. She was about to question him about this, but the Duel King continued on with his turn before she had the chance to do so.

"Next, I activate the effect of Speed World 2! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can deal 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand. I have 1 Speed Spell, so you lose 800 Life Points!"

**Alistair: SPC – 1 **

A white laser beam shot from Alistair's Duel Runner proceeded strike Lilly. The resulting Sense blast caused Lilly to lose control of her own Duel Runner for a few moments, but she was able to regain herself since that blast wasn't that powerful.

**Lilly: 2000 LP**

"With that, I end my turn."

Once Alistair ended his turn, Lilly's Effect Veiler vanished from the field as a result. With her gone, Dark Highlander's sealing effect was now reactivated. However, since the Synchro Monster that she wanted to summon was now already on the field, Lilly was too worried about it. What she was concerned over was the 3 Nightmare Archfiend Tokens that were also on her field. Knowing Alistair wouldn't disclose any information amount the creatures, Lilly was left to figure their purpose on her own.

"What should I do?" She thought. "I have a feeling these monsters have Special Ability that prevents me from attacking with them, so that won't work. I also feel that I'll take more damage if there destroyed. Right now I have 2000 Life Points so I have to be careful on what I do next. One false move and I'm probably done for."

As she continued to ponder this, Lilly looked towards Ancient Fairy Dragon for advice. When the dragon turned around to face her, it gently nodded its head in approval. This sight showed Lilly that Ancient Fairy Dragon was confident that she would be able to figure Alistair's strategy and win the Duel. So, with a small smile on her face, the young woman gently placed her hand upon her deck.

"It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 4**

**Alistair: SPC – 2**

Placing all of her faith into this draw, Lilly swiftly pulled the card from her deck and took a look at it. Upon seeing it, the smile that was on her face grew slightly bigger. Before playing the card, Lilly began her turn by switching the position of all of the monsters that were on her Monster Card Zone.

"To begin, I switch all 3 of my Nightmare Archfiend Tokens into Defense Mode before switching Ancient Fairy Dragon into Attack Mode!"

Lilly's monsters responded to her actions and proceeded to change Battle Positions. Her 3 Nightmare Archfiend Tokens knelt down to one knee and took a defensive position in front of her. Meanwhile, Ancient Fairy Dragon stood up from her defensive position and prepared itself to attack. Once that happened, Lilly took the card that she drew and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now activate the Speed Spell: Shield and Sword!" She continued. "By removing 3 Speed Counters, the Attack and Defense Points of all the monsters on the field are switched until the End Phase. However, since my Nightmare Archfiend Tokens have the same number of Attack and Defense Points, the only monsters that are affected is your Dark Highlander and my Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

**Lilly: SPC – 1**

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2100**

**Dark Highlander: ATK 2300 DEF 2800**

Alistair looked on in a slight state of disbelief as he watched the Attack Points of his monster switch with its Defense Points. He couldn't stand the fact that his Dark Highlander was now weaker than Lilly's Ancient Fairy Dragon and silently swore that he would make his former friend pay for that. However, before he had the opportunity to do so, Lilly continued on with her turn by activating her second face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Ancient Light!" She declared. "When Ancient Fairy Dragon is on the field, her Attack Points are increased by the Level of one my opponents monsters, multiplied by 100! The only monster you control is your Level 7 Dark Highlander, which means Ancient Fairy Dragon gains 700 extra Attack Points!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 3700**

A bright flash of light began to radiate around Ancient Fairy Dragon as the beautiful monster began sapping energy from Dark Highlander. Once she gathered enough, she turned her head towards Lilly one last time before refocusing her attention back towards her foes.

"This is for all the pain and suffering you caused us Alistair," Lilly said as her mark started to glow brighter. "Ancient Fairy Dragon, destroy Dark Highlander…Eternal Sunshine!"

The dragon complied with Lilly's order and started glowing brighter than ever. The light was so intense that it consumed Dark Highlander in its entirety. Not only that, but it also created a shockwave that knocked Alistair around for a few moments."

**Alistair: 2500 LP**

Once the light faded away, Lilly took the opportunity to finally pass Alistair and take the lead. She then turned her head towards the Duel King and started talking to him.

"I end my turn," She started off. "So Mr. Duel King, how does it feel to be at the bottom? Because that's where you deserve to be!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 3000**

Alistair kept quiet as he listened to what Lilly had to say to him. Once she finished talking, the Duel King of Japan regained control of his Duel Runner and quickly made his way over towards his opponent.

"I hope you've enjoyed yourself Lilly," He said with a small smile on his face. "Because it's time I bring you back to reality!"

Upon shouting those words, Alistair's dragon mark started to glow brighter than ever. Soon, a crimson red aura began to cover his body as he placed his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 2**

**Alistair: SPC – 3**

Once she drew the top card from his deck, the Duel King proceeded to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When my opponent has a monster out on the field while I don't, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. In exchange, its Attack and Defense Points are cut in half. I Special Summon: Vice Dragon!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000-1000 DEF 2400-1200 LVL 5**

A bright flash of light covered Alistair's side of the field as a Vice Dragon arrived and began staring down Lilly and her monsters. Once that happened, Alistair continued on with his turn by grabbing another card and also placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Creation Resonator!"

**Creation Resonator: ATK 800 DEF 600 LVL 3**

Once he placed the card onto his Duel Disk, another flash of light shines across the Duel King's side of the field. The monster had similar appearance to Alistair's other Tuner, Dark Resonator, but had one major difference. On its back, Creation Resonator was wearing a beautiful blue flower.

"I now Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Creation Resonator!"

The two monsters nodded their heads and quickly made their way up in the air. Once they did that, they began to perform the Synchro ritual just as Alistair grabbed a card from his Extra Deck. As his red aura began to increase, the young man began chanting to himself.

"The ruler's heartbeat, will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

**Red Dragon Archfiend: ATK 3000 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Once he finished his chant, Alistair placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as eruption of flames appeared before him. The flames soon formed together and transformed into his Red Dragon Archfiend, which started to roar at the very top of its lungs.

"Now Red Dragon Archfiend," Alistair said as he pointed towards Ancient Fairy Dragon. "Destroy that pathetic excuse for a dragon…Absolute Power Force!"

Red Dragon Archfiend complied with its master's wishes and proceeded to make its way over to Ancient Fairy Dragon. Not wanting to see her beloved card die right before her eyes, Lilly countered by activating her final face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Shift!" She declared. "With it, I can change the target your attack from Ancient Fairy Dragon to one of the Nightmare Archfiend Tokens!"

The power of Lilly's Trap mesmerized Red Dragon Archfiend for a few moments and caused the beast to change direction. Now, instead of attacking Ancient Fairy Dragon, Red Dragon proceeded to attack and destroy one of the 3 Nightmare Archfiend Tokens.

"Thanks for that Lilly!" Alistair said with a smile. "Because of that one move, you've sealed your fate."

"What are you talking about?" The young woman questioned.

Alistair pointed his finger towards the other two Nightmare Archfiend Tokens and Lilly saw that both of them were reacting to the destruction of the first one.

"When Red Dragon Archfiend attacks as monster in Defense Mode, then all other Defense Position monsters on your field are destroyed!" Alistair explained. "Not only that, but since the destroyed monster was a Nightmare Archfiend Token, you take 800 points of damage for each one of them that were destroyed!"

Lilly's eyes widen as she watched fire begin to surround her from all directions. As Crow and Ancient Fairy Dragon looked on in horror, Takashi's group finally made it to the Kaiba Dome themselves. All of them were tired and out of breath, they all saw the flames quickly make their way towards Lilly.

"Lilly!" Takashi shouted. "Get away from there!"

It was too late…The fire exploded around the young woman, draining the remaining her Life Points.

**Lilly: 0 LP**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Lilly recovers from her Duel, Takashi decides to step in and take her place. Wanting the chance to humiliate the young man, Alistair accepts the challenge and the Duel is on. However, is it even possible for Takashi to defeat the Duel King of Japan? _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 55: Clash with the King – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader wanting to thank you for all your support. Thanks to all of you, Over Nexus has now exceeded 300 reviews. You don't know how much this means to me and I promise I'll continued to produce more awesome chapters as my way of saying thanks. Now, let's move forward and attempt to reach 400!_

_Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	55. Chapter 55

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 55: **_Clash against the King – Part 2_

* * *

><p>"Lilly!"<p>

Takashi, Akiza, Crow, Misaki, and Toru all looked on in horror as holographic flames surrounded their friend as her Duel against Alistair came to an end. The realistic flames and the Sense Waves they emitted caused Lilly to lose control of her Duel Runner and she ended up crashing by the side of a wall. Upon seeing that, her friends immediately rushed up to her in order to see if she was alright.

Carefully pulling her from the wreckage, Crow gently took off Lilly's helmet and watched as Akiza and Misaki began to examine her body. The two girls analyzed every portion of her, not wanting to overlook even the slightest detail. Eventually, after about 5 minutes of this, both Akiza and Misaki quickly noticed the same thing.

"Well?" Crow asked in a concerned tone of voice. "How is she? Is she going to be alright?"

"…Externally, her wounds aren't that bad." Misaki answered. "…However, I'm afraid she might have suffered some internal damage."

Misaki gently pulled up the bottom on Lilly's shirt and showed her new friends a bruise that was on her chest. The bruise didn't show any cuts, so there was nothing that needed to be bandaged up. However, upon seeing that the bruise had a slightly purple color to it, the others soon realized that they've seen this type of injury before.

"This…," Toru started off. "This is the same type of injury that Takashi suffered during his Duel against Alex."

"Sense," Takashi silently followed.

As he continued to look at his injured friend, Takashi gently placed his hand on his chest and felt a slight pain coming from it. This pain comes from the fact that his wounds haven't fully healed yet since his Duel against Alex. His opponent's Sense attacks were so great that it caused some of his ribs to crack. Seeing that the same thing that happened to him most likely happened to Lilly, Takashi began clinch his fist in anger and looked towards the person who did this too her; Alistair Miles. He was about to confront him about this, but Crow stepped in before he could even let out a single word.

"You bastard," The Blackwing Duelist said. "However could you do this too her?! We used to be friends not too long ago and now here you are, trying to take her life! What give you the right to try and do that?!"

"I'm the King," Alistair replied. "I have the right to do anything I want to whomever I want. Besides, past friendships don't exist in the world of Turbo Dueling. It's either kill or be killed. I Duel with the intent to completely destroy my opponents, even if they happen to be former members of Team Satisfaction!"

As Crow tries his absolute best to keep himself from running towards Alistair and punching him dead in the face, Takashi started to remember something from three years ago. It was during his first trip to the Satellite Sector and how he met Team Satisfaction for the first time. He remembered seeing Lilly and Crow from the first time, as well another member with silver hair. However, the one that caught his attention the most was a young man with black hair and red eyes. The noticeable thing that he recalled about him is that he was an arrogant prick and that they nearly faced each other in a Duel. If it wasn't for Klaus, telling him to come home, then that Duel probably would've taken place. Takashi reluctantly did what he was told and left the Satellite in order to return back to Crash Town, but a small part of him always regretted not facing that man when he had the chance.

After he finished remembering, Takashi examined Alistair for a minute and realized that the Duel King had the same exact appearance of the person he met all those years ago. He also saw that he had the same exact attitude as well. The only thing that he noticed that was different was the glowing Dragon Mark that was on his right arm. Takashi found the sight of the mark very interesting, but he decided to not mention for now. In the meantime he slowly made his way towards the Duel King, clinching his fist even harder with every step he made.

"How the hell can you say that?!" He questioned. "You guys used to be members of Team Satisfaction, the best Dueling group in the entire Satellite Sector. Everyone looked up to all of you and you used your skills in order to keep the Satellite safe. But now here you are, severely injuring one of your teammates and berating another. How can you call yourself the Duel King, especially after doing things like that?"

Alistair examined Takashi for a few moments before turning his attention back over to Crow. He then took his left hand and pointed his finger towards the young man that just spoke to him.

"Crow…," He said. "Who the hell is the guy?"

"That's Takashi Nakamura," Crow answered. "And unlike you, he knows what it means to be a True Duelist!"

The Duel King was intrigued by his former friend words and turned his attention towards Takashi one more time. When he did, he noticed the cross-shaped scar that was on his left cheek, causing him to remember who he was.

"Ah…" He said. "Now I remember. You're that little fool who got jumped by those junk dealers. I almost didn't recognize you. It seems you've become even stupider since the last time I saw you."

"Who are you calling a fool, you bastard?!" Takashi replied. "If that's what you truly think of me then I guess you want mind facing me in a Turbo Duel! If you as good as you claim to be, then I'm sure this won't be a problem for you."

Alistair looked over Takashi one last time and the Duel King could instantly tell that there was fear in his challenger's eyes. He was almost about to decline his offer, believing that wouldn't be worth his time defeating someone like him. However, upon noticing his Dragon Mark and what type of mark it was, the young man quickly had a change of heart.

"Fine," He said. "It'll be a good way to show you all that none of you has what it takes to defeat me!"

With that said, both Takashi and Alistair prepared themselves for their Turbo Duel and made sure that their Duel Runners were in working order. As they did that, Crow and the others brought Lilly towards the stands in order to treat her injuries as best they could and to give a place to rest. While tending to her friend, Akiza took a glance over at Takashi and noticed that his eyes still had plenty of fear and doubt. However, instead of commenting on it, the young woman kept quiet and went back to focusing on Lilly.

"Even if I say anything, it wouldn't stop him from competing in this Duel," She thought. "Besides, Takashi has to compete in this Duel as it will determine his next course of action."

Meanwhile, just outside the Kaiba Dome, over a hundred members of Sector Security were waiting patiently for the Turbo Duel to begin. With them was Lazar, who was also waiting for the same thing. Having been given orders by Goodwin to spy on Alistair, the Vice-Director was patiently biding his time until just the right moment.

"Remember men," He said to his officers. "Don't move until I give the word. Director Goodwin has made it clear that he doesn't want any action to be made until _it_ appears."

"Yes Sir," All the officers said in unison.

Back inside the stadium, Takashi and Alistair finally finished their preparations and made their way over to the starting line. Once they did that, both proceeded to activate the Speed World 2 Field Spell. This caused the holographic aura to reappear appear around the entire stadium.

"Alright kid," Alistair said in a mocking tone of voice. "I'm going to make you regret ever challenging me. You'll soon see the power that comes with being the Duel King!"

"I already have plenty of regrets in my life,' Takashi replied. "Having one more won't make any difference."

With that said, both Duelists revved their Duel Runners and sped past the starting line. At first, it seemed like they were evenly matched, but Alistair's experience quickly allowed him to gain the upper hand. In no time at all, the Duel King made it pass the first corner several seconds before his opponent.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Alistair: 4000 LP**

"I make the first move," The Duel King declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Alistair: SPC – 1**

Drawing a card from his deck, Alistair quickly examined it for a few short moments before placing it into his hand. After that he looked back over towards Takashi, smiling evilly as his opponent tried his hardest to catch up o him. He then turned his attention back towards his hand and quickly pulled out a card. The Duel King then firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as a bright flash of light illuminated a portion of his field.

"I Summon: Lancer Archfiend!"

**Lancer Archfiend: ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

When the light began to fade away, a unique Fiend-Type monster appeared onto Alistair's side of the field. It had the appearance of a knight with yellow and purple armor. There was a skull around its fiendish looking head and was wearing a bright red cape on its bad. However, the most unique feature about Lancer Archfiend was the two broad swords that acted as its arms.

Once his monster was out on his side of the field, Alistair took another card from his hand and went on to insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on his side of the field for a few short moments before eventually disappearing.

"With that, I end my turn. Now kid, let's see what you're made of!"

Takashi nodded his head in response and slowly moved his hand over to his deck. As he did that, the young Duelist noticed that his hand was shaking from fear. The sight of this bothered him greatly as it informed him that he was still recovering from his loss against Aiku. However, Takashi knew that it was too late to back out of the Duel and he decided to swallow his fear for the time being.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Alistair: SPC – 2**

Upon drawing the top card from his deck, Takashi flipped it over and saw that it was a card that he could use right away. He felt that if used it correctly then he could take an early lead and just might restore some of his confidence. With that in mind, Takashi quickly inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder! When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. In exchange, that monster can't attack this turn."

Going back to his hand, Takashi looked over all of his cards and quickly found the card that he wanted to summon. He then went on to place that card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Speed Warrior!"

**Speed Warrior: ATK 900 DEF 400 LVL 2**

A bright flash of light covered Takashi's side of the field for a few moments before his Speed Warrior made its appearance into the Duel. As the monster began skating next to him, Takashi went on to grab another card from his hand and also placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Junk Synchron!"

**Junk Synchron: ATK 1300 DEF 500 LVL 3**

Another flash of light illuminated across Takashi's side of the field as his Junk Synchron soon arrived and joined him along with his Speed Warrior. Upon seeing both monsters out his opponent's field, it was painfully obvious to Alistair what Takashi was planning to do next.

"I Tune my Level 2 Speed Warrior with my Level 3 Junk Synchron!" The young man declared.

Junk Synchron and Speed Warrior nodded their heads and quickly jumped into air. As they begun to conduct the Synchro ritual, Takashi pulled out a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering stars will call upon a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Junk Warrior!"

**Junk Warrior: ATK 2300 DEF 1300 LVL 5**

Once the Synchro ritual came to an end, a large flash of light covered Takashi's entire field and the young man watched as his Junk Warrior soon appeared before him. As it began riding next to him a small, but unnoticeable smile appeared on his face for a moment.

"Junk Warrior, attack Lancer Archfiend…Scrap Fist!"

Junk Warrior nodded its head and jumped into the sky. It then looked towards Lancer Archfiend and began swiftly made its way towards its foe thanks to the rocket pack on its back. It then struck its foe with one powerful punch, shattering Lancer Archfiend into several pieces.

**Alistair: 3300 LP**

As his Life Points began to drop, Alistair was struck by a small wave of Sense that was created from Junk Synchron's attack. However, because the Sense was so weak, the Duel King hardly felt anything and was able to continue riding without any loss of speed.

"What the hell was that?!" He asked. "I thought that the leader of the Signers would have a much greater Sense than this. Apparently the Crimson Dragon made a mistake choosing you to bear its mark!"

The instant Alistair finished his comment, the small amount of confidence that Takashi was able to build up quickly faded away. He then continued on with the Duel by taking 2 cards from his hand and inserting them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on the field for a few short moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down," He said softly. "I end my turn."

"Well it's about time," Alistair replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Alistair: SPC – 3**

Drawing another card from his deck, Alistair looked at and a smile appeared on his face upon doing so. He then went on to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When my opponent is the only one with a monster on the field, I can Special Summon this monster with half of its Attack and Defense Points. I Special Summon: Vice Dragon!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 1200 LVL 5**

Another flash of light illuminated across Alistair's side of the field as his Vice Dragon appeared before him. Once it was out, the Duel King continued on with his turn by activating the card that he set last turn.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I revive my Lancer Archfiend from my Graveyard!"

From the ground, a white circle appeared in front of Alistair and started glowing a bright white color. From that circle, Lancer Archfiend reappeared onto the field and pointed one of its sword-like arms towards Takashi. Once that happened, the Duel King quickly took a card from his hand and firmly placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Finally, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Creation Resonator!"

**Creation Resonator: ATK 800 DEF 600 LVL 3**

One last flash of light illuminated across Alistair's side of the field as his Creation Resonator appeared before him and his other monsters. Once he had all of his pieces in place, the Duel King turned his head around and looked towards Takashi.

"Watch carefully, Nakamura and witness a power beyond your comprehension. I Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Creation Resonator!"

Vice Dragon and Creation Resonator nodded their heads upon hearing their master's declaration and proceeded to jump high into the air. As the monsters prepared themselves to conduct the Synchro ritual, Alistair pulled out a card from his Extra Deck. His Dragon Mark then started to glow even brighter as a red aura covered his body.

"The ruler's heartbeat will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

**Red Dragon Archfiend: ATK 3000 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Upon placing the card onto his Monster Card Zone, a huge explosion of fire and lava erupted across Alistair's side of the field. Soon the flames and lava began to converge into one and form into his Ace Monster; Red Dragon Archfiend. The mere sight of the monster caused Takashi to have butterflies inside of his stomach.

"Go Red Dragon Archfiend," Alistair called. "Destroy his Junk Warrior…Absolute Power Force!"

Red Dragon Archfiend complied to Alistair's demand and started roaring at the top of its lungs. It then lunged forward towards Junk Warrior as its front claw was beginning to become covered in red-hot flames. Junk Warrior attempted to counter the attack with its Scrap Fist, but the Warrior-Type monster was quickly overwhelmed after a short struggle and eventually destroyed.

**Takashi: 3300**

The explosion, resulting from Junk Warrior destruction, created a Sense blast so great that Takashi lost control of his Duel Runner and was about to crash into a nearby wall. Fortunately for him, the young man managed to regain himself and was able to avoid the wall at the very last moment.

"Humph, I'm surprised you were able to handle the Sense of my Red Dragon Archfiend," Alistair commented. "But let's see how you fair when my Lancer Archfiend attacks your Life Points directly!"

Lancer Archfiend nodded its head and was prepared to strike down Takashi with one of its sword-like arms. Seeing this, Takashi acted quickly and went on to activate one of his face-down cards as a result.

"I activate the Trap: Synchro Spirits!" He declared. "By removing my Junk Warrior from play, I can Special Summon both my Speed Warrior and my Junk Synchron from Graveyard, in Defense Mode!"

As he pulled Junk Warrior's card from his Graveyard, Takashi looked on as both his Speed Warrior and Junk Synchron returned to the field and took a defensive position in front of him.

"That won't save you," Alistair said. "Lancer Archfiend, attack his Junk Synchron!"

Lancer complied and turned its attention away from Takashi and towards his Junk Synchron. The Fiend-Type monster went on to destroy the Tuner after slashing it twice with both of its swords. The pieces of Junk Synchron then flew towards Takashi, striking the young man several times.

**Takashi: 2200 LP**

"Hey, what the hell?!" Toru questioned, surprised that Takashi's Life Points just fell. "Why did Takashi lose some of his Life Points? Wasn't his Junk Synchron in Defense Mode?"

"It was in Defense Mode," Misaki answered. "However Lancer Archfiend's Special Ability allows it to deal Piercing Damage."

"That's always been Alistair's style of play," Crow followed. "He'd always focus on power while at same time use cards that slowly burn away his opponent's Life Points. It's a ruthless style of Dueling, but you have to admit it works."

As the three of them commented on the Duel and what Takashi should do to counter, Akiza just silently looked on after she finished treating Lilly. The Psychic Duelist was extremely worried as she noticed that Takashi was already out of breath and was having a hard time keeping up with Alistair. She could feel the fear and concern that he was feeling through her own Dragon Mark and silently hoped that Takashi would be alright.

"Okay Nakamura," Alistair said. "I end my turn."

"…Right," Takashi said in a low tone of voice. "It's my turn, Draw."

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Alistair: SPC – 4**

Upon drawing his next card, Takashi looked at it for a second and quickly inserted into his Spell/Trap Zone without even thinking.

"I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Scapegoat! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can Special Summon 4 Sheep Tokens in Defense Mode!"

**Takashi: SPC – 0**

**Sheep Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Sheep Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Sheep Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Sheep Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

Upon inserting his Speed Spell into his Spell/Trap Zone, 4 multi-colored sheep appeared upon Takashi's side of the field and quickly took a defensive position beside him and his Speed Warrior. Once he did that, Takashi glanced at his hand for a second before turning his attention back towards the Duel.

"I end my turn."

"This is pathetic," Alistair said in an angry tone of voice. "You challenge me to a Duel and yet all you're doing is defending? Nakamura, that's an insult that I'll never forgive. I'll show you that no defense is strong enough to handle the burning strength of my soul! It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Alistair: SPC – 5**

As the Duel King drew a card and prepared to make his next move, Lilly slowly woke up and began to sit herself up from the stands. When her friends saw this, they instantly check to see if she was okay, but the young woman was less concern about her health and more concern about what was happening right now.

"What the hell…is going on?" She asked, trying her best to suppress the pain that she was feeling. "Why is Takashi Dueling Alistair?"

"Takashi challenged Alistair to a Duel because he was upset about what he did to you," Akiza answered. "Things seemed to be going his way at first, but ever since Alistair summoned his Red Dragon Archfiend, Takashi's been on the defensive."

Lilly nodded her head and examined the monsters that were on both Duelists field. After about a second, the young woman's eyes widen and realized that all of Takashi's monsters were in Defense Mode.

"This is bad," She thought to herself. "This is very bad."

Back at the Duel, Alistair noticed that he didn't have any more cards that he could play this turn. With that, the Duel King decided to go on and conduct his Battle Phase.

"Red Dragon Archfiend," He called. "Attack Speed Warrior…Absolute Power Force!"

Like with Junk Warrior, Red Dragon Archfiend quickly made its over towards Speed Warrior and began gathering flames into the palm of its hand. Once it gathered enough, the powerful dragon went to destroy the Warrior-Type Monster with one powerful slam. The Sense blast that the attack created also slammed into Takashi, causing the young man to almost fall off his Duel Runner.

"Next, I activate Red Dragon's Archfiend's Special Ability!" The Duel King declared. "When it attacks a monster in Defense Mode, then all defense position monsters that my opponent controls are destroyed as well!"

Takashi's eyes widen from shock as he watched all of his Sheep Tokens explode one-by-one. Each explosion consumed the young Duelist and the Sense that they release only aggravated the injury that Alex had inflicted upon him days ago.

"And now to finish this! Lancer Archfiend, attack his Life Points directly!"

Lancer Archfiend complied too Alistair's orders and this time the Fiend-Type monster completely made its way over to Takashi. It then slashed across the young man's chest, not only taking out most of his Life Points, but also dealing him real damage due the Sense blasts that the sword strikes created too.

**Takashi: 600 LP**

"Takashi!"

All of Takashi's friends in the stands looked on with worried expressions on their faces as Takashi had yet to emerge from the holographic flames that surrounded him. All of them continued to call his name for several moments as Alistair started to berate his young and experience opponent.

"Crow said that, unlike me, you had the qualities of a True Duelist," He started off. "However, I believe that it's the other way around. Nakamura, you lack the basic thing that all True Duelists must have. You lack the instinct to complete dominate and destroy your enemy. You're one of those goody-two-shoes who use their brain to try and win a fight. You don't tap into those pure base instincts sitting in your core, waiting to be release! And the reason why you can't do that is because you're weak…Nakamura!"

As Takashi eventually emerge from the flames, his body was all bruised and blood was tinkling down his mouth. His eyes were also on the verge of becoming lifeless, indicating that he was beginning to lose consciousness.

"It's…it's not use," He thought to himself. "Alistair…is right. I am…too weak."

_Stop feeling sorry for yourself!_

Takashi's eyes widen upon hearing a voice inside of his head. It the voice of a female who sounded very close to his age. He was confused about the situation and wanted to know who was talking to him, but the voice started talking again before he had the chance to ask.

_It doesn't matter if you lack the destructive instincts to become a True Duelist. Your desire to protect has always been enough! It's because of that desire that you've achieved the strength that you have now, and that strength is strong enough to overcome anything. But that can only happen if you grow up for once and stop being afraid! It's because of your fear that you're losing right now and worrying your friends! If you don't do something now then you're going to lose them the same way you lost me!_

As he continued listening to the voice's words, Takashi's eyes began to widen even more as he eventually realized who was talking to him. He couldn't believe it at first as the voice was mature and it didn't completely familiar to him at first. However, after remembering how someone else would scold him the exact same way, Takashi finally figured out who was talking to him.

"Hikari…." He said softly. "Hikari, is that you?"

Takashi waited for a response, hoping the voice would confirm his guess. However, all the young man received was one more message.

_If you're afraid of losing, then you just have to get stronger! If you're afraid you won't be able to protect your friends from harm, you have to get stronger and make a vow that you won't ever let them down! And if you're afraid of losing the one that you love again, then you must not only get strong enough to protect her, but pledge to yourself that you will! Even if everyone thinks poorly of you and believes that your weak, stick out your chest and scream your defiance! Because that is the type of man you are Takashi Nakamura….I know it in my heart! _

With that said, the voice stopped talking and remained silently no matter how many times Takashi called out to it to answer. As he waited for a response, Alistair was quickly beginning to lose his patience and started screaming towards Takashi as a result.

"Hurry up, Nakamura!" He yelled. "I got better things to do than waste my time with you!"

The Duel King's comment registered in Takashi's mind, eventually causing him to give up on hoping that the voice would reply to him. He then looked towards his opponent for a few moments and remembered what the voice said about getting strong. After now experiencing first hand, the power of the Duel King, Takashi could openly admit that he was afraid of Alistair. However, that fear only strengthened his resolve to get stronger and prove his own strength. The young Duelist knew that it would be a hard challenge to overcome, but he was determined to overcome that challenge and eventually surpass Alistair in strength.

He soon looked towards his friends and saw that all of them were cheering for his victory. Crow and Toru were shouting words of encouragement towards him while Misaki and Lilly were telling him ideas on how best to handle Alistair's moves. The sight of this caused Takashi remember the voice's message about getting strong to protect his friends. He knew that if he lost his Duel and became seriously injured in the process, then the others wouldn't stand by and let Alistair get away with doing that. However, despite how noble that act would be, Takashi knew that his friends would only get hurt themselves and that was something he did not want to happen. He wanted his friends to be safe and he knew that he needed to achieve the strength needed in order to protect them.

Finally, Takashi looked over towards Akiza and noticed that the young woman was busy staring at him intently. He could tell that she was very concerned about his safety and that she would probably snap if Alistair harmed him any further. However, Takashi knew that even with her Psychic Powers, Akiza would be seriously injured if she happened to face Alistair in a Duel. This caused him to recall the image he had during his Duel with Alex, on how Akiza was lying dead in his arms. The young man didn't want that happen as he couldn't bear to go through the despair of losing another girl that he cared for again. The whole purpose that he created his new deck was so he could protect Akiza during situations in which she needed his help. His desire to protect her completely overshadowed his desire to win or become famous.

These thoughts, and the meaning behind them, caused Takashi's confidence to become restored completely. Even though he wasn't considered a True Duelist in the eyes of Alistair, that didn't matter to him. His desire to protect the people that were close to him was always enough for him to succeed in any challenge that he faced. That was one face that of life that wouldn't change for him no matter how much time passed. As long as he had his friends then he knew that he could do anything he set his mind too. With that, Takashi's started screaming a shout of defiance as his Dragon Mark started to glow brighter than ever. Eventually, his body was completely covered in a beautiful blue aura.

"It's my turn," He declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Alistair: SPC – 6**

Upon drawing a card from his deck, Takashi looked at it and instantly smiled. He then went on to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton!" He said. "When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards from my deck and then discard 1 card to the Graveyard!"

Following the instructions of his Speed Spell, Takashi swiftly drew two more cards from his deck and examined them closely. As he did that, his mind pictured a flow chart of all the possible moves he could make in order to turn the Duel around his favor. Electricity flowed through all the charts, revealing a scenario that the young man could use. After finding the best one, Takashi placed the 2 cards that he drew into his hand before grabbing another and placing it into his Graveyard. Once he did that, the young man then grabbed one the card that he just drew again and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When this card is added from my deck to my hand via an effect, then I can Special Summon it to the field. I Special Summon: Watapon, in Defense Mode!"

**Watapon: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

A small flash of light illuminated across Takashi's side of the field as his Watapon appeared before him. However, the cute Fairy-Type monster wouldn't be around for long as Takashi took its card and placed it into his Graveyard before grabbing another card to take its place on his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I release my Watapon in order to Advance Summon: Salvage Warrior!"

**Salvage Warrior: ATK 1900 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

Once Watapon vanished from his field, Takashi's Salvage Warrior made its presence felt as it began swinging around the chains that he had on its back. As it did that, Takashi went back into his Graveyard and quickly pulled out a card from it. He then went on and placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone as well.

"When Salvage Warrior is successfully Advanced Summoned, I can Special Summon a Tuner Monster from either my hand or Graveyard. I Special Summon: Junk Synchron!"

Salvage Warrior nodded its head and proceeded to toss the chain that was in his right hand into a portal that appeared behind it. After a few minutes, the monster pulled on the chain and Junk Synchron appeared on the other side of it.

"I Tune my Level 5 Salvage Warrior with my Level 3 Junk Synchron!"

Takashi's two monsters nodded their heads once again and quickly jumped into the air. As they prepared themselves for a Synchro Summoning, their master went into his Extra Deck and pulled out a card. After placing it next to his heart for a few moments, Takashi soon placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone as well.

"Gathering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Once the Synchro ritual came to an end, a giant flash of light covered the entire Kaiba Dome as Takashi's Stardust Dragon appeared before him. The beautiful Synchro Monster started roaring at the top of its lungs, making its presence felt and declaring that it will protect its master.

"Stardust Dragon," Takashi called as more determination filled into his eyes. "Attack Lancer Archfiend…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust complied with Takashi's orders and began gather cosmic energy from inside its body. Once it gathered enough power, Stardust took aim and fired the energy towards Lancer Archfiend. When the attack struck it, Lancer Archfiend was incinerated in a giant explosion and Alistair began spinning out of control as Stardust's attack was filled with a powerful Sense blast as well.

**Alistair: 2400 LP**

As the Duel King tried to regain control of his Duel Runner, Takashi took the opportunity to speed up and quickly close the gap between him and his opponent. Soon, the young man eventually passed Alistair.

"Alistair," He called. "You told me that I lacked the instincts to become a True Duelist. You may be right about that, but you're also lacking something! You lack the heart that's needed to become a True Duelist. That's something that you'll never have nor ever will obtain!"

Once he finished his statement, Takashi went back to focusing on the Duel and quickly pulled out 2 cards from his hand. He then proceeded to insert both of the cards into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as the card materialized onto the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn."

As soon as Takashi ended his turn, Alistair finally regained control of his Duel Runner and noticed that something was pouring from his mouth. Upon wiping it, the Duel King's anger began to grow as he saw that the substance that was pouring from his mouth was his own blood.

"You bastard," He said silently. "How dare you...HOW DARE YOU!"

As he screamed at the top of his lungs the aura that surrounded Alistair's body began to erupt furiously. Soon, his hair and eye turned from jet-black to crimson-red. Once this transformation was complete, the young man revved up his Duel Runner and quickly began to close the distance between Takashi and himself.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Alistair: SPC – 7**

Completely ignoring the card that he just drew, Alistair placed it into his hand and turned his attention towards Takashi and his Stardust Dragon.

"I refuse to be humiliated by someone like you! I'll make you pay 100-fold for making my blood spill by your common hands! Red Dragon Archfiend, eradicate Stardust Dragon…Absolute Power Force!"

Red Dragon Archfiend complied and prepared itself to strike down Stardust Dragon with its attack. However Takashi, having successfully predicted that his opponent would do such a thing, went on to activate one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Power Frame!" He declared. "With this, I can negate Red Dragon Archfiend's attack since its Attack Points are higher than Stardust Dragon's!"

Just as Red Dragon Archfiend was about to destroy Stardust Dragon with its powerful claw, a magical mirror proceed to separate the two dragons. The mirror went on the block Red Dragon Archfiend's attack, successfully protecting Stardust Dragon and infuriating Alistair even more.

"I now activate the second effect of Power Frame!" Takashi continued. "After it negates your attack, it becomes an Equip Card and it increases Stardust Dragon's Attack Points equal to the difference between it and the monster that attacked it!"

Takashi took his Power Frame Trap Card out of his Spell/Trap Zone for a moment before placing it in the same section as his Stardust Dragon card. Once he did that, Stardust's Attack Points increased to equal that of Red Dragon Archfiend's.

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 3000**

Once he saw Stardust Dragon's Attack Points increase to equal his Red Dragon Archfiend's, Alistair's anger even more. It soon came to the point that the Duel King didn't care if he won in a cheap way. He has spent too much time toying with Takashi and he saw that it was time to put an end to this game…once and for all.

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" He declared. "By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can deal you 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand. I have 2 Speed Spell, which means you're being dealt 1600 points of damage!"

**Alistair: SPC - 3**

As they looked on as Alistair prepared to strike Takashi with a Sense enhanced blast, everyone watched with concerned looks on their faces. However, their concern quickly faded away when they saw Takashi's aura transform from blue to yellow. Soon his eyes changed from blue to green and his hair color changed from blue and black to golden yellow. The young man then turned himself around and quickly made his way towards Alistair, all the while activating another face-down card.

"I activate the Counter Trap: Barrel Behind the Door!" He said. "This card negates the effect damage that I would've taken and redirects it towards you!"

Just as he finished explaining the effect of his Trap Card, two lasers beam shot from Alistair's Duel Runner and made their towards Takashi. However, Takashi was able to absorb the Duel Kings attack and send it back towards him. The resulting blast created a Sense blast so powerful that it damaged Alistair's body even further.

**Alistair: 800 LP**

As Alistair started coughing up blood from his mouth, Takashi waited for his opponent to make any other moves this turn. Even he saw that he didn't have any other moves to make, the young man proceeded to begin his next turn.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Alistair: SPC – 4**

Once he drew a card from his deck, Takashi looked at it and smiled once more. The young man then looked back towards his friends and saw that all of them had smiles on their faces. Everyone one of them was proud on how Takashi was able to make such a huge comeback and knew that the Duel was virtually his. Upon seeing that, Takashi nodded his head and placed the card that he just drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Junk Blader!"

**Junk Blader: ATK 1800 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

When he placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone, a bright flash of light covered Takashi's side of the field for a few moments. Once it faded, a knight with purple and black armor appeared on the young man's side of the field. In its right hand, Junk Blader was holding an orange sword that seemed very rusty.

"This is Duel is over!" He yelled. "First, it's time our dragons finally tussled! Stardust Dragon, ice his Red Dragon Archfiend…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust Dragon nodded its head and was prepared to sacrifice its own life if it meant taking out Red Dragon Archfiend in the process. So the dragon began gathering all the energy that its body could muster just as Red Dragon Archfiend did the same thing. As that happened; Takashi's, Alistair's, Lilly's, Akiza's, and Crow's respective Dragon Marks began glowing at the exact same time. Soon the color of all of their eyes changed and became a bright crimson color.

Once both dragons finished charging their attack, both Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend released their respective moves. The resulting collision of powers created a Sense Blast so powerful that it began to overwhelm both Duelists. However, the blast also created something else. From out of both dragons' bodies, a red aura appeared a shot directly into the sky. Everyone looked up and saw that the aura soon began to change shape and transformed into a giant dragon.

"What in the hell is that thing?!" Toru screamed, trying to make sense of the situation.

No one replied to his question as they didn't have an answer for him. They were as just as confused as he was. None of them had seen this mysterious dragon before nor did they know why it suddenly appeared. Eventually Alistair, the only one who had any type of answer, stated to speak silently to himself.

"Is that…the Crimson Dragon?"

As the Duel King wondered about this, dragon started roar at the stop of its lungs. The roar created a shockwave that knocked both Takashi and Alistair from off their Duel Runners, ending the Duel before a winner could be declared.

* * *

><p>Once the Duel came to an end and the mysterious dragon disappeared, Lazar made his move. Having seen everything that just took place, the Vice-Director gave the order for his officers to charge into the Kaiba Dome. Takashi and his friends happened to notice the security officers making their way towards them and attempted to leave before they could get caught. However, with Takashi and Lilly too injured to move and others trying to help them, all of them were eventually captured. The only one who managed to get away was Alistair, who escaped through the entrance tunnel he uses during his official Duels inside the Kaiba Dome.<p>

"Hey," Crow said as he struggled to break free. "Let us go!"

The Blackwing Duelist tried his best to break free, but the Security officer that was holding on to him was simply too strong. He did contemplate using his powers to overpower him, but he decided against it as he didn't want to create a scene. Soon he, along with the others, were all brought together in one place. Lazar soon appeared before all of them and smiled as he started to speak.

"Why good evening everyone," The Vice-Director said. "I you do realize that all of you are trespassing on a private area. No one is allowed to be here without permission."

"…It's not like we wanted to be here," Lilly explained. "We were brought here by the Duel King; Alistair Miles!"

Lazar knew that Lilly was telling the truth, but kept quiet and examined the area in order to keep his façade. After a few minutes, he turned his attention back towards Lilly.

"I'm afraid you're seeing things miss," He said. "I don't see the Duel King anywhere. You must be talking about something else."

Lilly's anger started to grow as she attempted to explain the situation again. However, the Security officer that was holding her kept her quiet by holding on to her injured ribs. Once she was silenced, Lazar focused his attention back towards everyone.

"You know, as the Vice-Director of New Domino City I could arrest you all for being here. However, since I'm such a nice person, I've decided to do something else."

"…And what would that be?" Misaki asked.

Lazar smiled upon the six of them and proceeded to pull out 6 envelopes from his coat pocket. He then gave the order for his men to let go of their captives. Once that happened, the Vice Director tossed one envelop to each of the six.

"These are invitations to the biggest tournament to ever hit New Domino City; The Fortune Cup," He explained. "Having seen the Duel that just took place here, I can say that all of you have more than enough talent to compete. If you want me to let this little incident slide, then I suggest you train your butts off and compete."

As the group continued examining their invitations, Takashi noticed something was off. Even if the Fortune Cup was a big tournament, that shouldn't be a good enough excuse to prevent the arrest of he and his friends. He also found it strange that Security was immediately here just as soon as the mysterious red dragon disappeared. The young man knew that there was more to this situation that meets the eye and he wanted to find out the real truth.

"Alright," He said. "What's the catch? I know for a fact that there's something else that you want us to do. So…tell us what it is!"

Lazar looked towards Takashi and saw that his eyes had the intent the kill if he receive an answer that wasn't to his liking. If it were any other person, they would probably be scared and confess the truth. However, Lazar wasn't any other person. He then went on to point towards Takashi, Akiza, Lilly, and Crow respectively.

"You got me," He said. "There is something else that I want you to do and it involves the 4 of you. Even though the best of the best is competing in the Fortune Cup, only the best 8 are allowed to compete in the finals. Out of those 8, the 4 of you must reach the finals. If you don't, then all 6 of you will suffer some serious consequences."

"Is that so…," Akiza said. "And what type of consequences would we face?"

"Simple," Lazar replied as he began to snicker. "Not only would all of you would be arrested, but so will every one of your friends that helped all of you during the incidents at the Arcadia Movement and the Satellite. Now, unless you want your friends to suffer at the hands of my officers, I suggest you keep your mouths shut and reach the finals!"

Everyone, with the exception of Misaki, was surprised that Lazar knew about the battles at the Arcadia Movement and the Satellite. All of them made sure that there was no witnesses and swore not to release any information about the incidents. The fact that Sector Security knew about made all of them realize that they have been probably spying on them since they first got together, perhaps even longer. The group wanted to comment on how Lazar managed to get his hands on such information, but they didn't want to endanger their friends if they happened to say something out of place. In the end, all 6 of them agreed to compete and Takashi, Akiza, Lilly, and Crow also agreed that they would reach the finals. Once they were in agreement, Lazar smiled one more time before turning his back towards them.

"Now, with that settled, I suggest that well go back home," He said. "We don't want to make a scene that everyone can see."

The Vice-Director soon made his way out of the Kaiba along with his Security officers. Once they were gone and they were all alone, Takashi and others thought quietly about their predicament. All of them wanted to compete in the Fortune Cup for fun, but now they have to compete in order to not only save themselves, but their friends as well.

"…This is just great," Toru said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Now what do we do?"

"…We compete," Takashi answered. "We train our asses off and make sure we're strong enough to make it through the Fortune Cup. It's the only way we can ensure the safety of our friends. Besides…"

"Besides what?" Akiza asked.

Takashi kept to himself for a few moments as he thought about everything that Lazar just said to all of them. Once he did that, the young man started looking towards the night sky.

"I believe Sector Security is hiding something from us and I think the Fortune Cup is the key to figuring it out."

With that said, Takashi pulled out the card that Alex gave him and examined it for a few moments. As he did that, he started to remember the final message that the voice said to him during his Duel against Alistair.

_If you're afraid of losing, then you just have to get stronger! If you're afraid you won't be able to protect your friends from harm, you have to get stronger and make a vow that you won't ever let them down! And if you're afraid of losing the one that you love again, then you must not only get strong enough to protect her, but pledge to yourself that you will! Even if everyone thinks poorly of you and believes that your weak, stick out your chest and scream your defiance! Because that is the type of man you are Takashi Nakamura….I know it in my heart!_

"I understand," He thought to himself. "Hikari."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With the lives of their friends on the line, Takashi and his friends will need to train like they never have before if they want to compete in the Fortune Cup. To accomplish this they decided to split up into 3 groups and complete their training in different locations. But with only 3 months until the Fortune Cup, will it even be enough? _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 56: Training Daze._

_When one fights for another, greater strength is achieved._


	56. Chapter 56

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 56: **_Training Daze_

* * *

><p>It was 1 in the morning in New Domino City and for the most part, almost everyone was asleep. However, for Takashi Nakamura and his friends, none of them could even afford a wink of sleep. After being nearly captured at the hands of Sector Security, the group learned from Vice-Director Lazar that the entire organization has been watching over all of them since they first came together over 6 months ago. Whether or not they've been watching over them even longer remained to be seen, but for now, that would have to wait. In order to avoid being arrested and sentenced to life at the Facility, everyone was given invitations to the Fortune Cup and were now force to compete in it. However, it doesn't just end there. Takashi, Akiza, Lilly, and Crow were required to not only compete in the tournament, but make sure that they reach the Fortune Cup Finals. If even one of them failed to do so, then every one of them, including their friends, would be arrested by Security. Not wanting that to happen and wishing to find out why Security was so interested with, everyone decided to train like they never have before. However, as they were discussing how to go about that…<p>

"What the hell did you just say?!"

As they all met in the living room, everyone looked on as Toru was grabbing Takashi by his shirt collar. The young man had angry expression on his face and it seemed he was about to punch his friend. Akiza wanted to stop this exchange, but Misaki stopped her before she had the chance to do so. The young woman silently explained that this issue was between Takashi and Toru and that this was a dispute that only they could settle. No matter how much she wanted to step in a stop this, Akiza had to stay silent and let things play out.

"Say that again," Toru said as shook Takashi around. "I dare you."

"Alright," Takashi said calmly. "I'm accepting Alex's offer and leaving to train under him."

Hearing those words for the second time sent Toru up the wall. Even if Alex McQueen was a talented Duelist, one capable of becoming the Underground Duel King, that didn't change the fact that he couldn't be trusted. Toru didn't know whether or not Takashi was so selfish for power that he would obtain it any cost or if he had something else in mind. However, after learning about Lazar's threat, the young man knew that they couldn't split of the group now. They all had the train together if they wanted to achieve their goal.

"Takashi," He said. "Why the hell do you want to train under him? Didn't you already prove your strength by defeating Alistair?"

"Don't be a fool Toru," Takashi replied as he forced his friend to let go of him. "First of all, I didn't actually defeat Alistair. The Duel ended before a winner could be declared. Things could have ended differently for me if Alistair wasn't so fixated on his hatred and you know it. Also…the Fortune Cup will have opponents who are just as strong as Alistair, maybe even stronger. And at the way I am now, I probably won't stand against them. If I fail to defeat them then we, along with the rest of our friends will be arrested by Sector Security. I will not allow that to happen and that's why I'm going to train under Alex…and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

With each word that Takashi spoke, Toru's anger grew little by little. Even though he understood his meaning behind it, the young man still didn't want his friend to go. He would force him to stay, even if he had force him.

"I agree with Takashi," Lilly said, interrupting the conversation. "I believe he should go train with Alex."

Toru turned his attention towards Lilly, confused on why she would say such a thing. He was about to walk up and grab her shirt like he did with Takashi. However, Crow stopped him and made sure that he didn't take another step. Once she saw that, Lilly continued on with her explanation.

"Listen Toru," She said. "I know you don't like it, but you have to let Takashi go. Letting him train with Alex will probably give him the best chance to win. We have to reach the Finals no matter what and we can't let our personally feelings get in the way. For that very reason, I've decided to leave and conduct my own training session."

"I agree," Akiza followed. "This is just too important and we have to get stronger right now. I'm sorry Toru, but I'm going to join Lilly and train with her."

"Count me in as well," Crow said. "I'm not about let you two girls have all the fun here."

Lilly, Akiza, and Crow all nodded their heads in approval and proceeded stand up and join Takashi. It was at that moment that their respective Dragon Marks started glowing at the same time. They started resonating one another, as their wills were all focused on the same thing; training and gaining the strength needed to save their friends.

"Are all of you insane?!" Toru asked, confused and annoyed why his friends were so determined to split up. "Look, I know how you feel and I don't want to endanger my friends either. However, what if splitting up is all part of Sector Securities plan? There no guarantee that they won't ambush you while your training and take you away somewhere. At least if we're together we have a greater chance of not getting caught."

Takashi and the others understood Toru's feelings, but not for the reasons for which he explained. They all knew that the young man was exactly worried about all them and he didn't want them to get hurt. Even if it meant losing the opportunity to become stronger, Toru didn't want to lose the friends that he considered to be the family that he never had. Eventually, Misaki stepped up and gently placed her hand upon Toru's shoulder.

"…Toru, you have to let them go," She said.

"But Misaki…," Toru replied, turning towards her.

"…There are things in this world that only certain people can do." Misaki continued. "For our friends, their training is exactly that. Even if your right and Security does after them, I'm certain that the four of them are well aware of the risks. They're not just training for themselves; they're training for all of us. If you truly consider them your friends…then you have to let them leave and allow them to follow the path that they've taken."

Toru looked down as he attempted to absorb Misaki's words. The young man knew that she was right and he knew that allowing his friends to train would be the best thing for everyone. But still…he didn't want them to leave. Soon, Takashi walked over towards his closest friend and proceeded to pull a card from his pocket. When Toru saw the card, the young man's eyes widen.

"During my Duel against Alistair, I heard her voice," He said. "She told me that I had to grow up and become stronger so that I could protect the people who were closest to me. I intend to do just that, as a way to honor her memory. Toru…you must do the same."

As he watched Takashi put the card back into his pocket, Toru closed his eyes for a moment and remembered something from his past. Once he finished recalling, the young man reopened his eyes and looked towards Takashi. He then proceeded to nod his head a little.

"…Fine," He said. "Go ahead and train. However, I want you to surpass Alex in strength. That way, we won't have to call on his help next time."

Takashi nodded his head in approval, as surpassing Alex was his intention all along. Whenever he met a Duelist who was stronger than he was, Takashi would always train himself beyond his limits so that he would eventually surpass the Duelist he wanted to defeat. Alex was no exception to this and Takashi was going to train like never before so that he would surpass the Underground Duel King in strength.

With that, everyone looked on at one another for a moment before agreeing to do their best with their training. After about a few minutes of preparations, everyone made their way outside and got ready to leave. Before Lilly's group left however, Akiza decided to have one final talk to Takashi. The Psychic Duelist knew that it will be at 3 months until she saw him again and she wanted to have one final moment with him before they left.

"Takashi," She said. "Good luck with your training. I know you'll do great."

"Thank you Akiza," Takashi replied. "I promise I'll give it everything I got."

Before the two of them left, Akiza proceeded to pull something from her pocket and give it to Takashi. When he examined the item, the young man discovered that it was a necklace. In the middle there was a blue crystal gem.

"Before I developed my Psychic Powers and murdered my family, my father gave me this Crystal Gem, or Kesshoseki." She explained. "He told me to hold on to it until I find someone that I really care for with all my heart. When I find that person, I'm suppose to give them the Kesshoseki and it's said that it will give them good luck for as long as I continue to care about them. It would mean a lot to me if you wear it."

As he continued to look at the gem, Takashi took a glance at Akiza and noticed that she had a worried expression on her face. He could tell that she was afraid for his safety and that she wanted to give him the Kesshoseki, in the hope that he would make it through Alex's training alright. The thought of that made him smile a little as it only proved how much she cared for him already. Takashi soon nodded his head in compliance and placed the necklace around his neck.

"Thanks again Akiza," He said. "I'll treasure this gift, so please don't worry. I will return."

Akiza nodded her head and held on to the necklace that Takashi gave to her. After a few minutes the young woman got ready leave with Lilly and Crow. However, just after she took a few steps, Akiza stopped and looked towards the ground. She then proceeded to gently clinch her fist for a moment before turning to face Takashi again.

"Akiza…?" Takashi said, wondering what was wrong. "Are you okay?"

Akiza remained silent as she continued looking towards Takashi. She then took a deep breath and gathered all the courage that she could possibly muster. Once she did that, Akiza did something that surprised everyone else that was watching. The Psychic Duelist ran over towards Takashi and gave the man that she loved a passionately kiss on the lips. This action surprised the young man so much that he didn't react to it and let happened. Once she gently broke the kiss, Akiza looked at Takashi for a moment before running towards Lilly, who was already on her Duel Runner. As soon as she reached her, Akiza got on her Runner and held on tight.

"Go Lilly," She said. "Now!"

Lilly looked towards Akiza and saw that her friend had a deep blush covering her face. Realizing the reason why she kissed Takashi, Lilly nodded her head and revved up her Duel Runner. She then signaled towards Crow, who proceeded to do that exact same thing. Once they were ready, the three of them left for their own training destination.

As he watched them leave, Takashi was slightly confused why Akiza kissed him and gently touch his lips as a result. He could still feel the sensation that the kiss brought him as it was nothing he never felt before. It gave him as sense of pleasure that was greater than everything he ever had. He soon looked towards the direction where Akiza and the others went and gently nodded his head.

"I will return to you Akiza," He thought to himself. "I swear it."

With that, Takashi said good-bye to Toru and Misaki and wished them luck with their own training before leaving. He knew that the path for power would be tough, but with the support of his he knew he could prevail.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at his penthouse suite, Alistair Miles was busy smashing things inside his room. The Duel King was furious at what just took place a couple of hours ago and he had to take his frustrations out on something. As they looked on and watched the Duel King through chairs and sofa cushions, Mina and Lazar were busy talking to themselves.<p>

"Wow," The Vice-Director said in a somewhat amused tone of voice. "If I would have known that he would react this way, I would have asked Director Goodwin to have him met up with Takashi Nakamura sooner. This is great, I should've made popcorn."

Lazar has always had a strong dislike for Alistair, hating the fact that the Duel King wouldn't give the respect that he believes he deserves. The fact the was almost defeated and humiliated by rookie Turbo Duelist, was practically music to his ears as it proved that the mighty Alistair Miles wasn't as good as he claimed he was.

On the other hand, Mina wasn't happy that Alistair was feeling the way he was. Having been with him since the day he first came to New Domino City, the beautiful secretary has slowly developed feelings for Alistair. Even when he would treat her badly, Mina's feelings for Alistair remained and she always stayed by his side no matter what. So, the fact that Alistair was upset caused Mina to become slightly upset herself.

"Oh Alistair," She thought.

As she continued to look on, Alistair continued his rampage by throwing my objects around his penthouse suite. Soon, his anger rose to the point that his mark started to grow and transform his body. His jet-black hair and dark eyes changed into their crimson form and a bright red aura soon covered his entire body.

"This is unacceptable!" He thought as he continued throwing stuff around. "I'm the Duel King, the best Duelist in all of Japan. My skills are supposed to be without equal! And yet…"

Alistair stopped for a moment and he started thinking about his Turbo Duel against Takashi. As his thought about it, his anger grew some more and soon he started screaming at the top of his lungs.

"I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS! I WILL NOT ALLOW HIM TO GO UNPUNISHED! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE AGAINST YOU…TAKASHI NAKAMURA!"

As he continued to scream, Alistair's powers responded to his overflowing emotions. Soon, everything around him started to blow away in multiple directions. The power was so great that both Mina and Lazar had to take cover in order to protect themselves. Soon, the Duel King decided that he would go after the person that he held so much resentment for and prepared to leave his penthouse. However, before he reached the door, Alistair was stopped by the sudden arrival of Director Goodwin.

"Where do you think you're going Alistair?" He asked in a calm tone of voice.

"Where do you think Goodwin?" Alistair replied. "I'm going to find Takashi Nakamura and I'm going to make him wish that he was never born! That man stole my honor as the Duel King…and his debts…must be paid! Now move it Goodwin, otherwise you'll regret it!"

The Director kept his cool and stood his ground, not even wavering from Alistair's threat. When the humiliated Duel King was about to force his way through him, Goodwin simply took his right index and middle fingers and used them to tap Alistair's head. This caused his transformation to dissipate and return his body to normal.

"What…what the hell?" Alistair said, confused at what just transpired. "How the hell did you do that?"

"What would you have accomplished by going over to face Takashi?" Goodwin asked, completely ignoring Alistair's question. "The way you are now, you would only suffer more humiliation."

Alistair's eyes widen as he continued to listen to Goodwin's words. The Duel King no really got along with the Director of Sector Security, but he would always praise him for a good well done. This was the first that Goodwin had every scolded him in any manner and Alistair was indeed surprise of that.

"Alistair," Goodwin continued. "I'm going to be this simple for you to understand. The way you are now, you can't possibly defeat Takashi Nakamura. The boy, though inexperienced, clearly has more talent than you. If it wasn't for the arrival of the Crimson Dragon, you know what would have happened. You would have lost and Takashi would have won. Besides…even if you leave now, you won't be able to find him."

"…What do you mean?" The Duel King asked.

"Even as we speak, Takashi Nakamura is training with a certain someone," Goodwin answered. "When he finishes, he would have achieved a strength far beyond your imagination. Compared to him, you would be nothing more than a hatchling."

As he listened on to Goodwin's explanation, Alistair's hatred for Takashi steadily began to grow with each passing second. It was already bad enough that he nearly defeated him a Duel, but now he's discovered that Takashi was training to achieve even greater strength. If something wasn't done and soon, Alistair knew that he wouldn't be strong enough to get his revenge. The Duel King wouldn't allow that happened and once again demanded that Goodwin move. However, like before, the Director stood his ground and just continued talking.

"Listen to me Alistair," He said. "Like I said, with the way you are now, you won't stand a chance against Takashi. The point being, there's a way for you to achieve the same level of power that he's trying to obtain."

Alistair's eyes widen from shocked as he listened on to Goodwin's explanation. Was he really telling the truth? Was there really a way for him to get even stronger and crush Takashi Nakamura? In the end, Alistair wasn't really sure and he just continued to listen as Goodwin kept talking.

"However, in order to achieve this strength, you must dive into the darkest part of your soul," The Director explained. "You must literally push your mind and body to their absolute limit. Only then will you obtain the power that you so desire; the power to crush all of your enemies."

The Duel King closed his eyes for a moment and thought about Goodwin's offer very carefully. The young man was a very talented Duelist, one so great that he believed that he was beyond anything that someone else could teach him. This was especially true when it came to Turbo Dueling, as people compared him to the legendary World Queen; Sakura Nakamura. However, after nearly losing to Sakura's own son, Alistair had to look inside himself.

Even though he didn't want to admit it, Alistair knew that Goodwin was right. Takashi was simply too strong an opponent for him to properly overcome. Even if he were to use all of his skills, the best he would probably do was get a draw. The young man couldn't accept such a result. As the Duel King, Alistair's strength was supposed to be without any equal. All should kneel before him and worship the very ground that he walked on. However, as long as Takashi's skills still rivaled his own, the young man knew that wasn't possible. Even if it meant casting away his pride, it was worth it because he wouldn't allow someone else to be better than him.

"Goodwin," He said as he opened his eyes and looked upon the Director. "If I really go through with this training…will I be able to destroy Takashi Nakamura?"

Goodwin looked upon Alistair once more and saw that his eyes had a new sense of purpose to them. For the first time in a long time, Alistair was now just doing something in order to do it. He was now doing something because he believed that he had to do it. The sight of this brought a smile across his face as it meant everything was going completely as he foreseen.

"Yes," He said to him. "When your training is complete, Takashi will wishing that he had never met you."

This answered pleased Alistair greatly and his crimson transformation took place as a result. However, this time the power wasn't out of control. The Duel King was in complete control of his emotions and thus, able to control his powers better. He soon walked over towards a nearby window and looked through it. He saw how beautiful New Domino City in the distance and that seemed to please him even more.

"In enjoy these peaceful moments while you can Nakamura," He thought. "As they'll be the last moments that you'll ever have again!"

* * *

><p>Later on, after spending about an hour looking for it, Takashi finally reached the location that Alex indicated on the card that he gave him. The young man examined the area that he was in and saw that he was in the back end on New Domino City. It was dark, cold, and somewhat abandoned. In some ways, the area reminded Takashi about the Satellite Sector as it too also had the same feel that he was feeling right now.<p>

"Well," He said as he continued looking around. "This place isn't quite what I expected it to be. Still, since he's the Underground Duel King, I guess it make sense."

As he continued to examine the area, Takashi soon noticed that his mark started to glow a little. When he saw this, the young man knew that something or someone was getting close to him. Not wanting to take a chance, he prepared himself for the worst and quickly placed his Duel Disk on his left arm. As he prepared himself to activate it, Takashi looked around in all directions, trying to find the person or thing that was making their way towards him.

"Hey now," A familiar voice said in the distance. "There's no need for that now."

Takashi looked into the direction of the voice and saw that the person who was talking to him was Alex. Upon seeing him, Takashi quickly realized why his mark was reacting the way it was. Because of Alex's own unique mark, Takashi's Dragon Mark reacted to it, telling him that the Underground Duel King was somewhere close by.

"It's good to see you again Takashi," Alex said with a smile on his face. "I can already tell that you were able to overcome the doubts that you were feeling. That's good, as it means that you already completed the first part of my training."

"What do you mean by that?" Takashi asked, confused by Alex's statement. "I already completed the first part of your training?"

"Yes," Alex confirmed. "However, let's talk about this somewhere else. Even though were alone right now, there's a chance that somebody might come by."

Alex's explanation made a lot of sense to Takashi and he agreed to leave with him. Also, since he was already with him, the young man knew full well that it would pointless to leave now.

With that, the two boys proceeded to make their way to Alex's underground hideout. It wasn't far where the two of them were before as the walk only took about 20 minutes. Truthfully, Alex could have given Takashi the direction to hideout in the beginning. However, since he knew that Goodwin was watching Takashi's moves from their very beginning, Alex decided against it. In fact, the only reason why they were heading their now was because the Underground Duel King knew what Goodwin's next move was going to be. With his attention focused solely Alistair and his training, the Director wouldn't be focusing on Takashi and his current whereabouts.

Once they reached the hideout, the two of them sat by the closest table that they could find. Some snacks were already on the table, ready to be consumed at any moment. Alex offered some to Takashi, which the young respectfully declined. All Takashi wanted was the answers to someone the questions that plagued his thoughts at the moment. Even though he knew that Alex had good intentions, he felt that this was more important than any snack that he wanted. As soon as Alex finished eating some of the food, he started to explain his earlier answer.

"During our first Duel," He started off. "I made sure that I Dueled you in a way that would cause you to doubt your own skills. By doing that, it force you to look deep inside yourself and find what you were about to lose."

"What I was about to lose?" Takashi stated.

"Yes," Alex continued. "You were about to lose the reason why you Duel. Even though it's the dream of every Duelist to one day become the best, I know that you Duel for an even greater purpose. You fight for your friends, in order to make sure that they're safe. You showed me that during our first Duel, especially when I threatened Akiza's safety. When you're fighting for your friends Takashi, your strength it's far greater than when you're fighting for yourself. Discovering that was the whole purpose of your first lesson. Only those who fight for another can achieve new strength, which is the reason why I believe the Crimson Dragon chose you to become the leader of the Signers."

Takashi nodded his head gently has he listened to Alex's explanation. He soon looked over towards his arm and started observing his Dragon Mark. Looking at it reminded him about all the things that the mark provided for him, and all the questions that arose because of it. Takashi soon turned his attention back towards Alex, ready to ask him another question.

"Alex," He said. "Ever since I first got this mark, I've had a lot of questions regarding what it is and who actually gave it to me. Now I've gathering several theories, but I've been meeting people who all come up with the same answer; the Crimson Dragon. Just what the hell is the Crimson Dragon and what are Signers?"

Alex looked towards Takashi and saw that he really wanted to know what the Crimson Dragon really was and why it gave him and his friends these marks. Even though he was going to explain it to them when the time was right, the Underground Duel King felt that he should take it slowly and let things explain themselves on their own. However, with things at they are now, Alex realized that he couldn't hide anything anymore. Even though he didn't have all the answers, the young man would give it his best shot to explain things.

"The Crimson Dragon, also known as the Akaki Ryu, is an ancient and powerful god that's been watching over the world since its existence." He said. "It's a powerful entity that makes sure that everything is in order and that there's peace. However, despite how powerful it is, the Crimson Dragon cannot interfere with the affairs of humans. In order to get around that, it selected 5 special individual and imprinted them with marks of its own body. With them, they're given the power of the Crimson Dragon themselves and become the protectors of the world; the Signers."

"…I see," Takashi said, trying to absorb this information. "So that's what happened. This Crimson Dragon selected us because we were special and tasked us with protecting the world."

"That's right,"

Alex understood how confusing this was for Takashi as he couldn't really believe himself when he first learned about it. However, after discovering his powers and the abilities that they granted him, the young man quickly realized that what he'd learned was indeed the truth. Soon, Takashi looked up and started examining the mark the Underground King had on his back.

"You said that the Crimson Dragon only selected 5 people to become Signers," He said. "So how do you explain the mark you have? Did you also get it from the Crimson Dragon?"

"No," Alex answered. "This mark was given to him by the power of the Dragunity Knights. You see, long ago, several powerful dragons used to serve and protect the Crimson Dragon in ancient times. Out of those dragons, the Crimson Dragon choose 5 of them and had them serve and watch over the Signers. Your Stardust Dragon happens to be one of those selected dragons."

Takashi nodded his head and proceeded to examine his Stardust Dragon card. The young man always knew that it was special since he was the only one who had the card. As he continued looking at it, Alex continued his explanation about what the Dragunity Knights are.

"For the remaining dragons, the ones who weren't selected to join a Signer, they were tasked with the responsibility of finding a human that they've deemed worthy. Once they did, they were to join with them and together they would protect the Signers and the ideals of the Crimson Dragon."

Alex stood up from where he was sitting and proceeded to lift his shirt. When he did, Takashi had a much better look at the mark that the Underground King had and how it was much different than the mark that he possessed.

"When you're selected to become a Dragunity Knight, you receive a mark that resembled this," Alex said. "Like with the Signer Marks, the Dragunity Marks grants the wearer similar abilities. They're given enhanced strength, speed, endurance, as well as many other things. But then, you already know that."

Takashi once again nodded his head, understanding Alex's explanation. He then remembered all the powers that his mark has granted him, especially when he uses his golden transformation.

"So," He said. "Who are the other Dragunity Knights? From what you just said, I don't believe that you're the only one."

"You're right," Alex confirmed. "I'm not the only Dragunity Knight. However, the others don't know that their members themselves and until the time is right, I have no intention in telling them. Besides, you'll meet them once the Fortune Cup begins."

Takashi nodded head one more time. All these answers gave him a sense of clarity that he was looking for ever since he received his power and he was extremely grateful to Alex. However, with the more answers he got, 2 more questions resurfaced. He wanted to spend some time learning about the Crimson Dragon, Signers, and Dragunity Knights, but he decided to save those questions for later.

"Okay, I have one last thing that I wanted to ask you," He said.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"I want to know whether or not your training will be enough?" Takashi said. "Earlier today, my friends and I met up with Alistair and we soon found ourselves in a sticky situation. Now all of us are force to compete in the tournament and if Akiza, Lilly, Crow, and myself don't reach the Finals, then we and the rest of our friends are going to spend the rest of our lives in the Facility. I'm not entirely sure what Sector Security is trying to do, but I'm thinking it has to do with the Signers and the Crimson Dragon."

Alex closed his eyes as he thought about what Takashi just said to him. Hearing about this was the confirmation that he needed that Goodwin was already making the next step into accomplishing his goals. Once he finished thinking about it, the young man reopened his eyes and faced Takashi.

"Well," He said. "To begin, you're right with your suspicions. Director Rex Goodwin, the chief of all of Sector Securities, is secretly pulling the strings for the Fortune Cup. His goal is to gather all 5 Signers together in one place and summon the Crimson Dragon to this world."

"Why?" Takashi asked. "I mean, during my Turbo Duel against Alistair, we were all together in one place and we all happened to see a giant red dragon appear. If that thing was the Crimson Dragon, then didn't Goodwin's plan work already?"

"Not entirely," Alex explained. "Though the dragon that you and the other Signers saw was indeed the Crimson Dragon, it wasn't complete. In order for the Crimson Dragon to fully arrive in our world, all 5 Signers must become strong enough to summon it. Goodwin created the Fortune Cup for the sole purpose of having you all train and summon the dragon in your stronger state. Also, even though the arrival the Crimson Dragon will fall into Goodwin's plans, I also need it to appear completely."

Hearing that confused Takashi as he thought Alex was told to serve and protect the Crimson Dragon and its desire for peace. But now, he just said wanted Goodwin to go along with his plan and summon the beast into the world completely. He was about to ask him about this, but Alex already continued on with his explanation.

"As I told you before I left," He said. "A storm is coming and you and the Signers must be ready to face it. About 3 years ago I received some information from my Dragunity Knight Dragon; Trident Dragion. It told me about this threat and informed me that the Crimson Dragon needed to be summoned. Only when that happens will I, the rest of the Dragunity Knights, and the Signers will learn about this evil. What Goodwin intends to do with information, I don't know. However, I have a feeling that it can't be good. That's why I need to train you Takashi. I want you to become strong enough to help me stop Goodwin and prevent this evil from taking over our world."

Takashi kept quiet and he thought about this newest information. Ever since he and his friends were goaded into the Fortune Cup, he had feeling that all of Sector Security was behind something. However, he never expected something this to be happening. Now, not only did have to protect his friends, but the entire world as well. The mere thought of this sent shivers down his spine. However, those shivers were more from excitement than fear.

"Interesting," He said with a smile of excitement of worry on face. "This is just the motivation that I need in order to improve my game. Still…I need to ask the question again. Will your training be enough?"

"That's up to you," Alex answered. "I can only teach you the stances. However, I guarantee that during your training with me, you're going to be dragged to the edge of death several times. If you're afraid, now's your chance to back out. I'm not going to force you to do anything that you don't want to."

As he thought about what Alex just said, Takashi remembered what the voice said to him during his Duel against Alistair. The young man honestly believes that it was Hikari who sent him that message and told him to him to grow up and get stronger. If he backed down from this training then he knew that he would not only be letting his friends down, but also Hikari as well. Having already done that once and felt the despair that came along with it, Takashi was determined not to let happen again.

Also, he thought the kiss that Akiza gave him before they left one another. As he gently held on to his Kesshoseki, the young man closed his eyes and thought about her. Akiza was like Hikari in a lot ways. She was kind, considerate, talented, and beautiful. All of these things are probably the reason why Takashi felt he did about her. However, there was more to it than that. Takashi felt a special bond with Akiza since the first day they met, over 6 months ago. Over time, the bond that they shared slowly developed into strong feelings for one another. Takashi didn't know what to do with the feelings that he had as he was afraid that he would lose her like he did with Hikari. Because of that, the young man held himself back and prevented himself from confessing his feelings to her, no matter how much he really wanted too. However, upon feeling the sensation of her kiss, the young man felt all the feelings that she had for him. It was then that he realized that Akiza felt the same way he did for her. It was this that provided the final piece of motivation for him. Takashi now felt that he could go through any type of training that Alex had to offer, especially now. So with that, young man looked towards the Underground Duel King with a look of motivation and determination in his eyes.

"I accept your training Alex," He said. "The girl that I love is counting me and I won't let her down."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_3 months will fly by in a blink of an eye as the Fortune Cup Qualifier Rounds are about to begin. 32 to participants have gathered from all the country in order to earn 1 of the 8 spots needed in order to enter the Finals. How far will our heroes have progressed since splitting up and will they be ready for the battle to come?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 57: Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 1_

_Ready or not, the Fortune Cup is here!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader here with an important announcement._

_It's been 10 long chapters, but the Fortune Cup is about begin. Duelists from all over Japan are going to be competing and it's going to be an epic tournament. So, I would appreciate it if you continue to send my OCs. The best one that I see might enter the tournament. So please try your best and let's hope they make it._

_Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	57. Chapter 57

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Special Thanks: **_Atem4eva7 and A5L_

**Chapter 57: **_Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 1_

* * *

><p>It's been 3 months since the individuals who bear the mark of the Crimson Dragon on their arms left to begin their training for the upcoming Fortune Cup competition. During that time, Toru Ishida and Misaki and Himura, have spending their spare time training for the tournament. Even though, through Lazar's instructions, all the two of them had to do was just enter, both Toru and Misaki didn't want to settle for that. Both of them knew, as their friends knew, that the Fortune Cup was a cover up for something more sinister. In order to figure out more about this conspiracy, Toru and Misaki decided to train as hard as they possibly could so that they could join their friends in the Finals.<p>

The training for the two teenagers consisted of several exercises that would help to improve on the skills that they lacked in. For Toru, his greatest weakness was his ability to compete in Ground Duels. Despite starting off as a Ground Duelist, Misaki has come to realize that Toru has been spoiled by the effects of the Speed World 2 Field Spell. Its powers allowed him, or any other Turbo Duelist for that matter, to easily take advantage of their opponent and particularly win the Duel with little to no effort. To help him with this problem, Misaki decided to train Toru in the fundamentals. Some of her teachings consisted of Hand Development and Burn Damage, many of the skills that she learned while at Duel Academy. It is with this training that Toru hoped that his Ground Dueling skills would improve to match his Turbo Dueling skills.

As for Misaki herself, the young woman was an exceptional Ground who was considered the second strongest Duelist at the Academy, right behind Akiza Izinski. However, while she excelled at this field, Toru knew that her skills with a Duel Runner was lacking considerably. In all honesty, the only reason why Misaki obtained a Duel Runner was because her grandfather gave her one for her 18th birthday. Even though she knew how to ride it, Misaki hasn't spent any time training to become a Turbo Duelist. All she really did was study on the machine, trying to see how it worked and how she could instruct one herself. However, now that she was forced to enter the Fortune Cup, Misaki realized that she couldn't compete unless she knew how to Turbo Duel. Luckily, Toru was there to help her out.

During her 3 months of training, Misaki was taught everything that Toru knew about the art of Turbo Dueling. Such teaching consisted on learning how to drift, making sharp turns, balancing, and various other things. While she was doing that, Misaki also went on to construct a Turbo Dueling deck and adding some new twists to her riding skills. As time quickly passed by, Toru realized that Misaki's skills as a Turbo Duelist now rivaled his own.

When their training was complete and the day that the first Fortune Cup Qualifying Round arrived, Toru and Misaki finished their final preparations and proceeded to make their way over to the Dueling site. Both of them knew that this would probably be the toughest challenge in their lives as they would have to get past 30 other Duelists if they wished to reach the Finals. However, they also knew that having faith in themselves and in their friends, the two of them knew that they could pull this off.

As the two of them continued on their way to the sight of the Qualifying Rounds, Toru started thinking about something. The thought had been on his mind for several months now and the young man was still confused by it. After spending some time thinking about it and coming up with no results of his own, Toru decided to ask Misaki and hope she would have an answer to his question.

"Misaki," He called. "Why do think the Fortune Cup is separated into Qualifying and Final Rounds? I mean, if the Fortune Cup really is a cover up for something Sector Security is planning, then wouldn't it be beneficial for them to have as many Duelists as possible?"

"It's probably because they need to have certain Duelist compete in the Finals," Misaki explained as she continued on her way. "Think about it, Lazar said that Takashi, Lilly, Crow, and Akiza needed to reach the Finals while all we had to do is compete. That implies that Sector Security doesn't care if we reach the finals or not. Also, since there's only 8 spots in the Finals, they must either want weak Duelists or another certain set Duelists to take the other 4 spots. I'm not really sure if either is the case, but I do know that we won't find out by doing nothing. We have to reach the Finals too…no matter what!"

After she finished talking, Misaki revved up her Duel Runner and proceeded to make her way to the Qualifying site at a much faster speed. The sight of this made Toru realize that this thought has also been on Misaki's mind for a while and that she really wanted an honest answer on the subject. The young man hoped that the both of them would be able to find an answer eventually.

When they finally reached the Qualifying site, both Misaki and Toru saw that it was taking place in a stadium on the other side of New Domino City. It was a fairly large stadium that had race track for Turbo Duels and large field for Ground Duels. Even though it wasn't as impressive as the Kaiba Dome, which they believed would host the Fortune Cup Finals, the two liked that this stadium had everything that they needed.

Once they made it to the entrance, both of them saw that the Duels were already underway. One of the match particularly caught their interest as one of the Duelists happened to be somebody they knew. It was their friend Madas, and they saw that he currently winning his first Duel with the help of his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.

"Go Galaxy-Eyes," Madas called as he prepared to conduct his final attack. "Destroy his Curse of Dragon…Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes complied with Madas' orders and started roaring as a result. As it did that, energy started building within the dragon's body, increasing its power with every passing second. Once it gathered enough power, Galaxy-Eyes fired a blast of photon energy towards the Curse of Dragon that was standing before it. When the attack struck, Curse of Dragon was destroyed and Madas' opponent lost the remaining of his Life Points. Upon seeing that sight the referee who was observing the match raised his hand and pointed towards Madas.

"This Duel is over!" The referee declared. "The winner of this match is Madas Elvin!"

Once he was declared the winner of the Duel, Madas proudly raised his hand in victory as he watched his trust Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon fade away. He then turned around and saw the other Duelist staring at him, some of whom weren't impressed by his latest victory. The young man didn't let that sight faze him, as he knew it was too early to celebrate just yet. He still had to win one more Duel before officially qualifying for the Finals and he knew that he would be a challenge.

As Madas proceeded to make his way over to the stands, in order observe the Duels from the other competitors, the young man saw both Toru and Misaki making their way towards him. Seeing the two of them brought a smile upon his face and he quickly rushed up to them as a result.

"Hey guys," He said. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"Well we're here," Toru said as both he and Misaki reached their friend. "And we're both ready to kick some ass and take some names!"

Madas smiled upon listening to Toru's comment and proceeded to shake his hand. After doing that, and saying hello to the quiet Misaki, Madas looked around for Takashi and the others. Since he saw Toru and Misaki here, Madas assumed that his other friend had received their invitations as well.

"Hey," He said. "Where's Crow and the others? Aren't going to be competing?"

Toru was about to explain the reason why his other friends weren't here with them, but Misaki jabbed him in the shoulder before he could speak. As he fell to one knee, gasping for air, Misaki proceeded to explain the situation to Madas in her own words.

"They're not here at the moment," She started off. "They said they wanted to train for tournament in separate locations and they promised to meet up here when it was time. They should be here soon though."

Madas nodded his head, understanding everything that Misaki just explained to him. He then helped Toru from off of the ground and the three of them made their way over to the inside of the stadium.

"So…Madas," Toru called, still trying to catch his breath. "Where's Tem and….the others?"

"Tem and Aiku had already won their first Duels and made their way back home," Madas explained. "They said they wanted to continue their train some more and they wanted to tell you that they wish you and the others luck in your first round Duels. As for Kagura, she also made it to the next round and is currently observing the Duels. I was about to do the same thing, but I happened across the two of you."

Toru nodded his head and started looking around the stadium for Kagura. When he found her, the young man waved his hand, trying to grab her attention. Kagura happened to notice this, but she didn't respond in the same fashion. She just proceeded to gently nod her head towards him before turning her attention back to the Duels that were taking place. The sight of that impressed Toru a little as it indicated that Kagura was all business and that she didn't want to lose her focus, even for a second.

"Attention all Duelists," A Fortune Cup Judge said, grabbing the attention of every Duelist that were there. "The next Qualifying Duel is about to begin. Will Jonah Hamilton and Toru Ishida make their way to the Dueling Field? I repeat, will Jonah Hamilton and Toru Ishida please make their way to the Dueling Field?"

After the announcement was made, Toru's eyes widen a little as he wasn't expecting to be Dueling so soon. He had hoped that he would get the chance to observe some of the other Duelists before competing himself. However, the young man knew that was how tournaments went and that you could be called upon at any time. So, before making his way to the field, Toru turned towards his friends and saw that while Madas happily encouraged him to do his best, Misaki just remained silent. However, before he left, she gave him one last piece of advice.

"Toru," She started "Remember, keep your cool at all times and don't make a move until you completely figured out your opponent's strategy."

"Okay," Toru replied. "Thank you Misaki."

With that said, Toru nodded his head towards her before making his way over to the Dueling Field. Once he was there, he saw that his opponent was already waiting for him. Jonah Hamilton was a young man with spiky blonde hair with black highlights. He was around 6 feet tall, was wearing a black t-shirt with a silver duster over it. He was also wearing a pair of grey jeans and black combat boots as well.

As he examined his opponent, Toru noticed that Jonah had a mixed expression on his face. He could tell that he was nervous about this Duel, despite the confident front that he was displaying. Looking at him reminded him on how Takashi used to act before he regained his confidence during his Duel against Alistair.

"There's something driving this guy," He thought quietly to himself. "Even though he's nervous about Dueling, he's determined to go through with this. People like that can be really tough opponents has they become hard to predict so I better keep my guard up."

Soon, both Duelists met in the middle of the Dueling Field and proceeded to shuffle the others deck. Once they finished they handed back the decks back to their original owner and quickly separated from each other. They then went to activate their Duel Disks before the referee looked at both of them and raised his hands into the air.

"The Duel between Toru Ishida and Jonah Hamilton will now begin!" The referee declared.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Toru: 4000 LP**

**Jonah: 4000 LP**

"I'll…I'll go first," Jonah said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

Drawing the first card from his deck, Jonah took his time examining it and all his other cards before placing it into his hand. Once he did that, he went on to take one of those cards and place it gently upon his Monster Card Zone.

"To begin…I Summon: Flamvell Dragnov!"

**Flamvell Dragnov: ATK 1100 DEF 200 LVL 2**

A small fireball erupted across Jonah's side of the field the very instant he placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone. Then the fireball started to slowly change it shape of a mid-size dragon that had fire coming out of its mouth and both of its claws. Once Dragnov was out, Jonah then continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized onto his side of the field, just right behind his Flamvell Dragnov.

"I then…end my turn by setting one card…face-down."

Toru nodded his head in response to Jonah's move and prepared himself to begin his own turn. However, before he drew his first card, the young man looked over at his opponent and saw that he still had the mixed expression of both confidence and fear on his face. He also recalled on how he was stuttering his words as he declaring what moves he was making. Toru hoped that he would be able to figure out why his opponent was acting this way as the Duel went on.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Drawing a card from his deck, Toru looked at it for a few moments before recalling he went through under Misaki's tutelage. He then looked back at the 5 other cards that made up his hand before inserting the card that he just drew into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity! With it, I can now draw 3 more cards from my deck before taking 2 cards from my hand and placing them into the Graveyard."

Following the instructions of his Spell Card, Toru swiftly drew 3 more cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. He then went on to take 2 cards from that hand and placed them into his Graveyard. Once he did those things, Toru continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and placing it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Drillroid!"

**Drillroid: ATK 1600 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light illuminated Toru's side of the field for a few moments as a giant robot appeared before him. It had the appearance of a purple and white drill that had a face, mouth, and drill like hands.

"Go Drillroid," Toru called. "Attack his Flamvell Dragnov!"

Drillroid complied with its master's order and proceeded to quickly make its way over to Flamvell Dragnov. Once it was close enough, the Machine-Type monster used the 3 drills that were on its body to drill holes into Dragnov, killing it instantly.

**Jonah: 3500 LP**

"I…I activate Flamvell Dragnov's Special Ability!" Jonah stated. "When it's destroyed through battle, my opponent is inflicted with 500 points of damage!"

The remnants of Flamvell Dragnov's body started to transform into tiny fireballs just as Drillroid finished attack the main body. Once that happened, the fireball quickly made their way over to Toru and proceeded to strike his body several times.

**Toru: 3500 LP**

After the effect damage ended, Toru looked over Jonah's side of the field and saw that his opponent wasn't going to follow up with his play by activating his face-down card. Seeing that made Toru realize that Jonah was probably going to save that face-down until later on in the Duel. Wanting to be prepared for when that happens, the young man went continued on with his turn by taking 2 cards from his hand and inserting them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on the field, just right behind his Drillroid.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn,"

"Then it's my turn again," Jonah said with a bit more confidence in his voice. "Draw!"

Drawing another card from his deck, Jonah swiftly placed it into his hand before going over and activating the face-down that he set during his last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I can Special Summon the Flamvell Dragnov that you destroyed during your last turn!"

A bright flash of light illuminated across Jonah's side of the field as his Flamvell Dragnov reappeared before him. Once that happened, he continued with his turn by taking Dragnov's card and placing it back into the Graveyard before taking a card from his hand and placing it on his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I release my Dragnov in order to Advance Summon: Flamvell Commando!"

**Flamvell Commando: ATK 2200 DEF 200 LVL 6**

As Dragnov disappeared from the field again, Toru looked on as another burst of flames appeared across Jonah's side of the field. The flames soon transformed into man with flames for hair who was wearing purple and green armor. In his hands was a weapon that looked a combination of both a laser and a flamethrower.

"I now activate Commando's Special Ability," Jonah continued. "Once per turn, by removing one monster with 200 Defense Points from my Graveyard, Commando and deal you damage equal to the Attack Points of the removed monster!"

Toru's eyes widen from shock as he watched Jonah take Flamvell Dragnov's card from his Graveyard and place it somewhere else. Once that happened, he then saw that fire was beginning to envelop around Flamvell Commando's weapon. When it gathered enough, the monster fire a power of stream of flames towards Toru, causing him to lose over 1000 Life Points.

**Toru: 2400 LP**

"I'm not done yet," Jonah said as he prepared to conduct his Battle Phase. "Flamvell Commando, attack his Drillroid!"

Commando nodded his head in approval and proceeded to fire another stream of flames from its weapon. Even though the attack wasn't as powerful as when he first used it, the strength of the flames was strong enough to melt Drillroid's metal body.

**Toru: 1800 LP**

As Drillroid's body melted down to the ground, Jonah's confidence continued to grow. Toru noticed this and it seemed to him that with each successfully attack he made, the more confident his opponent seemed to become. This only proved his thought that Jonah was fighting for something more than just winning the tournament himself. He was about to ask him about it, but Jonah continued on with his turn by taking one card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down on his side of the field, just right behind his Flamvell Commando.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Alright, it's your turn now."

Toru nodded his head in response and quickly recovered from Commando's attacks. Once he did that, the young man then placed his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Drawing another card from his deck, Toru examined it for a few seconds before placing it into his hand. He then took out another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card materialized onto the field, Jonah was surprised to see it.

"I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity! And like from before, I'm not allowed to draw 3 more cards before discarding 2 to the Graveyard!"

As Toru proceeded to follow his card's instruction, Madas and Misaki continued watching the Duel from the stands. Out of the two, the former was confused by Toru's move as he already played Graceful Charity on his last turn.

"What is Toru thinking?" Madas thought.

"He's gathering the pieces for victory," Misaki stated. "Toru uses a Scrap Deck, a deck whose true power can only be awakened when he has certain cards in his hand and Graveyard. However, since Toru might lose some of his Life Points trying to get cards into his Graveyard, I made sure he had cards that would allow him to discard some of his cards while at the same time adding more to his hand."

Madas turned his head towards Misaki and saw that the young woman still had her eyes on the Duel. Although her expression suggested that she didn't care whether or not Toru won the Duel, Madas could tell from her words that she had faith in Toru's victory. Realizing that she needed to do the same thing, Madas nodded his head in approval and turned his attention back towards the Duel. It was at that moment that Toru continued on with his turn by placing a card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next," He said. "I Summon: Scrap Chimera!"

**Scrap Chimera: ATK 1700 DEF 500 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across Toru's side of the field for a few seconds before his Scrap Beast appeared before him. Once that happened, Toru then went into his Graveyard and pulled out a card, which he went on to place onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I activate Scrap Chimera's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned, I can Special Summon 1 Scrap Tuner Monster from my Graveyard. I Special Summon the Tuner: Scrap Goblin!"

**Scrap Goblin: ATK 0 DEF 500 LVL 3**

Upon placing the card onto his Monster Card Zone, another flash of light shined across Toru's side of the field. When it faded away, Jonah saw that Scrap Goblin had appeared on his opponent's side of the field.

"…I see," He thought. "The reason he played the Graceful Charity cards was so he could place his monsters in his Graveyard and then Special Summon them later. If that's the case then this is bad…because I don't have any cards that can remove cards from my opponent's Graveyard. Then only thing I can do is stand my ground and hope I can summon it soon."

As Jonah continued thinking about his predicament and how he could overcome it, Toru went on with his turn as he proceeded to grab a card from his Extra Deck.

"I Tune my Level 4 Scrap Chimera with my Level 3 Scrap Goblin!"

The two Scrap Monster nodded their head and swiftly jumped into the air. Once they were high enough, both Scrap Chimera and Scrap Goblin began the process for a Synchro Summoning as Toru placed the card that he just grabbed onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Synchro Summon!" He yelled. "Appear now, Scrap Archfiend!"

**Scrap Archfiend: ATK 2700 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the Synchro ritual ended, a bright flash of light covered all of Toru's side of the field. When it eventually faded, Scrap Archfiend appeared and began over towering both Jonah and his Flamvell Commando.

"Go Archfiend," Toru called. "Crush his Flamvell Commando!"

Scrap Archfiend roared in compliance and proceeded to raise its giant fist towards its foe. Once it was ready, Archfiend punched Flamvell Commando, crushing it in the process.

**Jonah: 3000 LP**

As he watched his Life Points drop down to 3000, Jonah started to become a little bit worried as he now lost one of his best monsters and he now had to deal with a monster with 2700 Attack Points. The young man believed that it couldn't get any worse than that, but he was soon proven wrong when Toru followed up with his move by inserting a card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Scrap Barrage!" He declared. "When a Scrap Monster I control destroys a monster through battle, this card allows it to attack again with half of its Attack Points!"

**Scrap Archfiend: ATK 1350**

Scrap Archfiend roared at the top of its lungs as it turned its attention towards Jonah. Once it did that, the Synchro Monster raised its other fist and prepared to strike its target with it.

"Scrap Archfiend, attack Jonah's Life Points directly!"

Archfiend nodded its head and punched Jonah with its metal fist. When that happened, the shockwave coming from the attack caused Jonah to land on his back and his Life Points started to drop again as a result.

**Jonah: 1650 LP**

"Alright!" Madas said as he stood up in excitement. "Toru just showed that guy whose boss and managed to take the lead. It won't be too much longer until he beats him and moves on to the next round."

As Madas continued to looking proudly, Misaki remained silently and kept her eyes on Jonah as the young man continued lying on the ground. Like Toru, she could also tell that something was on Jonah's mind and that he was Dueling for something more than just this tournament. Seeing him like that caused her to wonder what he was fighting for and why.

Meanwhile, back at the Duel, Jonah was still lying on the ground as Toru went on an ended his turn. Once he did that, both he and the referee turned his attention towards Jonah and waited for him to respond. After about 2 minutes of waiting, the referee made an announcement.

"Jonah Hamilton," He announced. "If you do not begin your turn in the next 3 minutes then I will have no choice but to consider this a forfeit and declare Toru Ishida the winner."

Jonah kept to himself, pretending he hadn't heard the referee speak. He then thought quietly to himself and started thinking to himself and why he entered the Fortune Cup in the first place. The thought of that reason caused fire to appear in his eyes.

"I can't lose this Duel," Jonah thought as he clinched his fist. "I have too much riding on this! I promised her that I would win and never broken a promise to her. I will win this Duel…I have to win this Duel!"

With this new determination, Jonah slammed his fist towards ground, causing it to crack a little. He then got up to his feet and proceeded to place his hand on his deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

As he drew a card from his deck, Toru noticed that the confidence in his opponent's eyes has increased since a few moments ago. He then prepared himself for the worst, knowing that Jonah was about make a move that would turn the tide of the Duel. It was then that Jonah took the card that he just drew and quickly inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Double Summon! With it, I can Normal Summon 2 monsters this turn!"

Following his card's instructions, Jonah took two cards from his deck and proceeded to place them onto his Monster Card Zone. When that happened, two fireballs erupted across his side of the field and started to take shape in front of him.

"I Summon: Fire Princess and the Tuner Monster, Flamvell Archer!"

**Fire Princess: ATK 1300 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

**Flamvell Archer: ATK 1000 DEF 200 LVL 3**

As the fires finished their transformations, Toru and the rest of people who were watching the Duel looked on and saw both Fire Princess and Flamvell Archer appear on Jonah's side of the field. The sight of the two monsters immediately told everyone what was coming up next.

"I Tune my Level 4 Fire Princess with my Level 3 Flamvell Archer!" Jonah declared.

Both monsters nodded their heads and prepared themselves to begin the Synchro ritual. As fire began to envelop them both, Jonah quickly took a card from his Extra Deck and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"When magma comes from within the earth, the fiery ruler is born! Synchro Summon! Burn, Ancient Flamvell Deity!"

**Ancient Flamvell Deity: ATK 2500 DEF 200 LVL 7**

Once Jonah finished his chant, a large of eruption or fire and lava appeared on his side of the field. As they began to merge together transform itself into Ancient Flamvell Deity, Toru's mind flashed back to battle against Renji, one of Sasuke's former Lieutenants. Just remembering that time gave him shivers as it was the first time he had faced the powerful Synchro Monster in a Duel. He also remembered that if wasn't for them quick thinking, he would have lost that Duel and failed his friends.

"This is just great," He said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "I'd hope that I wouldn't have to deal with this thing again. This is so going to suck."

As he continued to complain about the situation, Ancient Flamvell Deity completely materialized onto the field and stood in front of its master. The sight of its arrival brought a smile on Jonah's face as he knew he could win this Duel. In the past, whenever things got tough for him and on the verge of losing, the young man would always bring out his Deity to help him turn the tide and allow him to win in the end. This time was no different and Jonah knew this. Even though he could tell that Toru was a powerful Duelist, one worthy of being invited for the Fortune Cup, he couldn't allow him to win this Duel. Jonah was fighting for something more for himself and swore that he would win the Fortune Cup at all cost.

"I activate my Deity's Special Ability!" He declared. "When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, you must remove cards from your Graveyard equal to the number of cards that are currently in your hand. For every card that's removed, Ancient Flamvell Deity gains 200 extra Attack Points!"

Once he heard Jonah's explanation, Toru looked at his hand and saw that he had 3 cards. Despite the fact that he used Graceful Charity 2 times, allowing him to draw a total of 6 cards, the card also forced him to 4 cards from his hand. Also, with the face-down cards that he already set earlier, Toru's hand was already at half their usually number. With no other choice, the young man proceeded to remove 3 cards his Graveyard and watched helplessly as Ancient Flamvell Deity's strength increase.

**Ancient Flamvell Deity: ATK 3100**

"Ancient Flamvell Deity," Jonah called as he pointed his finger towards Toru's Synchro Monster. "Take aim and attack Scrap Archfiend…Flames of Damnation!"

Flamvell Deity complied and went on to raise its hand towards Scrap Archfiend. It then released a giant fireball that went on to burn the Fiend-Type Synchro Monster to a crisp.

**Toru: 1400 LP**

"I'm not done yet!" Jonah stated as he activated his face-down card. "I activate the Trap Card: Firestorm! When a Fire Attribute Monster I control destroys a monster through battle, this card deals you damage equal to half of the destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

Toru looked on in shocked as he watched the flames from Ancient Flamvell Deity's attack circle all around him. The fire soon enveloped him completely, causing him to instinctively fall to his knees as his Life Points began to drop some more.

**Toru: 50 LP**

"I'm almost there," Jonah thought as he watched the flames from his monster's attack continue cover Toru's body. "I'm almost through his first hurdle little sister. I promise I will win the tournament!"

With his resolved hardened, Jonah proceeded to end his turn just as the flames from his monster's attack fade away. Once that happened, Toru slowly got up to his feet and looked at his opponent.

"Now I see," He said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Now I see what's driving you. It's my turn, Draw!"

Drawing another card from his deck, Toru looked at his hand and realized that he nothing in his hand that could destroy Jonah's Ancient Flamvell Deity this turn. However, the young man was content with that as he already had most of the pieces already in place. All he needed to do was play one more card and proceeded to place it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Quillbolt Hedgehog, in Defense Mode!"

**Quillbolt Hedgehog: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

A small flash of light illuminated Toru's side of the field as a Quillbolt Hedgehog appeared before him. The monster stretched its body, trying its best to get loose before getting ready and taking a defensive position in front of its master. The moment that happened, Toru did the only other thing he could do.

"I end my turn."

The moment Toru declared that he ended his turn, a small smile appeared across Jonah's face. His opponent had one monster out and only 50 Life Points remaining. Also, the fact that he hadn't activated his face-down cards yet only strengthened the assumption that Toru didn't have the conditions to activate them yet. Jonah believed that this Duel was his and all he had to do was conduct his final move and make it happen.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Swiftly drawing another card from his deck, Jonah looked at it and knew that it would allow him to conduct the finishing blow. He then nodded his head in approval before placing the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Blazing Inpachi!"

**Blazing Inpachi: ATK 1850 DEF 0 LVL 4**

As soon as he placed the card onto his Duel Disk, another burst of flames erupted across Jonah's side of the field. When that happened, the flames began to merge together and transform into Blazing Inpachi.

"It's time to end this." Jonah said as he conducted his Battle Phase. "Blazing Inpachi, attack Quillbolt Hedgehog!"

Inpachi nodded its fiery head and quickly shot a giant fireball towards Quillbolt. When the attack landed, Quillbolt Hedgehog was burned to cinders and Jonah soon turned his attention towards Toru.

"Ancient Flamvell Deity, attack Toru's Life Points directly…Flames of Damnation!"

As Flamvell monster prepared to launch its attack, Toru closed his eyes and started to recall his training with Misaki one last time. He remembered how hard it was and how many days he went without sleep. Despite all of that, the training he went though all paid off as he was able to discover a brand new power. With it, Toru believed he could use it to make through this tournament as well as the other challenges that he and his friends had to go through.

"I came all this way," He thought as Flamvell Deity's flames approached him. "I came all this way and I swore I would get stronger for everyone. If I don't win this Duel then everything I went through would have been for nothing. I refuse…to let that happen."

Once he opened his eyes, Toru looked up and saw that the flames were about strike him. Acting swiftly, but calmly, the young activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Synchro from Beyond!" He declared. "By removing the appropriate monsters from play, I can perform a Synchro Summoning!"

Jonah's eyes widen as he watched Toru take three cards and remove them from his Graveyard. When he did that, the spirits of the monsters that he removed appeared and protected him from the flames.

"I Tune my Level 4 Scrap Chimera and Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog with my Level 4 Scrap Beast!"

**Scrap Beast: ATK 1600 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

The spirits of the 3 monster each flew up into the air and prepared themselves for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Toru grabbed another card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did, a giant flash of light covered the entire Dueling Field.

"The collected pieces form together to create a bond. Merge together now and create an overwhelming power! Synchro Summon! Assemble, Atomic Scrap Dragon!"

**Atomic Scrap Dragon: ATK 3200 DEF 2400 LVL 10**

As the light slowly began to fade away, everyone who was watching the Duel was amaze at what they were seeing. A giant red dragon, whose body was made entirely out of metal, was flying just able Toru's head. The dragon's height was around that of a large skyscraper and its wingspan was about as long as half the length of the stadium that they were in.

"Holy s**t," Madas said in shock.

Misaki nodded her head in approval as she felt the same way upon witnessing Atomic Scrap Dragon for the first time. She's seen plenty amazing monsters during her time as a Duelists and she knew that this new Scrap Dragon was among the top. She then smiled a little towards Toru, happy to see that his training really paid off for him.

Back at the Duel, Jonah was awestruck as he just couldn't believe at just took place. He was on the verge of winning the Duel and moving on to the second round. However, in just one turn, Toru managed to turn things around and summon a monster whose power surpassed that of his Ace. He looked over his hand, hoping that he could find a card that would allow him counter the arrival of Atomic Scrap Dragon. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't find such a thing.

"Damn it," He said silently to himself. "I end my turn."

Toru nodded his head upon hearing Jonah declare that he ended his turn. He began his own turn by drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand. Once he did that, the young man prepared to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Atomic Scrap Dragon," He said. "Attack Ancient Flamvell Deity…Backlash Wave!"

The dragon roared after hearing Toru's orders and released a powerful twister from within its mouth. As it made its wave over to Ancient Flamvell Deity, the twister slowly became bigger and more powerful. Once it reached the monster, Deity was ripped to pieces and its parts were scattered throughout the stadium.

**Jonah: 1550 LP**

As he as he saw Jonah's monster be destroyed and his Life Points drop, Toru decided to end this Duel for real by activating his final face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Scrap Explosion! When a Scrap Monster I control destroys a monster through battle then it's destroyed and my opponent takes damage equal to half of its Attack Points!"

Atomic Scrap Dragon released one final roar as it started to gather power from within its body. As it continued to build up energy, its body was beginning to crack due to the strain of keeping all that power inside of it. Once it came to point that it couldn't hold any more power, Atomic Scrap Dragon exploded and the force the blast consumed Jonah, draining the rest of his Life Points.

**Jonah: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms started to fade away, the referee looked towards both Duelists and made sure that their Life Points were correctly displayed. Once he checked, he then raised his hand and pointed it towards Toru.<p>

"This Duel is over!" He declared. "The winner of the match is Toru Ishida!"

The people watching the Duel all clapped their hand and cheered, happy that Toru was able to make a great comeback and win the Duel. However, the young man wasn't too interested in their applause and proceeded to walk towards Jonah. When he reached him, he noticed that his former opponent was on his knees and looking down towards the ground.

"Damn it," Jonah said in disappointed tone of voice. "God damn it."

"Hey," Toru said and dropped to one knee. "I wanted to ask you this during our Duel, but I never got the chance to do it. However, now that the Duel is over, I think now is a good time to ask. Why did you enter the Fortune Cup and who were you Dueling for?"

Jonah kept to himself as he thought about whether or not he should answer Toru's question. The reason why entered the tournament was extremely personally to him and he didn't want just anybody to know about it. However, now that he lost the Duel, Jonah realized that it wouldn't change anything even he did tell someone. So he raised his head and looked Toru in the eyes.

"It's because of Grace, my little sister," He explained. "Our parents died when we were very young and we had to fend for ourselves for a long time. I was the only one of us who could Duel so I spent much of time challenging underground Duelists for money. It was pretty hard, but the two of us managed to get by. However, around the time the Fortune Cup was announced, Grace became extremely ill and was forced to the hospital. The doctor says that they can help her, but we don't have the money to pay for the operation that she needs. Even if I competed in underground Duels, I still wouldn't be able to gather the money needed for the operation. So I decided to enter the Fortune Cup and try to win the million dollar reward that it presented. I thought I could win the money if I just remember that I was fighting for her, but I guess I wasn't strong enough."

Tears started to fall from Jonah's eyes as he began to lament on his failure. As he continued to cry, Toru looked at him and thought about the similarities between Jonah's situation and the one that he and his friends were in. He then proceeded to pull out a piece of paper and write on it for a few seconds. Once he was finished, Toru tapped Jonah's shoulder.

"Here," He said. "Take this."

Jonah looked at the piece of paper that was in Toru's hand and gently took it for him. Upon examining it, the young man's eyes widen from shock and quickly turned his attention back towards Toru.

"Are…are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes," Toru confirmed. "Take this to a bank and present it to one of the workers. Once they see the number that's written on it they'll know that it was from me and they give you the money that you'll need for your sister's operation."

"But are you sure?" Jonah was still confused why Toru, a man he doesn't even know, was doing this kind gesture for him. "I mean, don't you need this money."

"It's only money," Toru said. "Compared to a human life, it doesn't seem all that important to me. Besides, the two of us are similar Jonah. You entered this tournament for your sister and I entered it for my friends. I could never turn my back on someone who fights for the same reason I do."

After finishing his explanation, Toru proceeded to make his way over to the stands. As he watched him leave, Jonah looked at the piece of paper one more time and started crying once more. However, these tears weren't from despair, but from happiness. He believed it was all over for his sister the moment he lost, but that wasn't the case anymore. Now, thanks to this one act of kindness, Grace will get a second chance at life. Jonah couldn't help but to cry as it was the first time someone as actually done something like this for him. He then slowly stood up and watched Toru as he left.

"Thank you!" He said. "I'll make it up to you one day! I promise!"

Toru heard Jonah's promise, but he didn't turn around. He instead raised his hand and informed him that he heard what he just said. Toru soon made his way back over to Misaki and Madas, both of whom were impressed.

"Nice job man," Madas said with a smile on his face. "I just knew you could pull it off."

Toru nodded his head and smiled. Even though the two of them weren't as close as they were with their other friends, both them were happy that the other was able to make through to the next round. He soon turned towards Misaki, but saw that returned to her emotionless expression. The sight of that caused the young man to smile at her little, knowing that she was happy even though she didn't express it.

Eventually, the three of them went on a watched the other Duels that were taking place around the stadium. All of the Duelists that were fighting looked very powerful and they cards that were just as equally powerful. The results of some of the matches surprised them somewhat and it only informed them that things would only get tougher as things went on. Soon, the time came for the next Turbo Duel to begin.

"Will following Duelists please making their way to the track," An announcer said. "Misaki Himura and Alejandro Loredo."

Misaki stood up from her seat and looked towards the race track. When she did she saw a young woman with spiky black hair and brown eyes make his way over to the track as well. He had slightly tanned skin and was wearing a black shirt with blue pants and fingerless gloves.

After she finished examining her opponent, Misaki proceeded to make her way over to her Duel Runner so that she could get this Turbo Duel underway. As she was walking, the young woman thought about her own training again and started to recall everything that Toru taught her, as well as things that she managed to teach herself.

"Misaki!" Toru called.

Misaki turned around and saw Toru looking at her. He then proceeded to smile before giving her a thumbs up.

"Remember the most important thing that I taught you," He said. "Remember to have fun!"

Misaki looked at Toru for a few more moments and saw that he was still smiling at her. She then nodded her head and continued on her to her Duel Runner. Once she reached it, she got on it and placed her helmet on her head.

"Have fun," She thought. "We'll see."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As the Duel between Misaki and Alejandro gets underway, things quickly become intense. Can Misaki defeat her opponent and make it the next round or is she destined for failure?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 58: Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements <strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, its Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I would like to thank both Atem4eva7 and A5L for both Jonah and Alejandro. I promise to use them to the best of my ability in the chapters to come._

_Also, after a recent incident, I would like to remind everyone on the process in which you give me OCs. When you do please give me their name, age, appearance, personality, history, deck, and Ace Monster. Once you do that, I will then discuss with you whether or not the character should be included and if any changes have to be made. I don't anyone to be upset and I would like for you all to enjoy reading about your own characters while also reading about the adventures of Takashi and his friends._

_Alright guys. Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off. Please continue to read and review the latest chapters of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus._


	58. Chapter 58

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 58: **_Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 2_

* * *

><p>"…Have fun? I don't even though if it's even possible for me to have fun."<p>

As she made her way over to the track where her opponent, Alejandro Loredo, waited for her, Misaki was busy thinking about what Toru said to her just before she left. The thought of having fun during this Duel seemed very confusing to her, especially since both she and Toru knew very well what was at stake. Even though her defeat wouldn't affect her friends and their safety, the young woman believed that she needed to win this Duel if she wanted to know why Sector Security was after Takashi and the others. In these circumstances, Misaki couldn't see how she could even have fun.

She soon turned head towards Toru and saw that he was smiling and giving her a thumbs up. The young man's happy attitude sometimes conflicted with Misaki's cold and calculating personality because it showed just how different the two of them were. However, it was that very difference that determined their skill when it came to Turbo Dueling…at least, that Misaki thought.

_2 months ago_

It was late in the afternoon in New Domino City and sun was just about to set just behind the tall buildings. It's been about a month since Takashi and the others left to train for the Fortune Cup, leaving Toru and Misaki alone to train by themselves. The two of them were currently at the race track, making sure their riding skills were at their best before they got to some actual Dueling.

As they raced along the track, Misaki was trying her absolute best to try and pass Toru before they reached the Finish Line. Even though she knew that her Ground Dueling skills surpassed Toru's, Misaki could honestly admit to herself that she lacked in the Turbo Dueling department, especially when it came to riding a Duel Runner. With only her own basic knowledge and experience, she realized that she would need help if she wanted to stand a chance against the other Turbo Duelists that she might happen to face. Out of her all the people she knew, Toru was the only one with the experience needed to teach how to ride in time for the competition and Misaki made sure to pay attention to everything that he said. However, despite coming a long way in the last month, the young woman was still unable to defeat Toru in a regular race around a track.

"C'mon Misaki," Toru called as he turned his head and looked at her. "You have to push yourself even harder!"

When Misaki first came up to him and ask him to train her, Toru was initially reluctant to do so. Despite the amount of experience that he had, Toru didn't really believe he was suited to become a teacher. However, after seeing the determination in Misaki's eyes and how she really wanted this, Toru couldn't find it in his heart to say no to her. The two of them started to train immediately and Toru held nothing back. He felt that the best way to train a genius like Misaki was to show her just how weak she really was. By doing that, Toru hoped that this realization would motivate her into improving herself at a much faster pace and he was pleased to know that was exactly the case.

However, despite Misaki's motivation and improvement, Toru realized that there was something missing inside of her. He didn't quite know what it was, but he could tell that missing piece was preventing her from reaching her full potential. Toru had hoped that all Misaki needed was a little push, so he constantly pressed her to go beyond where she currently was and reach even higher. Misaki did what she was told to do and worked her ass off to surpass her own limits, but Toru still noticed that something was preventing her from going any farther.

"What is it?" He thought as he watched her chase after him. "What is she missing? She has the talent and the drive, but she's lacking something else. Just what the hell is she missing?"

As the two of them continued their race around the track, Misaki was still trying to get pass Toru and reach the Finish Line first. However, despite how hard she tried, the young woman wasn't able to do so and her anger started to build as a result. She then started to make uncharacteristic moves which resulted in her moving a lot slower than usual. Toru noticed this and was about to comment on it, but saw that Misaki was already too far gone to even listen to his words. Eventually, her anger came to the point that Misaki accidently made a turn that she wasn't suppose too and began losing control of her Duel Runner as a result. She soon lost control completely and crash into a nearby guardrail. Luckily, it was cushioned, so the damage dealt to her and her Duel Runner wasn't great.

When Toru saw this, the young man stopped what he was doing and quickly made his way over to her. Once he was there, he checked to see if she was alright. Fortunately, that was exactly the case, but Misaki was upset with herself for losing her cool and crashing like an amateur. She then proceeded to punch the ground in her frustration.

"Damn it!" She cried. "How could I let that happen?!"

Misaki continued punching the track repeatedly for about another minute and Toru watched as he hand began to crack and bleed. Not wanting to see her harm herself any further, Toru grabbed Misaki's hand and stopped her.

"Stop it Misaki," He said. "I know you're upset, but you don't have to take out on yourself. Everyone one makes mistakes."

Misaki listened to what Toru had to say, but it wasn't really getting through to her. She was still thinking about how she let her anger get the better of her and it caused to her to crash. She knew very well that if things were different then could have lost suffered more than the injuries that she has now. That realization only frustrated her even more than before and the young woman wanted to take out on herself. However, when she realized that Toru wouldn't allow her to do so, Misaki eventually calmed down a little and just sat on the ground. After about a minute of thinking to herself, she soon turned her attention towards Toru.

"…Why?" She asked. "Why am I not getting any better at this? I've been training all this time, but I still can't seem to defeat in something as simple as a race. Just what is it…that I'm doing wrong?"

Toru looked on and noticed the combination of anger and frustration in Misaki's eyes. He could tell just how much this was bothering her and that she really wanted to know why she wasn't improving as a Turbo Duelist. Toru didn't really know what to say to her as he didn't have an answer that would satisfy her. Misaki had the talent and the resolve needed to become a Turbo Duelist, but Toru still noticed that something else was missing.

As he wondered what it was, he soon started to recall when he first started to train Takashi in the basics of Turbo Dueling. Like Misaki, Takashi had the skill and resolve needed to become one of the world's greatest Turbo Duelists. However, unlike Misaki, it took Takashi much longer to finally get the hang of things. He explained that even though it was taking him a while to get the hang of Turbo Dueling, it was still fun knowing that he still had plenty of things to learn. The enjoyment of learning and adapting to new things slowly, but surely increased his skills and allowed him to become the Turbo Duelist that he is today. It was then that Toru finally realized what Misaki was lacking in her riding skills.

"Misaki," He said, grabbing her attention. "Let me ask you something. Do you have fun when you Duel?"

Misaki glanced at Toru with a hint of confusion on her face. Why would he ask her something like that, especially in a time like this? Eventually, she decided to answer his question in hope that he would reveal the meaning it.

"No," She started off. "I really don't have fun when I Duel. Honestly, I find it more of a chore if anything else."

"I see," Toru said. "Now I understand. Misaki, you have the qualifications to become a great Turbo Duelist. However, that won't mean anything else you start having fun when you Duel. Whenever I Duel, I feel a powerful sensation that brings a sense of happiness to my heart. That happiness let me enjoy the Duel with all of my heart and allows me to Duel at my absolute best."

As she continued to listen to his explanation, Misaki was just becoming more and more confused. She couldn't understand how having fun could allow her to become a better rider and a better Turbo Duelist in general. In fact, the mere idea of having fun during a Duel seemed ludicrous to her. Toru noticed the confusion on her face and decided to continue on with his explanation.

"Listen, just because we're fighting for something more important in the Fortune Cup doesn't mean that we shouldn't stop having fun while we Duel. If we did that, then we would lose our passion for the game all together and lower our skills completely."

After finishing his explanation, Toru stood up from the ground and started looking towards the sky. He then recalled all the trials that he had to grow through in order become a champion level Turbo Duelist and remembered that he never lost his love for the game in the process. Once he finished recalling the past, the young turned his attention back towards Misaki and help her get back to her feet.

"Misaki," He said. "For time being, we're going to put your Turbo Dueling training on hold. As of right now, I'm going to teach you to enjoy Dueling."

_Present Day_

After pulling herself out from her flashback, Misaki pulled out her Dueling deck and proceeded to look at it as she continued to make her way over to the starting line. She then recalled the _fun _training that she went through with Toru and remembered how bizarre it was.

"I'm sorry Toru," She thought to herself. "But I don't think your training helped. I consider Dueling a chore that's needed in order to get through life. In fact, the only reason why I decided to learn how to play the game was because I needed to earn some money for myself. Aside from that, I feel that I could probably live a successful life even if I never learned how to play."

Once she made it to the starting line, Misaki took a glance over at her opponent and saw that Alejandro was ready for battle. She could also tell that the young man had a drive in his eyes, the same type of drive that Toru, Takashi, and so many other Duelists also had. She then looked herself in the mirror of her Duel Runner and saw that, unlike them, she lacked that drive.

"Maybe I'm just not capable of having fun during a Duel. If that's the case, then I probably should just stick with the tactics that I've been using. I mean, they got this far so why not now?"

With that mindset in place, Misaki started up her Duel Runner and prepared herself for the Duel. As she did that, both Toru and Madas were looking on from the stands. Both of them waiting in anticipation for the Duel to start and both of them had confidence in Misaki's victory. However, as they waited, Madas started to wonder about something and decided to ask Toru about it.

"Hey Toru," He said. "Why did you tell Misaki to have fun during this Duel? I mean, doesn't she already do that?"

"Well…kinda," Toru answered as he continued to look down at his friends. "Just sit back and watch the Duel Madas. You'll understand soon enough."

Madas looked at Toru with a look of confusion on his face. It wasn't like Toru to give vague answers, especially when came to his friends. Eventually, Madas decided to trust Toru and turn his attention back towards Misaki, hoping the answer would reveal itself like his friend said it would.

"Alright, the Turbo Duel between Misaki Himura and Alejandro Loredo is about to begin!" The announcer declared. "Duelists, activate your Speed World 2 Field Spells!"

Misaki and Alejandro complied with the announcer's instruction and proceeded to activate Speed World 2. Once they did that, a holographic veil came out of both of their Duel Runner and surrounded the entire stadium.

"Ready…Set…Go!"

Once the countdown was finished, both Turbo Duelists dashed past of the starting line and quickly made their way over to the first corner. Using her training to the fullest, Misaki was able to take the lead for a few moments and it seemed like she was going to reach the corner first. However, as she beginning to turn, Alejandro noticed that her turn was too wide. Using that to his advantage, the young man revved up his Duel Runner and quickly entered the space that Misaki made. By the time she noticed this, Misaki realized that she couldn't stop and just tried her best to reach the corner. However, it was too late as Alejandro managed to use the opening that she created for him to reach the corner first and earned the right to make the first move.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Misaki: 4000 LP**

**Alejandro: 4000 LP**

"I'm making the first move," Alejandro declared as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 1**

**Alejandro: SPC – 1**

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck, Alejandro glanced at it for a few moments before placing it into his hand. Once he did that, the young man pulled another card from that hand and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Familiar Knight!"

**Familiar Knight: ATK 1200 DEF 1400 LVL 3**

When Alejandro placed the card onto his Duel Disk, a bright flash of light illuminated across his side of the field. When the light started to fade away, everyone saw a Familiar Knight appeared and watched as it started floating next to its master. Once he saw his monster on the field, Alejandro continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The Duel Disk analyzed the card and proceeded to materialize a version of it, face-down on the field. However, the card wasn't around for long as it disappeared moments after Alejandro placed it into his Duel Disk.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn,"

"Then it's my turn," Misaki stated. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 2**

**Alejandro: SPC – 2**

Drawing a card from her deck, Misaki took glance at what she just drew before turning her attention towards Alejandro. She then looked down at her Duel Runner's display screen and analyzed the cards that her opponent played during his last turn.

"Let's see," She thought to herself. "Alejandro has one face-down card and a Familiar Knight out on the field. It's obvious that he wants me to destroy it so that he can activate its Special Ability to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from his hand. So…what should I do?"

Misaki turned her attention towards the cards that made up her hand and proceeded to place the card that she just drew in it. She then carefully looked at all 6 of the cards she had and carefully set up scenarios in her head that would give her the best chance for victory.

"I can get rid of his monster fairly easily and prevent it from using its effect. However, his face-down card might be something that prevents destruction through effect. If that's the case, it's probably best if I take his bait and see what his strategy is."

With her plan set, Misaki continued on with her turn by grabbing a card from her hand and placing it firmly upon her Monster Card Zone. The moment she did that, a bright flash of light covered her side of the field for a few seconds.

"I Summon: Morphtronic Radion!" She declared.

**Morphtronic Radion: ATK 1000 DEF 900 LVL 4**

When the light that covered Misaki's field began to fade away everyone, who was watching the Duel, notice a robot appear on her side of the field. The robot was grey in color and it had the body features of an old digital radio.

"I activate Morphtronic Radion's Special Ability! While it's in Attack Mode, all of the Morphtronic monsters that I control gain 800 extra Attack Points!"

**Morphtronic Radion: ATK 1800**

As she watched Radion's body begin to glow due to the power that was receiving, Misaki looked towards Alejandro's field again and saw that her opponent was doing anything. This proved to her that her theory was valid and that Alejandro wanted her to attack. Not one to keep someone waiting, Misaki proceeded to conduct of Battle Phase.

"Morphtronic Radion," She called. "Attack his Familiar Knight!"

Radion nodded its head and quickly made its way over to Alejandro's Marauding Captain. Once it was close enough, the Morphtronic monster destroyed the warrior with one powerful punch.

**Alejandro: 3400 LP**

"I activate my Familiar Knight's Special Ability!" Alejandro declared as he took a card from his hand and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone. "When it's destroyed through battle, my captain allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. The monster I choose to Special Summon is my Queen's Knight!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

After he placed Queen's Knight's card upon his Monster Card Zone, Alejandro looked on as the beautiful warrior appeared across his side of the field. Once he saw her, the young man continued on with his turn by activating the face-down card that he set last turn.

"Next, I activate the Trap: Miracle's Wake! With it, I can revive my Familiar Knight since it was destroyed through battle this turn!"

Another flash of light proceeded to illuminate Alejandro's side of the field as the young man quickly pulled out Familiar Knight's card from his Graveyard. Once he placed it back upon his Monster Card Zone, the light started to fade away and the Warrior-Type monster reappeared before him.

Misaki looked on with an emotionless expression on her face as she watched both of Alejandro's Warrior-Type monster glare at her and Morphtronic Radion. Though the young woman was expecting the arrival of another warrior, she was a little bit surprised that she had to deal with Familiar Knight again. Still, despite this latest development, Misaki wasn't going let that stop her from winning this Turbo Duel. So she proceeded to take a card from her hand and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, the card materialized across her side of the field for a few short moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," She said.

"Then it's my turn again," Alejandro replied. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 3**

**Alejandro: SPC – 3**

After drawing another card from his deck, Alejandro looked at it for a few seconds before turning his attention towards the cards that were already on his Duel Disk. The young man then proceeded to turn one of the cards from a vertical position to a horizontal position.

"To start, I switch my Familiar Knight to Defense Mode."

Upon turning his card in the opposite position, Alejandro watched as his Familiar Knight knelt to one knee and made a defensive stance in front of him. Once he saw his monster do that, he continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down on the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn,"

After hearing her opponent declare the end of his turn, Misaki prepared herself to begin hers by placing her hand on her deck. As she got ready to draw, she started to wonder what Alejandro was thinking and his overall strategy was as well. The fact that he kept Familiar Knight on the field meant that he probably wants her to destroy it so that its Special Ability can be activated again. However, at the same time, Misaki felt that Familiar Knight might be on the field for an entirely different reason and a part of her felt believed that it was probably best for her to get rid as soon as possible. In the end, she didn't really know what to do and decided to go with her gut.

"It's my turn," She declared. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 4**

**Alejandro: SPC – 4**

Drawing another card from her deck and quickly placing it within her hand, Misaki prepared herself to make the move that would most likely determine the overall flow of the Duel. Without missing a beat, the young woman proceeded to grab another card from her hand and place it upon her Monster Card Zone. Once she did that, another flash of light illuminated across her side of the field.

"First, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Morphtronic Scopen!"

**Morphtronic Scopen: ATK 800-1600 DEF 1400 LVL 3**

When the light that covered her side of the field started to fade away, Misaki watched as her Morphtronic Scopen appeared before her and Morphtronic Radion. She also witnessed its body started to glow, indicating that its Attack Points were increasing due to the latter's Special Ability. Once that happened, Misaki prepared herself to make the biggest play in the Duel and proceeded to place both Radion's and Scopen's cards into her Graveyard.

"I Tune my Level 4 Morphtronic Radion with my Level 3 Morphtronic Scopen!"

Both of Misaki's Morphtronic monsters nodded their heads upon hearing her declaration and quickly jumped into the air as a result. Once they were high enough, both monsters prepared themselves to begin the process for a Synchro Summoning. It was at that moment that Misaki grabbed a card from her Extra Deck and placed it firmly upon her Monster Card Zone.

"Docking strength with courage to protect the world's peace! Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!"

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 2300 DEF 2500 LVL 7**

As both of Misaki's monsters finally completed the Synchro ritual, the young woman looked on as a giant flash of light covered her field entirely. When it eventually faded away, her Power Tool Dragon appeared and started flying next to her as she rode across the track. Everyone who was watching the Duel was impressed by the appearance of the creature as they never seen a monster like it before. One of those people happened to be Madas, who proceeded to turn his head towards Toru and question him about the monster that they were looking at.

"Toru," He said. "What the heck is that thing? Is it Misaki's Ace Monster?"

"That's right," Toru answered as he nodded his head. "Power Tool Dragon is the Ace of Misaki's deck and is also one of her most powerful monsters. Its Special Ability allows her to add one random Equip Spell from her deck to her hand. Also, while equipped by an Equip Spell, Power Tool Dragon and prevent its destruction by sending that very Equip Spell to the graveyard."

"…Wow," Madas was highly impressed with the abilities of Misaki's Ace Monster and proceeded to turn his attention back towards it. "If that's true then it's almost practically impossible to destroy Power Tool Dragon, whether it is through battle or by an effect."

Once again, Toru nodded his head in approval as he agreed with everything that Madas just said. During his and Misaki's training, the young man always found it difficult to rid of the field of Power Tool Dragon because of its Special Ability. Also, thanks to number of Equip Spells that Misaki would equip to it, Power Tool would also gain a wide variety of other abilities that made things difficult for those who would happen to face it. The thought of that put a smile on Toru's face as he felt that Misaki had the Duel in the palm of her hands.

"Alright Misaki," He thought to himself. "Show him what you're made of."

Back at the Duel, Misaki was busy looking at her hand, trying to see if she had any other moves to make. Normally, she would've already activated Power Too Dragon's Special Ability to add an Equip Spell to her hand. However, because the card she would add was unknown to her, Misaki wouldn't know whether or not it is useful to her in the end. To that end, the young woman didn't want to take any chances and ultimately decided to conduct her Battle Phase.

"Power Tool Dragon," She called. "Attack his Queen's Knight!"

Power Tool complied with Misaki's orders and made its way over to Alejandro's knight, much to Toru's and Madas' shock. Just as it was about to strike Queen's Knight down, Alejandro acted quickly and activated his face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Shift!" He declared. "With this, I can change the target of your attack from my Queen's Knight to my Familiar Knight!"

Misaki's eyes widen a little as she watched her Ace Monster stop its attack on Queen's Knight and begin to make its way over to Familiar Knight. Once it was close enough, Power Tool Dragon struck down its new target with ease.

"Thank you for that Misaki," Alejandro said in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice. "Because of you, I can activate my Familiar Knight's Special Ability again."

Alejandro quickly placed Familiar Knight's card into his graveyard before looking over his hand. Once he found the card that he wanted to play, the young man grabbed it and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Blade Knight!"

**Blade Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Monster Card Zone, Alejandro looked on as his Blade Knight appeared before in a bright flash of light. Once that happened, Misaki looked on at her opponent's monsters and silently cursed herself. Because of her hesitation, her opponent was completely unharmed from her attack and was also able to bring out another monster.

"What should I do?" She thought to herself. "With the way things are going now, I'm falling straight into Alejandro's trap. I better start playing defensively until I get a better fix of the situation that I'm in."

With that said, Misaki grabbed one card from her hand inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The moment she did that the card materialized face-down on her side of the field for a few short moments before disappearing.

"I set 1 card face-down and end my turn,"

"Humph," Alejandro wasn't too impressed with how Misaki concluded her turn as he was hoping for something more. He soon began to sigh to himself before placing his hand on his deck. "This is a shame. The reason I decided to enter this tournament is because I thought it would provide me with strong opponents. However, if all of my foes are going to be as boring as you, then I guess I've been wasting my time. It's my turn, Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 5**

**Alejandro: SPC – 5**

After drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Alejandro decided that he had enough of this Duel and that he was going to finish it right here and right now. With that in mind, the young man started his turn by taking a card from his hand and placing onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: King's Knight!"

**King's Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

After placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Alejandro looked on as his King's Knight appeared from a bright flash of light and started flying next to him and his Queen's Knight. Once that happened, a card popped from the middle of his deck and the young man grabbed it.

"I activate King's Knight Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned while I have Queen's Knight on the field, then I can Special Summon Jack's Knight from my deck!"

**Jack's Knight: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 5**

Taking the card that he just grabbed and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone, Alejandro watched as Jack's Knight appeared, thus bringing of the Royal Knight cards out on the field at the same time.

"Crap," Madas said as he continued to look at the Duel. "With all three Royal Knight's out, Alejandro must be planning on fusing them together in order to Fusion Summon: Arcana Knight Joker!"

"I don't know," Toru replied. "If that were true then why didn't he just play Speed Fusion already? Why go through all the trouble of summoning all 3 Royal Knights on the field when it could have been just as beneficial to fuse them while they were in his hand? Something tells me that he has something else in mind."

Toru's thought were validated as Alejandro did have something else in store for Misaki, something he believed that would allow him to win the Duel in one strike. With that, he continued on with his turn by taking a card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Double Summon!" He declared. "When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, this card allows me to Normal Summon an additional monster this turn."

Following the effect of his Speed Spell, Alejandro proceeded to take King's, Queen's, and Blade Knight's card from his Monster Card Zone and place them within his Graveyard. Once he did that, he then took one more card from his hand and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I release my King's Knight, Queen's Knight, and my Blade Knight in order to Advance Summon: Gilford the Lightning!"

**Gilford the Lightning: ATK 2800 DEF 1400 LVL 8**

As she watched the selected monsters vanish from her opponent's field, Misaki looked on as a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, right in front of Alejandro. The lightning soon started to take form and materialize into a warrior with blue, yellow, and red armor. In the warrior's hand was a large sword, which was also created from the very lightning that brought it out onto the field.

"I activate Gilford the Lightning's Special Ability! When it's Advanced Summoned using 3 tributes then all the monsters that my opponent currently controls are destroyed!"

Misaki's eyes widen again as she watched Gilford point its giant sword towards her Power Tool Dragon. Once it did that, the warrior fired a blast of electricity from the blade that proceeded to electrocute Power Tool until it eventually exploded.

"Now, with your monster out of the way, Gilford the Lightning is free to attack your Life Points directly!" Alejandro declared. "Go…Lightning Blade!"

As Gilford started gathering electricity into its giant blade, Misaki could only look on as the sword started to change color as a result of the power it was receiving. Once Gilford finished, the Warrior-Type monster proceeded to make its way over its target. However, before his sword struck, a magical barrier appeared and protected Misaki from the attack. Alejandro was confused by this development, but he soon realized what happened when he saw that one of his opponent's face-down cards was flipped face-up.

"I activate the Trap Card: Iron Resolve!" Misaki declared. "When I'm about to take battle damage, I can cut my Life Points so that the damage I would have taken is reduce to zero."

**Misaki: 2000 LP**

"I see," Alejandro said as he watched the barrier that surrounded Misaki disappear from around her. "I'm surprised you were able to block that. However…it won't save you from my Jack's Knight's attack!"

Jack's Knight nodded its head and quickly made its way over to Misaki. The young woman contemplated on activating her other face-down card, but decided against it. Because of that, Jack's Knight struck and depleted a good portion of her Life Points.

**Misaki: 100 LP**

Once Jack's Knight finished its attack, Alejandro looked over his hand and hoped that he had a card that would allow him to end the Duel right then and there. However, since he didn't have any Speed Spells currently in his hand, he couldn't use his Speed Counters to activate the first effect of Speed World 2. Also, the young man also lacked any other cards that would allow him to deal any effect damage. With no other moves to make, Alejandro reluctantly did the only thing he could.

"I end my turn," He said.

Misaki nodded her head and gently placed her hand upon her deck. As she prepared to draw, the young woman thought about the situation that she was in and it seemed almost impossible that she would win the Duel. However, despite the odds that she was facing, Misaki wasn't distraught nor was she afraid. In fact a part of her was…happy.

"What is the feeling?" She thought to herself. "Why do I feel so calm? In fact, this feeling almost resembles that of…euphoria."

As she continued pondering this euphoric feeling and how it contradicted with her apathetic attitude, Misaki started to think about the training that she went through with Toru and how he was going to teach her how to have fun. Despite the trails that he made her go through, Misaki was able to endure each one of them and become stronger for it. However, it was during those trials that the young woman started to feel the same euphoric feeling that she's experiencing now. After thinking about it for about another minute, Misaki quickly came to a conclusion.

"Am I…having fun?"

The thought of having fun right now still seemed insane to Misaki, especially since she was on the verge of losing. However the feelings that's she's having reflected on her conclusion. Misaki soon placed her hand upon her heart for a few seconds before turning her attention towards Toru and Madas. She watched that while the latter was trying his best to cheer her on, the former was simply looking at her with a smile on his face. Toru soon realized what Misaki was feeling and proceeded to stand up and say something to her.

"Misaki…stop thinking and let go."

The collective sounds from the people within the stadium made it impossible for Misaki to hear what Toru just said to her. However, the young woman could tell what he said and gently nodded her head in approval. She soon turned her attention back towards the Duel and closed her eyes for a few moments.

"Stop thinking," She said to herself. "Just let go."

Misaki remained quiet for a few moments and Alejandro was beginning to wonder what was taking her so long. The young man was already bored with this Duel and that fact that his opponent was making her wait only made it worse. Eventually, Alejandro couldn't wait anymore and started to complain.

"Hey!" He said. "Will you hurry it up?! I got better things to do than just ride here and wait for you!"

Alejandro looked on and waited for Misaki to respond to his words. However, when she eventually did, it wasn't what he was expecting.

"What's the hurry?" Misaki asked him as she began to open her eyes. ""We're Dueling here…so let's have some fun!"

Once she opened her eyes completely, Misaki started smiling like it was Christmas morning. That sight of this scene shocked Alejandro as he thought Misaki was the type of person to keep her emotions to herself and stay quiet. So, the fact that she was smiling rather happily was bothering him to some extent.

"It's my turn," Misaki said in a happy tone of voice. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 6**

**Alejandro: SPC – 6**

After drawing a card from her deck, Misaki took a quick glance at what she just drew and smiled upon seeing what it was. She then proceeded to place the card into her hand before grabbing another one and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Gearfried the Iron Knight!"

**Gearfried the Iron Knight: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

A small flash of light illuminated across Misaki's side of the field as she watched Gearfried appear and begin flying next to her. Once that happened, she continued on with her turn by taking one more card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down on her field for a few seconds before eventually disappearing.

"With that, I end my turn. Now c'mon Alejandro…show me what you're made of!"

Alejandro shock and confusion continued to grow as he watched Misaki's change in personality. To him, it seemed like she became an entirely different person from what she was before. A few minutes ago, she seemed like a cold and calculating girl who was on the verge of losing. But as of right now, Misaki seemed like a happy-go-lucky type of person who seemed like she could overcome anything that she set her mind to. Alejandro started to wonder just what the hell was going on and why Misaki was acting the way she was. However, after realizing that he was still in the middle of a Duel, he decided to ask that question later and begin his turn.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 7**

**Alejandro: SPC – 7**

After drawing a card from his deck, Alejandro looked at it for a moment and saw that it wasn't a Speed Spell. Because of that, he still couldn't activate Speed World 2's effect and deal Misaki 800 points of damage. So, the young man simply placed the card into his hand and proceeded to conduct his Battle Phase. Even though he couldn't win the Duel via effect damage, he knew that all he needed to do was attack one more time and this Duel would be his for the taking.

"Gilford the Lightning," He called. "Destroy Gearfried the Iron Knight…Lightning Blade!"

Gilford complied with its master's demand and began electrical energy into its blade. Once it gathered enough, the Warrior prepared itself to attack Gearfried. However, Misaki was ready for this move and reacted by activating the face-down card that she set last turn.

"That's not going to work!" She said with the smile on her face becoming bigger and bigger. "I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack! With it, I can stop Gilford's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

Once again, a barrier surrounded Misaki's side of the field, protecting her and Gearfried from Gilford the Lightning's attack. This act annoyed Alejandro to no end as it meant that his Duel against her would continue for a while longer.

"Damn it," He said out of frustration. "I end my turn."

"Awesome," Misaki said. "It's my turn now, Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 8**

**Alejandro: SPC – 8**

Drawing another card from her deck again, Misaki took a look at what she just drew and the smile on her face grew as a result. However, instead of playing the card right away, the young woman began her turn by activating the face-down that she set last turn.

"I activate the Trap: Call of the Haunted!" She declared. "With it, I revive my Power Tool Dragon!"

A bright flash of light illuminated across Misaki's side of the field as her Power Tool Dragon returned and started flying next to her again. Once it was out, the young woman proceeded to take the card that she drew at the beginning of the turn and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I play the Speed Spell: Release Restraint! By removing 3 Speed Counters, I can release my Gearfried the Iron Knight in order to Special Summon: Gearfried the Swordmaster!"

**Misaki: SPC – 5**

**Gearfried the Swordmaster: ATK 2600 DEF 2200 LVL 7**

Everyone looking at the Duel watched as Gearfried's armor started release a bright light as it slowly began to open up. Once it opened completely, a young man with light brown skin came from out of the armor. He had long black hair and fairly muscular build to him as well.

"What do you intend to do with those monsters?" Alejandro asked. "I admit that your Power Tool Dragon and Gearfried the Swordmaster are powerful monsters. However, their strength still doesn't compare to that of my Gearfried the Swordmaster."

Misaki's listened to Alejandro's words and all she could do was smile at him again. She found it very amusing that her opponent was explaining all the flaws in her strategy. It was clear to her that Alejandro was underestimating her abilities and Misaki was determined to show him that doing that is major mistake.

"We'll see," She said. "I activate Power Tool Dragon's Special Ability! Once per turn, I can add a random Equip Spell to my hand!"

Misaki's deck started to shuffle the cards that made up deck for a minutes, carefully choosing which card she was going to add. Once it finished, the young woman drew a card and saw that the Equip Spell that she just add was precisely the card she needed. So, without missing a beat, she proceeded to insert the card into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I equip Gearfried with the Equip Speed Spell: Legendary Sword! When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, this card increases Gearfried's Attack and Defense Points by 300!"

**Gearfried: ATK 2900 DEF 2500 **

Gearfried the Swordmaster opened the palm of his hand and watched as a beautiful long sword appear before him. When he grabbed it, Gearfried felt the power of sword increase both his attack and defensive capabilities.

"Next, I activate Gearfried's Special Ability!" Misaki declared. "When he's equipped with an Equip card, Gearfried can destroy one of my opponent's monsters! The monster I want him to get rid of is your Gilford the Lightning!"

Alejandro's eyes widen from shock as he watched both Gilford and Gearfried charge at one another and engage in an amazing sword fight. Both monsters seemed almost evenly matched and it looked like that they could continue battling each other forever. However, Gilford made a mistake and swung his sword to wide, which resulted in him leaving an opening for Gearfried. This allowed Misaki's warrior to take advantage and run through Gilford's heart with his sword.

Once the battle ended, Misaki started to smile even more as she revved up her Duel Runner and quickly made her way towards her opponent. When she reached a length, the young woman proceeded to point towards Alejandro's only remaining monsters; Jack's Knight.

"Power Tool Dragon," She called. "Attack his Jack's Knight!"

Power Tool complied and quickly made its way towards Jack's Knight. As soon as it was close enough, the powerful Machine-Type monster ran through Jack's Knight, killing the warrior instantly.

**Alejandro: 2700 LP**

"Now you have no monster's left to protect you," Misaki said to Alejandro as she quickly made her way over to him. "You told me that I was boring and that I wasn't a challenge for you…, but what about now Alejandro? DO I STILL SEEM BORING TO YOU NOW?!"

Misaki revved her Duel Runner one last time and finally closed the distance between her and Alejandro. As she crept behind him an invisible aura began to manifest around her.

"Gearfried the Swordmaster, attack his Life Points directly!"

Gearfried nodded his head and quickly made his way over to Alejandro. As he did, Misaki proceeded to do the same as the aura that was surrounding started to increase in strength. Once both of them were close enough, Gearfried swung his sword towards Alejandro while Misaki unconsciously slammed the aura at him at the same time. This resulted in not only in Alejandro losing the remaining of his Life Points, but also causing him to fall of his Duel Runner as well.

**Alejandro: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms began to fade away, the referee who was overseeing the match looked at both Duelists Life Points and checked to see if they were correct. Once he was sure that they were, he proceeded to raise one of his arms up into the air.<p>

"They Duel is over!" He declared. "The winner of the match is Misaki Himura!"

Everyone was watching the Duel raised their hands in excitement as they were amazed by Misaki's come from behind victory. As the cheering continued, Madas was beginning to wonder about something.

"Toru," He called. "What the hell was that? What was with Misaki and how she was able to blow Alejandro off his Duel Runner without even touching him?"

Toru turned his head towards Madas for a few moments before looking back over to Misaki. The young man noticed that right after Misaki parked her Duel Runner, the young woman's facial expression returned to normal. She was no longer happy or excited. She simply returned to being cold and emotionless.

"After spending the last 3 months training with Misaki, I've come to realize that she doesn't give it her all when she Duels," He explained. "For whatever reason, she unconsciously holds herself back. It's only when she's battling a particular powerful opponent that she begins to enjoy the Duel that she's engaging in and give it her all. When that happens, Misaki's personality changes and allows her to do things that she normally can't do."

"You mean like how you blasted Alejandro off his Duel Runner?" Madas questioned.

"Yes," Toru confirmed. "When Misaki is in her euphoric state of mind, she's able to use Sense. However, as I stated, she could only do it when fighting a strong opponent and having fun as well. Also, once the Duel ends, Misaki doesn't recall acting the way she was. All she does remember is that she won the Duel."

Madas continued to look on at Misaki with a look of confusion on his face as the young woman checked to see if Alejandro was alright. Once she was able to confirm that he was, she proceeded to bring her Duel Runner back to where she originally left it.

"I wonder," He said to himself. "Why does she act that way?"

Toru wondered the same exact thing as he also watched Misaki park her Duel Runner. During their training, he witnessed her change in personality several times and wondered why she didn't remember acting the way she was after the Duel was over. He soon came to the conclusion that something must've happened in her past that caused her to seal up her emotions.

"Misaki," He thought. "Just what happened to you?"

As he continued to think about this, Misaki finally parked her Duel Runner right next to Toru's and made sure that everything was alright with it. Once she did that, she prepared herself to return back over to her friends. However, just before she could make the first step, she started to notice something from afar.

"What is that?"

Misaki turned herself towards the direction of what she was seeing and started examining it. She could that it was two objects and both them were approaching the stadium a great speed. As she took as step forward, wanting a closer look, the young woman was able see that the things that were making their way to the stadium was two Duel Runners. Also, out of the two Runners, Misaki was able see that a third person was holding on to one of the riders. After a few more moments of looking, Misaki turned her head towards both Toru and Madas and signaled to them to come over to where she was.

Both boys were confused on what Misaki wanted them for, but decided to go along with it and quickly made their way to where she was. Once they were there, Misaki pointed her finger towards the Turbo Duelists that were making their way towards them.

"…Who are they?" Madas questioned as he tried to get a better look. "I don't think I've seen them before."

Toru and Misaki were also slightly confused on who the people were and started questioning their identities as well. As the people made their over to stadium, one of them noticed the three of them and started waving his arm back and forth. This confused the three for a few moments, but that quickly faded away when they saw the Duel Runner that he was riding. It was black with yellow stripes and had features on the sides that almost resembled wings. Also, the other Duel Runner looked familiar as well as it was purple in red in color.

Once the Duel Runners finally reached the stadium, the two main riders proceeded to park them right in front of Misaki, Toru, and Madas. The two of them, along with the person who was riding with them, then got off the bikes and took off the helmets that they were wearing. Toru and the others were surprised by the appearance of the 3 as the looked slightly different from when they last saw them. However, after examining their faces, all of them of them could tell who they and started smiling at them as a result.

"Lilly, Crow, Akiza," Toru said as he tried his best to hold back his excitement. "You guys made it!"

"That's right," Crow said with a smile on his face. "So where's my opponent? I'm just itching for a Duel!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_It's been a long time coming, but Lilly, Crow, and Akiza have returned after 3 long months of training. As they catch with their friends, Toru and others soon discover that their friends have changed a lot during the time that they were gone. However, the reunion doesn't last long as 2 of them are called for the Qualification Matches. _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus! Chapter 59: Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 3_


	59. Chapter 59

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 59: **_Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 3_

* * *

><p>"Hey guys," Crow said as he smiled at his friends. "It's been awhile. I hope all of you have made it through the first round all right."<p>

Misaki, Toru, and Madas all nodded their head in response to Crow's words, with the latter two smiling as well. It's been over 3 months since the three of them had last seen the Blackwing Duelist, along with their other friends Lilly and Akiza, and they were glad to see them. As the group of friends talked with one another for the first time in a while, Misaki started to examine the new looks that each of her friends had.

Crow was wearing an orange t-shirt with a pair of black jeans. Over the shirt was a brown a dark brown jacket, which was both sleeveless and left open. Crow was also wearing a pair of grey sleeveless gloves. However, the most noticeable thing that Misaki noticed about Crow is that he was wearing a dark blue-green forehead protector. In the middle of the forehead protector was a metal plate that had a symbol of a feather sketched into it. Misaki didn't quite understand the meaning of the headband, but she guessed that it represented Crow's growing mastery over the Blackwing archetype.

The young woman soon turned her attention towards Lilly and started to examine her appearance next. She noticed that Lilly's body has developed slightly and that her breasts have grown a little since the last time she saw her. Misaki also noticed that her friend was wearing pink eye shadow and that her hair was now reaching down to end of her back. Lilly was also wearing a pink and green hooded jacket that was overtop of a yellow shirt. She was also wearing a pair of blue yeans and black boots as well. Although she wasn't too concerned about appearances, Misaki was impressed by Lilly's beauty and a small part of her wished that she would obtain that same level of beauty as well.

After she finished looking over at Lilly, Misaki turned her head one last time and started to examine Akiza. Out of her three friends, Misaki noticed that Akiza was the one who gone through the most physical changes. Like Lilly, her form has developed with her breasts becoming slightly bigger and her body becoming more curvier. She also noticed that the length of Akiza's hair has grown quite a bit since the last time she saw her. As a result, she kept her hair in a small ponytail that was tied with a black ribbon. Misaki also saw that Akiza was still wearing the gold and emerald necklace that Takashi gave her over 4 months ago.

Akiza was also wearing an all new set of clothes, which were extremely different from the Victorian set of clothing that she's normally wears out in public. Her clothes consisted of a shirt that was around the same color as her burgundy hair, which was covered by a black coat that has a hood at the end of it. The coat doesn't cover her chest, which in turn leaves her breast more exposed than usual. She was also wearing a pair of blue shorts, which caused her stomach to become slightly visible, along with a set of mismatched leggings.

Misaki liked the new appearances of returning friends and believed that they all suited them respectively. However the young woman was just glad to see them again, even though she didn't really show it on her face.

"So guys," Crow said, continuing on with his conversation. "I'm going to assume that all of you have made it to the next round."

"Oh course we have," Madas said. "Was there any doubt?"

Crow smiled upon hearing Madas' words and proceeded to nod his head as a result. Even though the Blackwing Duelist had all the faith in the world that his friends would be able to make it the next round, the fact he received confirmation was reassuring.

As he continued talking with Madas, both Lilly and Akiza were talking to Misaki and Toru respectively. Having not seen one another for a pretty long time, it was natural that the 4 of them would have a lot to talk about. Their conversation consisted of asking one another on how they were and how their training went. While Misaki and Toru both explained how their training went and what they did to help improve their skills, both Akiza and Lilly simply explained that the results of their training would be revealed during their Duels. With that, they started talking about other things.

Soon, as she continued talking to her friends, Lilly finally noticed something which concerned her to some extent. She started to look around for the thing that she was looking for, but she just couldn't seem to find it. Eventually, after spending some more time looking around, the young woman decided to question her friends about it.

"Hey," She started off. "Where's Takashi?"

Upon hearing her question, Toru's eyes widen from shock a little while Misaki just stopped talking. The two of them then looked down at the ground for about a minute, the two of them decided to answer her question.

"He isn't here yet," Misaki answered. "We'd hoped that he would be the first one to arrive, but that just wasn't the case."

"What's taking him so long?" Toru questioned, wondering why his best friend hasn't arrived yet. "His training can't be that intense that it forces him to miss this tournament, especially since he knows what happens to us if he doesn't show."

"He'll be here,"

Lilly, Toru, and Misaki, all turned their heads and looked on as Akiza started looking towards the sky. As she did that, the Psychic Duelist took hold of her necklace and placed it next to her heart.

"There's no doubt that Takashi's training is intense," She continued. "However, I have faith that he'll make it in time. Takashi has never let us down in the past and he won't start now."

As she continued holding on to her necklace, Akiza flashed back just before she and Takashi left to conduct their own training sessions. She remembered how she gave him her Kesshoseki necklace and how it was suppose to give him good luck so long as she continued to care about him. Ever since she first fell in love with him, Akiza has always cared for Takashi and wished him luck whenever he did something that caught his interest or something that he believed that he just had to do. Because of that, Akiza felt that there was no one more worthy to have the Kesshoseki than Takashi and she trust that the man she loved would arrive at the tournament in time.

Meanwhile, as they continued to look at her, Lilly and the others had their own opinion on why Akiza had so much faith in Takashi. Even though they didn't know the true purpose of her Kesshoseki necklace, the three of them all noticed when Akiza gave Takashi the necklace. They also paid close attention to the ever growing relationship between the two of them and saw that they would usually spend most of their spare time together.

Because of that, the three of them believed that Takashi's and Akiza's growing love for one another connected them to each other as well. No matter how far about they may be or what trouble they might be in, the two of them always had faith in one another and believed that they could overcome any obstacle as long as they were together.

"All we can do is wait for him," Akiza continued. "He'll be here…very soon."

With that said, Akiza held on to her necklace one more time before nodding her head to herself. She then turned her attention back towards her friends and noticed that all of them, with the exception of Misaki who just nodded her head, were smiling at her. The young woman was slightly confused by their actions, but she just believed it was because they all agreed what she just said.

"_Attention Duelists!_" One of the judges said over a loud speaker. "_The next Turbo Duel is about to begin. Will Crow Hogan and Ryuga Yagami please make their way over to the track?_"

"Well it's about time," Crow said as he started smiling from excitement. "I've been waiting for this for a long time now. It's time to show everyone the true power of my Blackwings!"

As Crow prepared himself to make his way over to the track, Madas had his mind on the opponent that his rival would be facing. He recalled that Ryuga was a powerful Turbo Duelist that managed to make to the pros at an early age. Since then, the young woman has been taking the Pro League by storm with his amazing power battling skills. In fact, Madas heard that Ryuga's skills were so great that some not only considered him to be the favorite to win the Fortune Cup, but the only Duelist actually capable of defeating Alistair. Wanting Crow to fully prepare for what was to come, Madas decided to give him some last minute advice.

"Hey Crow," Madas said, grabbing the Blackwing Duelist's shoulder. "There's something that I have to tell you about Ryuga."

"Don't worry about it Madas," Crow said as he turned to face him. "I'm going to win this Duel. So get ready for our rematch."

With that said, Crow tightened the end of his forehead protector before making his back over towards his Duel Runner. Once he was there, the young man placed his helmet on his head, shielded his eyes with the helmet's visor, and proceeded to make his way over towards the track.

Madas was slightly concerned over Crow's confidence and started wonder whether or not his rival was becoming highly overconfident in his skills. However, after looking over at Lilly and Akiza and noticing that the two of them had the same level of confidence across their faces, Madas started to believe that everything might be alright for Crow after all. Soon, a smile appeared on the young man's face as he and the rest of his friends started to make their way over to the stands.

As they were doing that, Crow eventually made his over to the track and noticed that his opponent was already waiting for him. Ryuga was wearing a silver and black jumpsuit that covered most of his body. His helmet and Duel Runner also matched the same color of his jumpsuit and it gave the illusion that Ryuga was just one big machine. When Ryuga finally noticed that Crow was making his way over to him, the young man revved up his Duel Runner and immediately prepared himself for the upcoming Turbo Duel.

"Hey," Crow said, finally reaching the starting line. "Let's have a fun Duel."

"Alright," Ryuga replied. "However…I guarantee that this Duel will only be fun for one of us."

After he finished talking, Ryuga turned his focus back towards the front of the track. Crow could tell that his opponent was completely serious about winning this Duel and making it over to the next round. However, even though he felt the same way, the Blackwing Duelist felt that Ryuga should take it easy as all that serious tension that building up inside of him might just do him in. In the end, Crow just decided to Duel the way he's been Dueling and hope that Ryuga would catch on fairly quickly. He knew that he didn't then this Duel probably wouldn't last too long.

Soon, both Duelists proceeded to activate their Speed World 2 Field Spell. Once the holographic aura surrounded the entire stadium, both started to rev up their Duel Runners and prepared themselves to leave the starting line. Once the referee finally gave the signal to start, both Crow and Ryuga blasted it off at amazing speed. The two of them attempted to out ride each other as the quickly made their way over the first corner. Crow's training seemed to have paid off as it looked like he was going to reach the corner a few moments before Ryuga. However, staying true to his reputation as an expert Pro Duelist, Ryuga used his experience to his advantage and manage to get pass Crow and reach the first corner first. The move caught the Blackwing Duelist by surprised and he was simply amazed by his opponent's riding skills.

"Hey," He said. "That was pretty good. It's not every day that someone can beat me in a race."

"Of course," Ryuga replied in a serious tone of voice. "As I told you, I'm the only one who's going to have fun in this Duel. And now I'm about to show you why."

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Crow: 4000 LP**

**Ryuga: 4000 LP**

"Since I reached the corner first, I'm allowed to make the opening move," Ryuga pointed out as he placed his hand gently across his deck. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 1**

**Ryuga: SPC – 1**

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck, Ryuga took a glance at it and saw that it just the card he was hoping the draw. With it, along with all the others cards that he currently had in his hand, the Pro Duelist knew that this Duel was already in the bag. All he had to do was make a huge play this turn and hold out until his next turn. Once he did that, Ryuga would utterly defeat Crow and make his way towards the second round of the Fortune Cup.

With that mindset in place, Ryuga gently nodded his head to himself before revving up his Duel Runner and starting to ride faster across the track. Once he was fast enough, the Pro Duelist began his opening turn by taking 4 cards from his hand and placing them into his Graveyard. When he did that, the holographic images of 4 powerful machines appear across his side of the field for a few short moments. Those watching the Duel were slightly confused why Ryuga had so many machines out on the field already and became even more confused once they discovered that he discarded them to the Graveyard. It wasn't until Ryuga took one more card from his and placed it upon his Duel disk that they finally understood the meaning of his play.

"By sending 1 or more Machine-Type monsters from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card from my hand," He explained. "Appear now, Machina Cannon!"

**Machina Cannon: ATK 0 DEF 2200 LVL 8**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a blinding flash of yellow light erupted from Ryuga's side of the field. From within that light, a powerful robot with blue, orange, and grey armor appeared before him. When Crow started to examine the robot, he didn't believe that it was all that tough, especially since didn't have any Attack Points. However, as the light that was covering Ryuga's field started to fade away, the Blackwing Duelist looked on in shock when he saw a giant cannon appear on top of Machina Cannon's back. It was around 2 or 3 times the size of Machina Cannon itself and looked impossible that the robot was capable of keeping it on top of its shoulders. However, not only was Machina Cannon able to keep the cannon up, but it was also moving around like nothing was on its back at all.

The sight of this amazed Crow to no end and he started to smiling from excitement as a result. For the longest time he had hope that the Fortune Cup would provide him with a strong number of opponents to face and from what he was seeing his hopes weren't going to waste. As he prepared himself for what was to come next, Crow simply revved up his Duel Runner again and quickly began to close the distance between Ryuga and himself. As he was doing that, his opponent continued on with his turn by watching Machina Cannon place all the other machines that were on its master's side of the field into its giant cannon. As it did that, the giant cannon started to glow a blinding yellow color as it began to absorb the energy from the other machines.

"When Machina Cannon is Special Summoned via its effect," Ryuga explained. "It's Attack Points increase by 800 for every Machine-Type monster that I discarded. I discarded 4 Machine-Type monsters, which means my Machina Cannon gains a whopping 3200 Attack Points!"

**Machina Cannon: ATK 3200**

Once it finished absorbing the energy from the other machines that it placed within its giant cannon, Machina raised both its fists in victory. It then turned its attention towards Crow and prepared itself to launch a powerful attack towards the Blackwing Duelist. However, since it was the first turn of the Duel, the machine knew that it couldn't attack and so it just kept its position towards Crow, preparing to fire as soon as it was order too.

Meanwhile, as he watched this, Ryuga looked on with a serious smile on his face. Machina Cannon was his Ace Monster, a creature that always got him out of trouble whenever he needed its help. His Dueling strategy usually consisted of gathering enough Machine-Type monsters in his hand to discard so that Machina would have the necessary power to completely overwhelm his opponents forces. However, the young man that just having a powerful Monster wasn't enough as there was a chance that his opponent might be able destroy it. In order to prevent that from happening, Ryuga always made sure that he had some type of countermeasure.

Luckily, the 6th and final card that made up his hand was just the countermeasure he needed. So, without missing a beat, Ryuga took his final card and inserted it into his Duel Disk. When he did that, the card materialized face-down on his side of the field for a few short moments before eventually disappearing. Once that happened, the young nodded his head to himself as he knew that all of his preparations were complete and all he needed to do was for Crow to get through his turn.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," Ryuga declared. "Now, hurry up and go!"

Crow nodded his head towards Ryuga and paid close attention towards his facial expression. The Blackwing Duelist could immediately tell that his opponent was fairly overconfident in his skills and he believed that his Pro Dueling background was the cause of it. It seemed natural since a Duelist's confidence can become bigger depending on how many wins they have or the type of opponents that they happen to defeat. Because of that, they tend to overlook and not see much of the other opponent that might happen to come across.

Having his fair share of overconfidence issues in the past, Crow knew how it felt when he overshadows opponents that he considered weak. However, that was during a time in his life that he believed that dominating his opponents was the only thing that matter. Rin's death and Alistair's betrayal changed that about him, causing the young man to become a much humbler Duelist as a result. He now works hard to defeat his opponents, but at the same time giving them the same respect that he deserve. Crow knew gaining someone's respect and recognition was hard and that sometimes your efforts don't just pay off in the end. However, he also knew that by working hard and giving it your all then it's possible to gain the respect of any opponent.

That was Crow's current goal that the moment and he was determined to earn Ryuga's respect. So, without wasting any more time, the young man revved up his Duel Runner one last time before placing his right hand across his deck. Once he did that, he gave Ryuga a steely glare.

"It's my turn," He declared. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 2**

**Ryuga: SPC – 2**

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck, Crow took a look at it and quickly formulated a strategy from within his mind. Once he did that, the young man smiled gently to himself as he was ready to make his move. To start off, he took the card that he just drew from his deck and placed it firmly onto his Duel Disk.

"To begin, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Pinaka the Waxing Moon!"

**Blackwing – Pinaka the Waxing Moon: ATK 1200 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Crow looked on as a small Blackwing appeared across his side of the field. Pinaka's appearance was fairly different from the usual kind of Blackwing monsters that Crow would summon during his Duels. Instead of just being a bird with different coloring, Pinaka was wearing clothes as well. They were Arabian in attire as it was wearing an open shirt, black pants, and had a turban on top of its head. On top of that Pinaka the Waxing Moon was holding a bow and arrow in each of its hands and was also carrying holder on its back that had the rest of bows placed inside of it.

Once Pinaka had positioned itself onto his field, Crow continued on with his turn by grabbing two cards from his hand. After taking a look at them and noticing that they were precisely the cards that he needed, the young man nodded his head again before placing the cards directly onto his Duel Disk.

"Next, since I have a Blackwing monster already on the field, I can Special Summon these cards from my hand. Appear now, Blackwing – Gladius the Midnight Sun and Blackwing – Kris the Crack of Dawn!"

**Blackwing – Gladius the Midnight Sun: ATK 800 DEF 1500 LVL 3**

**Blackwing – Kris the Crack of Dawn: ATK 1900 DEF 300 LVL 4**

After placing his next two cards across his Duel Disks, two more Blackwing monsters appeared onto Crow's side of the field and joined his Blackwing – Pinaka the Waxing Moon. Gladius the Midnight Sun was another unique Blackwing monster that not only had a unique set of colorful black and red feathers, but it also wearing a unique set of clothing as well. Gladius was wearing armor, similar to those of knights, all across its body and was holding a set of twin daggers in each of its hands. Meanwhile, Kris the Crack of Dawn was a Blackwing with a colorful set of orange and blue feathers. Its clothing consisted of robes, similar to those of ancient Japanese samurai. On its left side, Kris was holding a katana that was around the same size as its body.

While everyone watching the Duel was amazed by Crow's ability to summon 3 monsters in one turn, his friends kept to themselves as they already do that type of thing before in the past. Instead, the 5 of them were attempting to figure out what type of strategy that their friend will employ with the three monsters.

"…Crow has 3 Blackwings already on his field," Misaki pointed out. "One of them is a Tuner, which means he must be planning to perform a Synchro Summon."

"That seems to be the case," Toru followed up. "The question is what type of monster does intend on bringing out with those 3 new Blackwing monsters? Odds it'll either a 6 or 7 Blackwing Synchro Monster."

"Also," Madas continued on. "Since he's using a new set of Blackwing monsters, they could have a Special Ability that could either power up his Synchro or cause Ryuga's Machina Cannon to lose some of its attack power. But I guess all of our guesses won't really mean anything until we finally see what he plans to do."

As the three of them continued to discuss their own theories, both Lilly and Akiza just looked on and watched their friend continue his Duel. Having spent the last 3 months working on his skills, the two girls had already got a pretty good idea what Crow was planning to do. If their prediction happened to be true, then both Lilly and Akiza believed that this Duel was already over.

Meanwhile, Crow continued on with his turn by looking over the remaining cards that made up his hand. As he looked on, he saw one card that particularly caught his interest and knew right away that it could help him complete his strategy. With that, Crow nodded to himself before grabbing the card from his hand and placing it firmly across his Duel Disk.

"Now," He said. "Since my opponent has a monster with over 2000 Attack Points on his side of the field, I can Special Summon this Blackwing Tuner from my hand. Appear, Blackwing – Sharnga the Waning Moon!"

**Blackwing – Sharnga the Waning Moon: ATK 500 DEF 500 LVL 2**

When Crow placed Sharnga's card onto his Duel Disk, the young man looked on as the Blackwing appeared onto his field and started flying next to its fellow Blackwing monsters. Like Pinaka the Waxing Moon, Sharnga the Waning Moon was holding a bow and arrow in each of its hands and was also holding an extra set of bows across its back. Also, on top of Sharnga's head was beautiful golden crown, similar to the ones that kings wear.

The appearance of Sharnga the Waning Moon surprised Toru, Misaki, and Madas as it through all of their theories right out the window. The three of them then came to a conclusion on what Crow was planning to do next and they were amazed on how he was able to pull it off so easily. Meanwhile, Akiza and Lilly weren't too surprised as this strategy was just one of things that they worked on with Crow. The two of them were just happy that he was able to put his strategy to good use.

"I Tune my Level 3 Blackwing – Gladius the Midnight Sun with my Level 2 Blackwing – Sharnga the Waning Moon!" Crow declared.

Gladius and Sharnga nodded their heads towards each other and proceeded to fly high up into the air. Once they were high enough, the two Blackwing monsters quickly prepared themselves to begin the Synchro ritual. As they did that, Crow quickly pulled a card from his Extra Deck and placed it firmly onto his Duel Disk.

"Synchro Summon! Arrive, Blackwing – Gram the Shining Star!"

**Blackwing – Gram the Shining Star: ATK 2200 DEF 1500 LVL 5**

Once the ritual was complete, a bright flash of white light illuminated across Crow's side of the field. From that light, a new Blackwing Synchro appeared before him. It was fairly tall, around the same size of an average male adult and had for black wings, 2 on its back and two across its arms. Gram the Shining Star was also wearing armor, which looked like a unique combination from both European and Japanese cultures. Lastly, in its hand, Gram was holding a sword that had the foot of a fairly large crow, acting as an impromptu guard.

"And next," Crow continued. "I Tune my Level 4 Blackwing – Kris the Crack of Dawn with my Level 3 Blackwing – Pinaka the Waxing Moon!"

Like with Sharnga and Gladius, both Kris and Pinaka acknowledge one another before flying high up into the air. When they were high enough, the two Blackwing monsters prepared themselves to conduct a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Crow went back to his Extra Deck and proceeded to pull out another card from it. Once he had it, the young man wasted no time in placing the card firmly across his Duel Disk.

"From high in the sky, the master of all Blackwings appears to protect his friends from harm! Synchro Summon! Soar, Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe!"

**Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe: ATK 2600 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

When the second Synchro ritual came to an end, a second blinding flash of light illuminated across Crow's side of the field. From this light another new Blackwing monster appeared and started flying next to Gram – the Shining Star. However, Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe didn't resemble any of the Blackwing monsters that Crow managed to summon in the past. Hawk Joe had more of a human appearance as his face, body, and legs resembled that of a dark skinned human. He also was wearing clothes similar to that of a Native American. However, Hawk Joe did have some features that did resemble his fellow Blackwings as it had black and red wings on its back and had a large claw in place of his right hand.

Though he didn't want to admit it, Ryuga was impressed on how Crow was not only able to summon 4 monsters in one turn, but also use them to bring out 2 powerful Synchro Monsters as well. However, despite the fact that he was impressed with his opponent's skill, the Pro Duelist still saw that he had the advantage as his Machina Cannon still had more Attack Points than either of Crow's Blackwing monsters. However, that confidence of his soon began to quickly fade away as Crow continued on with his turn by taking the 5th card from his hand and inserting it into his Duel Disk.

"Now is where the fun truly begins," Crow stated. "I activate the Trap Card: Black-Winged Arrow, from my hand!"

"What?!" Ryuga exclaimed. "How can you activate a Trap Card from your hand? In case you didn't know, that's against the rules!"

"Yeah," Crow said. "Normally that would be against the rules. However, the effect of my Black-Winged Arrow allows me to activate it from my hand as long as I have 4 Blackwing monsters resting in my Graveyard. And, if my memory serves me right, I use 4 Blackwings in order to Synchro Summon Gram the Shining Star and Hawk Joe!"

Ryuga's eyes began to widen from shock as heard listened to Crow's words. He soon realized that the activation of his Black-Winged Arrow Trap was the whole purpose of his opponent's strategy. The summoning of the Synchro Monsters, though highly important, was only a front to take his attention away from Crow's Trap Card. Ryuga started berating himself for falling for such a move and proceeded to prepare himself for what was come as a giant black arrow appeared across Crow's side of the field.

"I now activate the second effect of my Black-Winged Arrow," Crow started to explain. "When this card is activated, it can negate the effect of one monster on the field. I choose your Machina Cannon and since its Attack Points come from its Special Ability, what would happen when its powers?"

Again, Ryuga's eyes began to widen some more as he watched the Black-Winged Arrow launch itself from Crow's side of the field and proceeded to pierce Machina Cannon's body. When that happened, the arrow short circuited some of the parts of Machina's body; causing it to lose the energy that it gained from absorbing Ryuga's other Machine-Type monsters.

**Machina Cannon: ATK 0**

"Now, Blackwing – Gram the Shining Star…attack Machina Cannon!" Crow declared.

Gram nodded its head and prepared to swing its swords towards Machina Cannon. Realizing that he was going to lose the Duel if this attack managed to get through, Ryuga proceeded to activate the face-down card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Force!" He said. "With this, when one of my opponent's monsters declare an attack, then all monsters that my opponent has in Attack Mode are automatically destroyed!"

A magical barrier appeared before Machina Cannon, prepared to absorb the force from Gram the Shining Star's attack and redirect its power towards both it and Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe. However, before that could take place, Crow took the final card from his hand and quickly inserted it into his Duel Disk.

"Not so fast," He said. "I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Black Cyclone! By removing 2 Speed Counters and having a Blackwing Tamer monster out on my field, then I can negate the activation of one Spell or Trap Card and destroy it!"

**Crow: SPC – 0**

From Crow's Spell Card, a powerful black tornado appeared and quickly made its way towards Ryuga's side of the field. Once it was there, the cyclone destroyed the Mirror Force barrier, thus allowing Blackwing – Gram the Shining Star to continue on with its attack without any consequences. When it finally made towards Machina Cannon, Gram took its sword and sliced the robot in half with one powerful strike. This caused Machina Cannon to explode and the force of its blast cause Ryuga to lose control of his Duel Runner.

**Ryuga: 1800 LP**

As he eventually regained control over his Runner, Ryuga looked back and saw that Crow was on his tail, smiling at him. The Blackwing Duelist noticed that he was looking at him and proceeded to stick his thumb towards his other remaining monster; Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe.

"I can see why you're powerful Pro Duelist Ryuga," Crow said. "Your skills as a Power Duelist are indeed great. However, I've spent the last 3 months training to deal with Power Duelists and I'm glad to see that my training paid off."

Ryuga couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only did Crow destroy his most powerful monster very easily, but also discovered that he was training to deal with Duelists who fight the same way he does. Realizing that there no way out of the situation that he was in, Ryuga simply sighed quietly to himself and acknowledge that his defeat was imminent. Seeing that his opponent has humbly accepted his loss, Crow decided that the very least he could do was end the Duel the way Ryuga wanted it to be ended.

"Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe," He called. "Attack Ryuga's Life Points directly…Black Claw Stream!"

Hawk Joe nodded his head and began gathering energy into its claw shaped right hand. As he did that, black lightning started to surround his claw and the more energy that he gathered the more lightning that surrounded him. Eventually, Hawk Joe gathered enough power and soon made his way over towards Ryuga. Once he close enough to him, the Blackwing Tamer slammed the power filled claw towards its target, creating a Sense blast that caused to Ryuga to lose control of his Duel Runner again.

**Ryuga: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As all the holograms began to fade away, the referee made sure that both Duelists were okay and that their Life Points were correct. Once he was sure that both were the case, he proceeded to raise one his arms up into the air.<p>

"This Duel is over!" He declared. "The winner of the match is Crow Hogan!"

The people in the stadium all started cheering simultaneously as just witness one of the quickest, but most epic Duels that they ever seen before. As they continued to cheer for Crow, Akiza and Lilly proceeded to nod their heads in approval as both of them successfully predicted that their friend would end up winning the Duel in that fashion. Soon they turned their attention towards Misaki, Toru, and Madas and saw that the three of them were talking to one another while still looking at Crow.

"Holy Crap," Toru said in a slight state of shock. "I knew that Crow's skills as a Duelist improved thanks to his training, but I didn't think that they would increase this much."

"…Yeah," Misaki followed. "Also, the fact that he didn't use his Black-Winged Dragon only means that he hasn't revealed everything that he could do. This victory only proves that Crow is going to be a major contender in this tournament."

As the two of them continued to talk, Madas continued staring at Crow and watched as he started making his way back over towards him and the rest of his friends. Even though it was his goal to win this tournament and become the next Duel King of Japan, the real reason why Madas decided to enter the Fortune Cup was because he wanted to have another Duel against Crow. His first Duel against him was not only amazing, but also the toughest Duel that he ever had in his entire life. Because of that, the young man has trained hard for the last couple of months so that his next Duel against Crow would be even greater than before.

However, now that he's seen the level skill that his rival has obtained in these last few months, Madas knew very well that his training might not have been enough. If they were Duel right this second, there was a pretty good chance that Crow would probably defeat him in the same way that he defeated Ryuga. The thought of that frightened Madas a little, but another part of him was excited as well. This only meant that he would have to Duel harder than ever before if he wanted defeat Crow and make through this tournament. The young man knew that the challenge would be the toughest thing that he ever faced, but he felt that he was up for it.

Soon, Crow finally reached his friends after parking his Duel Runner next to Lilly's. Once he was there, a smile appeared on the Blackwing Duelist's face as he proceeded to give both Toru and Madas a high-five respectively.

"Oh yeah," He said. "Now that's what I call intense! With the way my skills are now, there's no doubt in my mind that I'll make to the Finals and eventually win this tournament!"

Crow started laughing confidently as he was convinced that past by all of his opponents. The sight of this annoyed Lilly and she started making her way towards her childhood friend. Once she reached him, the young woman took her right hand and smacked it across the back of Crow's head. Crow then proceeded to hold on to the back of his head with both of his hands as Lilly started to lecture him.

"Don't get cocky you moron, your embarrassing yourself!" She said. "Besides, don't forget that for us, this tournament isn't supposed to be fun!"

Listening closely to her words, while at the same time continuing to hold on to the back of his head, Crow started to remember the real reason why he and the rest of his friends were forced to enter the Fortune Cup. After recalling that, the young man started to nod his head slowly before standing back up and facing Lilly.

"I know," He said. "But you don't have to take things so seriously all the time. As I told Ryuga before our Duel, you have to learn to lighten up."

Lilly wasn't in the mood for Crow to start lecturing her, especially since she just did the same thing to him just a few moments ago. She was about to slap him upside the head again, but stopped when she and the rest of her friends heard that the announcer was talking again.

"_Attention Duelists,_" He said. "_The next Ground Duel is about to begin. Will Lilly Muto and Rei Haruno please make their way towards the arena floor?_"

After hearing the announcer repeat his declaration, Lilly sighed to herself before giving Crow another icy glare. Once she did that, the young woman grabbed her newly constructed light-green Duel Disk and proceeded to place it onto her left arm.

"Give it your all Lilly," Toru said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah," Akiza followed. "Show everyone just how much you've grown,"

Lilly nodded her head and started making her way to the stadium floor. Even though she intended to show just how she improved without her friends telling her to do so, the fact that they wished her luck was very comforting.

As she continued walking, Madas started wondering about something that Lilly said a few moments ago. He was going to ask her about it, but the sudden announcement stopped him from doing so. Because of that, Madas turned his attention towards his friends and decided to ask them.

"Hey," He said. "What did Lilly mean when she said that you all aren't here to have fun?"

Akiza, Crow, Misaki, and Toru looked at one another for a few short moments before turning attention back towards Madas. The four of them knew the reason behind Lilly's words and didn't want Madas, or anyone else they knew for that matter, to get involved the problems that they were facing. Until they knew more about why Sector Security was interested in them, it was best to keep things quiet.

"Oh…it's nothing important," Akiza explained. "She's just really serious, that's all."

Akiza gave off smile which, according to what Madas was seeing, was both genuine and fake. Because of that, the young man had a hard time telling which of the two were true. He soon decided to drop the subject all together for now, but promised to find out if his friends were hiding something from him later.

Meanwhile, Lilly finally reached the stadium floor and saw that a referee and her opponent were already waiting for her. Rei Haruno was a young girl with shirt brown hair and emerald green eyes. She was wearing a somewhat fancy dress that was both white and yellow in color. She also had a yellow Duel Disk that was watched to her left arm.

"So you're finally here," She said. "Good. I'll use you as an example for everyone to see just how powerful I really am!"

Right away, Lilly was annoyed with her opponent's arrogance and started sighing to herself as a result. She soon looked Rei directly in the eyes and said something that brought her annoyance level all the down to her own.

"Enough," She started off. "A mongrel b***h who's too arrogant to see her own weakness should not bark!"

With the talking immediately over, both girls proceeded to activate their respective Duel Disk and draw five cards from their decks. Once he saw that both Duelists were ready, the referee gave the signal for them to begin the match.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Rei: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Lilly said. "Draw!"

Swiftly drawing a card from her deck, Lilly took some time examining the card before placing it into her hand. Once she did that, the young woman examined all the cards that made up her hand for a few moments before closing her eyes and coming up with a strategy.

"The last time I Dueled someone for real," She thought to herself. "I let my anger get the best of me and I ended up losing the Duel. Since then I swore that I wouldn't make the same mistake again and today…I'm going to prove it."

Opening her eyes back up, Lilly started her turn by taking a card from her hand and placing it firmly onto her Duel Disk. When she did that, a small flash of light started to illuminate across her side of the field.

"To begin, I Summon: Magician's Valkyria!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

Once the flash of light that covered Lilly's field started to fade away, her Magician's Valkyria appeared before her, ready for battle. As she stood by her, Lilly continue on with her turn by taking another card from her hand and inserting it into her Duel Disk. When she did that, the card materialized face-down on the field, right behind Valkyria.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"…You called me an arrogant b***h a few minutes ago, you worm!" Rei said, trying her best to keep herself from rushing over towards Lilly and attacking her. "However, it's not arrogance when you know that you're overwhelmingly more powerful than your foe. And now…I'll show you exactly what I mean. It's my turn, Draw!"

Drawing a card from her deck, Rei took a glance at it and smiled upon seeing what it was. She then proceeded to place the card into her hand before looking through the rest of her cards and picking another one from them. Once she did that, Rei took the card that she picked up and proceeded to place it into her Duel Disk.

"I activate the Spell Card: Double Summon! With it, I can now Normal Summon two monsters this turn instead of one!"

Following the effects of her Spell Card, Rei quickly took a card from her hand and placed it onto her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. Once she did that, a flash of green light began to illuminate across her side of the field.

"I Summon: Green Gadget, in Defense Mode!"

**Green Gadget: ATK 1400 DEF 600 LVL 4**

When the flash of light that covered her field started to fade away, Green Gadget appeared before Rei. As the tiny Machine-Type monster took a defensive position in front of its master's, Rei notices that her deck popped out one card from it and smiled when she grabbed it.

"When Green Gadget is successfully summoned," Rei said. "I can then add Red Gadget from deck and place it in my hand."

Lilly looked on with a look of indifference on her face as she watched Rei examine her Red Gadget card for a few moments. The young woman was already familiar with powers of each of the three Gadget monsters and knew right away what her opponent's strategy was. Because of that, she took another look at her hand and nodded to herself before turning to face Rei. Just as she did that, Rei proceeded to place Red Gadget's card onto her Duel Disk.

"Next, I Summon: Red Gadget, also in Defense Mode!"

**Red Gadget: ATK 1300 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto her Duel Disk, Rei watched a red flash light started to cover her side of the field. When it eventually began to fade away, the young woman watched as her Red Gadget appeared before her and proceeded to take a defensive position right next to Green Gadget. Once that happened, another card popped out of her deck and Rei quickly pulled it out before placing it into her hand.

"Like with Green Gadget, Red Gadget's Special Ability activates when its successful summoned onto the field. When that happens, I can take Yellow Gadget from my deck and place it into my hand."

Lilly nodded her hand as she listened and understood what Rei was explaining to her. All the while, the young woman was wondering whether or not her opponent already had the card that she needed to summon a particular monster.

"If she has it," She thought. "Then that means I need to speed things up once it's my turn again."

As she continued to think about this, Rei continued on with her turn by looking over hand again. Once she found the card that she was looking for, she didn't waste any time in picking it up and inserting it into her Duel Disk. When that happened, the card started to materialize face-down on her side of the field, right behind her Green Gadget.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," Rei said. "Now…let's hope that your next turn will bear more fruit than your last one."

Lilly started to become slightly irritated again by Rei's arrogance. She could tell right away that her opponent was a very skilled Duelist just by looking at her, while at the same time noticing that she was extremely overconfident. This only caused Lilly to become even more determined to win this Duel and show her opponent that her overconfidence ended up causing her to lose the match.

"It's my turn," She stated. "Draw!"

Drawing another card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Lilly decided to act on her desire to speed up the flow of the Duel. To accomplish this, the young woman took another card from her hand and quickly inserted it into her Duel Disk.

"To begin, I activate the Spell: Pot of Greed! With it, I can draw 2 more cards from my deck."

After grabbing the Pot of Greed card and placing it into her Graveyard, Lilly placed her hand onto her deck and drew two cards from it. When she did that, she examined the two cards and noticed that one of them was exactly the card that she needed. With that, a small smile appeared on her face as took the other card that she drew and placed it into her hand before taking the other one and placing it onto her Duel Disk.

"Next, since I drew it via a card effect, I Special Summon this monster onto the field. Appear now, Watapon!"

**Watapon: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

A small flash of pink light shined across Lilly's side of the field for few short moments as her trusty Watapon appeared before her and her Magician's Valkyria. However, both monsters weren't going to be on the field for long as Lilly took both of their cards and placed them into her Graveyard. Once she did that, the young woman then took another card from her hand placed it onto her Duel Disk in their place.

"I now release both my Watapon and Magician's Valkyria in order to Advance Summon: Dark Magician!"

**Dark Magician: ATK 2500 DEF 2100 LVL 7**

As both Watapon and Magician's Valkyria started to fade away from the field, their collective energies brought about a purple light that started covering her side of the field. From that light, Dark Magician appeared before Lilly and the overwhelming power of the Spellcaster-Type monster caused his body to be covered in the same aura that it appeared from.

Once her monster was out, Lilly continued on with her turn by taking another card from her hand and inserting it into her Duel Disk. When she did that, the staff that Dark Magician was holding started glowing a bright green color.

"I now equip my Dark Magician with the Equip Spell: Dark Spear!" Lilly explained. "With the power of Dark Spear, Dark Magician and now deal Piercing Damage onto my opponent!"

Rei looked on in shocked as she watched the green staff that Dark Magician was holding started to transform into a long spear. Once it completed its transformation, Dark Magician grabbed its newly acquired weapon and pointed it towards both of Rei's Gadget monsters.

"Dark Magician," Lilly called. "Attack Rei's Green Gadget…Dark Spear Blast!"

Dark Magician nodded his head and proceeded to gather magical energy into his spear. Once he had enough, the mage launched the magical attack towards Green Gadget, who exploded upon making contact with the energy.

**Rei: 2100 LP**

As her body was surrounded by the smoke of the explosion, Rei didn't waste any time and activated the face-down card that she set last turn. When that happened, a large sound echoed across the stadium and all of the spectators watching the Duel were confused on what caused it. It was only until the smoke finally started to fade away that they realized where the source of the sound came from.

"I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Stronghold the Moving Fortress!" Rei said. "This unique Trap Card also acts as a monster with a whopping 2000 Defense Points."

**Stronghold the Moving Fortress: ATK 0 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

When all of the smoke that covered Rei's field finally dissipated completely, Lilly looked on as a giant robot, which around the size of a large building, appeared on her opponent's side of the field. As she examined it, the young woman wasn't too surprised as she knew that Rei was going to play it sooner or later. The only thing that did happen to catch her off guard however was that Rei Special Summoned Stronghold one turn earlier than she expected her to do.

Lilly would soon look over her entire hand, hoping that she had a card that would allow her to get rid of Stronghold before Rei could activate its second Special Ability. However, while did find that she have some of the cards that she needed, the young woman didn't have one that would allow her to destroy Rei's Trap Monster Card this turn. With that, Lilly decided to do the only thing that was left available to her.

"I end my turn," She said.

"Good," Rei replied. "Now it's to pay you back for all those Life Points that I just lost."

Starting her turn, Rei swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, she then took out another card and proceeded to insert it into her Duel Disk. This action caused the ground to glow just below her.

"I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn!" She declared. "With it, I revive the Green Gadget that you destroyed on your previous turn!"

From within the ground, Rei's Green Gadget reappeared before her and once again stood next to her Red Gadget. When that happened, Rei followed up with this move by taking another card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Yellow Gadget, in Defense Mode!"

**Yellow Gadget: ATK 1200 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

Upon placing Yellow Gadget's card onto her Duel Disk, Rei watched a bright flash of yellow light erupted across her side of the field. From that light, Yellow Gadget appeared before her and proceeded to take a defensive position beside its fellow Gadget monsters. Once all three of her Gadgets were out on the field, a noticeable smile appear across Rei's face as she proceeded to change the Battle Mode of her Stronghold the Moving Fortress.

"Now it's time for things to really heat up," She said. "To start, I switch Stronghold into Attack Mode!"

Stronghold nodded its metal head and quickly stood up from the ground. When that happened Red Gadget, Yellow Gadget, and Green Gadget stood up as well and proceeded to place themselves into the three slots that were on Stronghold's chest. The caused the Trap Monster Card to suddenly gain a massive burst of energy.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Stronghold the Moving Fortress! While Green, Red, and Yellow Gadget are on my side of the field, Stronghold's Attack Points increase all the way up to 3000!"

**Stronghold the Moving Fortress: ATK 3000**

As Stronghold's body continued to gain power, thanks to the insertion of the three Gadget monsters, Lilly simply looked on at the Machine and prepared herself for its eventual attack.

"Go Stronghold," Rei called as she smiled evilly towards Lilly's Dark Magician. "Destroy her Dark Magician!"

Stronghold complied with its master's demand and prepared itself to strike down Lilly's Spellcaster. However, before the attack could take place, Lilly acted quickly and activated the face-down card that she set at the beginning of the Duel. When she did, a magical ring appeared and wrapped itself around Stronghold, preventing the monster from moving.

"Hey!" Rei exclaimed, confused on what was taking place before her eyes. "What going on? Why can't Stronghold continue on with its attack?"

"It's because I immobilized it with the Trap Card: Spellbinding Circle!" Lilly explained. "With this powerful Trap Card, not only is Stronghold the Moving Fortress prevented from attacking, but it's also not able to change its Battle Mode!"

Rei's eyes widen from shock as she couldn't believe that Lilly was already prepared to stop her Stronghold from attacking her monsters. However, the young woman quickly regained her composure once she realized that since Spellbinding Circle prevented Stronghold from changing modes, it would continue to remain in Attack Mode. This was fortunate since her monster's Attack Points would continue to remain at 3000, which was 500 points higher than Lilly's Dark Magician.

"She's only delaying the inevitable," She thought to herself. "With Stronghold still in Attack Mode, none of her monsters have the power necessary to take it down. All I have to do is last through her next turn and this Duel will be mine."

As Rei continued to gloat to herself, Lilly kept her eyes on Stronghold. However, while she indeed was looking at the Trap Monster, the young woman's attention was one the 3 Gadgets that were equipped to it. She then looked towards her hand and realized that she still lacked the card she needed to make her play. Lilly soon came to the conclusion that this Duel will continue on for a while if she didn't draw the card that she needed on her next turn.

"I end my turn," Rei said. "Now hurry up and make your pathetic move already."

Lilly nodded her head and closed her eyes again. After taking a deep breath, she began her turn by drawing another card from her deck. When she opened her eyes back up and looked at the card, the young woman nodded to herself before turning her attention towards her opponent.

"Like a told you before," She said. "A mongrel b***h who's too arrogant to see her own weakness should not allowed to bark. And now…I'm going to show why."

Acting swiftly, Lilly continued on with her turn by taking the card that she drew and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, Lilly watched as a bright flash of light appeared next to her Dark Magician.

"I activate the Spell: Thousand Knives!" She said. "With it, since I have Dark Magician on the field, I can destroy one monster that currently rests on my opponent's side of the field. The monster I choose to destroy is your Yellow Gadget!"

As Dark Magician started waving his hands together, the powerful Spellcaster started chanting a powerful spell. Once he finished, the light that appeared next to him transformed into several sharp knives. Dark Magician then proceeded levitate the knives with its magical powers for a few moments before taking aim and firing them towards Yellow Gadget. When the attack struck the Machine, a small explosion occurred that caused a thick smoke cloud to cover Stronghold.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Rei questioned. "Just because you got rid of my Yellow Gadget doesn't mean that you're free from the might of my Stronghold the Moving Fortress!"

"You fool," Lilly said softly.

Rei started to grit her teeth in anger as she was highly upset that her opponent just berated her again. She was about to call her out on it, but stopped when Lilly suddenly pointed her finger towards the smoke cloud. When Rei looked up at the cloud, and watched it begin to fade away, she eyes widen from shock as she watched Stronghold's body was beginning to short circuit.

"It's true that Stronghold the Moving Fortress is an extremely power monster," Lilly said. "However, like any well oiled machine, it can only work all of its parts are in its correct place. Since your Yellow Gadget is gone, your Stronghold is beginning to malfunction and as a result it loses all 3000 of its Attack Points!"

**Stronghold the Moving Fortress: ATK 0**

"Rei Haruno," Lilly said as watched her opponent fall into despair due to the situation that she was in. "People who are arrogant tend to think less of others and overestimate their own abilities. Take this defeat as a lesson and become stronger because of it. Dark Magician…attack Stronghold the Moving Fortress!"

Dark Magician complied and once again fired a blast of magical energy towards Stronghold. When the attack struck the machine, Stronghold exploded instantly, causing Rei to lose the rest of her Life Points.

**Rei: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the holograms started to fade away, the referee looked at both Duelists and confirmed that both of their Life Points were accurate. Once he was able to do that, he proceeded to raise his hand and point it towards Lilly.<p>

"This Duel is over!" He declared. "The winner of the match is Lilly Muto!"

Like at the end of Crow's Duel, everyone in the crowd was highly impressed with Lilly's level of skill and started cheering her as a result. Though she was slightly glad that she was receiving applause from the people who were watching her, Lilly didn't show it on her face. She just acknowledged everyone before eventually making her way back towards her friends.

As she did that, Toru and the rest were all talking about the Duel and how Lilly was able to win the way that she did.

"That was amazing," Toru said. "Lilly just completely dominated the Duel from the get go!"

"Yeah," Madas agreed. "Even though I've never seen her Duel until now, I always had a feeling that she was a powerful Duelist. I guess this proves it."

"Though," Misaki said. "Is it just me or did Lilly use more Spell and Trap Cards than she normal?"

Crow and Akiza looked at one another for a few moments before turning their attention towards Misaki. Once they grabbed her attention, the latter started to explain the reason why she thought that Lilly used more Spells and Traps.

"You're right Misaki," Akiza said. "Lilly indeed used more Spell and Trap Cards. During our training session, she said she wanted to focus more on that."

"Yeah," Crow followed up. "Since Lilly's deck focuses on the Dark Magicians, she thought that training herself to use her Spell and Trap cards more effectively would help her out greatly as she made her way through the Fortune Cup. I'm happy to see that her training managed to pay off in the end."

Misaki nodded her head, understanding what both of her friends just said to her. She then turned her attention back towards Lilly and watched that she already made her way towards the stands.

"Everyone seems to have used the past 3 months fairly well," She thought. "Good. If all of us make through to the Finals, then there's just a good chance that whatever Sector Security planning will probably fail. We just have to keep it up and Duel with the same level of intensity that we're doing now in the second Qualifying Round."

As Misaki continued thinking about this, Lilly finally made her way back towards her friends. After receiving praise from both Toru and Madas, the young woman was about to sit down and join them in watching the other Duels. However, before she could do that, Lilly noticed that someone was approaching Akiza from behind. When that person got close enough, he proceeded to cover her eyes with both of his hands.

"Guess who?" He asked.

As the others turned around and looked at the person who was messing with their friend, Lilly was about attack him. However, before she could do so, Akiza placed out her hand out in front of her.

"It's okay Lilly," She said. "I already know who it is."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Just who is this person this mysterious person and how does he know Akiza and vice-versa? Then, after catching up with that person, Akiza is soon called to Duel a young woman who happens to Duel for the same reason she does._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 60: Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 4_

_The power of love is a force to be reckoned with._


	60. Chapter 60

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 60: **_Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 4_

* * *

><p><em>2 months ago<em>

It's been one month since Takashi and his friends decided to split up and conduct their own respective training sessions in different locations. During that time, Akiza Izinski has been spending her time with her friends Lilly Muto and Crow Hogan, trying to improve her skills as a Duelist. The training so far has been very difficult and, at times, harsh. However, thanks to her natural talent and strong resolve, Akiza's skills have vastly improved since the time she left.

Despite that though, the beautiful Psychic Duelist believed that even with her Dueling talents improving, it still wasn't enough. Akiza thought about the reason why she and her friends were forced to enter the Fortune Cup and agreed that it was because of the marks that they were carrying across their right arms. Sector Security probably wanted to examine the full extent of their powers during the tournament before eventually capturing them and using them for some type of experiment.

As she thought about the prospect of that, Akiza was reminded about Sayer and how he attempted to do the same thing. She had already fallen to someone who wanted to use her powers for their own personal gain and she swore to herself that neither she nor her friends would have to go through that type of suffering again. With that in mind, Akiza has also been training on trying to get better control over her Psychic powers. Even though she wished that she didn't have these powers in the first place, the young woman realized that she couldn't keep hiding that side of herself anymore. In order to protect her friends from this threat, and any other future threats, Akiza had to master her powers and use her amazing gift in the right way.

One day, while she conducted her daily training session, both Lilly and Crow were just finishing up their training for day. As they were about to leave, the latter notice Akiza and saw that she was doing something really strange. Upon closer inspection, the Blackwing Duelist saw that she was pulling cards from her deck and guessing on what type of card that she drew. For every card that she got right, Akiza would place the card face-up in front of her. While, for every card that she got wrong, she would place the card face-down across from the cards she got right.

Akiza's actions confused Crow and he was starting to wonder what she was doing. He was about to walk over towards her and ask, but he was stopped when Lilly came over and proceeded to place her hand upon his shoulder. She then shook her head in disapproval, indicating that she didn't want Akiza to be disturbed from what she was doing? Crow, still confused by what was going on, decided to leave his friend alone for now.

"What the hell is she doing?" He asked Lilly. "I thought she was going to train today."

"She is training," Lilly replied. "Just look and see for yourself."

Crow took another look over towards Akiza and saw that was still sitting on the ground, pulling cards from her deck. Again, he was confused by her actions and didn't understand by what Lilly meant when she said that Akiza was indeed training. Eventually, Lilly decided to point it out to him and pointed towards Akiza head. There, Crow slowly noticed that Akiza wasn't wearing the hairclip that she usually has on. Because of that, the front part of her hair was down, covering most of her face.

Lilly also showed Crow that Akiza's dragon mark was glowing faintly as small gust of wind was surrounding her body. The wind wasn't really strong as it wasn't able to blow her cards away, however it did gently wave her dress around a little.

"You haven't been with her as long as I have," Lilly continued. "So, you don't know that Akiza's hairclip suppresses her latent Psychic powers. When she takes it off, she usually loses control of her abilities and they begin to run wild. The fact that hardly anything is happening, even without her hairclip, is an indication that she practicing on controlling her powers."

"I see," Crow said as he continued examining his friend. "Still…that doesn't explain why she's just drawing cards and guessing what they are. How is that training?"

"I thought the same thing when I first saw what she was doing," Lilly replied. "However, when I questioned her, she told me something about Psychic Duelists. She said that their usual ability, to bring materialize cards and bring them to life, is a common skill that all Psychic Duelists have. It's only when they attempt to gain control over their powers will a Psychic Duelist find the one unique ability that's theirs and theirs alone."

Crow turned his attention back towards Lilly, now even more confused than before. He couldn't understand how drawing cards while utilizing her powers would allow Akiza to find her unique Psychic ability. When Lilly turned towards him and saw that he still didn't understand the purpose of Akiza's training, the young woman decided to explain it to him again and use small words so that he would get it.

As she did that, Akiza continued pulling cards from her deck and guessing what cards they were. Her predictions turned out to be wrong most of the time, which annoyed her as it meant that she got more cards wrong than right. She was about to draw another card when she noticed that the wind that surrounding her was beginning to pick up, indicating that she was slowly beginning to lose control of her powers due to her temper rising. Akiza proceeded close her eyes and take deep breaths, which calmed her down and allowed her to regain control. She then reached out and towards her deck and placed her hand gently upon the card that she was about to draw.

"Stay focused," She thought quietly to herself. "You can do this, everyone is counting on you to master this ability. Misaki, Toru, Crow, Lilly…Takashi."

Thought of Takashi caused Akiza to remember all the things that the young man did for her over the past 8 months and how he saved her from the darkness that was surrounding her soul. She then gently clinched the necklace that he gave her, which reminded her that she was fighting him just as much as he fights for her all the time. With her resolve now reaffirmed, Akiza proceeded to predict her next draw.

"I foresee my next card being…Queen Angel of Roses."

With that said, Akiza drew her card and began to slowly open her eyes. When she looked at the card, a small smile appeared on her face.

_Present Day_

At the stadium where the Qualifying Matches for the Fortune Cup is taking place, Akiza's friends were all looking on with a look of confusion on their faces. Someone was covering Akiza's eyes with their hands and the Psychic Duelist said that she already know who the person is. Lilly was about to question her about it, but Akiza stopped her by revealing the identity of the individual who was covering her eyes.

"It's been a long time…Mei Kamiya," She said with a smile.

"No way,"

The individual moved their hands from Akiza's eyes, allowing the young woman to regain her sight. She then turned around and saw that she was right. Mei Kamiya was indeed the one who was covering her eyes.

"How did you know that it was me?" Mei questioned.

"I have my ways," Akiza answered.

As the two girls proceeded to talk to one another for the first time in nearly 4 months, Lilly and the others were still confused by what was going on. It wasn't until Misaki stepped forward and explained what she knew about the relationship between Akiza and Mei. Once she finished, everyone finally got a better understanding behind Mei's actions as she only did it to have fun with Akiza, since they hadn't been together for a while.

"So Mei," Akiza continued. "What brings you over here?"

"My older sister; Akari," Mei answered. "She's a journalist and her latest story revolves around the contestants in the Fortune Cup. She was planning on coming by herself, but I remembered that you were competing and I begged her to bring me along to. Right now, Akari should be talking to some of the other Duelists who qualified for the second round while I'm here talking to you."

"I see," Akiza said. "Well, I'm glad you decided to come along. I missed you."

"I missed you too," Mei replied. "So…where is he? The guy you're always talking about at the Academy."

Akiza's eyes widen a little and a small blush appeared on her face as she knew that the person that Mei was referring to was Takashi. She then placed her head down a little and shook her head from side to side, allowing Mei to understand that the person that Akiza always talks about hasn't arrived yet. With that, the young woman proceeded to gently place her hand upon her friend's shoulder.

"Don't worry," She said. "I'm sure that he'll be here soon. I mean, you've always said that he's never let you down before."

Akiza looked at Mei for a moment and recalled that everything that she just said was true. She then lifted up her head and smiled at her.

"Yeah," She spoke. "Takashi has never let me down before and I know he won't start now. I know that he'll be here soon."

As the girls continued to talk to one another, the others decided to leave them alone for now and just continue watching the remaining Qualifying Duels that were taking place throughout the stadium. The matches were quite intense, as several Duelists were forced to reveal their trump cards early in order to defeat their opponent's. Half of the group was amazed by the type of monsters that the other competing Duelists had, while the other half wasn't really impressed since they already had rare monsters of their own. Despite all of that however, all of them knew that the real reason why they're watching these Duels was because they wanted to see what type of strategies that their opponents in the next round would employ. It was important for them know this as it would allow them to set up counter strategies against them, thus making it easier to move to the Finals.

Eventually, after watching 2 Turbo Duels and 1 Ground Duel, the announcer stepped forward and proceeded to announce the next Duel was about to take place. The other knew that it was the first of the final 2 Duels and that either Akiza or the still absent Takashi would be participating in it. So, while they waited anxiously, the announcer called for the next two Duelists.

"_Attention,_" He said. "_The next Duel is about to begin. Will Akiza Izinski and Kana Ienaga please make their way over to the Dueling Field? I repeat, will Akiza Izinski and Kana Ienaga please make their way over to the Dueling Field?_"

Upon hearing her name being called, Akiza turned her head towards the nearest Dueling Field and saw that her opponent was already making her way over towards it. She then turned back towards Mei and saw that she was smiling at her.

"Go get her Akiza," Mei said as she proudly clinched her fist. "Show everyone just how strong you are."

"…Yeah." Akiza replied with a small smile of her own. "I will."

With that said, the young woman proceeded to make her way over towards the Dueling Field. As she walked, her other friends also wished her luck in her upcoming Dueling, thus filling Akiza's heart with even more happiness.

Once she reached the field, Akiza got a good look at her opponent Kana and saw that she was a young woman who was around her age. She had brown hair that extended down towards the front end of her back and khaki colored eyes, which were a light shade than Akiza's who's eyes were closer to an hazel color. Kana's dress was rather simple as she was wearing a white shirt with purple highlights. Her skirt was an indigo color and it reached down towards the middle of her legs. On her left arm was a pink Duel Disk, whose design resembled the Duel Disks of the modern age.

As both girls prepared themselves to begin their match, someone was busy watching them from a far. That someone was Enoch Wylie and his eyes were focused solely on Akiza. As he looked at her, the young spy noticed someone about the Psychic Duelist, something that surprised him a little.

"Akiza," He said to himself. "You've change a lot since the last time I saw you."

Back at the Dueling Field, both Kana and Akiza finished the final preparation to their decks and proceeded to place them into the slots of their Duel Disks. Once they did that, the two girls activated their devices and waited for the referee to announce the start of the Duel.

"Good luck to you," Akiza said. "May the best Duelist win."

"Yeah," Kana replied. "Same here to you."

Once they finished wishing each other luck, the referee determined that both girls were ready to begin the Duel. With that, he proceeded to raise both of his arms up into the air and told the girls to begin their match.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Kana: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Akiza said and she placed her hand upon her deck. "Draw!

Swiftly drawing a card from her deck, Akiza examined it for a few moments before placing it into her hand. Once she did that, she examined all the cards that she currently had and thought about what her opening move should be. She decided on what she should do first and began her turn by taking a card from her hand and placing it upon her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Bird of Roses, in Attack Mode!"

**Bird of Roses: ATK 1800 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto her Duel Disk, a white flash of light begin to shine across Akiza's side of the field. When the light slowly began to fade away, her Bird of Roses appeared and stood next to her. The young woman then continued on with her turn by taking another card and inserting it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. The card went on to materialize face-down on her side of the field, just right begin of her Bird of Roses.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

Kana nodded her head and prepared herself to begin her turn. As she placed her head upon her deck, the young woman heard something coming from behind her and proceeded to turn herself around. Akiza noticed this and started to wonder what her opponent was looking at. She was about to look for herself, but Kana turn herself back around and went on to begin her first turn of this Duel.

"It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

After she drew a card from her deck, Kana took a quick glance at it before placing it into her hand. She then looked over her other cards before grabbing 1 and placing it onto her own Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Archfiend Soldier, in Attack Mode!"

**Archfiend Soldier: ATK 1900 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Once she placed her monster's card onto her Duel Disk, Kana looked on as a white flash of light appeared on her side of the field. When the light began to fade away, an Archfiend Soldier appeared and stood next to her.

"Go Archfiend Soldier and attack her Bird of Roses!"

Archfiend Soldier complied with Kana's orders and prepared to strike down its target with its powerful sword. As that happened, Akiza quickly activated the face-down card that she set last turn by pressing a button on her Duel Disk.

"I activate the Trap Card: Defense Draw!" She declared. "With this card, the Battle Damage from your monster's attack is reduced to zero and I can draw 1 card from my deck."

As the pieces from Bird of Roses' body began flying all over the place, a small barrier appeared in front of Akiza, protecting her from harm. Once it faded away, she proceeded to draw a card before pulling her entire deck from out of her Duel Disk.

"When Bird of Roses is destroyed through Battle while it's in Attack Mode, its Special Ability activates. I can now Special Summon 2 Plant-Type Tuner monsters from my deck, in Defense Mode."

Looking through her entire deck, Akiza searched carefully for the monsters that she wanted to Special Summon onto the field. Once she found them, she quickly pulled them out before placing the rest of her cards back into her Duel Disk. She then watched as the device automatically shuffled her deck before placing the two cards that she pulled horizontally onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Naturia Tulip and Naturia Vein!"

**Naturia Tulip: ATK 600 DEF 1500 LVL 2**

**Naturia Vein: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

Two flashes of light shined across Akiza's side of the field as she placed both of her Naturia cards onto her Duel Disk. When the lights faded away, two small plant creatures appeared in front of Akiza. One resembled a red tulip while the other looked like a pair of poison ivy leaves that was bunched together.

As she looked at the two monsters, Kana was slightly annoyed that she wasn't able to deal her opponent any damage nor was she able to rid her field of any of her monsters. However, despite all of that, the young woman didn't let that get to her. She still had the strongest monster out on the field and she was prepared just in case anything else happened during the Duel. So, with that in mind, Kana continued on with her turn by grabbing a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, a card materialized face-down on her side of the field, right behind her Archfiend Soldier.

"I set one card face-down," She said in a calm tone of voice. "With that, I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again," Akiza pointed out as she placed her hand back upon her deck. "Draw!"

After drawing another card from her deck, Akiza took a look at it and a small smile appeared on her face as a result. She then went on to place Naturia Vein's card into her Graveyard before placing the card that she just drew onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I release my Naturia Vein in order to Advance Summon: Queen Angel of Roses!"

**Queen Angel of Roses: ATK 2400 DEF 1300 LVL 7**

As Naturia Vein vanished from the field, a large flash of pink light erupted from the ground that it was standing on. When the light slowly began to fade away, several beautiful rose petals began to emerge along with the majestic Queen Angel who proceeded to stand by her master. The sight of the beautiful creature surprised Kana and the young woman decided to comment on her shock.

"What's going on here?" She questioned. "How can you summon that monster with only 1 sacrifice?"

"It's because of my Queen Angel's Special Ability," Akiza answered. "I can Advance Summon it with only 1 sacrifice as long as the monster that I release is a Plant-Type Monster."

Kana's eyes widen upon hearing Akiza's explanation. Having never faced a Duelist who specializes in Plant-Type monsters, Kana didn't really know what to expect. Because of that, the young woman quickly decided that she needed to step up her game sooner rather than later. If she didn't, Kana knew that she wouldn't last long in this Duel.

Meanwhile, Akiza continued on with her turn by looking over her hand and checking to see if she had any other cards that she could play before she made her attack. When she realized that she didn't have anything, the young Psychic Duelist gently nodded her head before pointing her left hand towards Kana's Archfiend Soldier.

"Queen Angel of Roses," She called. "Attack her Archfiend Solider…Petals and Thorns!"

Queen Angel of Roses nodded her head and proceeded to swing her sword around in front of her. When she did that, several rose petals appeared and started flying towards Archfiend Soldier. It was at that moment that Akiza took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now activate the Quick-Play Spell: Shards of Roses!" Akiza said. "When Queen Angel of Roses attacks one of my opponent's monsters, it gains Attack Points equal to the level of the monster she's attacking, multiplied by 100 until the end of the Damage Step. Your Archfiend Soldier is a Level 4 monster, so my Queen Angel gains 400 Attack Points!"

**Queen Angel of Roses: ATK 2800**

As Queen Angel of Roses received the power-up from her master's Spell Card, the roses that she was creating with her started to glow. The power that the petals were receiving increased their overall strength, allowing them to slice through Archfiend Soldier's body like butter.

**Kana: 3100 LP**

**Queen Angel of Roses: ATK 2400 **

Once Queen Angel determined that she didn't need to continue her attack, the powerful warrior ceased waving her sword around. She then jumped back towards her master, who started to look over her hand in order to see if she had any more moves to make this turn. When saw that she didn't, Akiza went on to do the only thing she could.

"With that, I end my turn," She said.

Kana nodded her head one more time and got ready to draw another card from her deck. Before she did so, the young woman took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down from the anxiety that she was feeling. Once she did that, Kana gently placed her hand upon her deck.

"It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

Swiftly drawing her next card, Kana took a look at it and was disappointed that it wasn't the card that she needed. Because of that, she placed the card into her hand and started contemplating on what she was going o do next. It was here that Kana heard someone calling to her again and the young woman turned herself around in order to see who it was.

Like from before, Akiza noticed this and wanted to see who Kana was looking at. This time she was able the see that Kana was looking at a young boy who was around their age. He had brown eyes with hair of the same color on the top of his head. On the lower part of head, the boy's hair was black. His clothes consisted of a red sweater with khaki pants and he was also wearing a pair of oval shaped glasses on his face.

After examining him for a few short moments, Kana turned herself around and Akiza noticed that her eyes were filled with new determination. Just by looking at them, the Psychic Duelist could tell that things were about to become intense from now on. As she prepared herself for her opponent's next move, Kana went to activate the face-down card that she set on her previous turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Jar of Greed!" She said. "With this card, I'm allowed to draw another card from my deck."

With that said, Kana went on to draw another card from her deck. When she took a look at it, a small smile appeared on her face as she went on to place the card into her hand. Once she did that, Kana pulled out another card from her hand and went on to place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Diskblade Rider, in Attack Mode!"

**Diskblade Rider: ATK 1700 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

A small flash of light shined across Kana's side of the field once the young woman placed her card upon her Duel Disk. When the light began to fade away, a green monster who was wearing blue armor and riding a demon-shaped motorcycle appeared before Kana.

"I end my turn," She said.

As her opponent ended her turn, Akiza proceeded to examine Kana's side of the field and saw that the only card that she had was her Diskblade Rider. The sight of the monster confused the young woman a little and caused her to wonder why her opponent decided to summon it, especially in Attack Mode.

"She must be planning something," Akiza thought to herself. "Diskblade Rider doesn't have any special Abilities that can handle my Queen Angel of Roses and I'm pretty sure that she knows that. If that really is the case, then Kana probably wants me to destroy her monster so that she could bring out an even greater one."

As she continued thinking about Kana's plan, Akiza looked over the cards in her hand and saw one that really caught her interest. She then turned her attention over towards her Queen Angel of Roses and thought about something to herself.

"If Kana going summon another monster once I destroy hr Diskblade Rider, then I have a pretty good guess on what that monster might be. And, in order to defeat that monster, I'm going to have draw _that _monster very soon."

With her thoughts clear on her objective, Akiza gently nodded to herself before placing her hand upon her deck. Once she did that, the Psychic Duelist closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them.

"It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

Drawing a card from her deck, Akiza proceeded to place it into her hand without even looking at it. Once that happened, the young woman looked on as her Naturia Tulip exploded due to the Special Ability of her Queen Angel of Roses, which destroys the weakest monster that's currently on the field at the start of Akiza's Standby Phase.

Once that happened, Akiza took another card from her hand and proceeded to place it firmly onto her Monster Card Zone. This resulted in another bright flash of light to shine over a portion of her field.

"I Summon: Rose Witch!" She declared.

**Rose Witch: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

When the light started to fade away, Akiza's Rose Witch materialized onto the field and started standing next to her Queen Angel of Roses. When she saw that, Akiza went on to point her finger towards Kana's Diskblade Rider.

"Queen Angel of Roses," She called. "Attack Kana's Diskblade Rider!"

Queen Angel once again complied with her master's orders and started swinging her sword around from side to side. This cause the razor sharp rose petals to appear and make their way over towards Diskblade Rider. Once they petals got close enough to their target, they proceeded to slice the Fiend-Type monster into little pieces.

**Kana: 2400 LP**

With her opponent's gone, Akiza prepared herself to launch a direct attack onto Kana's Life Points. However, before Akiza could have her Rose Witch attack, Kana smirked at her opponent and went on to take a card from hand and place it onto Monster Card Zone.

"Thanks for that," She said as the smile on face continued to grow. "Because since you dealt me Battle Damage this turn, I can now Special Summon this card from my hand. Appear now, Tragoedia!"

**Tragoedia: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 10**

A dark flash of purple light erupted from Kana's side of the field and shot straight up into the sky. As the spectators looked on in shock, Akiza stood her ground and watched as a large monster appeared before her and her own monsters. When the light faded away, the Psychic Duelist saw that creature standing before her looked like a hideous combination of spider and a demon. She also noticed that Tragoedia had large razor sharp spikes all over its body and that it was around the same size of a fairly large house.

Once Tragoedia was fully materialize onto the field, the same purple aura that brought it out started to cover its entire body. As that happened the monster started to grow, causing its already horrifying appearance to become even more gruesome than before.

"While Tragoedia is on the field," Kana explained. "It's Attack and Defense points are determined by the number cards that are in my hand, multiplied by 600. Right now, I have 5 cards in my hand. That means that Tragoedia gains 3000 Attack and Defense points respectively!"

**Tragoedia: ATK 3000 DEF 3000**

As Akiza looked at Kana's vicious monster and saw that it was staring straight at her, the young woman noticed that her hand was beginning to tremble a little. At first, she initially thought that it was fear that causing her hand to shake. However, Akiza soon determined that the reason why she was shaking was because she was excited. Having expected Kana to summon a monster such as Tragoedia, Akiza was excited at the opportunity to face a monster such as it. She soon started to understand how Takashi felt when he faced strong monsters how he would usually feel a since of joy when he did.

"Now things are about to become interesting," She said to herself. "Now the time has truly come for me to put my training to the test."

With that mindset in place, Akiza looked over her hand one more time and saw that she was still a card short from summoning the monster she needed to take on Kana's newest monster. Without the monster to help her, Akiza couldn't do much this turn and decided that it was best to end her turn all together.

"I'm done for now," She said. "It's your move."

"Alright," Kana replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing another card from her deck, Kana looked on as the purple aura that was surrounding Tragoedia began to increase in strength. Now that she had 6 cards in her hand, Tragoedia's Attack and Defense increased by another 600 points.

**Tragoedia: ATK 3600 DEF 3600**

"This is bad," Toru pointed out as he watched the Duel from the stands. "Now that Tragoedia has 3600 Attack Points, Akiza will most likely lose at least 2000 Life Points this turn."

"Yeah," Madas followed. "Also, if her opponent destroys her Rose Witch then the weakest monster that Akiza will have on the field will be her Queen Angel of Roses. That will cause her monster to destroy itself on her next Standby Phase, thus leaving her field completely empty of anything other monsters. What's she going to do?"

As the boys thought about the current situation, Mei looked on and saw that Misaki, Crow, and Lilly all had calm expressions on their faces. The young woman could tell instantly that the three of them weren't worried about Akiza at all.

"Aren't afraid about what might happen to her?" She asked them.

"Why would we be?" Crow asked, answered her question with one of his own. "We have faith that Akiza is going to win. That's all the reason we need to not be worried about her."

Misaki remained silent, but she agreed with everything that Crow said and nodded her head as a result. Mei turned her attention back towards the Duel for a second and saw that the situation still hasn't changed. She then turned back to face Akiza's friends.

"I have faith in her too," She said. "But I still worry about her. I mean, she's going up against a monster that has 3600 Attack Points. Not even her Ace Monster, Black Rose Dragon, has the power to stop it. I just see any way for her to defeat that thing."

"Akiza will find a way," Lilly said. "Takashi, the boy that Akiza has a crush on, told me something once. He said that out of all the Duelists he's faced before, he found Akiza to be the strongest. Her ability to come up with winning strategies far surpasses his own and Takashi not only knows that, but accepts it as well. Akiza has the potential to become the greatest Duelist ever, even greater than the legendary World Queen; Sakura Nakamura. He's also told me that while he wants to win this competition, he feels that the one who will most likely win this is Akiza."

Mei's eyes widen a little after hearing this information. Akiza had repeatedly told her that she feels that Takashi Nakamura is the greatest Duelist that she's ever come across and that his skills seemed unmatched. The fact that Takashi had admitted that not only was Akiza a far better Duelist than he could ever be, but also the one to likely win the Fortune Cup, surprised her a lot.

She then turned her attention back towards her friend again and saw that her eyes weren't filled with fear or despair. They were instead filled with confidence and determination, giving the expression that she was going to win this Duel no matter what happens. The sight of that caused Mei to smile and she proceeded to turn all of her attention solely towards the Duel. As she started cheering for her best friend as loud as she could, a small smile appeared Lilly's face as she looked on, happy that Akiza found friend like Mei who supports her so much.

Back at the Duel, Kana prepared herself to launch Tragoedia's attack towards one of Akiza's monsters. Before she did that however, she turned her attention towards the boy with glasses one more time and smiled at him. Once she did that, Kana turned back towards Akiza.

"This is for you Rikuo," She said to herself. "Tragoedia, attack Akiza's Rose Witch!"

The monster obeyed Kana's command and proceeded to fire a blast of massive purple energy from its mouth. When the blast struck Rose Witch, the monster was incinerated and a huge explosion appeared that completely covered Akiza's side of the field.

**Akiza: 2000 LP**

As the smoke continued covering her opponent's side of the field, Kana waited patiently to see if Akiza had any plays that could change the outcome of her attack. However, after about a minute of waiting, the young woman determined that she didn't.

"I end my turn," She said.

With no other moves to make, Kana had no other choice but to end her turn. However, doing so didn't bother her as she felt that she had the Duel well in hand. At the start of Akiza's next Standby Phase, her Queen Angel of Roses would destroy herself and leave her field open for a direct attack. Also, even if she did summon another monster, Kana felt confident that Tragoedia could destroy easily and then she could just attack Akiza directly with another monster. No matter what the outcome may be, this Duel was hers for the taking.

"I've won this," She thought to herself.

Soon the holographic smoke started to disappear and looked on in order to see if Akiza was alright. When they managed to get a good look at her, everyone saw that not only was Akiza fine after Tragoedia's attack on her Rose Witch, but she was smiling too. The young woman was actually happy that her monster was destroyed. Eventually, after spending about another 30 seconds smiling to herself, Akiza spoke and explained her actions.

"That was nice attack Kana," She said. "I'm glad to know that there's someone who fights for the same reason I do."

Kana looked at Akiza with a confused expression on her face. Just what did she mean when she said that they fight for the same reason? In the end, Kana didn't know. However, what she did know is that Akiza was extremely confident about her situation. It was as if she hadn't lost the advantage even though it was clear that she did.

"What's going on here?" She thought. "I have her on the ropes. There's no way she can possibly come back from this, let alone defeat my Tragoedia. So why…do I now the feeling…that she's so much better than me?"

As Kana continued wondering about this, Akiza prepared herself to begin her next turn by placing her hand upon her deck. When she did, the young woman closed her eyes and began to shut out everything. Once she did that, Akiza began to picture a card and soon, the smile that she was wearing became a little bit bigger.

"It's good to see you," She said to herself. "Are you ready for you debut?"

The card gave to reply in the form of words, but it did start glow brightly. Soon the light the card was giving off illuminated Akiza's mind, causing her to slowly open her eyes and return to reality.

"It's my turn," She declared. "Draw!"

Akiza swiftly drew the top card from her deck and then looked on as her Queen Angel of Roses exploded due to its own Special Ability. Once that happened, Akiza took its card and another card from her hand put them away before placing the card that she drew onto her Monster Card Zone.

"By removing my Level 7 Fallen Angel of Roses from my hand and my Level 7 Queen Angel of Roses from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon this powerful monster onto the field," She explained. "Now bloom…Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel!"

**Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel: ATK 2900 DEF 2400 LVL 8**

Upon making her move, a bright flash of light completely covered Akiza's side of the field. The light was so intense that some of the spectators had to cover their eyes just to keep themselves from becoming blind. Even Enoch, was watching the Duel from a good distance away, was force to turn away for a moment. Eventually, after about a minute, the light began to fade away and everyone got a good look at the newest monster that was on Akiza's side of the field.

It was a beautiful white angel who had white robes, along with green and yellow armor, covering its body. The angel also had a fairly muscular build to it, giving the impression that it could possibly destroy a boulder with just one powerful punch. However the most noticeable and amazing thing about this angel was the wings that were on its back. Its left wing was the same as Queen Angel of Roses' while its right wing resembled Fallen Angel of Roses'.

The sight of Rosaria amazed everyone in the stadium, including those who weren't watching the Duel. No one had the words to describe it as they felt that any words they said wouldn't do the monster itself justice. Soon though, Kana was the first person to openly comment on Rosaria. The young woman spoke only one word, and it was rather simple compliment. However, that one word fit Rosaria's description completely.

"Beautiful,"

"Thank you," Akiza said, "I'm happy that you complimented my Rosaria on its beauty. However, beauty isn't the only thing amazing about it."

Rosaria flew high into the air and started hovering over the entire Dueling field. As it did that, its wings started glowing brightly.

"I activate Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel's Special Ability! Once per turn, it can negate the effects of all other face-up cards currently on the field until the End Phase of this turn!"

Kana instantly snapped out of her admiring state of mind when she heard Akiza explain the Special Abilities of her Stately Fallen Angel. She frantically tried to find a way to counter it, but had no cards that would do the trick. Because of that, she could look on as Rosaria released a powerful red and purple light from its wings that completely covered Tragoedia. The light quickly robbed the monster of all of its powers, effectively causing it to lose all of its strength as well.

**Tragoedia: ATK 0 DEF 0**

With Tragoedia losing all of its Attack and Defense Points, and having no other ways to protect her Life Points, Kana quickly accepted the reality of her defeat. With that, she slowly turned head one more time before turning face Akiza again. With a heavy heart and tears in her eyes, Kana nodded her head towards her opponent. Akiza understood Kana's intentions and agree to carry them out as a sign of respect.

"Rosaria," She called. "Go, and attack Tragoedia…Divine Roses!"

Rosaria once again complied with its master's request and compressed the light coming from both of its wings into a powerful laser beams. When the beam struck Tragoedia, the Fiend-Type monster was turned to ashes and Kana lost the remaining of her Life Points.

**Kana: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As all the holograms began to fade away, the referee looked over to see if the Life Points of both Duelists were accurate. Once he was able to do so, he proceeded to raise his hand and point it towards Akiza.<p>

"This Duel is over!" He declared. "The winner of the match is Akiza Izinski!"

Everyone in the stadium cheered upon hearing the referee state that Akiza was the winner of the Duel. However, out of all of them, it was her friends that were cheering the loudest. All of them were not only happy that she managed to win, but also very impressed in the way she won as well. Madas, Toru, Crow, and Mei all cheered at the top of their lungs while Misaki and Lilly looked on with looks of approval, the latter of the two was smiling as well.

"She has the potential to surpass Sakura Nakamura," Lilly thought to herself. "From what I just saw, you may be right Takashi."

As the crowd continued cheer for Akiza, Enoch looked on at the girl and started to recall the entire Duel again in his head. Once he did that, the young focused in on Akiza and noticed that an extremely faint aura was surrounding her body.

"I see," He said to himself. "So that's your own unique Psychic Ability Akiza. I heard that some Psychic Duelists have variations of the ability, but you have the true power. The Foresee Draw, the ability to accurately predict the next card you're going to draw. That explains why she's so good at Dueling. By using her Foresee Draw, she can set up strategies several turns ahead of time, allowing her to catch her opponents off guard and defeat them before their strategies have time to develop."

As he continued thinking about this, Enoch took another look at Akiza and noticed the bright and happy smile that was on her face. He then recalled his time at the Arcadia Movement and remembered how cold Akiza seemed to be when he saw her for the first time.

"Alex told me that in order for a Psychic Duelist to be able to use the Foresee Draw, the must be open minded, intelligent, and most of all; kind. From what I'm seeing, it looks like Akiza managed to do all of those things. It's probably because she's found people who truly care about her and, in return, she cares about them as well."

Taking one more look at her, a small smile appeared on Enoch's face. Having been grateful towards Akiza ever since she helped him out in the past, Enoch has always wished that she was safe and happy. The fact that she was both made him really happy and he proceeded to wish her luck throughout the rest of her run throughout the Fortune Cup.

Back at the Dueling field, Akiza deactivated her Duel Disk and proceeded to make her way over towards Kana. Once she reached her, she went to help her up from the ground before shaking her hand.

"That was a good Duel Kana," She said with a smile on her face. "I had a lot of fun battling you."

"…Yeah," Kana replied. "I had a lot of fun too."

As the two girls continued shaking hands, Akiza noticed that Kana had a sad expression on her face. She could tell right away that it wasn't just her defeat that was causing Kana to feel the way she was and Akiza had a pretty good idea what it was.

"That guy means a lot to you, doesn't he?"

Kana's eyes widen and looked towards Akiza. When she did, the Psychic Duelist pointed her finger towards the boy in the glasses, indicating that she was paying close attention towards way she was looking at him during their Duel. She was about to ask Akiza why would she think that, but was cut off when she started talking again.

"You should go and tell that guy how you feel. I'm pretty sure that he feels the same way you do."

"I...I can't." Kana replied as he face turn bright red. "I mean, don't get wrong, I want to tell Rikuo how I feel more than anything else in the world. It's just, don't think I should. In the past, I used to do a lot of terrible things and I was disliked by a lot of people. For a while, I thought I was better off dead than alive. That's…until Rikuo came along."

As she listened to her, Akiza started to recall her own past and how it was very similar Kana's. Like her, she also did a lot of terrible things in the past and people hated her for that. However, that all changed when she met Takashi for the first time.

"Rikuo's extremely kind and patient," Kana continued. "He always tries to connect with good in people's heart and I was no exception. Slowly, but surely, he helped me get over my anger and allow me to open up to other people again. It didn't take me long after that I started developing feelings for him and soon fell in love with him all together. However, despite all the time we've spent together, I've never had the confidence to tell him how I truly feel. That's reason why I decided to enter the Fortune Cup in the first place. I hoped that if I won, I would gain enough courage tell Rikuo that I love him. But I guess that's never going to happen now."

"You're wrong," Akiza stated. "You have the courage to tell him how you feel Kana. The only reason why you can't is because you're afraid about what Rikuo might think when he finds out. I know how that feels because I'm also going through the same thing. There's a guy that I love and I'm afraid to tell him how I feel. In fact, that fear is so great that I fear I might lose him because of so indecisive. However, I know for a fact that he's not the type of person to reject me or make fun of me because of my feelings. In fact, he'll probably respect me because I had the courage to do so. Kana, what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't be afraid about what Rikuo might think. If he's the type of person that you think that he is, then I doubt he'll judge you any differently."

After listening to Akiza's explanation, tears started to form in Kana's eyes. The young woman never revealed her feelings to anyone else before and, like with Rikuo, she believed that they would probably make fun of her because of them. Not only did Akiza accept Kana's feeling for Rikuo, but she actually encouraged her to tell him how she felt. Hearing her say that brought a sense of joy into her heart and she proceeded to smile at her new friend as a result.

"Thank you Akiza," She said. "I really needed to hear that."

"No problem," Akiza replied. "I just hope that you and Rikuo end up being happy together."

With that said, the Psychic Duelist said her final goodbyes and prepared herself to return to her friends. As Kana watched her leave, she was about to do the same thing. However, just before she did, she recalled what Akiza said about the guy that she liked and wanted to know one more thing. So, she quickly made her way over to her and grabbed her by the hand.

"Wait," She said. "About the boy that you said you love. When do you think that you'll be able to him how you feel?"

Akiza started blushing a little as she thought about the prospect of confessing her feelings towards Takashi. She soon calmed herself down and turned to face her knew friend. When she did that, Akiza gently placed her hand upon her necklace.

"I don't know," She answered. "I still lack the power to do that. But for now, I'll just keep watch over him."

"Are really satisfied with that?" Kana asked. "I mean, you did say you were afraid to lose him because you're waiting too long."

"Sure," Akiza said with a smile. "Nothing would make me happier if he chooses me someday. But…it's okay if doesn't. As long as Takashi is happy, that's what counts."

Kana accepted Akiza's answered and nodded her head as a result. She went on to thank the Psychic Duelist one more time before finally returning to the stands be with Rikuo. As she watched her, Akiza wished the young woman luck one more and hoped for the best her. She then prepared to make her way over to her friends, but she stopped walking when she heard the announcer over the loud speaker.

"_The final Qualification Duel is about to begin,_" He stated. "_Will Tyler Campbell and Takashi Nakamura please make their way over to the starting line? If either Duelist is not there within the next 7 minutes, then I will have to consider that forfeit._"

Akiza's eyes widen a little and she began turn her attention towards the starting line. When she did she saw that Tyler Campbell, the Duelist who faced Alistair and lost, was there and waiting for his opponent. Akiza then looked all around the rest of the stadium and saw that no one else was heading towards Tyler.

"Takashi," She thought to herself. "Where are you?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_The final Qualifying match is about to start, but Takashi is nowhere to be seen. If he doesn't show up soon then he'll be disqualified, causing he and the rest of his friends to be arrested by Sector Security. However, even if he does show up, will his new training be enough to defeat Tyler, a Duelist who's hell-bent on getting revenge?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 61: Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 5_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a few short announcements._

_First, I want to say sorry for getting this chapter in so late. I had stuff with college that I had to do and that took up some of me free time. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as can._

_Next, I'm letting you all know that I'm planning on doing a new Pokémon story along with Over the Nexus. My little brother's birthday is coming up and he wants me write this story I used to do since he like reading it and was depressed when I stopped. The first chapter should be out around the same time as Chapter 61 of Over the Nexus. Please review it and tell me how it is. It would not only mean lot to me, but to my little brother as well. _

_Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	61. Chapter 61

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 61: **_Fortune Cup Round 1 – Part 5_

* * *

><p>"<em>Takashi Nakamura, you have 5 minutes to make you way to the track or else you will be disqualified! Takashi Nakamura, you have 5 minutes remaining!"<em>

Everyone in the stadium was waiting anxiously for Takashi to arrive so that the final Qualifying Duel of the first round would finally get underway. Some people believed that he chickened out and decided to not compete. Others thought that maybe he was making everyone wait on purpose so that he could make some flashy entrance at the last second. In the end, all they could do was speculate their own opinions on the matter. However, despite their opinions, almost everyone in the stadium did believe one thing. Even if Takashi made it in time, there was no way in hell that he would be able to defeat Tyler.

Meanwhile, in their section of the stands, Lilly and the others were busy waiting for the Duel to start. As they did that, Toru was busy on his cell phone, trying to see if he could contact Takashi. He had tried two times already and both of times ended with him only receiving a voice mail. Toru believed that the third time would be the charm and he hoped that his best friend, who was almost like a younger brother to him, would pick up and inform that he was on his way. However, nothing of the sort happened. After six long rings, Toru heard the computerized voice of Takashi's answering machine which caused him to close his phone in disappointment and frustration.

"Damn it," He said silently to himself. "Damn it…what the hell is going on Takashi? What's taking you so long to get here?"

He wondered what was taking his friend so long, Toru flashed back to a couple of months ago when he and the rest of his friends first split up in order to begin their training. He stated to all of his friends that he didn't trust Alex and that maybe he was secretly working for Lazar and Sector Security so that they could get a hold of them a sooner. But, despite all of his protests, Toru couldn't stop Takashi from leaving to train with Alex. When that happened, all Toru thought he could do was wait for his friend to show up like he's always done. However, with everything that at was stake and with only 4 minutes left to go, Toru's regrets were beginning to resurface.

"I knew it. I knew having Takashi leave to train with him was a bad idea. I just knew it."

As Toru continued to lament his decision, Madas noticed this and started to wonder what was wrong. He was going to ask himself, but he felt that Toru wasn't in the mood to talk right now and would probably ride him off. Because of that, Madas made his way over to Crow and went on to gently tap his shoulder. When the Blackwing Duelist took notice, he turned to face his rival and listened closely as he started talking.

"Hey Crow," He said. "What's going on with Toru? I mean, I know he had Takashi are really close, but don't you think he's taking this a little bit too seriously?"

Crow kept to himself as he thought about what Madas just told him and about how Toru was feeling. He, and the rest of his friends, had agree to keep the fact that they were force to enter the Fortune Cup because of Sector Security a secret so that none of their other friends would know. Since a lot was still left to know about why they've been targeted, they couldn't afford to get the others involved until they exactly knew what was going on. If they did, then not only will getting to the bottom of this become more difficult, but they would also be endangering their friends in the process.

Crow didn't want that to happen so he tried his best to come up with a lie good enough so that Madas would believe him and drop the subject all together. As he tried thinking of one, Lilly took notice on what was going on and saw the predicament that her friend was in. Realizing that he needed some help, the young woman decided to step in.

"Well Crow," She started off. "Looks like I'm about to win that bet."

Both Madas and Crow turned their attention towards Lilly and looked on as she started smiling happily at them. The boys, especially Crow, were confused on why she was acting this way as Lilly usually had a scowl on her face most of the time. They were about to question her about it, but Lilly spoke first before they could.

"You know Crow," She continued. "The bet that Toru and I made a couple of months ago. We agreed that if Takashi didn't make it back from his training by the time his first Duel came up then he would have to give me $1000. You do remember,_ don't you_?"

Lilly gave Crow a sly little wink after she finished her sentence. Upon noticing it, Crow remembered something that Lilly told him in the past, back when Team Satisfaction was together. She told him that whenever she's talking to someone and she's winks at the end of her sentence then he must follow along with it. By doing this, Crow doesn't have to create a noticeable lie and their cover could be maintained. Realizing what he had to do, Crow breathed in and started smiling like he usually does.

"Yeah," He said. "Toru was stupid that bet and now he's about to out of $1000."

As Crow and Lilly continued talking about the bet, Madas felt that he finally understood what was going on and why Toru seemed so sad. This caused him to let out a sigh of relief before gently tapping Toru's shoulder and turning his attention back towards the race track. Once Lilly saw this, she then stopped talking to Crow and moved her attention over to the sulking Toru. She then went on to yank him by the ear and whispered something to him.

"Stop looking so sad!" She said. "If everyone sees you like this then that causes problems for us."

"But…Takashi…," Toru tried to point out.

"Takashi is a lot of things," Lilly said, cutting of Toru. "He's reckless, hyperactive, and retarded. However, for as long as I know him, he's never let anyone down when they really needed his help. If you really are his friend Toru, then grow a set and believe in him."

Once she finished, Lilly let go of Toru's ear and turned her attention over to the track. As he held his sore ear, Toru thought about what she just said to him and how everything she said was right. Takashi was somewhat reckless, he never liked it when he slowed down, and he sometimes does act pretty stupid. However, he also remembered that Takashi was always there when people needed him the most and that he always thought about others before thinking about himself. For as long as he's known him Takashi has always been like that, especially after Hikari died nearly 7 years ago. With that in mind, Toru snapped out his depression and joined his friends in observing the track, confident that Takashi will appear soon.

"_Takashi Nakamura, you have 3 minutes to make you way over to the track or else you be disqualified. I repeat, Takashi Nakamura you have 3 minutes remaining!"_

As the announcement rang throughout the stadium, everyone there was quickly becoming more and more annoyed with waiting. Everyone else had the decency to show up for their Duels time and yet Takashi was still nowhere to be found. This caused the people in the stadium to released a boo that was so loud that it could be heard from several miles away. It soon came to the point that some of the spectators wanted the judges wanted to declare Tyler Campbell the winner so that they could go home and prepare themselves to watch tomorrow's Duels.

However, out of all the people who were annoyed by Takashi's absence, the one who was the most annoyed was Tyler himself. Ever since his humiliating defeat against Alistair at the Exhibition Duel, the young man has been hell-bent on receiving an invitation to compete in the Fortune Cup so that he could defeat the Duel King and win back his pride. But now, after going through so much crap just get this far, he's left with no other choice but to wait for a opponent who might not even show up. This caused the Tokyo Grand Champion to rev his Duel Runner in frustration.

"This is some bulls**t!" He said to himself. "Why the hell do I have to wait for such a fool?! It's obvious to everyone here that he's not going to show. This is such a waste of time. I wouldn't put it against it that he found out that he was facing me and decided to chicken out."

"Takashi isn't a coward…you fool,"

Tyler's eyes widen when heard someone call him and fool and immediately looked around in order to find out who said it. After about a minute he soon discovered who it was and saw that it was the person who just won the last Duel…Akiza Izinski.

"To me," She continued. "I consider people who underestimate their opponents to be the biggest fools of all. But then, you should know that better than anyone,…having been humiliated on national television."

Hearing Akiza talk about that humiliating day caused Tyler's blood to boil. A large part of him wanted to come up to her and smack her across the face just so that she would know her place in this world. However, he eventually decided against it as he felt that she wasn't worth his time or his effort. He then calmed himself down before turning to face her completely.

"It seems that you really have a lot of faith that this guy," He said to her. "If that's the case then why don't the two of us have ourselves a little bet."

"A bet?" Akiza questioned. "What kind of bet?"

"It's rather simple," Tyler explained. "If you truly have so much faith in this Takashi guy then you probably think that he'll show soon to face me. However…if he doesn't happen to show up…then you and I are going to go on a little date. How about that? Does that sound fair to you?"

Akiza glared at Tyler somewhat as she thought about the prospect of his bet. However, the young woman quickly erased the thought of the both of them going on a date from her mind. She then smiled a little before she started speaking.

"Alright," She said. "I accept this little bet of yours…on one condition."

"Condition…?" Tyler questioned.

"Yes," Akiza confirmed. "I don't take bets likely and I hate casual bets all together. So let's agree to do this. Even if Takashi shows up in time, if he can't defeat you during your Duel then I'll go on a date with you. Also, during that date, you can do anything that you with and I won't protest. I'll even do…_you know what_…if that's what you want."

Upon hearing Akiza's condition, Tyler started smiling to himself as he thought about the things that he planned on doing with her during their date. Without missing a beat, he looked her dead in the eye and nodded his head.

"Alright, I accept your terms,"

"_One minute remaining. Takashi Nakamura…you have one minute remaining before you are disqualified."_

When the announcer declared that Takashi had one minute left, everyone in the crowd stood up and started counting down. As they did that, Crow and the others just continued waiting as still hold on to belief that Takashi would appear before time ran out. Kagura Toyoshima, also didn't participate in the gesture that crowd was partaking in. All she did was keep to seat and had her light brown eyes focused solely on the track.

When the crowd reached the 30 second mark, Akiza closed her eyes and held on to her gold and emerald necklace. She then closed her eyes and recalled all the kind things Takashi has done for other and for her over the past 10 months. The thought of that reminded her about how she truly felt about the man who changed her life forever and smiled as a result.

"Takashi," She thought. "I believe in you. I know that you'll be here, my love."

As the crowd's countdown reached 10, Akiza's Dragon Mark started glowing brightly. It was at that moment that everyone in the stadium heard a loud revving noise. They quickly turned their attention towards the noise and saw that someone on a Duel Runner was making his way over to the starting line. As the person got closer, they saw that he was riding a blue and white Duel Runner and that he was wearing a large scarf that was wrapped around his neck. However, the most noticeable feature that they could see is that he had a large cross-shape scar on his left cheek. When the judge saw it, he immediately informed the announcer.

"_It's Takashi Nakamura!" _He yelled. _"Takashi Nakamura is here!"_

Everyone in the crowd was shocked to see that Takashi actually made it on time, but they soon started booing him because he took his sweet time in getting here. However, not everyone was booing him as his friends were all cheering as loud as they possible could, excited and relieved that their friend was alright and ready to compete.

"So he's here," Tyler said as he revved up his Duel Runner. "That's fine…it just gives me the pleasure of beating him myself."

Once Takashi reached the starting line, Tyler sped off and both Duelists raced towards the first corner. For a moment it seemed that Tyler would reach it first due to his experience. However, that was soon proven wrong as Takashi managed to put his training with Alex to good use. Taking advantage of the slipstream that Tyler produce from the back of his Duel Runner, Takashi was able to get a massive boost of speed. With it, he was able to get past her opponent and reach the first corner with a couple of seconds to pair.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Tyler: 4000 LP**

"It's my turn," Takashi pointed out as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Tyler: SPC – 1**

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck, Takashi wasted no time in checking it out before placing it into his hand. Once he did that, the young Turbo Duelist then grabbed another card from his hand and placed it firmly upon his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Junk Blader, in Attack Mode!"

**Junk Blader: ATK 1800 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light erupted beside Takashi as he made his way across the race track. From that light, Junk Blader appeared and started flying next to his master. Once the warrior was out, Takashi continued on with his turn by grabbing two more cards from his hand and inserting them into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on the field, right beside Takashi and his Junk Blader for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down," Takashi said to his opponent. "With that, I end my turn."

"Good," Tyler replied. "Now it's time to show you how a real Turbo Duelist makes an opening move. I Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Tyler: SPC – 2**

As he drew a card from his deck, a large applause erupted throughout the entire stadium. Having been force to wait for Takashi to show up, almost everyone that was there watching the Duel wanted him to lose the Duel. To that end, the cheered for Tyler as loud as they could, asking him to defeat Takashi in the humiliating way possible. Not wanting to let his adoring public down, Tyler decided to do just that and kicked off his turn by grabbing 1 card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"To begin," He said. "When my opponent has a monster already on the field while I don't, I can Special Summon this card directly from my hand. Appear to me now, Cyber Dragon!"

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

A bright flash of light erupted next to Tyler as his Cyber Dragon appeared and started roaring at the top of its mechanical lungs. Anybody who's seen Tyler Duel knew that Special Summoning Cyber Dragon right away was one of his favorite moves and that it only meant devastation for his opponents. However, despite the fact that his opponent's monster was stronger than his own, Takashi wasn't worried and just waited to see if Tyler had anymore moves to make, which he did by placing another card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I'm not done yet," He said. "Next, I Normal Summon: Cyber Dragon Zwei, in Attack Mode!"

**Cyber Dragon Zwei: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Another flash of light shined across Tyler's side of the field as his Cyber Dragon Zwei appeared and started flying next to him and his Cyber Dragon. Once it was out, Tyler took his left hand pointed it towards Takashi's Junk Blader.

"Now…it's time to begin the demolition! Cyber Dragon, destroy his Junk Blader now!"

Cyber Dragon complied with Tyler's order and proceeded to open its mouth. Once it did that, energy started to building inside its mouth. Everyone in the crowd looked on in anticipation as they prepared themselves to watch Takashi lose not only his monster, but some of his Life Points as well. However, that wouldn't be the case as Takashi proceeded to activate one of the face-down cards that he set last turn.

"I activate a Trap Card: No Entry!" He declared. "With it, all monsters that are in Attack Mode are now switched into Defense Mode!"

Tyler's eyes widen somewhat as he watched both of his Cyber Dragons and Takashi's Junk Blader become enveloped in a bright purple aura. This aura took control their bodies and forced them to kneel down and defend their respective master's. The sight of this caused the crowd to boo out of annoyance as they took this action as a sign that Takashi was stalling again. The disapproval from the people in the stadium started annoy Takashi's friends, especially Lilly.

"My god," She said to herself. "Will they please shut the hell up?!"

"Tell me about it," Misaki agreed.

As the two girls attempted to fight off the desire to forcefully make the people around to them to be quiet, Toru and Crow were busy analyzing the Duel. Even though things have just started, the two of them could tell that something was different with Takashi. It wasn't the way he was acting, how he played, or how he rode his Duel Runner. It was something much more. It was like he acquired a brand new power, a power so great that it gave the impression that nothing could stop him from winning this Duel. Toru and Crow didn't know for know for sure, but they did know one thing. With Takashi's new power the two of them, along with the rest of their friends, had absolute faith that their friend would win this Duel.

Meanwhile, back at the Duel, Tyler was trying to figure what his next move should be. Although he had a feeling that Takashi would probably use a Trap Card to prevent him from attacking, he didn't expect that attack to force his Cyber Dragons into Defense Mode. Because of that, and the fact that his dragons don't have very high defensive power, Tyler had to make sure his next move was a good one. After thinking about for a few seconds, he decided what he was going to do and went to take one card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When that happened, the card materialized face-down of the field for about a second before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," Tyler said.

"It's my turn," Takashi said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "I Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Tyler: SPC – 3**

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck, Takashi took a look at it for a moment before placing it into his hand. He then grabbed another card and went on to place it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton! With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards from my deck and then discard 1 card from my hand to my Graveyard!"

Following the instructions of his Speed Spell, Takashi went on to draw 2 cards from his deck and place them into his hand. Takashi then took 1 card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard. Once he did that, Takashi continued on with his turn by grabbing another card from his hand and placing it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Nitro Synchron!"

**Nitro Synchron: ATK 300 DEF 100 LVL 2**

Another flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as a new monster appeared before him. The creature had the appearance of a small can of nitroglycerin that had a face, hands, and feet. The sight of the monster surprised a lot of people, but none other than Tyler himself.

"What kind of monster is that?" He questioned. "Do you think it's enough to help you win this Duel?"

"No," Takashi answered. "However, who said I using it all by itself?"

Takashi followed up his statement by pressing a button on his Duel Disk. This activated his other face-down card which caused another portion of field to become illuminated.

"I activate the Trap Card: Graceful Revival! With it, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard in Attack Mode. The monster I choose is my Tuningware, which I discarded when I played Angel Baton!"

**Tuningware: ATK 100 DEF 300 LVL 1**

When the light slowly began to fade away, Tuningware appeared before Takashi and started flying next to him and his other monsters. With them out, Takashi's friends knew what was coming up next. However, at the same time, they had a feeling that something new was about to come as well.

"I Tune my Level 1 Tuningware and Level 4 Junk Blader with my Level 2 Nitro Synchron!"

The three monsters responded to Takashi's declaration and proceeded to fly high up into the air. As they prepared themselves to begin the process for a Synchro Summoning, their master took one card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card. When he did that, a bright flash of light covered his entire field as Takashi started chanting to himself.

"Gathering feelings will become a new force! Become the path its light shine's upon! Synchron Summon! Blaze on, Nitro Warrior!"

**Nitro Warrior: ATK 2800 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the light from the Synchro Summoning ritual ended, a new Synchro Monster no one has ever seen before appeared and started flying just above Takashi's head. It was a green and black monster that had a fairly muscular build to it. It also had two sharp horns on its head and a large booster pack near its behind. The sight of Nitro Warrior impressed a lot of people in the stands, even the ones who weren't impressed with Takashi himself.

"Holy crap!" Madas said as he looked on at the new Synchro Monster. "I've never even heard of Nitro Warrior before. I wonder what it can do."

"I don't know," Crow followed. "But I'm sure we're about to find out."

Back at the Duel, Tyler looked on as he watched Takashi slowly make his way over to him as he prepared himself to attack with his new monster. The Turbo Duelist knew right away that he going to lose one his monster this turn, but he wasn't too worried about it. Since both of his monsters were in Defense Mode, he wouldn't lose any Life Points this turn. Also, thanks to his face-down card, the destruction of one of his monsters wouldn't really matter anyway.

"C'mon," He said to himself as he waited for Takashi to attack. "Go ahead and attack me. It won't mean damn thing once you do."

"Before I attack," Takashi said. "I'm activating the Special Abilities of both my Nitro Synchron and my Tuningware! When Nitro is used to Synchro Summon a Nitro Monster and when Tuningware is used to Synchro Summon any monster, I can draw 1 card from my deck respectively!"

Following the abilities of his monsters, Takashi swiftly drew 2 cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. Once he did that, the young man went on and conducted his Battle Phase.

"Now Nitro Warrior," He said. "Go and attack his Cyber Dragon…Dynamite Crunch!"

Nitro Warrior complied with its master's order and proceeded to make over to Cyber Dragon. As it did so, its booster pack activated, causing it to gain speed. The monster then placed its fists together, causing to them to gain power due to its newly increased speed. Once it was close enough to its target, Nitro Warrior slammed both of its empowered fists into Cyber Dragon, causing a huge explosion to cover his opponent's side of the field.

"That was a nice attack," Tyler said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "However, it won't do you any good. I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I revive the Cyber Dragon that you just destroyed!"

As the smoke from Nitro Warrior's attack began to fade away, a flash of light appeared across Tyler's side of the field. When the smoke faded away completely, everyone in the stadium saw that Cyber Dragon was back and prepared to go another round. The sight of the monster impressed a lot of people in the stadium, but not Takashi. In fact, the young man simply smiled before speeding up some more.

"Thanks for complimenting my Nitro Warrior's attack," He said. "If you want, I can show it to you again."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Tyler questioned.

"I mean this," Takashi answered. "I activate Nitro Warrior's Special Ability! When it destroys a monster through battle, Nitro can switch one of my opponent's Defense Position monsters into Attack Mode and then, it can attack it!"

Tyler's eyes widen from shock as he watched his Cyber Dragon Zwei, the only other monster that he had in Defense Mode, become forcibly switched into Attack Mode. Once that happened, Nitro Warrior prepared itself to launch another attack.

"Nitro…attack with Dynamite Crunch!" Takashi ordered.

Nitro once again complied and went on to destroy Cyber Dragon Zwei. When that happened, not only did it cause another explosion across Tyler's side of the field, but it also caused him to lose some of his Life Points as well.

**Tyler: 2700 LP**

As he opponent was trying to regain himself from his most recent attack, Takashi took the opportunity to speed past Tyler and take the lead in the Duel. When he did that, all of his friends started cheering for him while everyone else in the stands were looking on in a state of shock in astonishment. None of them had expected for Tyler to be at an early disadvantage, especially against a nobody like Takashi. Soon though, they started cheering for the Tokyo Grand Champion again when he appeared from the smoke of his monster's explosion and began to make his way over to his opponent.

As he did that, Takashi continued on with his turn by grabbing the two cards that he drew via the effects of his Tuningware and Nitro Synchron. He then inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as they materialized on his field for a few moments before disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn," He said. "Alright my friend, show me what you can do this time."

"Fine," Tyler replied. "I show you what I can do. I'll show you that and more, I Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Tyler: SPC – 4**

Drawing a card from his deck, Tyler took a glance at it and smiled when he saw what he just drew. Not wasting anytime, he proceeded to take the card and insert it into his Monster Card Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Speed Fusion!" He stated. "When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can use this card to perform a Fusion Summoning!"

Following along with the instructions of his Speed Spell, Tyler took the Cyber Dragon card that he had on his Duel Disk, along with another one that he had in his hand, and placed them into his Graveyard. Once he did that, a second Cyber Dragon appeared onto his field and started to fuse together with his other one.

"I fuse the Cyber Dragon on my field with the one that's in my hand in order to Fusion Summon: Cyber Twin Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Cyber Twin Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Once both dragons completed their fusion, Cyber Twin Dragon emerged onto the field and started staring down Nitro Warrior. The appearance of the creature caused Takashi wonder why Tyler would decide to summon it. Since Nitro Warrior and Cyber Twin Dragon had the same number of Attack Points, both monsters would end up destroying each other if they attacked. If that were too happened, Takashi would have the advantage since he could just summon a monster on his next turn and launch a direct attack. In the end, Takashi didn't know what purpose Tyler had for his Cyber Twin Dragon and prepared himself to see what his opponent was going to do.

As he did that, Tyler proceeded to take a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, a light blue aura surrounded his Cyber Twin Dragon for a few moments before disappearing.

"I now activate the Continuous Speed Spell: Kishido Spirit!" He said. "Since I have 4 or more Speed Counters, monsters on my side of the field can't be destroyed when they're attacking monsters of the same Attack Points of them. In other words, I can have my Cyber Twin Dragon attack your Nitro Warrior and it won't be destroyed. Also, thanks to the Special Ability of Cyber Twin Dragon, I can attack your Life Points directly once your monster is gone since Cyber Twin can attack twice each turn!"

The crowd was pleased upon hearing Tyler's explanation has it meant that not only would he be able to destroy Takashi's Nitro Warrior this turn, but also he would also deal him 2800 points of directly damage as well. They then started cheering even louder as Tyler prepared himself to conduct his Battle Phase!

"Cyber Twin Dragon," He called. "Go and obliterate his Nitro Warrior!"

The metal dragon complied and started gathering energy into one of its two heads. However, before it got the chance to fire its attack, Takashi took the opportunity to activate one of his face-down cards. When he did, a large roared sounded throughout the entire stadium, causing Cyber Twin Dragon to freeze up and stop charging its attack.

"What the," Tyler said out of confusion. "What's wrong with you Cyber Twin Dragon? Go ahead and attack his monster!"

Cyber Twin Dragon didn't respond to Tyler's demand and continued to remain still. The sight of this confused the Turbo Duelist and started to wonder what was wrong. As he looked around to see what was wrong, he noticed that one of Takashi's face-down cards had revealed itself and that the young man was beginning to explain its effect.

"Sorry about that," He started off. "But I can't have you destroy my Nitro Warrior just yet. So…I've activated the Trap Card; Threatening Roar! With it, you can't attack me this turn!"

Upon hearing his opponent explain what his card can do, Tyler began gritting his teeth in anger. All Takashi has done for most of this Duel is stall and play defensively and attack only when the situation suited him. Fighting such a Duel annoyed him greatly as it meant things would only take longer than they should be.

The crowd was also annoyed by this play and they started booing Takashi even more than before. Some of them even started throwing some of the refreshments that they bought towards him as he made his way across the track. They all came here today for an exciting Duel between the best Duelists throughout all of Japan. But instead, they're treated to slow Duel that has hardly any action at all. There have only been 2 successful attacks, and both of them came from the Duelist that they didn't want to win. If things didn't change soon then there was bound to be a riot the likes of which no one has ever seen before.

The sight of the unsettling crowd started to worry Toru and the others as they weren't sure what was about to happen. At one point, Madas suggested to everybody that they move in order to watch the Duel from a safer distance. However, he decided not to leave when Lilly told him something.

"If you want to move then do it yourself! We've waited this long for Takashi to get here and we're going to wait right here until his Duel over and he emerges the victor."

The others shared Lilly's mindset and stayed firmly in their sets as they continued watching the Duel from where they were. Upon seeing the faith that others had for their friend's victory, Madas decided to follow through with their resolve and stay where he was as well. Even though he was still worried about what might happen if nothing changes, he decided that it was better than moving away like a coward. Everyone had waited patiently for the others to get here and win their respective Duels. If the same level of respect wasn't shown to Takashi, the final to arrive, then it would be like slapping him in the face and that was something that no one wanted to do.

Back at the Duel, Tyler continued on with his turn as he looked through his hand in order to see if he any other moves to make. Being unable to deal Takashi any damage this turn annoyed him more than having his attacks stopped. Eventually, he did find a card that he could use and came to the conclusion that it better to play it now than to wait and not have a use for it latter. To that end, Tyler took the card and went on to insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate another Speed Spell: Graceful Charity!" He declared. "By removing 2 of my Speed Counters, I can draw 3 cards from my deck before discarding 2 cards to my Graveyard."

**Tyler: SPC – 2**

Moving along with his play, Tyler didn't waste any time in drawing 3 cards from his deck. Of the 3 three, one of them really took his interest and he kept his eyes on that even when he put it into his hand. He then placed two cards from his hand into his Graveyard before turning his attention towards Takashi, as he continued to ride ahead of him.

"This is humiliating," He thought to himself. "I was planning on summoning _it _until I reached the Finals and settled the score against Alistair. However, if things continue like they have been, I might not have choice. If that's the case then this kid will be done it by my ultimate power; _Sense Pressure_!"

As Tyler continued thinking about how the Duel was going to go, Takashi was busy coming up with a way to get rid of Kishido Spirit. As long as it remains on the field, Nitro Warrior won't be able to destroy Cyber Twin Dragon even if it launches a suicide attack. Realizing the problem that he was facing, the young man closed his eyes and started picturing a flow chart that had all the moves that he could make. After about a minute, the chart reveal one move that could allow him to get rid around Kishido Spirit and deal some damage at the same time.

"This could work," He said to himself. "However, it all deepens what I draw on my next turn and what he does now."

Takashi waited patiently to see what Tyler was going to do next. After a few minutes, he saw that his opponent had no other plays to make.

"I end my turn," Tyler said. "Make your move."

"Fine," Takashi replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Tyler: SPC – 3**

Drawing another card from his deck, Takashi took a glance at it and saw it was exactly the card that he was looking for. With it, he would not only be able to get around Tyler's Kishido Spirit Speed Spell, but also destroy his Cyber Twin Dragon as well. So, with a small smile on his face, Takashi wasted no time and inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Magic Star!" He declared. "By removing 2 Speed Counters, this Speed Spell's effect becomes that of another Speed Spell that's already been used in the Duel! The Speed Spell that I choose is Angel Baton!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3 **

A beautiful yellow star materialized in front of Takashi's Duel Runner, transforming the image of his Magic Star Speed Spell to that of his Angel Baton's. Once that happened, Takashi followed the effect of his Spell by drawing 2 cards from his deck before discarding 1 card to his Graveyard. The power of the magic star then disappeared the instant he finished rearranging his hand.

"What's that going to do for you?" Tyler questioned. "Even if you draw 2 more cards, it doesn't change the fact that your Nitro Warrior still can't touch my Cyber Twin Dragon!"

"You're wrong about that," Takashi pointed out.

Tyler was about to ask what he meant by that, but was stopped when Takashi took his right hand and pointed at his Nitro Warrior. When he looked up, Tyler looked on in astonishment as Nitro's body was beginning to become covered in a bright blue aura. As it ran through its entire body, the aura started to increase Nitro Warrior's power.

"I activate Nitro Warrior's second Special Ability!" Takashi continued. "Once per turn, when I activate a Spell Card, Nitro Warrior gains 1000 extra Attack Points during its next attack!"

**Nitro Warrior: ATK 3800**

As power continued to course through Nitro Warrior's body, Takashi turned his Duel Runner around and started drifting backwards on the track. Once he was sure that he was looking straight at his opponent, Takashi took his right hand again and this time, pointed it at Cyber Twin Dragon.

"Go Nitro Warrior, destroy Cyber Twin Dragon with Dynamite Crunch!"

Nitro complied with its master's request and proceeded to transfer all the aura that was surrounding it into both of its fists. Once it did that, the Synchro Monster then charged towards Cyber Twin Dragon and swiftly ran through the monster, causing another explosion to surround Tyler.

**Tyler: 1700 LP**

**Nitro Warrior: ATK 2800**

"Alright!" Toru yelled, while most of the people in the stadium looked on in shock. "That's what I'm talking about! Kick his ass, bro!"

"Yeah!" Crow followed. "Show these people the true results of your training!"

Lilly and Misaki glanced at their two friends and simply shook her head as she found their act somewhat embarrassing. However, the two of them were indeed impressed with Takashi's new level of strength. Throughout most of this Duel, he's been dominating Tyler and his Cyber Monsters. They also believed that even if Tyler managed to summon his strongest monster, Cyber End Dragon, Takashi would probably have some way of either protecting his Nitro Warrior or, at the very least, his Life Points. Because of that both Lilly and Misaki believed that it was only a matter of time before Takashi won this Turbo Duel.

Meanwhile, everyone else in the stadium were still at a loss of words by what they were seeing. When most of them heard that Tyler were entering the Fortune Cup, they believed that he would be one of favorites to make it to the Final Round to face Alistair for the title of Duel King. However, from what they were seeing right now, that prediction probably wouldn't be coming true. As a result, some members of the audience started throwing their food and drinks towards the track.

"This is some Bulls**t!" One spectator yelled.

"You're a complete joke Tyler!" Another one followed.

"C'mon Takashi, or whatever your name is, destroy this sorry excuse for a Duelist!" One more said after that.

The barrage of insults continued for the next couple of minutes as they were disappointed with Tyler play, especially given his reputation. However, their complaints were quickly becoming more annoying than insulting and some people in the crowd started covering their ears just so they couldn't hear what was going on. One of those people happened to be Akiza, who starting thinking to herself as she tried to drown out the noise.

"Jesus," She said. "These people such hypocrites."

Back at the Duel, Takashi kept drifting backwards as he looked towards the smoke cloud that was surrounding Tyler's side of the field. He was beginning to wonder why it hadn't disappeared yet since he knew that no real damage was inflicted upon his opponent. Soon though, after a few minutes of waiting, the young man started to feel something very powerful coming from the cloud and saw that the smoke was beginning to move around like a cyclone. When that happened, Tyler reemerged from the smoke and he was looking at Takashi with a ferocious expression on his face. Quickly realizing that the real Duel was about to begin for real, Takashi turned himself around and continued on with his turn.

He began by looking over his hand in order to see if he had anymore cards that he could summon onto his field. When found that he did, he quickly grabbed that card and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone. When that happened, a small flash of light started to illuminate right beside Takashi and his Nitro Warrior.

"I Summon: Shield Wing, in Defense Mode!"

**Shield Wing: ATK 0 DEF 900 LVL 2**

As the light that was covering his field started to grow more and more intense, Takashi looked on and watched his Shield Wing appear right beside him. With it out, Tyler would have to attack it 3 times before it could be destroyed through battle. However, just in case something happened that resulted in the destruction of his monster, Takashi proceeded to grab 2 more cards and insert them into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, the cards materialized face-down on the field for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down," He continued. "With that, I end my turn."

With his turn now over, Takashi turned his head in order to see what his opponent was planning to do next. When he did, he saw that the expression that Tyler was wearing was quickly becoming fiercer and fiercer with each passing second. Not only that, but the feeling that Takashi sensed coming around him was becoming more powerful as well. Having felt something similar to this many times in the past, Takashi had feeling about what was coming up next. However, he never expected to face someone with a power this intense, especially this early in the tournament.

"…I have to admit," Tyler said as he slowly closed the gap between himself and Takashi. "I thought you were just some chump that I could breeze pass by. But, I now see that it was wrong of me to think so. You're a talented Duelist Takashi Nakamura and you earned your place here in the Fortune Cup. However, I can't afford to lose here. I will be the one to win this tournament and face Alistair. I will regain the pride that he stole from me. And I'll show you how by showing you my ultimate power, the Sense Pressure!"

"Sense Pressure?!" Takashi questioned. "What's that?"

Takashi continued looking on at Tyler as the power he was sensing around him was quickly reaching unbelievable levels. It soon came to the point that his Signer Mark starting glowing, informing him that danger was approaching.

"It's my turn," Tyler said as he placed his hand back on his deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Tyler: SPC – 4**

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck, Tyler took a glance at it and saw that it was exactly the card that he wanted to draw. He then proceeded to take that card and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate another Graceful Charity Speed Spell!" He continued. "By removing 2 Speed Counters, I can draw 3 cards from my deck before discarding 2 cards to the Graveyard!"

**Tyler: SPC – 2 **

As Tyler followed along with the instructions of his Graceful Charity Spell, Takashi was trying to figure out what exactly Sense Pressure was. Having never heard about it before until now, the young man didn't know what to expect or how powerful it really was. However, while he thought about it, Takashi remembered something that Alex told him during their training.

"Alex told me that the power of Sense varies depending on who's using it and what type of Duel Runner that he or she is riding," He thought. "However, he also told me that the damage that Sense can create is capable of killing someone if enough power is generated. From what I'm sensing, Tyler has enough power to do just that. Which means what he's about to do is going to be really big."

The thought about what Tyler was going to do frighten Takashi a little as knew that he could possibly lose his life if he wasn't careful. However, it was that very fear that excited him his well. For some strange reason, Takashi seemed to feel more alive when he's at the borderline between life and death. If he died, then Takashi believed that he was just person who could only make it that far in his life. However, if he lived, then he would not only be able to move forward, but also grow stronger as well.

Having gone through things that most people would probably never experienced, even before he gained his Signer Mark, Takashi felt that he could take whatever power that Tyler had and come away from it. Because of that, the young man smiled intently has he waited for his opponent to continue on with his turn.

As Takashi waited, Tyler continued on with his turn by 8 cards in his Graveyard and putting them away. Once he did that, he then took one card from his hand and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I was saving this until I faced Alistair," He said. "So, feel honored to face true Ace of deck. I remove all the Light Attribute Machine-Type monsters that are in my Graveyard in order to Special Summon the mighty, Cyber Eltanin!"

**Cyber Eltanin: ATK ? DEF ? LVL 10**

A giant flash of light covered Tyler side of the field as the power that was surrounding him continued to increase. When the light faded away everyone in the stadium, including Takashi himself, was surprised by they were seeing. The head of a giant Cyber Dragon was floating just above Tyler and several smaller Cyber Dragon heads were floating around the larger one.

"Cyber Eltanin?" Takashi questioned. "I've seen that card before. Just what the hell is it?"

"It's the monster that's going to win this match for me!" Tyler answered. "And I'll show you what I mean right now as I activate Eltanin's Special Ability! For every card that I removed in order to summon it, Cyber Eltanin gain 500 extra Attack and Defense Points. I removed 8 monsters, which means Eltanin's Attack and Defense increase by 4000 points!"

**Cyber Eltanin: ATK 4000 DEF 4000**

Everyone in the stadium looked on as the spirit of all the Cyber Dragons that Tyler either discarded or summoned appeared onto his side of the field and transferred themselves inside of Cyber Eltanin. This caused the giant beast to gain power that far surpassed even the strongest of monsters that have ever appeared in the Duel Monsters card game. In fact, one of the spectators stated that Eltanin's power even rivaled that of the legendary Egyptian God cards, which are said to be the strongest cards ever to be created.

That thought, along with several other factors, shook everyone who was watching the Duel to their absolute core. However, Tyler wasn't done showing off the power of his Ace Monster as he still had one more surprise left to reveal. To that end, he revved up his Duel Runner and quickly closed the gap between Takashi and himself. After a few seconds, the young man passed his opponent and soon reclaimed his place out in front.

"It's now time to show you the power of Sense Pressure Takashi," He said. "I activate Cyber Eltanin's second Special Ability! When it's successfully Special Summoned out onto the field, then all other face-up monsters on either side of the field are destroyed!"

Takashi's eyes widen when he heard the secondary powers of Tyler's monsters and he could only watch as Cyber Eltanin had two of smaller heads fire a power laser beam towards his Nitro Warrior and Shield Wing. Acting quickly, he was able to out maneuver the attack, but his two monsters weren't so lucky and they were destroyed instantly.

However, seeing his monsters destroyed didn't shock Takashi as much as by what he saw next. The young man noticed that the force from Eltanin's attack created two fairy large craters on the track. If he hadn't dodged those attacks when he did then he would probably crashed his Duel Runner and ended up seriously injured. The thought of that, caused Takashi to figure out the meaning behind Tyler's Sense.

"Sense Pressure," He thought. "It's a Sense so powerful that it creates a pressure that destroys whatever it touches."

Seeing that his opponent was now realizing the mechcanics of his Sense, Tyler decided that it was time to show him the full force of his power.

"Cyber Eltanin," He called. "It's time to end this Duel. Attack Takashi's Life Points directly…Draconis Ascension!"

Eltanin complied too Tyler's orders and proceeded to direct all of its heads towards Takashi. As it prepared to fire a combined attack towards him, Takashi simply closed his eyes and started thinking to himself. He knew that if this attack landed then he would lose all of his Life Points and, most likely, his life as well. Still despite all of that, the young man kept his cool and started recall something that Alex told him during his training.

_Takashi…If you are to remember one thing from our training it should be this. Always remember about the Power of Hope. When things look their darkest and seems like there's no way out for you, don't give in to despair. If you do then it's truly over for you. Takashi, you are the Signer that bears the mark of the Dragon's Head on your right arm. That not only means that you're the leader of all those who bear Signer Marks, but you're also the one who gives hope to others when they don't have none themselves. If you were to lose faith in yourself or in your abilities, then who can the others rely on? However, if you continue to believe in yourself then not only will other people also have faith, but you'll awaken powers that you never believed you had. _

_That is the most importing thing you can learn from my training. You must never lose faith in yourself Takashi._

After he finished thinking to himself, Takashi reopened his eyes and saw that the laser beam from Cyber Eltanin's attack was heading straight towards him. However, instead of moving away from the oncoming blast, Takashi stood his ground and headed straight towards it. He then pressed a button on his Duel Disk as the blast consumed him completely.

"Oh No!" All of his friends yelled in unison. "Takashi!"

Everyone in the stadium frightened by the huge explosion that Cyber Eltanin cause and they were even more frightened by the size of the hole that the attack created. Takashi friends were deathly worried about him as they were no sign of him coming from the crater. Somewhere deep inside they held on to the hope that he managed to get away at the last moment, but they weren't able see anybody coming from or around the crater. This caused some of them to believe that Takashi was vaporized instantly when the blast struck him.

The only one who wasn't thinking such a thought was Akiza. She believed that Takashi was alright, but the way she was acting wasn't indicating such a mindset. The young woman was shivering fiercely and some tears were running down her face. She was also holding on tightly to the necklace that Takashi gave to her, making sure that it never left her hand. The sight of this scene showed those who looking at her that she was indeed worried about Takashi.

"Please," She thought. "Please be okay."

As time passed by, Tyler looked back and saw that Takashi was nowhere to be seen. He then closed his eyes for a moment and looked towards the ground.

"Takashi Nakamura," He said to himself. "You were indeed a worthy opponent and I promise that I'll carry out your will throughout my time here in the Fortune Cup."

"Thanks, but don't talk like this Duel is over yet."

Tyler's eyes widen again upon hearing the voice that was coming beside him. He then turned his head and saw that something was coming from the smoke cloud that Cyber Eltanin created with its attack. After a few seconds, it was revealed that the voice was coming from Takashi and that the young man was riding towards him at an incredible speed.

The sight of him surprised everyone that was watching and they started cheering at the top of their lungs as a result. However, not everyone was cheering for him as Takashi friends were either yelling words of disapproval or simply just sighing with relief. Either way, no matter how some of them felt, all of them were glad about one thing. They were happy that he was alright.

Back at the Duel, Tyler was still trying to figure out how Takashi managed to survive his attack. He made sure that he struck him with everything that he had. However, as if nothing had happened, Takashi was alright and was ready for more.

"That was a nice Sense Tyler," He said with a smile on his face. "It's worthy of being called Sense Pressure."

"…Explain this!" Tyler demanded. "How are you still here?! Even if you managed to survive against my Sense Pressure, Cyber Eltanin should have drained you of all of your Life Points! What the hell is going…"

Tyler stopped in mid-sentence when he noticed that next to Takashi, one of his face-down cards was activated. Seeing that, he turned his attention over towards the monitor of his Duel Runner and started to examine the card. As he did that, Takashi explained his card's effect.

"Before your attack struck, I activated the Trap Card: Offensive Guard! When I'm the target of a direct attack, this Trap cuts the damage in half and allows me to draw 1 card from my deck."

**Takashi: 2000 LP**

As he watch him draw a card due to the effect of his Trap Card, Tyler gritted his teeth somewhat as he was annoyed that his last attack wasn't enough to allow him to win the Duel. However, a part of him was excited by the fact that Takashi managed to survive his attack. It just meant that this exciting Duel would continue for a while longer.

"Alright then," He said as the anger in his face slowly to excitement. "I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again," Takashi pointed out. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Tyler: SPC – 3**

After drawing another card from his deck, Takashi took a glance at it and smiled to himself. He then looked towards Tyler and Cyber Eltanin as he started thinking again.

"He was kind enough to show me one of his most powerful monsters during this Duel," He thought. "If I don't show him the same level of respect…then I can't call myself a True Duelist."

With that thought, Takashi took the card that he drew and placed it into his hand. He then went on to activate another one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted!" He said. "With it, I revive my Shield Wing from my Graveyard!"

A flash of light appeared across Takashi's side of the field as he Shield Wing reappeared and started flying beside him. Once it was out, he then took the card that he drew and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Bright Star Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Bright Star Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, another flash of light appeared on Takashi's field as a beautiful dragon, that glowing as brightly as the sun, appear beside him. The sight of the creature confused Tyler as he wasn't sure what his opponent was going to do with it and Shield Wing. However, he soon find out as he watched Bright Star Dragon begin to glow even brighter than before.

"I activate Bright Star Dragon's Special Ability!" Takashi continued. "When it's successfully summoned, the Level of another monster on the field is increased by 2 until the End Phase of this turn. The monster I choose is my Shield Wing!"

**Shield Wing: LVL 4**

As the glow radiating from Bright Star Dragon's body became brighter and brighter, Shield Wing's power proceeded to increase as a result. Once that happened, Takashi then stacked both Shield Wing's and Bright Star Dragon's cards on top of one another before taking one more card from his Extra Deck and placing it on top of the first two cards.

"I now Overlay both my Level 4 Shield Wing and Bright Star Dragon in order build the Overlay Network!"

Both of Takashi's monsters complied too his instructions and proceeded to begin the ritual for a Xyz Summoning by transforming into two glowing orbs. The orbs then flew around the field for a few moments before diving into the ground. When that happened, a bright yellow glow started to appear.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the Power of Hope, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

Once the ritual was completed, a powerful warrior started to emerge from the ground and stood right next to Takashi. The warrior was completely covered in gold and silver armor that had a pair of metal wings on the back. On the side of both of his legs was a retractable sword, which was glowing just as brightly as he was.

The sight of the warrior put everyone in awe as they were amazed to see one of the rare and legendary Number Cards here in the Fortune Cup. However, no one was more shocked by Utopia's appearance then Tyler. Even though his monster was stronger than Takashi, Tyler felt that Utopia was quickly overshadowing his Cyber Eltanin. For some reason he felt that even though his monster was stronger it still wasn't a match for the powerful Number. He soon realized that his thoughts were indeed correct as Takashi continued on with his turn, by activating one more face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Utopian Power Sword!" He declared. "When Utopia is successfully Xyz Summoned onto the field, it's Attack Points increase by that of one monster that's currently on the field. The monster I choose is your Cyber Eltanin!"

Everyone looked on as Utopia took one of his swords from his side and raised it high into the air. When that happened, the Number monster then started to take the strength that was coming from Tyler's monster, increasing his Attack Points by 4000.

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 6500**

Once the power up was complete, Takashi revved up his Duel Runner and proceeded to make his way towards Tyler. As he did, the young man started to notice something that only he could see. He saw two streams of energy flowing in front of him. One stream was Tyler's Sense while the other one was his own. The two powers were trying to overcome one another, but were unable to do so.

As he continued looking at this, Takashi remembered the impact that Tyler's Sense Pressure did to him. Even though he escaped the blast, he still felt some of the impact and it was one of the strongest things that he'd ever experienced before in his life. That power was truly deserving of being called Sense. Because of that, it was only fitting that he let Tyler experience his own brand of Sense as a way of thanking him for showing him his.

"Go Utopia," He called. "Attack Cyber Eltanin…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia nodded his head and proceeded to make his way over to Eltanin. As soon as he got close enough, the Number Card took his swords and destroyed Tyler's monster with one strike. Not only that, but also cut through the streams of energy that Takashi was looking at. This caused both his and Tyler Sense to combine into one power Sense that went on to consume the latter. The force of the combine Sense not only caused Tyler to lose control of his Duel Runner, but also the rest of his Life Points as well.

**Tyler: 0 LP**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With his victory over Tyler, Takashi has successfully made it to the second round of the Fortune Cup. However, what was that force that he used during the Duel and what will happen now that all of our heroes are back together again?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 62 – Revelations_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_ Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements. _

_First off, I'm sorry for the long update. I know I said I would update sooner, but I got delayed by my midterms. I'll try to make it up to you as soon as I can._

_And second, please take a look at my new Pokémon Story: Trials to Becoming a Master. I worked very hard on it so I would like it if you all take a look and review it. Your input can show me what I'm doing right or wrong with this new story._

_Well, that's it for it. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	62. Chapter 62

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 62: **_Revelations_

* * *

><p>"<em>This Duel is over! The winner of the match is Takashi Nakamura!"<em>

Upon hearing the announcer declare the winner of the final Duel of the first round, the entire stadium erupted in a deafening roar that could be heard through most of New Domino City. Takashi Nakamura, an unknown underdog in eyes of most people, just defeated the Tokyo Grand Champion; Tyler Campbell, to earn the final spot in the Fortune Cup's Second Round. Practically everyone who watched the Duel were their feet, applauding the young Duelist for his amazing performance.

"That was awesome!" One person said.

"That was one of the greatest Duel's I've ever seen!" Another followed.

As the shower of praise continue to rain down towards Takashi, his friends started to make their way down towards the track so that they could greet him. It's been 3 months since they last saw him and it was clear by the expressions on their faces that they wanted to catch up with him as well. Also, they all wanted to know how his training with Alex went. From what they just witnessed, it was clear that Takashi learned much from the Underground Duel King. However, some of them could easily tell that Takashi was still holding back and that he had plenty of other surprises left in store. Crow and the others wanted to know what those surprises were, not because they wanted an advantage over Takashi, but because his new skills could lead to something even more important.

While all of them made their way towards him, Takashi parked his Duel Runner towards the side of the track and proceeded to remove his helmet. When he did, it was revealed that his hair was about an inch shorter than it was before his training began. Also, the blue highlights that were in his hair was more prominent than before. In the past, about 80% of his hair was black while the other 20% was blue. But now, the colors that made up Takashi's hair was now evenly divided with one another.

Once he put his helmet away, Takashi brushed himself off slightly before making his way towards Tyler, who was still catching his breath after getting hit by Sense blast that Takashi created during the end of their Duel. When he eventually reached him, the young man firmly patted his opponent in the back before smiling at him.

"That was a great Duel man," He said happily. "I can see why you were able become this year's Tokyo Grand Champion."

Takashi continued to smile with a gleeful expression on his face as Tyler slowly turned his attention towards him. As he looked at him, he was both shocked and amazed on how happy Takashi was right now, especially since he had a serious look on his face when he had Utopia attack his Cyber Eltanin. Remembering that battle also caused him remember about the Sense that his opponent attacked him with and Tyler began to wonder how he was able to create such a force.

The blast itself was the strongest thing that he ever felt before. However, from what he could tell, Tyler noticed that it was not only Takashi's Sense that he was hit with during their Duel. During the final few moments, the young man noticed that his own Sense fused with that of Takashi's and the combined blast struck him in its entirety when Utopia finished launching its attack.

"What was that Sense?" He thought to himself. "How was he able to combine his Sense with my own and use the force of both of them to attack me? It just doesn't make any sense."

As Tyler continued to ponder this, Takashi looked at him and he had a pretty good guess on what he was thinking about. After all, when he first launched the Sense for the first time he was also confused about what it was and how he was able to pull it off. Once he thought about it for a few minutes, Takashi decided to explain the mechanics behind his new technique.

"I call it Cross Sense," He started off.

"Cross Sense?" Tyler questioned, once again turning his attention towards Takashi.

"Yes," Takashi continued. "During the moment when my opponent is unleashing his Sense, I begin to ride just behind his Duel Runner. When I do that, I enter a Safe Zone that not only lessens the damage that I feel from my opponent Sense, but also increases my own Sense due to the power that's surrounding me."

Tyler looked at Takashi with a confused expression on his face. It was clear that didn't understand Takashi was talking about as he wasn't making things simple for him to understand. Realizing the problem, Takashi thought about a situation that would allow him to explain Cross Sense better.

"You know how hurricanes have eyes in the middle of them?" He asked.

"Yeah," Tyler answered. "The eye of a hurricane is the small space in which hardly wind any wind blows."

"Well, my Cross Sense is kind of like that," Takashi continued. "By entering the eye of my opponent's Sense, which is just behind their Duel Runner, I can not only protect myself from their attacks, but also surround myself with their power. Once I do that, I begin to envelop myself with own Sense, increasing the overall power that's surrounding my entire body."

"I see," Tyler said, finally understanding Takashi's explanation. "But where the _Cross_ come into play?"

"When I summon a powerful monster, like Utopia," Takashi followed up. "With the power of that monster, I proceeded to slice, or cross, through the two Senses and slam them straight into my opponent. To make a long story incredibly short, Cross Sense allowed me to attack you with your own Sense Pressure."

After Takashi finished his explanation, Tyler thought about his experience with Cross Sense again and recalled feeling something familiar as the attack struck him. He soon remembered that the feeling was indeed his own Sense Pressure technique, however there something off about it. Even though it was extremely powerful, it was a strong as when he creates it. Its power was around 40 to 50% its normal output. If Cross Sense truly allows Takashi to attack with his opponent's Sense along with his own, then its power should have been far greater. The thought of that caused Tyler to realize something and he decided to ask Takashi about in order to confirm whether or not it was true.

"Takashi Nakamura," He said. "Tell me…Cross Sense isn't perfected yet…isn't it?"

Upon hearing Tyler ask that question, Takashi closed his eyes for a moment and began to recall his training with Alex once again. During that time, he was able to learn a lot of cool tricks along with Cross Sense. However, the latter was his most difficult challenge as it dealt not only handling his own power, but also that of his opponents. If their power was too strong, Cross Sense would overpower him and it if the power was too weak then the move wouldn't work at all.

Finding the balance between his and his opponent's power was a challenge that, even to this day, Takashi was still having a problem with. It's because of his attempt to try and master that power that was almost late arriving for his match. If it wasn't for Alex telling him to go and leave, he probably still be training and thus, cause a lot of trouble for himself and his friends. Once he finished thinking about this, Takashi opened his eyes back up and looked towards Tyler.

"That's right," He confirmed. "At this moment, Cross Sense is only about 50% completed. I'm hoping, as I continue to go through the tournament, that I'll be able to perfect it."

Tyler's eyes widen a little when heard that Takashi's Cross Sense was only half-way from being complete. Having experienced the power behind it, the young man believed it to be the strongest Sense throughout the entire competition. The fact that it wasn't even perfected caused Tyler to wonder what kind of power it will produce once Takashi is finally able to master it. The thought of that amazed him somewhat, bringing a small smile on his face. He soon looked Takashi firmly in the eyes and raised his hand towards him.

"The only reason why I decided to enter this tournament is so that I can defeat Alistair and regain the pride that he stole from me," He explained. "However, the fact that I wasn't able to defeat you means that my goal was too far away for me to reach. My time here is up, but I believe that you'll be able to pick up where I left off. So please Takashi...Perfect Cross Sense and use it to defeat Alistair Miles!"

Takashi looked at his opponent for a few moments before he started smiling at him again. He then proceeded to shake his hand before he started talking again.

"Sure thing," He said. "I'll take that fierce passion of your Tyler…and use it to crush Alistair!"

Once that was said, the two men continued to shake each other's hand for a few minutes before eventually letting go. When that happened, Tyler made his way over to his Duel Runner and proceeded to leave the stadium. Takashi watched as his newest friend left and soon decided to make his way off the track as well. As he did that, he noticed that all of his friends were waiting for him by his Duel Runner. The sight of all of them excited the young Duelist and he wasted no time rushing over towards them.

When he finally made his way over to them, Takashi was immediately caught in a congratulatory headlock from Toru, who then began to noogie his head. The young man attempted to break away from his best friend's embrace, but Crow held him down so that he wouldn't be able to move.

"You jerk!" Toru said. "Making us worry like that. If you hadn't won that Duel I'd kick your ass into next week!"

"Yeah," Crow followed. "Then I would join in and beat you into next year!"

As the two boys continued to play around with their friend, Lilly, Misaki, and Madas looked on at them and decided to stay out of it. It was clear to them that this was Crow's and Toru's way of expressing their happiness towards not only Takashi's return, but towards his victory as well. It was something that the boys just had to let out and the three of them decided to go and welcome Takashi once Toru and Crow finished having their fun.

"…Welcome back," Said a familiar voice from a distance.

Takashi's eyes widen greatly upon recognizing the voice and proceeded to quickly get both Toru and Crow on the ground. Once he did that, the young man then looked all around him until he found who he was looking for. The sight of that person caused him to smile some more as a small blush appeared on his face.

"It's good to be back…Akiza,"

Takashi looked on at his Psychic friend and soon made his way towards her. As he did, he began examining her entire body and noticed that Akiza was even more beautiful now than she was before. The mere sight of her caused the blush that was on Takashi's face to become a little bit more noticeable. Once he reached her, Takashi gently placed his right arm behind his head and started smiling again.

"I'm glad to see that you're doing well," He said to her. "I can tell you've grown even stronger than be…."

Before he could finish his sentence, Akiza quickly made her way over towards Takashi and proceeded to wrap her arms around him. She soon began to embrace him even more as she gently placed her head upon his chest.

"I've missed you so much Takashi," She said. "I'm so happy that you're here."

As she continued to hold the man that she loved, Takashi looked down towards Akiza and noticed that she was crying a little. Even though they've been gone for only three months, he could tell that their separation was extremely hard on her. When Takashi looked over towards Lilly and Crow, the ones who joined Akiza during her training, the two of them nodded their heads and confirmed that Akiza missed him greatly. Because of that, Takashi gently wrapped his arms around Akiza and held her close to him.

"I've missed you too Akiza," He said. "I've missed you more than you could know."

* * *

><p>Later on that day, after saying their goodbyes to Madas, Takashi and the others soon made their back to Poppo Time. Once they got there, the first thing that all of them did was apologize to their landlord, Zora. After being gone for long and not telling her where they went, it was pretty obvious that she was mad at all of them, including her granddaughter, Misaki. In fact, she was about to ask all of them to pack up and leave, but Takashi managed to convince that they had a good reason for their absence. In order to make up to her, everyone proceeded to give Zora 3 times the amount of rent that they usually give her as well as a written apology. Upon receiving these things, Zora decided to let it go just once and allowed all of them to stay. However, she did warn them that next time will be different unless they inform her of their intentions ahead of time. The kids agreed to follow Zora's instructions and thanked her one more time before leaving.<p>

Once that affair was settled, everyone proceeded to go into their respective rooms in order to relax after the first day of Dueling. Feeling of finally being back home was rather nostalgic for all of them as it was the first time in a while that they actually had the opportunity get comfortable. Some of them took naps on their beds, while other decided that now was perfect opportunity to catch up on some of their favorite hobbies. Whatever the case, all of them agreed on thing. It was really good to be home.

After relaxing for around 2 hours, everyone made soon made their down towards the dining room in order to eat and to discuss the recent chain of events that's been taking place. Most of them didn't know what to expect but, after what they've been through these past couple of months, they felt that they were ready for anything.

"Alright Takashi," Lilly said, starting off the discussions. "Did you manage to learn anything?"

"…You can say that," Takashi answered pretty vaguely.

"Stop playing around!" She demanded. "It's clear from when we first met him that Alex McQueen has some knowledge about our Marks and why we've been forced to enter the Fortune Cup. Also, even though you went to him for training, I know for a fact that you're not the type of person who would go to someone without learning something about them. Alex must've have told you about these Marks and I want you to tell us what you've learned. That way, we can compare what you know to what we know."

After explaining what she wanted him to do, Lilly turned her attention solely towards Takashi as awaited his response. Crow, Akiza, Misaki, and Toru soon did the same as they also wanted an answer about what was really going on. With everyone looking at him, Takashi decided to give in to the request of his friends.

"Alright," He said. "But what I'm to tell you is kind of hard to explain. So I want all of you to pay close attention and to not say anything until I finish. Is that understood?"

The others nodded their heads in approval and agreed to listen in closely to what Takashi had to say. With that, Takashi began to explain everything that Alex told him about the Crimson Dragon, the Signers, the Dragunity Knights, and Rex Goodwin's plans for all of them. When the explanation eventually ended, Lilly and the others were almost speechless as they had no idea that things would be this big. Eventually, after letting the information sink in, Misaki was the first person to comment about what they just learned.

"…This story is very hard to believe," She started off. "…I mean, what makes you think that everything that Alex told is true, especially the part where your marks come from a Dragon God and that Rex Goodwin intends to use that God. For all we know, Alex could be telling us to go after Goodwin in order to drive attention away from himself."

"That's true," Toru followed. "I've never trusted Alex to begin with, so it wouldn't surprise me that he might be using all of you for some greater purpose."

"…I'm not so sure about that," Akiza commented.

Upon hearing her speak up, Toru and Misaki shifted their attention from Takashi towards Akiza. When they did, the two of them saw her looking down at her Signer Mark.

"I mean, you're right to say that Alex shouldn't be trusted right away as we hardly know anything about him," She continued. "However, I doubt he would give Takashi all of this information without some of it being true. Also some of things that we've learned here match up to some of things that we've experience during our battles against Sayer and Sasuke."

"Akiza makes a good point," Crow followed up. "All the things that we've seen and done matches up with what we've just heard. I may not trust Alex completely, but I think he's telling the truth."

"I feel the same way," Lilly stated.

As he watched his friends argue about whether or not Alex was telling the truth, Takashi started to recall his training with him. Having been with him for the last couple of months, the young man had a pretty good idea on what the Dragunity Knight was like and he also had a pretty good idea what his intentions were. After thinking that, as well as some other things, Takashi proceeded to grab his sword and slam it into the ground. The force of the impact created a loud sound that caught the attention of all of his friends. They then turned their attention towards them as started speak again.

"Listen," He started off. "Like Lilly said before, I went to Alex in order to not only train under him, to also discover more about our current situation. However, there was one more reason why I decided to go stay with him for the last three months."

"…And what would that be?" Misaki asked.

"I wanted to learn whether he was someone we could trust," Takashi answered. "When I'm with someone for a long time, I'm able to tell that person's true intentions and whether or not they truly wish to become my friend. During my time with Alex, I was able to confirm that he truly wished for me to become stronger and that he really wants to help us when Goodwin finally makes his move. I admit that we need to learn more about him, but for now I think he's someone that we can put our faith in."

Once Takashi finished his explanation, the others thought carefully about what he said and how it compares to what they think. Eventually all of them, in their own way, came to the same to conclusion. All of them would keep a close eye on Alex McQueen for the time being until they were absolutely sure that they could trust him.

With that settled, the meeting concluded and everyone was free to go and do their own thing for the rest of the night. However, while the others decided to either continue eating, reading, or playing videogames, Takashi told all of them that he was going to bed. Even though it still pretty early, the young told his friends that he was still pretty tired from his Duel against Tyler and that he wanted to get some rest for the Second Round.

Once he made it to his room, Takashi looked outside towards the window and noticed that moon was already high in the sky. The sight of it reminded him about someone and he proceeded to recall everything that he experienced during his time with Alex as a result. After he did that, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face as he prepared to close the door to his room.

"Alright Hikari," He thought quietly. "You've wanted me to become stronger and now I have. Now watch me as I put my training to good use."

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Morning soon arrives in the New Domino City as the Second Round the Fortune Cup gets ready to begin. Takashi kicks off the day's action by going against a young opponent that he met before. Can he manage to defeat this opponent and earn a spot in the next round, or will he be the cause of tournament's greatest upset?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 63 – Takashi vs. Jay_


	63. Chapter 63

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

_**Special Thanks: **__JJun_

**Chapter 63: **_Takashi vs. Jay_

* * *

><p>"I wonder…If put those Spell Cards into my deck, I'm going to have to take out some monsters in order to compensate. However, I might be able to keep the monsters if I add only one of the Spells along with another Trap Card. What should I do?"<p>

With his victory over Tyler Campbell, Takashi Nakamura has successfully made past the first round of the Fortune Cup Qualifiers. Now he, along with the rest of his friends, will need just one more victory in order to reach the Finals and become that much closer to facing Alistair Miles for the title of Duel King.

In order to prepare for that eventual battle, Takashi woke up early in the morning and spent the last couple of hours working on his Deck. His training with Alex McQueen, the Underground Duel King, has increased his already vast Dueling skills to levels he never thought possible. However, even with this improvement, the young man felt that he still needed to improve on some things before his next Duel took place. So, while eating his breakfast, Takashi was reworking his Deck in order to see which cards he needed and which he ones didn't.

"Maybe I should just forget about the Spell and Trap Cards all together and just focus on adding more monsters," he thought to himself. "After all, I'll need to have a large number of monsters if I want to be able to use my new Xyz Strategy."

Taking advantage of his ability to swarm the field with powerful monsters, Alex decided to exploit that strength of Takashi's and use it to help him summon the new Xyz Monsters. With them, Takashi would be able to bring out a variety of powerful monsters at a much faster pace than before. With them, along with the Synchro Monsters that he kept in his Deck, he would be able to counter almost any strategy that his opponent attempted to employ and use his monsters to help him win.

"Hmm…I know. I'll do this."

After grabbing some cards that he had in his pocket, Takashi proceeded to make his way over to his Deck and go on to pull out two cards. He then placed them over to side before taking the cards that he grabbed from his pocket and placing them into his deck instead. Takashi would then go on to examine all of his cards in order to see if he needed to do anything else. Once he was able to confirm that no other changes needed to be made, a small smile appeared on his face as went on to put his Deck into the case that positioned on his belt.

Once he did that, Takashi went to continue eating his breakfast as he began to think about the upcoming Second Round of the Fortune Cup. He knew that since he made it to the next round, things would only get harder for him and his friends. Their opponents would be more challenging to overcome and they would have to pull out everything they got if they wanted to defeat them and make it to the Finals. However, despite that thought weighing on his mind, there was something else that Takashi was beginning to think about…something far worse.

"Goodwin," he thought. "What's your next move?"

After learning from Alex that Rex Goodwin, the Director of Sector Security, was the one pulling the strings to Fortune Cup, Takashi's mind has been filled with thoughts on what he next plan would be. Even though he wasn't there to watch the First Round Duels, Takashi had a feeling that Goodwin was aware on what the results were and was probably making preparations for the next phase of his plan. It wouldn't be too much longer until he finally revealed himself to him and the rest the Signers. When that happens, they have to be ready for whatever type of plan he has in store for them. Because, if what Alex said was true, then the battles against Sayer and Sasuke would only pale in comparison to this monstrous trial.

"I keep running that thought in my head, but I just can't believe it. What does he intend to do with the power of the Crimson Dragon? How are we involved? And how can we stop him when it seems like we're falling right into the palm of his hand? We're going to need some help."

Relying on other people to help him solve his problems was one thing that Takashi was reluctant to do. He didn't want to endanger those individuals because he wouldn't be able to bear the sight if they happen to be hurt because of them. However, Takashi knew that he, and the rest of the Signers, would need help if they wanted to overcome Goodwin and his ambitions. And not just ordinary help either, but help from a much stronger source. They would need help from the Dragunity Knights.

"The Dragunity Knights," Takashi pondered quietly to himself. "According to Alex, they're like the Signers and that they protect the world from any evil that happens to threaten it. They're our allies and we're suppose to fight together. But…how can we do that if we have no idea on who they are or what they look like."

Closing his eyes and clearing his mind of all unnecessary thoughts, Takashi began to ponder this latest predicament. With no knowledge on who the Dragunity Knights are or what they look like for that matter, finding them would be almost impossible to do. The only one that he knew about was Alex, but it was always his intention to reveal himself to them. Also, aside from him, the other Dragunity Knights didn't have any knowledge about who they were or what their purpose was. How were they going to help the Signers if they didn't know their destiny? Those were some of the things that ran though Takashi's mind.

When he opened his eyes back up, the young man let a depressing sigh as all of these negative thoughts were making him depressed. He then turned his attention towards the ceiling and started to wonder if anything positive was coming for him and his friends. Eventually, after about a minute of thinking, there was one thing that came to mind.

"Maybe, instead of the Dragunity Knights, we should try and find that _ally_ that Alex told me about. He said that he would be participating in the Fortune Cup as well and that he would know one of us very well. But which person is he talking about…and who is he for that matter?"

Just as he finished asking himself that question, Takashi's started to widen as he sensed something powerful nearby. It was like he was feeling some sort of pressure that was covering all around him, slowly crushing his body. He then started to look around, wondering where the pressure was coming from.

"What is this Reiatsu?" He asked himself. "And why does it feel so familiar?"

Reiatsu, or Spiritual Pressure, is the physical force/pressure that's exerted from a person that has a large amount of energy inside of their bodies. Usually, the force can only be brought out when Duelists are facing each other in Duel and even then the force is so small that the Duelists don't realize their using it. However, there are some individuals that not only have the power to unleash the Reiatsu in a Duel, but also outside of a Duel as well. Those Duelists who have the ability to do are said to not only be unbelievably strong, but dangerous as well.

"What's going on here?" Takashi said to himself. "Who is unleashing this Reiatsu? Is it one of Goodwin's flunkies or is it someone else?"

Concerned by what's going on, Takashi quickly made his way over to his sword and was about to remove it from its sheath. However, just as was about to pull out, the young man started to hear the sound of footsteps coming from the distance. He then looked towards the entrance to the kitchen and saw that person coming towards him was Akiza.

"Good morning Takashi," She said with a smile on her face. "Did you manage to sleep well?"

Just as Akiza entered the kitchen, Takashi started to notice that the Reiatsu was beginning to fade away. It seemed that more Akiza entered the room, the less power was being exerted. Eventually, just she reached Takashi, the Reiatsu disappeared completely.

"Is something wrong?" She asked him. "You seem stressed out."

"…Um, it's nothing," Takashi answered. "I'm just a little dizzy from getting up so fast."

"I see," Akiza said. "Well next time, be a little bit more careful. I would hate it if something were to happen to you."

Takashi nodded his head in compliance and looked on as Akiza was beginning to make herself something to eat. As he watched her, the young man started to wonder who was the source of the Reiatsu and why he/she stopped emitting it when Akiza appeared. In the end, Takashi decided to abandon that thought for now and went on to make his way back over towards the table, making sure that his sword and his Duel Disk were next to him.

As he sat down and started thinking to himself again, Akiza finished making her breakfast and proceeded to sit down at the table, next to Takashi. She then took a glance at him and she could tell immediately that something was on his mind. A part of her wanted to ask him what was wrong, but decided not to. She believed that even if she did ask that question, Takashi would most likely say that it's nothing and drop the conversation altogether. For that reason, Akiza decided to wait patiently until Takashi felt it was time for him to reveal what was bothering him. For when that happens, Akiza promised herself to listen to what he had to say and to try and help him as best as she could.

"So…" She said as she looked at him. "How was your training with Alex? Having seen you action yesterday, I can tell that you've grown much stronger. But even so, I would like it if you gave me details."

Hearing her question, Takashi closed his eyes for a moment and began to think about his training with Alex. As he did that, he remembered everything that he experienced and all the things that were said to him as well.

_Use your power to stand on top of the spike. Good, now you'll hold this position for 12 hours._

_I…Hate…You…!_

_This technique will protect you against enemies who have Psychic Powers. Careful…this could kill you._

_AHHHHH!_

_Dumbass, we're not going to stop this until you don't move an inch. NOW GET UP!_

After thinking about his training, Takashi opened his eyes back up. He then looked at Akiza for a few moments before giving her his answer.

"Let's just say," He started off. "I'm lucky to be alive right now."

"It was that bad?" Akiza asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"Yeah," Takashi replied. "Alex told me that I would be brought to edge of death several times and he was kidding. In fact, there were times that I just wanted to give up so that suffering could end. But every time that got to that moment, I started to think about someone dear to me and I soon got the strength to continue."

Akiza's eyes widen somewhat after hearing Takashi's explanation. She began to wonder who was this person was that gave Takashi the strength to continue Alex's training even though it nearly killed him. She took a few minutes to think about it and she soon came up with a conclusion. However, even though her guess was probably the right one, a small part of her hoped that it wasn't.

"Toru told me something once," She started off. "He said that a long time ago, you lost someone very dear to you and it's because of that loss that drove you to want to protect other people. I'm guessing that she's the person you're talking about."

"That's a good guess Akiza," Takashi said with a small smile on his face. "But it wasn't the right guess."

"Really…?" She said in both a confused and excited tone of voice. "Then who was it?"

The smile that was on Takashi face slowly got bigger as he thought about the person who gave him the strength to fight. He then stared at Akiza for a few moments before finally answering her.

"Well…I can't tell you at this moment," He said. "But…I can say that she's been there for me during some really tough times in recent months. It's because of her kindness that not only drove me to want to protect her, but also caused me to develop feelings for her as well. I don't know whether or not she feels the same way I do, but even if she doesn't I promise to always look out for her and make sure she remains happy."

A small blush appeared on Akiza's face as Takashi finished answering her question. His words sounded very similar to the relationship that the two of them have with each other and she was beginning to wonder if the girl that he was talking about was her. This caused her to smile a little bit as a single tear ran down her face.

"I see," She said as she wiped the tear. "Well…I'm sure that this girl does feel the same way you do, if not more so."

The two friends continued to smile at one another as both of them gently held on to the necklaces that they gave to each other. Even though those two items were meant to simply be gifts, Takashi's and Akiza's time apart from each other caused them to cherish those necklaces even more as they reminded them of each other. Merely looking at them gave the two the strength to keep going even when things look their bleakest. In a way, those necklaces gave them the belief that the other was there even though they weren't.

Soon, after spending 30 minutes talking and eating, Akiza got up from the kitchen table and proceeded to place her dishes into the sink. Once she did that, the young woman prepared to leave the kitchen, but not before taking one last look at Takashi.

"Well, I better go and get ready for later on today," She said to him. "Lilly promised that she would cut my hair so that it's not as messy and I also need time to prepare my Deck for the Second Round."

"Alright," Takashi replied. "I'll see you later."

Akiza nodded her head and smiled at the man she loved before leaving the kitchen. As she did that, both she and Takashi wonder when they should confess their true feelings for each other. In the end, the two of them both agreed that it was best to wait until the Fortune Cup was over until such a move could be made. After all, if the two of them wanted to have a romantic relationship with one another, it would be best to rid themselves of all of the problems that they're facing first.

Once Akiza made her way back upstairs, Takashi started to feel the powerful Reiatsu that he felt earlier. However, instead of being surprised by it, the young man was prepared for it. He then proceeded to draw his sword from its sheath, which caused his blue aura to cover all over his body. The aura caused the pressure of the Reiatsu to die down until it disappeared completely. When that happened, Takashi sheathed his sword and watched as his aura started to disappear.

"That Reiatsu," He said quietly. "I thought it felt familiar and now I know why. It's the same pressure Akiza produces when she uses her powers. It's the pressure of a Psychic Duelist."

* * *

><p>Later on that day, after everyone got dressed and made sure that they had everything they needed, Takashi and the others left Poppo Time and quickly made their way back to the stadium. Once they reached the site of the Second Round Duels, all of them got off of their Duel Runners and walked towards the entrance.<p>

"Alright," Crow said in an excited tone of voice. "I can't wait for to tear up the track today!"

"You said it," Takashi agreed. "I'm so pump up that I can hardly think straight. I don't care who I have to face, I just hope they give me an exciting Duel!"

As the two boys agreed with one another, Lilly was quickly becoming annoyed by their laidback attitude. Both of them should know the seriousness of the situation that they're in, but they seem to be playing it off as if it was nothing. The sight of that caused Lilly to want to punch her friends in order to knock some sense into them. However, just before she was about to do that, Akiza took Lilly's hand and stopped her from punching her friends.

"Calm down Lilly," She said. "They're just anxious for the next Duels."

Lilly turned head around and looked at Akiza with an angry expression on her face. When she did, she was able to get a good look at the work she did on her hair just before they all left. Akiza's hair was not much shorter than it was yesterday, now only reaching her shoulders, but still somewhat longer than it was before she became friends with everyone. Also, the end of Akiza's hair was neater than before as it seemed like it was cut neatly instead of being cut forcibly.

"Don't try and stop me Akiza!" She said to her. "The only way these guys are ever going to learn to be serious is when you force them to be!"

"Maybe," Akiza replied. "But I like it when they act the way they do. It livens things up so that everything is not so depressing or serious all time. Besides, you should know that both Takashi and Crow can get very serious when they need to be."

"…I guess so," Lilly said. "Still…they should at least try to act more mature."

While the two girls talked to one another, both Toru and Misaki looked on as all of their friends were interacting with one another. Even though she's been with them for a couple of months now, Misaki was still somewhat confused by the personalities of the others and she was beginning to wonder if they acted like this all the time. However, a part of her liked the way they acted as it allowed her to be with people with a wide range of emotions, most of whom she sealed for a reason that only she knows.

Eventually, after reaching the entrance of the stadium, everyone looked on and saw that there were more people in the stands than yesterday. Some of the people in fact were the Duelists that participated, but failed to get pass the First Round.

"I guess a lot of people heard about the excitement First Round," Toru commented. "They must be here to see Duelists like me try and make it to the Finals."

"Don't push your luck," Misaki said, slapping the back of Toru's head. "If they're here for anything, it's to see that powerful Number Card that Takashi used yesterday."

Upon hear Misaki rebuff his claim, Toru flashback to yesterday and remembered when Takashi managed to bring out Number 39: Utopia. Like when he saw Stardust Dragon for the first time, Utopia's appearance utterly amazed Toru as he never seen anything like it before. Just remembering it caused him to believe that Misaki was right and that the reason for large number of spectators is because most of them wanted to see Utopia in action.

"I maybe you're right," He said. "However, when I show all of them the monsters that I have it'll prove that any of my Scrap Monsters are just as impressive Takashi's Number Card."

"Yeah," A familiar voice replied. "And don't forget about our monsters. They're just as, if not more, impressive as Number 39 is."

Toru and the others turned themselves around in order to see who was talking. When they did, they saw that it was Madas and he was also with their friends Tem and Aiku as well. Upon seeing one another, both sides greeted each other with a smile and proceeded to talk to one another.

"It's been a long time guys," Aiku said to all of them. "Madas told Tem and I that all of you made past the First Round just like we did."

"Yeah," Crow replied. "It's all because of the special training that we all had to go through."

"Well let's hope your training was enough," Tem followed. "Because it's going to take that and a lot more if guys happen to face us."

As the boys began to talk to one another, Takashi was busy looking at the stadium and watching the judges prepare the field for the first Duels to begin. While he did that, the young man closed his eyes and attempted to sense the location of something odd. If Goodwin was attempting to make his move during the Second Round, then it was best to try and find him now before he had a chance to move. However, Takashi was finding the process very difficult due to the large number of people present. It was like finding a needle in a haystack and with more people arriving every second the harder things were becoming.

Soon though, Takashi gave up on his attempt to find the Director and proceeded to get ready for his Duel. Then, as if on cue, the announcer started talking on the loud speaker to everyone present.

"_Attention Duelists," _He said. _"The Second Round of the Fortune Cup Qualifiers is about to begin. Will Takashi Nakamura and Jay Slade please make their way over to the Dueling Field? I repeat, will Takashi Nakamura and Jay Slade please make their way over to the Dueling Field?"_

After hearing his name be called, Takashi took a deep breath and immediately placed his Duel Disk onto his left arm. He then turned his attention over to his friends and saw that all of them were standing there, looking at him.

"Good luck Takashi," Akiza said to him. "We'll be rooting for you."

"Yeah," Madas followed up. "And you better not lose…not until I have the chance to face that Number Card of yours."

Takashi nodded his head towards his friends and went on to insert his Deck that he uses for Ground Duels into his Duel Disk. Once he did that, the young man quickly made his way over to Dueling Field and waited patiently for his opponent to appear. After a few minutes, his opponent eventually did appear and Takashi was surprised on who he looked liked.

"I thought your name was familiar and now I see why," He said. "It's good to see you again Jay."

"Yeah," Jay said as he looked towards Takashi. "It's good to see you too…Takashi."

As both Duelists greeted one another, both of their minds flashed back to the time when they met for the first time. It was 3 months ago, a couple of days before Takashi met Alex for the first time. Jay was a young man who was being bullied by a group of people who said that he didn't have what took to one day become a professional Duelist. Just before things could get out on control, Takashi managed to intervene and drive away the bullies. Once they were gone, Takashi and Jay were quickly able to form a bond, with the former telling him that he could achieve his dream one day if he truly wanted too.

It's been quite a while since the two of them last met and both of them could tell that the other has grown considerably stronger. However, despite the strength that the other obtained, both Takashi and Jay were determined to achieve victory and be the first Duelist to qualify for the Finals.

"Alright Jay," Takashi said as he activated his Duel Disk. "Get ready because I have intention on going easy on you. If you truly want to become a Pro Duelist one day then you're going to have to deal with strong opponents like myself."

"I know," Jay replied as he activated his own Duel Disk. "To be honest, I was hoping I would get the chance to face you Takashi. I can't consider myself ready for the Finals until I defeat someone of your skill level."

With that said both Duelists prepared themselves for battle and waited for the judge to signal the start of the match. Once he was able to determine that both Duelists were ready, the judge proceeded to lift both of his hands up into the air.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Jay: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move!" Takashi declared as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck, Takashi took a quick glance at it before placing it into his hand. He then looked through all of his other cards, trying to determine which card he should play. After about 30 seconds of thinking, he proceeded to take one card from his hand and place it firmly upon his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Gogogo Golem, in Defense Mode!"

**Gogogo Golem: ATK 1800 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a bright flash of light illuminated Takashi's side of the field for a few moments. When it faded a dark green and blue golem appeared and went on to take a defensive position in front of its master.

The sight creature surprised Jay a little bit as he never seen Takashi use Gogogo Golem before. Did he perhaps add that card into deck during the time they've been apart or did he always have it to begin with. In the end, Jay didn't know the answer. However, what he did know is that if Takashi's Dueling Style was still same as when he last saw him then it would be best that he took out Gogogo Golem before it was too late. Before he could do that though, he had to wait and see how Takashi would conclude his turn.

As Jay waited to see what his opponent would do next, Takashi simply looked on at his opponent. He could tell right away that Jay was wondering about his monster and how he intended to use it against him. The sight of that brought a small smile upon his face as it informed him that Jay was thinking ahead, something that any expert Duelist needed to do if he or she wanted to win an important Duel. After taking another glance at his hand, Takashi looked back over towards Jay and went on to make his next move.

"I end my turn."

Jay's eyes widen from shock as he couldn't believe at what he just heard. After only playing one monster, Takashi ended his turn. No Spell Card was played nor were any Special Abilities activated. All that Takashi Nakamura did was summon just one monster in Defense Mode and ended his turn.

"What's he planning?" Jay thought. "That monster only has 1500 Defense Points. I have plenty of monsters in my deck that can easily destroy it. I know Takashi isn't that careless, so why didn't he do anything else."

"What's wrong Jay?" Takashi asked him. "It's your move."

Jay quickly snapped out of his ponder state after hearing Takashi say that it was now his turn. He then nodded and proceeded to place his hand upon his deck, all the while thinking about what his opponent's move.

"It's my turn," He declared. "Draw!"

Quickly drawing a card from his deck, Jay took glance at it and saw that it was a good card to play. With it, he would be able to not only take down Takashi's Gogogo Golem this turn, but also take out a good portion of his Life Points as well. Even though he was still wondering why Takashi ended his turn the way he did, Jay knew that he couldn't let this opportunity go to waste. If he wanted to win this Duel, then he needed to act now.

"Alright…from my hand, I activate the Continuous Spell: Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen!" He stated as he inserted the card into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. "Now, as long as I don't have any monsters on my Field, I can Special Summon one Fairy-Type monster from my hand."

While Jay searched through his hand for the monster that he wanted to summon, Takashi looked on and saw that a holographic sanctuary appeared behind his opponent. The overall appearance of the structure resembled the gates to the Valhalla, the place where angels stay in the Afterlife. Soon, after about a minute of waiting, Jay found the card that he wanted to play and proceeded to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Nova Summoner, in Attack Mode!"

**Nova Summoner: ATK 1400 DEF 800 LVL 4**

From the gates of Valhalla, a flash blinding light emerge from the doors and consumed the entire field for a few moments. When it eventually faded, Takashi noticed that a red and green angel with beautiful white wings appeared on Jay's side on the field. The sight of the creature impressed the young man as he always liked the beautiful appearance that Fairy-Type monsters possessed. He then continued to look on with a smile on his face as Jay continued on with his turn by placing a card from his hand onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Hysteric Fairy, also in Attack Mode!"

**Hysteric Fairy: ATK 1800 DEF 500 LVL 4**

Another flash of light emerged from the gates of Valhalla as another monster appeared on Jay's side of the field. Its appearance also resembled that of an angel, but it was much different from that of Nova Summoner. Hysteric Fairy had the appearance of a human female wearing librarian clothes. Along with the wings that were on her back, the Fairy was also wearing a set of curved glasses and was carrying a red textbook as well.

"Alright, let's do this," Jay stated confidently. "Hysteric Fairy, go and attack Takashi's Gogogo Golem!"

Hysteric Fairy complied with her master's orders and proceeded to lower her glasses. Once she did that, she went on to release two white laser beams from both of her eyes. The blasts managed to connect with their target but, much to Jay's shock and confusion, Gogogo Golem survived the assault.

"Nice try Jay," Takashi said. "However, Gogogo Golem's Special Ability prevents it from being destroyed through battle once per turn, as long as it remains in Defense Mode."

"I…I see," Jay replied, his confidence somewhat shot. "So that's why you only summoned Gogogo Golem during your last turn. You were confident that its Special Ability would allow you to get through my turn without any damage."

"That's right," Takashi stated. "And I'm glad to see that my plan worked out. Now…what will you do to counter?"

What would he do was right. With his initial attack ending up in failure, Jay couldn't afford to attack again. If he did, then all that he would be doing is hurting himself since Gogogo Golem's Defense is higher than Nova Summoner's Attack. He now had to come up with a new plan if he wanted to get past Takashi's defenses.

Looking back over his hand, Jay noticed that he had a card that could do the trick. With it, he could potential get rid of all of Takashi's monsters and then attack his Life Points directly on his next turn. This caused a small smile to appear on his face as he proceeded to take the card and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing that, the card materialized face-down on the field, right behind his Hysteric Fairy.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

"It's my turn," Takashi declared. "Draw!"

Without missing a beat, Takashi drew another card from his deck and placed it into his hand. He then looked at the cards that Jay had on the field and quickly came up with a hypothesis on what he was thinking. So, in order to disrupt his plans, Takashi went on to insert a card from his hand into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"To start off…I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon! With it, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card that's currently on the field and the one I'm choosing is…your face-down card!"

As Takashi's Spell Card materialized onto his side of the Field, a giant twister emerge from it and began making its way towards Jay. Once it reached him, the twister enveloped itself around Jay's face-down card, destroying it after a few short seconds. With the card gone, Takashi felt safe continuing on with his turn by taking a card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Speed Warrior!"

**Speed Warrior: ATK 900 DEF 400 LVL 2**

A bright flash of light quickly appeared on Takashi's side of Field as his Speed Warrior materialized in front of him. The sight of the Warrior-Type monster caused Jay to flashback to when his opponent first summoned the card and how it was extremely useful in his victory over Eleanor. He quickly braced himself as he knew what was going to happen next.

"I activate Speed Warrior's Special Ability!" Takashi continued. "On the Battle Phase that it's successfully summoned onto the field, Speed Warrior's Attack Points are doubled!"

**Speed Warrior: ATK 1800**

"Now go Speed Warrior, attack Nova Summoner…Sonic Edge!"

Speed Warrior complied with its master's order and proceeded to make its way over towards its target. Once it got close enough to it, Speed Warrior began spinning around, increasing the speed and power of its legs. Then, with one swift kick, the Warrior-Type Monster was able to slice Nova Summoner's body in half, causing it to explode.

**Jay: 3600 LP**

**Speed Warrior: ATK 900**

After the smoke from the explosion began to fade away, Jay shook off the shock that he was feeling from the attack and quickly reacted to Takashi's play by placing a card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Nice attack," He said. "However, when Nova Summoner is destroyed through battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one Fairy-Type monster with 1500 or less Attack Points from my Deck! The card I choose is the Tuner Monster: Counselor Lily!"

**Counselor Lily: ATK 400 DEF 1500 LVL 3**

Once again, the gates of Valhalla opened back up and a blinding flash of light emerged from the doors. Soon, a new monster appeared and proceeded to stand in the same place that Nova Summoner once was. Its appearance was that of a beautiful angel wearing a nice set of counselor clothes. The beauty of the Tuner Monster also managed to entice most of the men watching the Duel as they never seen such a mesmerizing creature power.

After Counselor Lily was finally introduced, Takashi managed to keep his cool by the sudden arrival of the angel and went on to come up with a counter strategy. With his opponent now in possession of a Tuner Monster, it was obvious that Jay was planning on performing a Synchro Summoning on his next turn. Takashi realized that he nothing in his hand to prevent the summoning, but he did have a way to protect himself. With that, the young man took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When that happened, the card appeared face-down on the field, right behind Gogogo Golem.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He stated.

"Alright," Jay said. "It's time to get down to business! Draw!"

Not wasting any time, Jay quickly drew a card from his Deck and took a look at it. Upon seeing that it was the card that he was searching for, Jay smiled once again and went on to place the card firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Kuribon!"

**Kuribon: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a small ball of light materialized onto Jay's side of the field. When the light faded away, a small creature that looked very similar to Kuriboh and Winged Kuriboh appeared before him. However, unlike those two monsters, Kuribon was somewhat smaller, it had no arms, and it had a long rat-like tail that had a red ribbon to the end up it.

"I now Tune my Level 1 Kuribon and Level 4 Hysteric Angel with my Level 3 Counselor Lilly!"

All three of Jay's monsters complied with his order and quickly jumped up into the air in order to begin the process for a Synchro Summoning. As that was happening, Jay quickly pulled out a card from his Extra Deck and went on to place it on his Monster Card Zone.

"Synchro Summon! Arrive in light, Avenging Knight Parshath!"

**Avenging Knight Parshath: ATK 2600 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

When the Synchro Ritual ended, a giant flash of light erupted from the gates of Valhalla as Avenging Knight Parshath appeared and proceeded to stand by Jay. The appearance of the Fairy-Type Synchro Monster brought a sense of fear and delight to Takashi as he always enjoyed taking on powerful monsters and finding a way to defeat them. He soon braced himself as he saw Jay get ready to begin his Battle Phase.

"Here we go!" Jay said. "Avenging Knight Parshath, attack Speed Warrior now!"

The knight shook its head and started to make its way over to Speed Warrior. However, before the attack could connect and deal Takashi 1700 points of damage, the young man went on to activate the face-down card that he set on his last turn.

"I activate a Trap: Negate Attack!" He shouted. "With it, I can negate your attack and forcibly end your Battle Phase!"

Just before Parshath's attack could connect, a small barrier appeared in front of Speed Warrior and Gogogo Golem. The barrier protected both monsters from harm and forced Parashath to return to Jay side, much to his disappointment.

"Oh no," He thought quietly to himself. "I thought I could get him this time. Avenging Knight Parashath is one of my strongest monsters, but he was able to avoid its attack like it was nothing. I knew that he was a good Duelist, but I thought I would have at least dealt him some damage by now. It's like he's on an entirely different level since the last time I saw him. If I don't do something, and quick, I'm going to lose this Duel in one swoop. What do I do?"

As Jay pondered his predicament, Takashi simply looked on at him while waiting to be allowed to begin his turn. While looking at him, the young man paid close attention to his opponent's face and saw that it was slowly being consumed by despair. The sight of that expression caused him to remember when he had such a look and how it caused him to doubt himself and his skills. Takashi wanted to come out and say something, but he decided not to at the last second. He wanted see how would Jay react to his next move. Only by seeing the expression on his face would he know whether or not to help him.

Eventually, after spending another minute thinking about on what he was going to do, Jay saw that there were no other cards that he could play at the moment. All he could do now is hope that his Avenging Knight Parshath was strong enough to get through Takashi turn. However, even though his knight was powerful, Jay wasn't completely confident that it was capable of getting the job done.

"I end my turn,"

"It's my turn," Takashi declared. "Draw!"

After drawing a card from his Deck and placing it into his hand, Takashi looked over all of his cards for a moment before looking back over at Jay's side of the Field. Even though his opponent was beginning to lose faith in his skills it didn't change the fact that he had powerful monster with him. Taking down a creature with over 2500 Attack Points wasn't an easy task, even for the most experienced of Duelists. However, Takashi knew very well that strength wasn't only one factor to game of Duel Monsters and he was determined to prove that very fact.

So, without wasting any more time, Takashi proceeded to take a card from his hand and place it onto his Monster Card Zone. When that happened, a bright yellow light began to illuminate across his side of the Field.

"I Summon: Bright Star Dragon!" He said.

**Bright Star Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

When the light began to fade away, Bright Star Dragon emerged from it and started standing next to its fellow monsters. Several people in the crowd noticed the beast and immediately recognize it as one of the cards that Takashi used when he Xyz Summon Utopia. This caused them to wonder whether or not Takashi would use his dragon in order bring out the Number Card again. However, they were about to find out that Takashi had a completely different plan in mind.

"I activate Bright Star's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned onto the Field, I can increase the Level of one of my monsters by 2 until the End Phase of this turn. The monster I choose is my Speed Warrior!"

**Speed Warrior: LVL 4**

Bright Star Dragon's body started to become covered with a beautiful golden aura as it started yelling at the top of its lungs. As it did that, Speed Warrior soon found itself also being covered in the same aura, causing its Level to be increased by 2 Levels. The sight of that caused Jay to wonder what Takashi was thinking. Even though he has three monsters on the Field whose Levels were exactly the same, none of them had the power to take on Avenging Knight Parshath. He was about to ask his opponent about his confusing moves, but he stopped just as Takashi proceeded to take the three cards that were on his Monster Card Zone and stack them on top of one another.

"I Overlay my Level 4 Gogogo Golem, Speed Warrior, and Bright Star Dragon in order to build the Overlay Network!"

All three of Takashi's monsters nodded their heads at the same time and went on to transform themselves into three shining orbs of light. They then started flying around the entire Field for a few moments before diving down into a colorful portal that appeared on the ground. Once that happened, Takashi took a card from his Extra Deck and placed it firmly on top of the cards that he already had stacked on his Duel Disk.

"Xyz Summon! Show yourself, One-Eyed Skill Gainer!"

**One-Eyed Skill Gainer: ATK 2500 DEF 2600 Rank 4**

As soon as Takashi finished declaring the name of his monster, the portal that was in front of him started to erupted like a volcano. Then, from out of that portal, a new monster emerged and started standing in front of him. Its appearance resembled that of a warrior who was wearing blue and black samurai armor. It was wearing a mask that covered most of its face and was also carrying two Japanese swords that it had kept to the side of him. One-Eyed Skill Gainer's body was also being surrounded by 3 Overlay Units, a tradition that it shared with all Xyz Monsters.

Once Skill Gainer's body was fully materialized onto the field, Jay took a good look at it and he was instantly impressed by its strength. However, despite how impressed he was, the young man still saw that his Avenging Knight Parshath was still stronger. That caused him to wonder if Takashi had some other strategy in mind.

"Does One-Eyed Skill Gainer have a protective ability like his Gogogo Golem?" He asked himself. "Or does Takashi have something even more dangerous in mind?"

"I attack Avenging Knight Parshath with One-Eyed Skill Gainer!" Takashi declared.

Jay's eyes widen from shock as he watched Skill Gainer draw both of its sword and began to make his way over to Parashath. As the two monsters prepared to do battle, Jay was becoming even more confused by Takashi's actions. If this attack successfully went through then he would be the one of lost. As he tried to figure out what he was up too, Jay failed to notice that Takashi took a card from his hand and went on to place it into his Graveyard.

"From my hand I activate the Special Ability of Honest!" He said. "By sending it to the Graveyard, I can increase One-Eyed Skill Gainer's Attack Points equal to that of Avenging Knight Parashath's, since my Skill Gainer is a Light Attribute Monster!"

**One-Eyed Skill Gainer: ATK 5100**

As Skill Gainer continued to make its way over to Avenging Knight Parashath, a pair of beautiful angel wings began to materialize onto its back. With the power of those wings, Skill Gainer's body started to become covered by a white aura, increasing its power by an immense rate. Once it gained enough power, One-Eyed Skill Gainer took both its swords and went on to slash through Parashath's body like butter. This action caused an explosion to occur, completely covering Jay's side of the Field in smoke.

**Jay: 1100 LP**

While smoke continued to cover Jay's section of the field, everyone who was watching the Duel started cheering in unison. Since the very beginning, Takashi has taken control of the Duel and has refused to let go. All of his moves has protected him from harm and has now allowed him to deal a massive blow to his opponent. They soon came to the conclusion that it would only be a matter of time until this Duel was over and Takashi was declared the winner. To that end, the spectators started cheering for Takashi, asking him to finish Jay off.

However, not everyone was happy about the cheering that was taking place. Takashi's friends were finding it very annoying as they didn't like the fact that Jay was being picked on just because he was losing. Even though things weren't going his way it didn't give the spectators the right to pick on him because of his lack of skill. All of them wanted to step up and say something, but they knew that a riot was bound to happen if they did manage to respond to them. All of them just had to hope that Jay was a Duelist worthy of their praise.

Meanwhile, back at the Duel, the smoke that was covering Jay's side of the field was finally beginning to disappear. When that happened, Takashi looked on and saw that Jay was on his knees, looking down at the ground. He also noticed that Jay was talking to himself as tears were beginning to run down his face.

"It's no good," He said. "It's just no good. He destroyed my Avenging Knight Parashath like it was nothing. It was the strongest monster I had in my Deck and it was reason how I got so far. With it gone, there's no way I can win. I guess…I guess…they were right about me after all. There's no point in even continuing…"

With his will to fight now gone, Jay got ready to place his hand on top of his Duel Disk, which signifies that a Duel is surrendering the match. However, before his hand could touch the device, Jay heard someone talking to him.

"Don't you dare quit!"

Jay's eyes widen once more as he recognized the person who was talking to him. He slowly lifted his head up and saw that it was Takashi and had an angry expression on his face.

"What the hell is wrong with you Jay?" He asked him. "Didn't you tell me that you wanted to become a professional Duelist one day?"

"…I do," Jay softly replied. "But….but you're…and I'm…"

"No buts!" Takashi shouted. "If that's truly is your dream then you shouldn't be giving up so easily! Some of the best Duelists in the world had to overcome even greater odds than what you're facing now. You can't say that you want to go pro and not be prepared for situations like this!"

As Takashi spoke to him, Jay began to make sense of what he was saying. It's been his dream since he was a little boy to one day become a world famous Pro Duelist. He would watch championship matches every chance he could and saw that the Duelists would always give it his all no matter what type of situation they happen to be in. Sometimes they won and sometimes they lost, but the one thing they never did was give up.

However, even with that fact running through his mind, Jay was still having his doubts. Just because the Pro Duelists he watched were strong didn't mean that he was equally strong. Seeing the doubt and hesitation on his face, Takashi closed his eyes and remembered the words that Hikari's Spirit told him. Those words gave him the strength to overcome the problems that he was facing and move forward towards any challenge that he had to get through. After opening his eyes back up, the young man came to the realization that his opponent needed to hear those same words.

"Jay," He started off. "I can tell that you're afraid, but you have to overcome it. Only by overcoming your fear and insecurities will you have a chance at beating me."

"But Takashi…" Jay replied. "…I'm not…as strong as you…and the people here…"

"Forget about them!" Takashi yelled. "They're not important right now. What is important is you getting on your feet and proving to me that you have the strength to continue. Jay, you have a power that you still have not realized. However, you must get through this negative attitude of yours. Even if you think no one believes in you, just stick out your chest and scream your defiance!"

As he continued to listen to everything that his opponent was saying to him, Jay started to remember the whole reason why he decided to enter the Fortune Cup in the first place. He wanted to prove to himself that all of his doubters were wrong about him. He wasn't weak and he did have what it takes to one day become a Professional Duelist. If he gave up now, then not only would he be proving all of his doubters right, but he would also be giving up on the dream that he's trying so hard to achieve. Jay didn't want that to happen. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing him beat. Whether he won or loss, Jay was going to give his all in this Duel and show everyone that he deserves to be here.

With that, Jay quickly got back up on his feet and proceeded to punch himself in the face in order to snap himself out of his depression. Once he did that, the young man looked towards Takashi with a new sense of strength. The sight of seeing him like that caused a small smile to appear on Takashi's face as he knew that things are now about to get interesting.

"I end my turn," He said to him. "Now Jay, show me your true strength!"

**One-Eyed Skill Gainer: ATK 2500**

"It's my turn," Jay declared as he drew a card from his deck. "Draw!"

After looking at the card and placing it into his hand, Jay turned his attention towards Takashi's One-Eyed Skill Gainer and started to come up with a strategy to defeat it. The Xyz Monster had 2500 Attack Points, so he needed to summon a monster of even greater strength if he wanted to destroy it. However, at the moment, Jay didn't have monsters in his hand that could allow him to defeat Skill Gainer. Because of that, the young man proceeded to take a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity!" He said. "With this, I can draw three cards from Deck and then discard two cards from my hand into the Graveyard."

Going along with the effect of his Spell, Jay didn't waste any time and went on draw three cards before discarding two. As he did that, he looked at the cards that he had in his hand now.

"This could work," He thought quietly. "With these cards I might be able to destroy One-Eyed Skill Gainer and deal a lot of damage to Takashi. Although…this will be the first time I'm bring _it _out in a real Duel. Is it really time to use this card?"

While pondering on what to do, Jay started to hear the roar of a powerful dragon echo from inside his mind. The sound of the roar surprised him for a few moments but, as time went on, he found himself feeling much stronger. It was as if the roar itself was increasing his strength. This caused himself to rid himself of any lingering doubts that he previously had and he was now determined to fight this Duel with all of his power. To that end, Jay proceeded to take one of the cards that he drew and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, due to the effect of my Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen Spell, I can Special Summon: Airknight Parshath!"

**Airknight Parshath: ATK 1900 DEF 1400 LVL 5**

Once again, the doors of Valhalla opened up and released another blast of blinding white light from within its halls. When it faded, everyone who was watching the Duel saw that a fearsome fairy that was wearing yellow and gold armor was looking towards Takashi and his monster; One-Eyed Skill Gainer. However, before an attack could be made, Jay continued on with his Main Phase by taking another card from his hand and also placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next," Jay continued. "I Summon the Tuner Monster: Trust Guardian!"

**Trust Guardian: ATK 0 DEF 800 LVL 3**

After placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Jay watched a small red light appeared on his side of the field. Soon, the light materialized into a small fairy that had light red wings and big red hat that went on to fly next to Airknight Parshath. Now, with two monsters on the field, Jay proceeded to lift his hand up just as both of his Fairy-Type started flying high above the sky.

"I now Tune my Level 5 Airknight Parshath with my Level 3 Trust Guardian!"

Both monsters nodded their heads upon hearing their master's declaration and prepared themselves to begin the process for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Takashi started to feel a sharp pain coming from his Signer Mark and went on to look at it. He saw that the mark was glowing, indicating to him that something powerful was coming. Once he finished looking at his arm, Takashi lifted his head and quickly noticed that Jay was about to place a card from his Extra Deck onto his Duel Disk. Seeing that caused him realize something about his opponent.

"…Jay," He thought quietly. "Could it be…?"

Before Takashi could think about it anymore, Jay placed the card onto his Extra Deck and watched as the Synchro Summoning between Airknight Parshath and Trust Guardian was now complete. This resulted in a bright flash of light that went on to consume most of Jay's side of the Field. As that happened, Jay started chanting something to himself.

"From high above the sky, a powerful force emerges in order to shine its light upon evil! Synchro Summon! Descend from the heavens, Fairy Oath Dragon!"

**Fairy Oath Dragon: ATK 2900 DEF 2800 LVL 8**

When the chant was finished, a mighty roar could be heard from throughout the stadium just as the light from the Synchro Summoning was finished. Then, as if it was coming from the very heavens itself, a powerful white and green dragon appeared from the sky and started flying just above Jay's head. The sight of beast surprised everyone and the entire stadium was in a dead silence for a moments. No believed that Jay had such a powerful card in his deck and most of the people that were berating him before were starting to believe that they were probably wrong about him.

Meanwhile, as the crowd continued to be awestruck, Takashi continued to hold on to his arm as he looked on at Fairy Oath Dragon. Just looking at the beast caused him to feel even more pain from his Signer Mark, telling him right away that the dragon that he was about to face wasn't any ordinary monster. He then started to wonder if Jay was one of the people that he was searching for, a Dragunity Knight.

"Fairy Oath Dragon," Jay called. "Attack One-Eyed Skill Gainer with Heaven's Light!"

Fairy Oath Dragon complied with Jay's commanded and started to gather a massive amount of light energy from within its body. Once it had gathered enough, the powerful Synchro Monster went to fire a blast of light energy from its mouth. The blast quickly made its way towards Skill Gainer, turning it into ashes once the attack made contact with its body.

**Takashi: 3600 LP**

"I now activate Fairy Oath Dragon's Special Ability!" Jay declared. "When it successfully destroys a monster through battle, my opponent takes damage equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

Takashi's eyes widen from shock upon hearing Jay explain the power of his Synchro Monster. He then looked up and watched as Fairy Oath Dragon released another blast of light energy from its mouth. The blast struck Takashi, causing him to fall to the ground as his Life Points began to drop.

**Takashi: 1100 LP**

While Takashi continued to lie on the ground, the people in the stadium quickly became even more shocked than they were before. In just one turn Jay, the Duelist that they've been booing up until now, turned the tables completely around and was now the one in complete control. They soon realized that they misjudged the young Duelist and that he was much stronger than they initially believed. Because of that the crowd started cheering for him, happy that he was able to make the Duel interesting for everyone watching.

As the cheers became louder and louder Jay, who was at first confused by what was going on, started smile towards the crowd. He was happy that he was able change the spectators opinion about him and prove that he did deserve to be one the Duelists who qualified for the tournament. He then turned his attention towards his Fairy Oath Dragon and started smiling at it as well. Jay knew that if it wasn't for it, there would be no way that he would've reached this point and went on to thank the dragon as a result. Fairy Oath Dragon, even though it couldn't outwardly expression its feelings, was happy for the praise from its master and released a prideful roar as a result. Once it finished roaring, both it and Jay prepared themselves as they Takashi slowly get back on his feet.

"That…was a…good attack Jay," Takashi stuttered. "I knew…you had it in…you."

"Thank you," Jay replied. "But it's because of your encouragement that I was able to make such a comeback. If anyone deserves any thanks, it's you Takashi."

"No Jay," Takashi said. "You got here on your own. It was your strength and resolve that allowed you to reach this point. All I did was encourage you into believing in yourself."

After saying his piece, Takashi went on to give a friendly smile towards Jay. He knew very well how he felt and he wanted to show him that believing in yourself could allow you achieve even greater strength. Having fulfilled on helping his opponent's morale, Takashi was now ready to have a proper Duel with him. So, after watching Jay end his turn without making any other moves, Takashi proceeded to place his hand upon his Deck.

"It's my turn," He said excitedly. "Draw!"

Upon drawing another card from his deck, Takashi took a quick look at and realized that it was precisely the card that he needed. With it, not only could he possibly destroy Jay's strongest monster, but also be able to win the Duel as well. So, not wanting to waste another second, Takashi got ready to begin his strategy by taking a card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"To begin, I Summon: Goblindbergh!" He declared after placing the card he drew onto his Monster Card Zone.

**Goblindbergh: ATK 1400 DEF 0 LVL 4**

Once he placed the card on his Duel Disk, a small flash of light appeared in front of Takashi. Soon, the light materialized into a goblin who was riding on a small fighter airplane.

"Next, I activate Goblindbergh's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned onto the Field, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand."

Not wasting any time, Takashi quickly searched through his hand and found the card that he wanted to Special Summon. Once he had it in hand, the young man then went on to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone, right next to Goblindbergh.

"Show yourself, Ganbara Knight!"

**Ganbara Knight: ATK 0 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

Another flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the Field as a knight, who was carrying two shields in each of its hand, appeared and stood next to Goblinbergh. However the two monsters didn't stay together for long as Takashi went on to place both their cards on top of one another.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Goblindbergh and Ganbara Knight in order to build the Overlay Network!"

The two monsters quickly transformed themselves into two shining orbs and quickly began to swarm around the entire Field. After a few minutes, the orbs then dove into a portal that appeared onto the ground and everyone looked on as a small eruption occurred.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the Power of Hope, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

From the portal that was created from Goblindbergh and Ganbara Knight, Number 39: Utopia appeared proceeded to stand next to Takashi while two Overlay Units circled around its body. Its appearance excited some of the people in crowd as they were happy to see Number Card again after what happened during the First Round. However, even though Takashi used Utopia in a unique way during his last Duel, some people had doubts that the same thing could happen again.

"So that's Number 39," Jay said as he looked in awe at the Number Card. "I watched your Duel against Tyler yesterday and I was amazed that you were able to defeat his Cyber Eltanin with it. But, don't mistake my Fairy Oath Dragon for Cyber Eltanin because it's several times more powerful than it!"

"What makes you say that Jay?" Takashi questioned.

"Because, I happened to notice something during your last Duel," Jay explained. "You used Utopia in combination with a Trap Card in order to defeat Tyler. However, my Fairy Oath Dragon can negate the activation of my opponent's Trap Cards once per turn. In other words, you can't use your Utopian Power Sword Trap!"

Upon explaining the second Special Ability of his monster, Fairy Oath Dragon proceeded to release a powerful red aura from its body. The aura acted as a barrier that shielded Jay's monsters from Takashi's Trap Cards. With no Traps to get in his way, Jay was certain that he had Takashi's number and he was certain that he would have no choice but to end his turn. However…

"That's a nice ability Jay," Takashi complimented. "Let me show you one of mine. Utopia, attack Fairy Oath Dragon!"

Utopia nodded its head and prepared to attack Fairy Oath Dragon with one of its swords. This act shocked everyone in the stadium, including Jay. If this attack went through then Utopia would be destroyed as a result. Not only that but with Fairy Oath's Special Ability, Takashi would take damage equal Utopia's Attack Points. That would cause him to lose all of his Life Points and Jay would win the Duel.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?!" Jay questioned. "Do you have any idea on what you just did?"

"Yes," Takashi calmly replied. "I'm activating Utopia's Special Ability! By using one Overlay Unit, Number 39 can negate any attack that's being waged and the attack I'm negating is Utopia's!"

As Utopia was about to swing its sword, one of the Overlay Units that was circling around its body went inside of it. This caused the Number Card to cease its attack and return to Takashi's side. However, it wouldn't be there for long as the young man went on to take the card that he drew at the beginning of this turn and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, since Utopia's attack was negated, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell: Double of Nothing! With its power, Utopia's Attack Points are doubled and it can now wage a second attack!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 5000**

Jay's eyes widen as he watched a powerful golden aura surround Utopia's body as it prepared itself to attack again, this time with both if its swords. He franticly looked through his entire hand, hoping to find something that would allow him to negate the attack or, at the very least, negate the Battle Damage. However, he wasn't able to find such a thing. With the reality of his defeat coming closer and closer, Jay looked back up towards Takashi and saw that he was smiling at him.

"This was a fun Duel Jay," He said to him. "You gave it your all and I'm very proud of you. Hey, let's Duel again someday…when both of us are much stronger."

After Takashi finished talking to him, Jay started to calm down and slowly began to smile himself. Since the very beginning of this Duel, he's been filled with doubts and wonder if he truly deserved to be here. However, not only did he prove that he belonged here, but he showed everyone his true strength as well. He's gone farther than anyone thought he was capable of and that, by its own right, was reward enough. So, after looking towards Fairy Oath Dragon and thanking it for its hard work, Jay turned back towards Takashi and nodded his head towards him.

"Thank you," He said. "Thanks for the fun Duel and I would love to face you again one day."

With his opponent having accepted his fate, Takashi didn't waste any more time and continued on with Utopia's second attack.

"Utopia," He called. "Attack Fairy Oath Dragon...Rising Sun Super Slash!"

Utopia started charging towards Fairy Oath Dragon again as it began to channel energy into both of its blades. This caused swords to extend in length, increasing their overall power. Once that was done, Utopia then went on to slash Fairy Oath Dragon's body, destroying the beast causing Jay to lose the remaining of his Life Points.

**Jay: 0 LP**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With his victory over Jay, Takashi is first Duelist to qualify for the Finals and now waits patiently for seven other Duelists to do the same. Next up is Akiza and she finds out that her opponent happens to be one of her classmates. _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 64: Battle of Rivals – Akiza vs. Ran_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to say I'm sorry for the late reply. Finals are coming up and I have to be ready for them. I promise that once they're over, the chapters will come out much sooner. _

_Next, I received messages lately regarding the current ages of the main characters. Here they are right now._

_Takashi: Age 18_

_Akiza: Age 17_

_Crow: Age 18_

_Lilly: Age 19_

_Misaki: Age 17_

_Toru: Age 20_

_Alistair: Age 20_

_Lastly, I want to thank JJun for his OC; Jay Slade. I promise to use him to the best of my abilities so please watch out for him in later chapters._

_Well, that's it for now. So until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	64. Chapter 64

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

_**Special Thanks: **__PokeRescue18 _

**Chapter 64: **_Battle of Rivals – Akiza vs. Ran_

* * *

><p>"<em>This Duel is over! The winner of the match is Takashi Nakamura!"<em>

As the announcer declared the winner of the first Duel of the Second Round, everyone in the stadium started cheering in unison. The match that all of them have just witnessed was one for the record books. Both Duelists gave it everything they had and proved to everyone present that they deserved their place here in the Fortune Cup. However, on this day, it was Takashi who was the stronger of the two and he was able to secure a spot as one of the 8 Duelists to appear in the Fortune Cup Finals.

While the crowd continued cheering for him, Takashi proceeded to deactivate his Duel Disk before making his way over to Jay. His opponent had a somewhat mixed expression on his face as he wasn't upset that he lost, but he didn't really want to lose either. In the end, Jay pretty much content with the results of the Duel and he promised himself that he would try harder to defeat Takashi the next time they happen to face each other. So, when Takashi came up to him and extended out his hand, Jay proudly took his own hand and shook it.

"That was a great Duel Takashi," He said with a small smile on his face. "Going against you as showed me that I still have much to learn if I want to make it as a Pro Duelist one day. I'll be rooting for you in the Finals Takashi and I know you'll win too."

"Thanks Jay," Takashi replied. "I had a great time too."

While the two of them continued to shake each other's hand, Takashi noticed the mixed expression that was on Jay's face and started to believe that he was more hurt than he was letting on. He came so far and proved a lot people wrong by being able to make it this far. However, in realistic terms, all of that work and effort doesn't really account for much since he wasn't able to win the tournament. Because of that, Takashi started to feel bad for Jay and wondered if there was anything that he could do to make it up to him. Eventually, it didn't take him to long to come up with an idea.

"Hey Jay," He said. "I have a proposition for you if you want to hear it."

"Really…what proposition?" Jay asked.

"Well, during our Duel I can tell that you have a tremendous amount of potential trapped inside of you. If you were able to bring it out anytime you want then you would be a match for even the world's best Duelists. If you'll let me, I would like to train you so that you can reach that level of strength."

Upon hearing Takashi's proposal, a shocked expression appeared on Jay's face. Ever since he met him all those months ago, the young boy has looked up to Takashi because of his strength and kindness. In some ways, Jay wanted to be just like him when he got older. So, with the opportunity to be trained by the person who helped him start on the path that he's on now, there just no way that Jay could decline Takashi offer.

"Sure," He said in an excited tone of voice. "I would love to have the chance to learn from you Takashi."

"Good," Takashi said. "Let's start your real training right after the Fortune Cup. For now, I want you to pay close attention to these remaining Duels and the type of styles that each of the Duelists employs."

"Okay," Jay said. "I'll do that."

Takashi and Jay smiled at one another again before once again shaking each other's hands, effectively signifying the agreement that they just made. Once the two of them finished, they proceeded to make their way back over to their friends while the crowd began to cheer for the both of them. Once they reached the others, they quickly proceeded to surround the two of them and congratulate them both on such a fine match.

"That Duel was off the hook!" Toru said in an excited tone of voice.

"Yeah!" Madas followed. "I admit, I was worry for a moment, but you two sure proved me wrong. Watching the two of you go at it just makes me more anxious for my Duel to start."

As Takashi and Jay continued to be showered by the praise of their friends, both Tem and Lilly had their eyes focused solely on the former. Having witnessed the results of his training first hand, the both of them realized that Takashi would be hard obstacle to overcome. However, while he was indeed on their mind, it was the powers of Number 39 that really caught their attention.

"Number 39: Utopia," Tem thought to himself. "It truly is a powerful card and the way Takashi uses it only makes it even more dangerous. Not only does it have the ability to negate any attack that's being waged, but Takashi can also use that very ability to increase Utopia's power. It's like when I use Heroic Champion – Excalibur's Special Ability…except that Utopia's is far more effective. It's almost like Takashi paid close attention to my Heroic Strategy, modified it to his own designed, and actually improved on it. If that really is the case then I'll have to be on guard from this moment forward. Otherwise, he'll just blow right through me if we happen to face each other in the Finals."

"That Number Card," Lilly thought quietly to herself. "It's feeling…its feeling is very similar to when Takashi Synchro Summons Stardust Dragon or assumes that powerful golden form."

Lilly closed her eyes for a short moment and began to think back to all the time that Takashi brought out his Stardust Dragon as well as the times he transforms into his golden form. From those instances, Lilly recalled feeling a powerful presence and realized that Utopia also produces that very same presence when it's Xyz Summoned.

"That feeling…it feels very warm, almost like when the rays of the sun touch my face. Whenever I experience that feeling, I feel warm and safe, like nothing in the world can harm me. It almost as if…Takashi is protecting me."

Lilly opened her eyes back up and saw Takashi was still talking and laughing with the rest of their friends. She then remembered something that Toru told her a while ago…about the reason why Takashi does the things that he does. He fights to protect other people. He doesn't want other people to be hurt and he's willing to risk his life for that goal. By doing that, he's making sure that others can live a happy life, even at the cost of his own.

"His monsters, the way he fights, and the way he acts…they're all reflected on his desire to protect others."

Lilly pulled out her deck from the case that was on her waist and proceeded to draw one card. The card was her Ancient Fairy Dragon and she went on to look at it for a few moments before turning her attention back towards Takashi. She then imagined seeing him in his golden form while both Stardust Dragon and Number 39: Utopia were standing right behind him.

"I wonder. Do our powers, and by that extent our monsters, reflect by our inner most thoughts and desires? If that's the case…then what's mine?"

As she continued to think about this, Ancient Fairy Dragon appeared in her spirit form. She looked down at Lilly and noticed the perplexing look that was on her face. Upon seeing it, the dragon instantly knew what was on Lilly's mind and went on to nod her head as a result.

"_Good Lilly,"_ She thought quietly to herself. _"By thinking that…you're beginning to understand what your powers really are and how they work. Keep up the good work and you'll soon discover even more incredible."_

Ancient Fairy Dragon continued looking down at Lilly for a few more moments before lifting her heading and turning her attention towards Takashi. When she did that she was able to see Stardust Dragon appear just above his head. However, this dragon wasn't a Solid Image hologram nor was it a figment of her imagination, it was the actual spirit form Stardust Dragon. Seeing it fly above Takashi's head brought a smile on her face as it meant that he was able to accomplish something very significant during his training.

"_Now I see why…why the Crimson Dragon would choose him as their leader."_

Happy in the knowledge that things were going well, Ancient Fairy Dragon prepared itself to fade away. However, before it disappeared completely, Stardust Dragon looked towards her and nodded his head. Seeing that caused Ancient Fairy Dragon to nod her head in return before finding herself disappearing from sight. Once she was gone, Stardust looked down at Takashi for a short moment before going on to do the same thing.

"_Attention Duelists," _The announcer said over the loud speaker. _"The second Qualifying Duel is about to take place shortly."_

As the announcer's message echoed throughout the entire stadium, Takashi and the others quickly stopped whatever they were doing and listened closely to see who would be Dueling next.

"_Will the following Duelists please make their way to the field; Akiza Izinski and Ran Kobayakawa."_

Upon hearing the names of the next two Duelists, Akiza's eyes widen in a slight state of shock. She then looked down towards the Dueling Field and saw that her next opponent was already making her way there. She was a beautiful young woman with long, somewhat curly, blonde hair and emerald green eyes. She was also wearing an equally beautiful pink dress, which was created in a style that matched the appearance of a princess or queen. Ran also had a bright pink and white Duel Disk that was attached to her left arm.

Akiza's was surprised by Ran's appearance, but it wasn't the way she looked that caught her off guard. It was the fact that she was here at the Fortune Cup that surprised her so much. As she continued to look on at her opponent, her friends noticed the look on her face and they began to wonder what was wrong.

"Hey Akiza," Crow said to her. "What's going on with you? Shouldn't you be heading down there and kicking some ass."

If Akiza heard Crow's voice, she choose not to reply to him. She just kept her eyes on Ran and wondered why she was here. Crow, who was quickly becoming annoyed by her lack of response, was about to confront her was quickly stopped by Misaki, who started explaining the reason why Akiza was acting the way she was.

"Ran Kobayakawa," She started off. "She's a Duel Academy student, just like Akiza and myself."

Crow was shocked upon hearing this revelation and quickly turned his attention towards Ran for a moment. He then instantly knew the reason why Akiza was so unresponsive as she was shocked by the fact that one of her classmates would be her opponent.

"Before the two of us enrolled," Misaki continued. "Kobayakawa was considered to be one of the greatest female Duelists in the Academy's history. Her skill was so great that people even compare her to Alexis Rhodes, the first female Duel Academy student to rise to the rank of Duel King, or Queen, of Japan after she graduated. Once that happened, it didn't take long for Ran to earn the title our school gives out when you're the best female Duelist there; the title of Queen of Queens."

"I see," Toru said. "That means this Duel is going to be tough."

"Yes…and no," Misaki replied. "As of right now, Kobayakawa doesn't have the title of Queen of Queens anymore. That title now belongs to Akiza."

Everyone's eyes, with the exception of Misaki's and Takashi's, lit up upon hearing that Akiza was deemed the best Duelist in her school. Even though they personally believed that she had the skills to become the best, but the fact that she had a title to act as proof of such an achievement was really something.

"Even though I wasn't a student at the time," Misaki said, continuing her explanation. "I heard that Akiza defeated Kobayakawa during their very first match and won it without losing any of her Life Points. Ever since then, the students gave the title of Queen of Queens over to Akiza and Kobayakawa has had a grudge against her ever since."

As Misaki continued on with her explanation, Akiza was beginning to think about the relationship that she and Ran have. However, she didn't have much time to ponder as the announcer appeared on the loud speaker once again and called for her to come down and face her opponent. Once that happened, the young woman realized that she couldn't let her confusion get the best of her anymore. Whether she liked it or not, she had to face this battle.

So, without wasting any more time, Akiza grabbed her burgundy colored Duel Disk and placed it upon her life arm. She then pulled her Deck from her case and inserted it into the device. After that, she pressed a button on her Duel Disk and watched as all of cards began to shuffle. When the cards finished shuffling, Akiza took a deep breath and got ready leave to face her opponent. However, before she could take a single step, something touched the back of her shoulder. When she turned around, Akiza saw all of her friends looking at her.

"Good luck Akiza," Aiku said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah," Madas followed. "Show that Ran girl who the true Queen of Queens is!"

Akiza listened as her friends each gave her words of encouragement before her upcoming battle. Once all of them said what they wanted to say, the Psychic Duelist nodded her head and got ready to head to the Dueling Field. However, just as was about to turn around, Takashi gently grabbed her hand. When he did that, a small blush appeared on Akiza's face.

"Do your best Akiza," He said. "And make sure to have fun as well."

As Takashi smiled after saying his piece, Akiza looked down and saw that he was still holding her hand. The sight of that and his words of encouragement, brought a smile on her face. She eventually lifted her head back up and looked the man who she has fallen in love with.

"Thanks Takashi," She said. "I will…and until I have the opportunity to face you again, I have intention of losing."

With that said, Akiza slowly released herself from Takashi's hold and began to make her way over to the Field, her resolve now more powerful than ever. As she left, Takashi and the others all looked at her, confident that she had the strength and the ability to overcome anything that Ran might throw at her and make it to the Finals.

"So it's Akiza vs. Ran…this is going to be a very interesting match-up,"

Takashi's eyes sudden lifted from shock as he began to feel a powerful, yet familiar, Reiatsu coming from behind him. He quickly turned his head around and saw a man, who looked slightly older than him, sitting down a row behind him. It didn't take Takashi long to figure out that Reiatsu that he was feeling was coming from the very man that he was looking at now. However, he also realized something else Reiatsu that the man was producing.

"This guy," He thought quietly to himself. "This guy's Reiatsu…it's the same as a Psychic Duelist. However, it's not just any Psychic Reiatsu, but the same one who was spying on me earlier this morning."

While he continued to look at the man, Lilly noticed that Takashi's attention was focused elsewhere and went on to turn her head in order to see what he was looking at. When looked at the man that Takashi was staring at, the young woman started to feel a powerful pressure coming down upon her.

"…W-what…what the hell is this…feeling?" She questioned. "And why does it feel…so familiar?"

Meanwhile, as she continued to make her way towards the Duel Field, Akiza saw that Ran finally noticed her coming down and she had a somewhat villainous smile on her face. The sight of that smile made her somewhat eerie as she knew that nothing good could from it. Still, despite that eerie feeling, Akiza was still determined to face this challenge.

She was soon about enter the Field, but she was stopped by someone. When she turned around in order to see who it was, Akiza saw that it was a female reporter with black hair and purple eyes. The sight of the reporter initially caused her to think that she was looking at someone else that she knew, but Akiza quickly realized that she wasn't the person who she was thinking about.

"Are you Akiza Izinski?" The reporter asked.

"…Yes," Akiza answered. "…And who or you?"

"My name is Akari Kamiya," The reporter replied. "I heard much about you from my little sister. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Akiza was confused by Akari's words as she made it seem that she and her little sister know one another. It took her about a minute to figure what she meant and she was surprised by the result.

"Kamiya…?" She questioned. "Is your little sister…Mei Kamiya?"

"That's right," Akari said with a smile. "Mei told me that you're competing here in the Fortune Cup and I wanted to see firsthand on how good of a Duelist you really are. Also, being a reporter and all, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to be interviewed for the New Domino newspaper. So…what do you say?"

After listening to Akari's proposal, Akiza took some time to ponder the idea of being interviewed for a local newspaper. Even though she wasn't really fond of the idea of being famous, the person who was going to interview her was the older sister of one of her best friends. When it's put like that, the interview didn't sound all that bad at all. However, Akiza also knew that if she happens to say something about how she and her friends were force to enter the competition by Sector Security, then Akari could get into serious trouble. Akiza didn't want that to happen to her so she did the only thing she could do.

"Thanks for the offer," She said. "But I'm going to have to decline. I…I'm not very good when comes to interviews and stuff like that."

"I see," Akari replied. "It's okay. Mei also told me that you were pretty nervous girl and the fact that you're here on this big stage doesn't really help, does it? So, how about this? After the Qualifying Rounds are over, the 8 Duelists who make it are given one week off to prepare. So let's have our interview then."

"….Okay," Akiza said. "I can work with that."

Akari smiled, happy over the fact that Akiza has accepted her offer for an interview. She then took down a piece a paper and wrote down her contact information along with her address. Akiza also explained to her that Takashi, Lilly, Crow, Toru, and Misaki were also living in the same place that she was and said she can interview them as well. Once Akari wrote down everything that she needed, she put her things away and happily shook Akiza's hand.

"Thanks for the info," She said. "I'm rooting for in your next Duel…so good luck."

"Don't mention it," Akiza replied. "Thank you too and I promise I'll do my best."

Both girls smiled at one another one more time before going their separate ways. As Akari went on to interview other people, Akiza proceeded to make her way over to the Dueling Field. When she made it there, she saw that Ran was waiting impatiently for her. Both of her arms were cross and she had an angry expression on her face.

"Sorry I'm late Ran," Akiza said to her. "I got delayed."

"If there's one thing I hate more than waiting…it's you, Akiza Izinski," Ran replied. "You not only humiliated me, but you also stole what was most precious to me as well. Well, today's the day I get my revenge. Not only will I get back my rightful title as Duel Academy's Queen of Queen's, but I'll show everyone here just how weak you really are!"

Akiza stared at Ran for a few short moments and she saw that she was serious with her claims. She had every intention on defeating her in front of everybody here and proving once and for all that she's the better Duelist. However, Akiza had no intention on losing either. Unlike Ran, who was only Dueling for status and recognition, Akiza was Dueling for the safety of her friends. That, by its own right, was a much stronger and more worthy conviction.

"…You can say and do whatever you want Ran," Akiza said. "However, I don't plan to lose to you here."

With both girls determined to defeat the other, both Akiza and Ran decided that the time for talking was now over. If they now wished to convey anything, they would use their cards to talk for them. So, without wasting another second, both Duelists proceeded to activate their respective Duel Disks and swiftly drew five cards from their deck. Once they did that, they both waited as judge overseeing the Duel raised both of his arms, signifying the start of the match.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Ran: 4000 LP**

"True Duelists go first," Ran said in a smug tone of voice. "It's my turn, Draw!"

With a determined look on her face, Ran swiftly drew a card from her Deck and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, the young woman examined all of the cards that she had before finding one that really caught her interest. Upon seeing it, a small smile appeared on Ran's face as she proceeded to pick up the card and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"To begin, I activate the Continuous Spell Card: Hazy Pillar!"

When Ran inserted her Spell Card into her Duel Disk, the entire Field started to blacken as a powerful flame shot out from behind her. Inside of the flame was a pillar, which seemed to be the source of the fire.

"While this card remains on the Field, I can Normal Summon one Hazy Flame monster with one less Tribute. In other words, I can summon this monster from my hand without having to release another monster!"

Ran took another card from her hand and placed it firmly upon her Monster Card Zone. When that happened, the pillar of flames that were behind her started to flare up immensely. Then, from those flames, a giant fireball appeared in front of Ran and began to take shape in front of her.

"I Summon: Hazy Flame Hyppogrif!"

**Hazy Flame Hyppogrif: ATK 2100 DEF 200 LVL 6**

When the fireball finished taking shape, the fire began to disappear and reveal that Hazy Flame Hyppogrif was some sort of chimera-like creature. Its body was similar to that of a lion while its head and wings resembled that of a bird. Hyppogrif's body was also almost entirely red in color with some slight yellow highlights that covered a portion of its skull.

Once her monster was out in front of her, Ran continued on with her turn by looking over the remaining cards that were in her hand. She then found another one that she could use and went on to insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card quickly materialized face-down on the Field, right behind her Hazy Flame Hyppogrif.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn. Now, Akiza Izinski…let's see how you deal with this."

"I'll show you," Akiza replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Following her opponent's example, Akiza swiftly drew the top card from her Deck and placed it into her hand. She then looked through all of her cards before finding the one that she could use. Akiza then went on to take the card and place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Twilight Rose Knight!"

**Twilight Rose Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light shined across Akiza's side of the field for a few moments as her trusty Twilight Rose Knight appeared before her. Once the Tuner Monster was out on the field, the young woman followed up her move by grabbing another card from her and also placing it upon her Monster Card Zone.

"When Twilight Rose Knight is successfully summoned onto the Field, its Special Ability allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant-Type monster from my hand. I Special Summon: Lonefire Blossom!"

**Lonefire Blossom: ATK 500 DEF 1400 LVL 3**

The instant Akiza placed the card onto her Duel Disk, Twilight Rose Knight lifted its sword up into the air. When that happened, another bright flash of light shined across Akiza's side of the Field as her Lonefire Blossom appeared. Now, with both of her monsters now with her, it didn't take Ran very long to figure that Akiza was about to summon one of favorite monsters.

"I Tune my Level 3 Lonefire Blossom with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight!" The Psychic Duelist declared.

Both monsters nodded their heads upon hearing their master's orders and proceeded to jump high into the air. As they began to process for a Synchro Summoning, Akiza went to grab a card from her Extra Deck and place it onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, the Synchro Ritual was completed and a giant flash of light covered her entire side of the Field.

"Splendid Hunter and dweller of the sacred forest, with your whip of punishment in hand, come forth now! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Splendid Rose!"

**Splendid Rose: ATK 2200 DEF 2000 LVL 6**

When the light from the Synchro Summoning began to fade, Akiza's Splendid Rose appeared before her and got ready for battle. As it waited for its orders, Takashi and the others were all looking down from stands, most of them happy for what just happened.

"Alright!" Toru said in an excited tone of voice. "With Splendid Rose out on the Field, Akiza can use its Special Ability to cut Hazy Flame Hyppogrif's Attack Points!"

"…No she can't," Misaki calmly stated.

Toru turned his attention towards Misaki and looked at her with a confused expression. Just what did he mean when she said Akiza couldn't use Splendid Rose's effect against Hazy Flame Hyppogrif? Eventually, Toru would get the answer to his question when Takashi started talking about the subject.

"Hazy Flame Hyppogrif's Special Ability prevents it from being targeted by card effects," He explained. "So, even if she really wanted too, Akiza can't use Splendid Rose's effect to cut the Attack Points of her opponent's monster. The best she can do is right now is to destroy it regularly."

"I see," Toru replied. "Oh well, at least she can still destroy it and deal some damage to Ran in the process. That's what really counts in the long run."

As Toru turned his attention back towards the Duel, Takashi simply looked towards Ran's Hazy Flame Hyppogrif. During his training with Alex, he learned much about the Hazy Flame archetype and what their true powers were. He then realized that if Akiza wanted to win this Duel, she needed to do it quick. Otherwise, Ran would summon her Ace Monster and cause problems for her.

"Splendid Rose," Akiza called. "Attack Hazy Flame Hyppogrif…Thorn Whip!"

Splendid Rose complied with Akiza's demand and quickly began to make its way over to Hyppogrif. Once it reached a certain distance, the Plant-Type Synchro Monster pulled out a powerful rose whip from its sleeve and proceeded to whip Hyppogrif several times with it. The force of the attacks destroyed Ran's monster fairly quickly, causing her to lose some of her Life Points.

**Ran: 3900 LP**

Once Hazy Flame Hyppogrif was gone, Akiza looked towards Ran's side of the Field and saw that her opponent had no intention of activating her face-down card yet. She then realized that she was probably waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it and came to the conclusion that she needed to be ready for it. So, in order to prepare, Akiza took one card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, a card appeared face-down on her side of the Field, just right behind her Splendid Rose.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "With that, I end my turn."

"You can that a move Izinski?" Ran questioned as she placed her hand on her deck. "Here, let me show you how a True Duelist plays. It's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing another card from her deck, Ran looked down at it and saw that it was precisely the card that she was looking for. She then proceeded to display the card in front of Akiza's face before going on to place it upon her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"When my opponent has a monster on the Field and I have at least one Fire Attribute monster in my Graveyard, I then Special Summon this card directly from my hand! Come forth, Hazy Flame Griffin!"

**Hazy Flame Griffin: ATK 200 DEF 2100 LVL 6**

Upon placing the card on her Duel Disk, Ran watched as a giant blast of flames appeared before her. She then looked on as the flames began to take shape, transforming itself into a red and yellow griffin. Once her monster was out on the Field, Ran continued on with her turn by taking another card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Double Summon!" She continued. "With this card's power, I can now Normal Summon up to two monsters this turn."

Once she finished explaining her card's effect, Ran went on to take two more cards from her hand and placing them both onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, the fire from her Hazy Pillar Spell Card started to flare up again, bring forth two more fireballs upon her side of the Field.

"Appear now, Hazy Flame Sphynx and Hazy Flame Mantikor!"

**Hazy Flame Sphynx: ATK 1900 DEF 1900 LVL 6**

**Hazy Flame Mantikor: ATK 2200 DEF 300 LVL 6**

Once Ran called out the names of both of her monsters, the two fireballs began to take shape right in front of her. The first one had the appearance of a sphinx as it had the body of a lion with the face of a woman. The second fireball also transformed into that of a lion. However, its appearance was far different from that of Hazy Flame Sphynx. While the former's face looked similar to that of a woman's, Mantikor's face resembled that of a demon dogs.

When both monsters fully materialized onto the Field and started staring at Hazy Flame Griffin, Akiza instantly figured out what Ran was going to do with all three of her monsters. She first intended to have Mantikor first attack her Splendid Rose. Since both monsters have the same number of Attack Points, both of them would be destroyed during the battle. Once the both of them were gone, Ran would have her other two Hazy Flame Monsters attack Akiza's Life Points directly. The strategy, for all purposes, was fairly simple, but effective none the less. Because of that, Akiza prepared herself to press a button on her Duel Disk when Ran eventually made her attack.

"It's time to bring you back to reality!" Ran declared. "Hazy Flame Mantikor, attack her Splendid Rose now!"

Mantikor complied with its master's demand and quickly made its way over to Akiza's Splendid Rose. When that happened, Akiza pressed the button on her Duel Disk and watched as a powerful barrier appeared across her side of the Field.

"Not bad Ran," She said to her. "But I was able to foresee your strategy this time…I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack! With this, I can negate Hazy Flame Mantikor's attack and end your Battle Phase!"

Ran's eyes widen a little bit as she watched her Hazy Flame monster smash its body into the barrier of Akiza's Trap Card. The barrier's power proceeded to zap Mantikor's body with a powerful electrical force which, in turn, caused the monster to pull back and return to Ran's side of the Field. When that happened, Ran simply glared at Akiza in disgust as her most hated enemy was not only able to avoid her Mantikor's attack, but was also able to prevent her other monsters from attacking as well.

"Don't get too cocky Izinski," She said to her in an angry tone of voice. "You may have stopped that attack, but that just means your suffering will have to continue a little while longer. I have yet to summon my ultimate creature and when I do, it will be the end of you!"

As Ran continued to rant about how she was going to defeat her, Akiza simply began to ponder about what her ultimate creature was. Being the first time she has ever dealt with Hazy Flame monsters, Akiza was basically guessing about what moves her opponent would make and counter them the best way she can. To her, she felt pretty lucky to be able to survive this long without having to lose any of her Life Points. Still…Akiza knew that she still needed to be on guard. If Ran's ultimate creature is as strong as she proclaims it to be, then things were about to become very interesting

Meanwhile, back on Ran's side of the Field, the former Queen of Queens was busy thinking about what to do next. Even though she wasn't able to deal any damage towards her opponent, the fact remained that she still had almost all the pieces she needed to bring out her ultimate monster. All she needed to do is get through Akiza's next turn without anything happening to her monsters. Ran believed that with the cards that she already had on the field, keeping her monsters safe wouldn't be too much of a challenge. Especially, since she has yet to activate her face-down card. So, with a small smile on her face, Ran went on to do the only thing she had left to do.

"I end my turn," She said.

"Alright," Akiza said, determined begin her next turn. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After signaling the start of her turn, Akiza swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. She then looked over all of her cards for a few moments before looking back over towards Ran's side of the Field. The Psychic Duelist examined all of the cards that her opponent had out and attempted to come up with a solution on what to do.

"Let's see," She thought quietly to herself. "Ran has 3 Level 6 monsters on her side of the field, along with one face-down card. She also said that she has yet to summon her ultimate creature which, if brought out, will be the end of me. I don't know if she's right about that, but I would prefer to end this Duel before I have time to find out. So…what should I do?"

As she continued to think, Akiza once again examined all of Ran's cards as well as what she said to her earlier. Once she finished looking, the young woman decided that it was best to get rid of all of Ran's monsters. If she was serious about bringing out her ultimate creature then the odds were high that she'll need some, if not all, of her monsters in order to bring it out. Akiza felt that it was best to take them out now in one fell swoop. That way, she could avoid the wrath of Ran's best monster and also deal some massive damage to her in the process. So, now knowing what she had to do, Akiza proceeded to take a card from her hand and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"From my hand, I equip Splendid Rose with the Spell Card: Rose Whip!" She declared.

Splendid Rose raised its right hand into air and watched as a long red whip with sharp thorns and rose petals appeared above it. The Synchro Monster went on to grab the whip from the air and began to swing it about, getting a feel on how it works. Once it was done, Splendid Rose placed the whip by her side and waited for more instructions.

"With the power of Rose Whip, Splendid Rose's Attack Points increase by 500 points!" Akiza explained.

**Splendid Rose: ATK 2700**

"Also, by making it the only monster that can battle this turn, Splendid Rose now has the ability to attack all of my opponent's monsters!"

Upon hearing her explain the power of her Equip Spell, all of Akiza's friends started cheering in approval. If this attack connected then not only would Ran lose all three of her monsters, but she would also have only 100 Life Points left. The thought of that brought a smile upon everyone's faces as that would almost guarantee her victory in this Duel. So, they all started cheering even louder, wanting her begin her attack.

"Go Splendid Rose," Akiza called. "Attack all three of Ran's monsters…Rose Whip Slash!"

Splendid Rose nodded its head and began swinging its new whip just above its head. As it did that, the momentum of the swinging slowly increased the overall power of the whip. Ran saw that and knew that it would bad if this attack landed. However, she was prepare for this type of situation and immediately pressed a button on her Duel Disk as a result.

"Not so fast Izinski," She said. "I activate the Counter Trap: Hazy Flame Guard! With it, since I have at least 3 Hazy Flame monsters on my Field, I can negate your Splendid Rose's attack!"

Akiza's eyes widen in disbelief as she watched her Splendid Rose prepare itself to attack all three of Ran's Hazy Flame monsters. However, just before the Rose Whip could even hit one of them, the three monsters created a powerful shield of flames to protect them. The sight of the flames surprised Splendid Rose, causing the Plant-Type Synchro Monster to pull back her attack at the last moment.

Once that happened, Akiza silently cursed herself for being unable to see that move coming and quickly began to think about what to do next. Unfortunately, she had no cards in her hand that could help her do that. All that she could do now is hope that her Rose Whip's power would prevent Ran from attacking, at least during her next turn.

"I end my turn," She said in a disappointed tone of voice.

"Aw…what's the matter Izinski?" Ran asked in a mocking tone of voice. "Are you upset that your attack failed? Well don't be sad. Let me show you something…that you really need to be upset about! It's my turn, Draw!"

Ran quickly drew a card from deck once she started her turn and immediately took a look at it. When she did a devious smile appeared on her face as she proceeded to take the card that she just drew and place it upon her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Hazy Flame Cerbereus!"

**Hazy Flame Cerbereus: ATK 2000 DEF 200 LVL 6**

As soon as she placed her card onto her Duel Disk, Ran watched as one more fireball appeared from her Hazy Pillar Spell Card. The fireball quickly started to change shape and transform itself into a fiery version of the three-headed dog, Cerberus.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Hazy Flame Sphynx!" She continued. "I can declare the top card on my deck and, if I'm right, I can then send that card to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon one Fire Attribute monster from either my hand or Graveyard! I declare a Spell Card and…"

Ran closed her eyes for a moment and swiftly drew another card from her deck. She then flipped it around before opening her eyes and saw that it was indeed the card that she predicted. Ran would then show the card to Akiza, shocking the Psychic Duelist greatly.

"I was right, it was a Spell Card," Ran said as the smile on her face grew bigger. "Now, I'll just discard this in order to Special Summon my Hazy Flame Hyppogrif from my Graveyard!"

Not wasting any more time, Ran quickly discarded her unneeded Spell Card and immediately pulled out her Hazy Flame Hyppogrif card from her Graveyard. She then went on to place it onto her Monster Card Zone and watched as the Pyro-Type monsters reappeared beside its fellow Hazy Flame monsters.

Once it was out, Akiza tried her best to keep herself from losing her cool from looking at all five of Ran's monsters. Even though her Splendid Rose was still stronger than any of them, the fact that her opponent had five Level 6 monsters on the Field was something that even the most powerful of Duelists would be frightened about. Soon, as she tried her best to find a way to get rid of all five of the monsters, a powerful realization hit Akiza. A realization so great, that it shook her to her very core.

"Oh no," Akiza thought quietly. "She has five Level 6 monsters on the field. That means she's going too…"

"I Overlay all 5 of my Hazy Flame monsters!" Ran declared at the top of her lungs!

Hazy Flame, Hyppogrif, Sphynx, Cerbereus, Griffin, and Mantikor all nodded their heads in unison as they proceeded to transform themselves into bright, colorful spheres. They then began to fly all over the entire Field for a few moments before eventually diving into the ground.

"With these 5 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!" Ran continued. "Xyz Summon!"

Upon diving into the ground, the spheres created a portal from another world that began to erupt powerful spark of light energy. As that happened, Ran went on to stack all 5 of the cards that were on her Duel Disk before pulling a card from her Extra Deck and placing it on top of the other cards. Once she did that, something began to appear from the portal of the Overlay Network.

"Take flight, and burn everything to the ground, Hazy Flame Basiltrice!"

**Hazy Flame Basiltrice: ATK 2500 DEF 1800 Rank 6**

From within the portal of the Overlay Network, a powerful Xyz Monster appeared before Ran and began to stare down at Akiza. Its appearance resembled a combination of a phoenix, rooster, crocodile, and dragon. The monster was so hideous, yet at the same time so powerful, that everyone who was watching the Duel was at a loss for words. The only people who had a somewhat calm expression on their faces were Takashi and the man with the Psychic Reiatsu. The latter of which simply looked on at Akiza as she prepared herself for Basiltrice's attack.

"So Akiza," The man thought to himself. "What will you do?"

As the man continued to look towards the Psychic Duelist, Ran started gloating in the arrival of her Hazy Flame Basiltrice. It's appearance, as well as its strength, was something to behold and she every intention of making sure that Akiza bear witness to her monster's wrath.

"Take a good look Akiza Izinski," Ran said. "This is my ultimate creature, the Ace Monster of my entire deck! No one, and I mean no one, who has ever faced Hazy Flame Basiltrice has ever defeated it! There's no way you can win now."

"…You don't know that," Akiza replied. "Any monster can be defeated if you just believe and think hard enough."

Ran looked towards Akiza and watched as her opponent stood her ground against the might of her Ace Monster. By just looking at her eyes, she was able to tell that Akiza meant what she said that every monster could be defeated. However, Ran was also able to tell that Akiza was scared about having to face Basiltrice. Her body was trembling and she was struggling to hold the cards in hand. Show Ran that while Akiza was determined to defeat her, she had no idea how.

"Any monster can be defeated…huh?" Ran questioned. "You're only deluding yourself Izinski. Hazy Flame Basiltrice can't be defeated and now I'm going to show you why. I activate Basiltrice's first Special Ability! When it has 3 or more Overlay Units, Basiltrice's Attack and Defense Points increase by 200 for every Unit! Right now Hazy Flame Basiltrice has 5 Overlay Units, which increases its Attack and Defense Points by 1000!"

**Hazy Flame Basiltrice: ATK 3500 DEF 2800**

Akiza looked on in shock as it watched Hazy Flame Basiltrice begin to absorb energy from the 5 Overlay Units that were circling around its body. With its attack and defense power now above that of her Splendid Rose's, Akiza could only watch in agony as her opponent proceeded to take the advantage in the Duel. However, despite the advantage he now has over her, Ran has no intention of letting end here.

"Next, I activate Balistrice's second Special Ability!" She said. "By using one Overlay Unit, Hazy Flame Basiltrice can banish one card that my opponent controls and the one I'm choosing is your Splendid Rose!"

**Hazy Flame Basiltrice: ATK 3300 DEF 2600**

Basiltrice complied with Ran's instructions and proceeded to absorb one of the Overlay Units that were surrounding its body. Even though that act cost it some of its Attack and Defense Points, the move was well worth it as the Xyz Monster went on to summon a powerful portal of flames. The force from the portal sucked in Akiza's Splendid Rose, removing it from the Duel and leaving wide open.

"You see that Izinski? That's the power of my Hazy Flame Basiltrice. A power that's going to burn you to a crisp! Basiltrice, attack Izinski's Life Points directly…Avarice Storm!"

Hazy Flame Basiltrice started roaring at the top of its lungs as the flames from all over its body began to form together near the opening of its mouth. Once the flames were compressed into the shape of a sphere, Basiltrice ate it and began to add its internal energy into the mix. When it finished, the Xyz Monster launched a blast of super-compressed heat towards Akiza. The force of the shockwave knocked her back a few feet, causing her to land face-first on the ground.

**Akiza: 700 LP**

As Akiza continued lie on the ground, not even moving an inch, all her friends were looking on in disbelief at what they just witnessed. In just one turn, Ran managed to turn the entire Duel in favor by summoning her strongest monster and dwindling Akiza down to her last 700 Life Points. Toru and Crow, who seemed the most concerned at the time, attempted to go down to the Dueling Field in order to help her. However, before they could even take a single step forward, Takashi grabbed both of them.

"Don't go down there!" He told them.

"What the hell are you saying bro?!" Toru questioned.

"Yeah," Crow followed. "Can't you see that she needs help?! I thought you cared for Akiza, but it seems that you don't give a damn about…"

Crow suddenly stopped talking when he saw that Takashi was giving him a furious glare. Just looking at it sent a chill down his spine, causing him to shut up and calm down. Takashi then turned his attention towards Toru who, upon looking at his friend's expression, went on to do the same thing. Once both of the boys were settled, Takashi proceeded to take two steps forward.

"Look," He started off. "Akiza still has 700 Life Points left, which means she hasn't lost the Duel. If any of us interferes with the match while it's still going on, Akiza will get an instant disqualification."

"…Yeah," Toru silently replied. "But bro…"

"All we can do," Takashi continued, ignoring Toru in the process. "Is have faith in Akiza and hope that's enough for her get back on her feet!"

Toru, Crow, and the others all looked on silently as Takashi finished his speech. All of them understood what he said, but they still wanted to help out regardless of the consequences. Eventually, as she began to look towards him, Lilly noticed that Takashi's hands were shaking rather violently. She also saw that the young man was biting his lower lip, indicated that he was the one who most worried about Akiza's well being. The sight of that caused Lilly to get up from her seat and begin making her way over to her concerned friend.

"Guys," She said. "Takashi's right. For as long as we've known her, Akiza has put her faith in us and our abilities. If we don't show her that same level of respect, even things are looking bad for her, then we don't have the right to call her our friend ever again."

Once she finished talking, Lilly turned towards the others for a moment before turning back towards the Duel. She then began to cheer for Akiza, encouraging her to get back on her feet and continue fighting. Takashi, upon seeing the devotion that Lilly was displaying, started to smile a little as he began to do the same thing and started cheering for his friend.

Eventually, as the two of them continued to do this, the others also got up from their seats and began cheering for Akiza as well. Even the emotionless Misaki, broke out of character in order to help encourage her friend. They all knew that if the situation was reversed and it was them lying on the ground, Akiza would be one the first ones up cheering for them. So, to not do that now while things were looking bad would be a disgrace that they could never live down. All of them had faith in Akiza's strength and they all encouraged her to get up so that she can display that same strength to everyone here at the stadium.

As they did this, the man with Psychic Reiatsu simply looked on at all of them. He then gently nodded his head before turning his attention back towards the fallen Akiza.

"I'm glad to see you have a good set of friends," He thought to himself.

Back at the Duel, Ran was still gloating over her recent move while Akiza still remained motionless on the ground. The referee, who's been observing the Duel up until this point, was about to declare Ran the winner after seeing that Akiza wasn't moving. However, just before he could do it, the former Queen of Queens stopped her.

"Don't you dare stop this Duel ref," She said to him. "I'm not done humiliating her yet! This b***h stole everything from me! I've worked my ass off to get to where I am. I've went to the best schools, had the best tutors, and got the best cards. I was raised to be one of Japan's best and brightest Duelists. So, when I earn my title of Queen of Queens it was more like a birthright than an actual reward. It was my destiny to become Queen of Queens and yet…and yet…she stole that all away from me! That's why I'll never forgive! That's why I'll make her suffer! And that's why I'll make sure that she feels the same humiliation that she put me through and to show everyone just how weak and stupid she really is!"

"…Now I see,"

Ran suddenly stopped talking when she heard someone respond to her rant. She began looking around the area to see who it was and eventually saw that it was Akiza, who was beginning to get off from the ground.

"I wonder why you enter the Fortune Cup and now I see why," She said. "It wasn't because you wanted to become the next Duel Queen. It's because of that stupid title that the Academy gives out. Well…if you want it so much then you can have it!"

"What was that?" Ran questioned.

"I never came to Duel Academy to be praised for my Dueling skills," Akiza continued. "I already know that I'm a good Duelist. I don't need other people to gloat about it. The only reason why I decided to go there in the first place is to obtain strength."

Ran was confused by Akiza's words and started to wonder what she was talking about. She then looked on and watched as her opponent stood up completely and soon turned her attention towards her cheering friends. Akiza took the time to look at each one of them before finally turning her attention towards Takashi.

"I went to obtain strength," She said. "The strength needed to protect the friends that I worked so hard for. And…the strength needed to protect…the most important person in my life. As long as I obtain that then I don't care if I'm weaker than everyone else in the world. So…you can take your Queen of Queens title and shove it right up your ass!"

Akiza's words, though strong and filled with resolve, began to fill the anger that was already consuming Ran's heart. To hear the person who stole her precious Queen of Queens title say that she couldn't care less about it nearly drove her over the edge. This only caused Ran to want defeat Akiza even more than before. However, since she already attacked with her Hazy Flame Basiltrice, the young woman couldn't attack again. With no other moves left to her, the young woman was reluctantly force to end her turn.

"It's my turn," Akiza said as she prepared to draw a card. "Draw!"

As she placed her hand upon her deck, Akiza closed her eyes and proceeded to use her Foresee Draw ability in order to predict the next card she would draw. Once she determined what it was, she began to formulate a strategy about how to best use that card and soon came up with one. As soon as she determined that the strategy could be useful to her, Akiza went on to draw the card and immediately insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reincarnation!" She declared. "By discarding one card, I can take a monster from my Graveyard and it to my hand. I discard my Fallen Angel of Roses to the Graveyard in order to add Twilight Rose Knight to my hand!"

Following the instructions of her Spell Card, Akiza didn't any time in placing her Level 7 Fallen Angel of Roses in the Graveyard in order to regain her Twilight Rose Knight. This move surprised Ran as she knew that Akiza's Fallen Angel was much more powerful card. However, what surprised her even more was what Akiza did next. She continued on with her by taking another card from hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card then went on to materialize face-down in front of her.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

"What's going on here?" Ran questioned. "What are you trying to do Izinski? You told me that any monster can be defeated if you work hard enough and have a little faith. So what's the matter? Did you hard work and faith fail you?"

"…No," Akiza answered. "It's because of my hard work and faith that I've won this Duel. You just don't know it yet."

"Why…you…"

Ran began gritting her teeth in anger as watch Akiza look at her with a determined expression on her face. The fear and shock that was there a few moments ago were now replace with a firm resolve to win. The sight that made Ran's blood boil and she now even more determined to put her hated enemy back in her place.

"It's my turn," She declared. "Draw!"

Upon drawing a card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Ran started to strategize on what she should do. Normally, since Akiza still doesn't have a monster out, she would just have her Hazy Flame Basiltrice launch a direct attack and win her the Duel. However, what was stopping her from doing that was Akiza's face-down card. If that card had the power to destroy her monster once it launched its attack then Ran would be the one who would suffer. In order to win this Duel and regain her title, Hazy Flame Basiltrice had to be protected. Fortunately, Ran had a means to do that.

"Sorry Izinski," She said in a sarcastic tone. "But I know what you're trying to do. Once I launch an attack you're going to activate that face-down card in order to destroy Basiltrice. Well…I won't let that happen!"

Ran proceeded to take a card from her hand and place it in the pile of cards that were on her Duel Disk. When she did that, her Hazy Pillar produced a small Overlay Unit from its flames and it began to circle around her Hazy Flame Basiltrice.

"I activate the second effect of my Hazy Pillar Spell Card!" She said. "When there's a Xyz Monster on my side of the field, I can attach one Hazy Flame monster from my hand and have it become an Overlay Unit for Basiltrice! Also, since it has a new Overlay Unit, Basiltrice's Special Ability activates, increasing its Attack and Defense Points by 200!"

**Hazy Flame Basiltrice: ATK 3500 DEF 2800**

"But I'm not done there Izinski because I'm activating the third Special Ability of my Hazy Flame Basiltrice! When it has five Overlay Units, Basiltrice can't be destroyed by card effects, rendering your face-down card useless!"

With the power of all five of its Overlay Units, Hazy Flame Basiltrice not only regained the power that it lost earlier, but also obtained an energy shield that protected it from card effects. The power of this combination not only made Ran's Ace Monster a nearly invincible creature, but it seemingly secured her match as well. However, despite all of that, Akiza still wasn't bothered and she was still determined on winning. Because of that, Ran concluded that she was in denial and decided to put her out of both of their miseries.

"Hazy Flame Basiltrice," She called. "Attack her Life Points directly and end this Duel…Avarice Storm!"

Basiltrice complied and prepared itself to launch the final attack of the Duel. As everyone looked on in anticipation, Akiza simply kept her cool and activated her face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Sacred Rose!" She declared.

"What…?" Ran questioned.

The former Queen of Queens was in shock as the card that she initially thought to be a destruction card was now something completely different. She then looked on as Akiza proceeded to place her hand upon her deck.

"I draw one card from my deck," She explained. "If the card I draw is a monster then I can Special Summon it onto Field and end the Battle Phase. However, if it's a Spell or Trap Card, then the damage I take from this attack is doubled!"

Hearing that explanation from Akiza only shocked Ran even more. Like her, she was leaving this entire Duel up to chance. If she drew the right card then would last one more turn. However, if she drew the wrong card then she would lose the Duel. Everything was riding on this and it only confused Ran on why she would rely on such a card.

"What are you thinking…?" She asked her. "There's a less than 40% percent chance that you'll draw the right card. There's no way that you can do it."

"I can," Akiza countered. "I can because I have faith."

After saying that, Akiza closed her eyes as Hazy Flame Basiltrice launched its attack. She then began to thinking about each one of her friends that she met during the last year, all of whom were cheering her on with smiles on their faces. She then imagined Takashi smiling at her, telling her that she had this Duel. Seeing them brought a smile on her face, ridding her of any of the lingering doubts she might have had.

Akiza then went on to draw the card from her deck and slowly turn it around. When she reopened her eyes, she saw that it was card she needed and the smile that she was wearing grew bigger as a result. She then went on to place the card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Acorno!"

**Acorno: ATK 200 DEF 400 LVL 1**

A small flash of light shined across Akiza's side of the Field, just when Basiltrice's attack was about to hit her. The light knocked back the blast and shot it straight up into the sky, creating a beautiful fireworks display. Once it was over, a small acorn with arms and legs was standing right in front of Akiza. The sight of that shocked Ran completely.

"Impossible…" She said in disbelief. "She…she survived…my attack."

Ran's shocked overwhelmed her as she just couldn't believe what just happened. She honestly believed that had this Duel won. She outmaneuvered Akiza's pervious plays and had her on the ropes throughout most of match. However, in just one turn, that all changed.

"…I…I end my turn," She said softly.

"It's my turn," Akiza declared. "Draw!"

After drawing a card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Akiza believed it was time to begin her winning move and started off by playing the card that she got during her last turn.

"To begin, I Summon: Twilight Rose Knight!"

Another bright flash of light shined across Akiza's side of the Field as her Twilight Rose Knight reappeared and stood next to her Acorno. She then went on to take one card from her hand and another one from her Graveyard and proceeded to remove them from play. Once she did that, the young woman then went on to place another card upon her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I remove both my Level 7 Fallen Angel of Roses and Queen Angel of Roses in order to Special Summon: Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel!"

**Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel: ATK 2900 DEF 2400 LVL 8**

As soon as Akiza removed her Angel monsters from play, the spirits of Queen Angel of Roses and Fallen Angel of Roses appeared on her side of the Field. The two angels then proceeded to merge into one and transform themselves into Rosaria.

"What are you going to do with that?" Ran asked, trying to regain her composure. "Even with Rosaria, it's still not strong enough to destroy my Hazy Flame Basiltrice. Also, since it has 4 Overlay Units, Basiltrice can't be targeted by card effects. That means your Rosaria can't use its Special Ability against it."

"I know," Akiza stated. "That's why I'm going to power up my Rosaria before attacking."

Ran was confused by Akiza's words so the Psychic Duelist decided to let her actions speak for her instead. She continued on with her turn by taking the final card that made up her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, something began to materialize in front of Rosaria.

"I equip Rosaria with the Spell Card: Axe of Despair!" She said. "With it, Rosaria's Attack Points are increased by 1000!"

**Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel: ATK 3900**

Once the object finished materializing, a large axe appeared before Rosaria. The powerful angel went on to grab the weapon, absorbing the power that it contained as a result. Once that happened, Akiza continued on by making her next move.

"Now, for my other two monsters," She stated. "I Tune my Level 1 Acorno with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight in order to Synchro Summon: Armory Arm!"

**Armory Arm: ATK 1800 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

Both of Akiza's smaller monsters nodded their heads and quickly jumped into the air. They then began the ritual for a Synchro Summoning, causing a giant flash of light that erupted across Akiza's side of the Field. When that light eventually faded, a small mechanical robot arm appeared and began to make its way over to Rosaria.

"I activate Armory Arm's Special Ability! I can now equip it onto any monster that's on the Field, increasing their Attack Points by 1000. The monster that I choose is my Rosaria!"

**Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel: ATK 4900**

As Amory Arm continued to make its way over to Rosaria, the Plant-Type monster responded by extending its left hand out to it. Once the arm was close enough, it went on to attach itself onto Rosaria's hand, increasing its attack power as a result. Now with the power of two cards fueling her Stately Fallen Angel, Akiza felt it was time to launch her attack.

"Go Rosaria," She yelled. "Attack Hazy Flame Basiltrice…Petals of Despair!"

Rosaria nodded its head and began to make its way over to Hazy Flame Basiltrice. All Ran could do was look on in horror as her ace monster was soon sliced into tiny rose petals thanks to the power of Akiza's equip cards.

**Ran: 2500 LP**

Once her monster was gone, Ran started to wonder what she was going to do next. She now had to come up with an entirely new strategy if she wanted to defeat Akiza and get back the title that she long sought to get back. However, her time thinking was cut short as Rosaria appeared before her, placing its armored arm right in front of her face.

"When the monster that's equipped to Armory Arm destroys a monster through battle and sends it to the Graveyard," Akiza explained. "My opponent takes damage equal the destroyed monster's original Attack Points. The Attack Points of your Hazy Flame Basiltrice is 2500. That means you're 2500 points of damage, which is the same amount of Life Points you have left!"

Ran's eyes widen just as Rosaria prepared to fire a blast at her with its Amory Arm. The young woman tried her best to jump back from the attack and avoid the damage. However, she wasn't fast enough. The blast consumed Ran entirely, knocking her back and causing her to lose the rest of her Life Points.

**Ran: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As Ran's Life Points hit zero, all the holograms from the Duel began to disappear. The referee then looked over towards both Duelists in order to determine if the result of the Duel really was what he saw. When he was able to confirm that it was, he then went to raise one of his arms and directed it towards Akiza. The announcer then appeared on the loud speaker once he saw the result.<p>

"_This Duel is over!" _He declared. _"The winner of the match is Akiza Izinski!"_

Once the announcer declared Akiza the winner, everyone in the stadium erupted in simultaneous cheer. Out of the two Duels that took place in the Second Round, everyone believed that one that just took place was the place. Even Takashi, who was a part of the first Duel, agreed to that and it only confirmed his previous belief. That, no matter how much he tried, Akiza was far better Duelist than he could ever be.

"Great job Akiza," He said as he clapped his hands. "I knew that you could do it. You know…a part of me believes that you should be the one who wins this tournament."

"Yes…she should,"

Takashi turned himself around and saw that the man with the Psychic Reiatsu was looking down at him. The two of them glared at one another for a few moments until others turn around, facing them both.

"Takashi…," Lilly said. "Who is this man?"

"I would like to know that myself," He replied. "Hey…who the hell are you and how do you know Akiza?"

The man looked towards Takashi and the others and noticed that the former was trying his best to match the same Reiatsu level that he was producing, while not trying to attract the attention of the crowd. He then gave off a small smile before turning his attention back towards Akiza, who was beginning to make her way towards Ran.

"Let's just say…the two of us go way back," He answered.

Meanwhile, back at the Dueling Field, Akiza began to deactivate her Duel Disk as she continued to make her way towards Ran. Once she reached her, she saw that her classmate was looking at her with a mixed expression on her face. A part of her was angry at Akiza for defeating her again while another part was upset with herself for failing to win back her title. She then looked down towards the ground as tears began to fall from her face.

"Damn you Akiza Izinski," She said. "I was so close to defeating you…but once again you stole my triumph away from me."

"Ran…" Akiza said softly.

"However…I'll admit that you out played me today," Ran continued. "But don't let it go to your head. One day I'll become stronger than you and regain my Queen of Queens title. So…you better not lose until then!"

Akiza looked towards Ran and noticed that her eyes were now somewhat different. Although she was still crying, her eyes had a stronger look to them. This defeat as taught her that she still has much to learn if she wants regain the title that she loves so much. The sight of that brought a small smile onto Akiza's face as she began to gently nod her head.

"That's fine with me Ran," She said to her. "Come at me as much as you. I'll accept any challenge that you happen to throw at me. Because…to tell you the truth…I enjoy the Duels we have. Every time we got at it, I feel that both of us become stronger as a result. So come at me again when you're ready…I'll be happy to face you when that time comes."

Once she finished her speech, Akiza proceeded to extend her hand out towards Ran. Her opponent was confused by her action, but eventually accepted it and soon grabbed her hand. Akiza then lifted her up from the ground and said goodbye before leaving. As she left, Ran continued to look at her.

"Akiza Izinski…" She thought. "I'll get you back, but until then…good luck."

When she finally left the Dueling Field, Akiza didn't waste any time in reuniting with her friends. However, upon reaching them she noticed that something was going on. All of them seemed to be looking at someone and they all had confused look on their faces. So, the Psychic Duelist decided to walk up towards all of them in order to see what was going on.

"Answer my question, you bastard!" Takashi demanded. "Who are you and how do you know Akiza?"

The man simply looked on at Takashi and watched as he continued to raise his power so that it matches his own. However, he knew that the young man's efforts were in vain as he couldn't release he full potential in front of other people. Because of that, he ignored Takashi's question and simply turned his attention towards something more important. Like the sudden arrival of a beautiful Psychic Duelist.

"Long time no see," The man said with a genuine smile on his face. "Akiza…"

Upon hearing him say her name, Takashi turned his head and saw that Akiza was back with them in the stands. He also saw that she was looking at the man with shocked expression on her face. It was like she was looking at a ghost…A ghost she hadn't seen a long, long time.

"It's…it's you…" She spoke in a surprised tone of voice. "Enoch Wylie…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Enoch Wylie has finally made his presence known to Takashi Nakamura and his friends. Just what is his relationship with Akiza and how will the others react to this? Also, what will happen when Enoch is called to compete in the next Duel?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 65 – A Psychic's True Power_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to thank PokeRescue18 for use of Enoch Wylie. I promise to use him to the best of my abilities so that you don't regret letting me use him. Once again, I thank you._

_Next, I want inform all of you that for the remaining of this arc, no OC's will be taken. You may send me OC's for the next arc though so please keep that in mind. Remember, in order to submit an OC, please send it to more via PM. Also, here's the format that I would prefer you send it in._

_Name:_

_Age:_

_Appearance:_

_Personality:_

_Character History:_

_Deck:_

_Ace Monster:_

_If the Ace Monster for you OC is a Synchro then please create s Summon Chant for it if one's not already available. If the monster is a Xyz Number then you'll have to get my approval if you want it to be in story. Also, you may send a OC Ace Monster, but you must explain its effects to me and you must get my approval as well._

_The last thing I want to say to all of you is Thank You. It's because of each and every one of you that Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus is as popular as it is now. From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thanks and I promise to continue doing my best when it comes to writing this story. All I ask is for you to continue reading and sending me your reviews and PMs. Your input, whether it be good or bad, is really helpful. _

_Well, that's it for now. Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	65. Chapter 65

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 65: **_A Psychic's True Power_

* * *

><p>"It's…it's you…Enoch Wylie…"<p>

As Akiza Izinski stared at the person she was looking at, her mind was trying to process what was going on. It's been almost a year since the Arcadia Movement was destroyed and during that time she hasn't kept in contact with any of the Psychics who used to be members, both and present. So the fact that she was looking at Enoch Wylie, a former member of the Movement, really caught her by surprised. Just looking at him caused to wonder about two things; why is Enoch here and what was he planning?

While Akiza thought about this, Enoch simply looked at the young woman with a smile on his face. It's been several years since he last saw Akiza and he was glad that she's been doing well since then. It was clear that she gained a much better control over her Psychic Powers as she now had the ability to determine whether or not to inflict real damage onto her opponents. He was also happy that she was also able to gain friends, something she told him that she didn't want to have.

However, even though he didn't express it through his words or facial expressions, Enoch was very pleased to see that Akiza has become extremely beautiful over the years. Despite the fact that he's a few years older than her, Enoch has always had crush on the Psychic Duelist ever since their days in the Arcadia Movement. However, his indecisiveness and Akiza's then-horrible attitude prevented him from telling her how he truly feels. In the end, Enoch decided to simply watch over Akiza from afar and hoped that one day he would gain the confidence needed to express his feelings towards her someday.

As the two of them continue to stare at one another, Akiza's friends were busy looking at her and this mysterious and were all wondering the same thing; who the hell is Enoch Wylie?! It's obvious that they know one another, but they wondered why Akiza hadn't mentioned him before. Was it something about him that she didn't want to talk about or was it something more than that. In the end, only Akiza knew that answer. Still, despite that, they all wanted to know more about this guy as he just appeared out of nowhere. Eventually, it was Madas who spoke up first.

"So Akiza," He started off. "Who is this guy?"

Akiza heard Madas's question, but she chose not to answer it right away. The young woman was trying to think of an answer that would satisfy her friend, while at the same time keep him from finding out that she was a Psychic Duelist or the fact that she and Enoch used to be a part of the Arcadia Movement. She soon came up with an answer, but before she could say it Enoch spoke instead.

"We're old friends," Enoch said. "We used to go way back, right Akiza?"

"Um…right," Akiza replied in a halfhearted tone of voice.

Upon hearing Akiza confirm Enoch's statement, Madas nodded his head in approval and proceeded to accept the response. However Takashi, Lilly, Crow, Misaki, and Toru weren't so convinced. Having been with Akiza the longest, the five of them had a pretty good idea when their friend was serious or not in answers or expressions. This is especially true for Takashi, who is the closest to Akiza. So, when their Psychic friend halfheartedly replied to Enoch's statement, all of them knew that something was up.

They were about to walk up and question Enoch on his true motives for being here, but they stopped when Akiza turned her head and looked towards them. Her facial expression consisted of both fear and nervousness. By just looking at her, all of them knew that Akiza didn't want them to get involved in this situation. If they did, then there was a chance they would reveal that she was the Psychic Duelist known as the Black Rose. That moment of her life was something that she wanted to rid herself of and she wasn't ready to reveal it to other people, especially her friends who don't know about her powers. To that end, Takashi took a few steps forward and went on to propose an idea.

"Hey guys," He started off. "I'm sure that Akiza and Enoch have a lot of catching up to do. Why don't we leave them alone for a while and go get something to eat."

Akiza looked at Takashi for a moment as she was surprised that he would suggest that they leave so that she and Enoch could be alone. However, after seeing him turn his head and wink at her, the young woman accepted his call and proceeded to grab Enoch's hand. Once she did that, Akiza then went on and whisked the both of them away to place where no one could find them. Once the two of them were gone, the others went on to head towards the Snack Bar while Lilly made her way towards Takashi.

"Takashi," She said. "Do you think it's a good idea to leave the two of them alone? I mean, I'm not sure, but I sense something off about that Enoch guy. It's like their some sort of familiar aura around him."

Takashi didn't respond to Lilly's question right away, as he was wondering how she was able to notice the same thing that he was sensing from Enoch. Was it possible that she had the ability to sense the Reiatsu of other people too? In the end, that didn't matter as the young man simple closed his eyes and began to sense the location of both Akiza and Enoch. Once he was able to find them, Takashi paid close attention to the latter as he began to respond to Lilly's question.

"I'm not sure," He started off. "I admit, I'm getting the same vibe off that guy. However, judging from the way Akiza dragged him away, we just have to hope she can handle him until we more answers."

With that said, Takashi sighed quietly to himself before making his way towards the others. Lilly looked towards him for a few moments before looking back towards the direction that Akiza and Enoch went. She then attempted to sense the location of the two of them, just like Takashi did. However, she wasn't successful. She soon her attention over her Signer Mark and hoped that it would give her any type of sign. After few seconds Lilly felt a small, but noticeable, pulse coming from the Mark and she was able to tell that everything would be fine. With that, the young woman nodded her head and left to join the others.

Meanwhile, after making sure that she was a good distance away from everyone in the stadium, Akiza proceeded to take Enoch to a nearby back ally. Once they were there, Akiza started to catch her breath for a few minutes before looking up towards Enoch, who was simply smiling at her.

"Well," He said. "That was nice of your friends to give us some time to ourselves. Though…I don't think it was really necessary. All I was going to say that you've grown up so much since the last time I saw you. And I don't mean in just your Dueling skills, but in your beauty as well. I always considered you very pretty back in the day Akiza, but now I can say that you're damn right beautiful."

As Enoch continued to give her a barrage of compliments, Akiza was quickly becoming annoyed with him. She could tell right away that he was avoiding the real reason and was doing everything that he can to avoid angering her. However, despite all of Enoch's efforts, they work. Akiza's anger and frustration got the better of her and she found herself slapping him across his face. The force of the blow caused a cut to appear on Enoch's bottom lip.

"Don't give me that crap, you bastard!" She yelled at him. "Why are you here and, as a matter of fact, where the hell have you been for the past 5 years?!"

As Akiza tried to keep herself from losing control again, Enoch simply looked at her while holding on to his face. He could tell just by looking at her that she's been through a lot since they last saw each other, some of those things being difficult to describe. Just thinking about those things caused Enoch to feel very bad for her, especially since it was somewhat his fault that those things happened. He soon looked at her with a despondent expression on his face and said the only thing that he could.

"…I'm so sorry,"

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!" Akiza screamed.

The female Psychic Duelist couldn't take it anymore. First Enoch appears from out of nowhere, then he starts praising about how much she's grown since they last saw each other, and now he starts apologizing to her. In her mind, all Akiza wanted to do was to use her powers in order to make Enoch pay. However, she knew that if she did that then everything that she managed to obtain up to this point would've been for nothing. So she kept she kept her cool for the most part and reframed from using her Psychic Powers.

Still, that didn't mean that she didn't have other methods of making Enoch pay. Having been taught martial arts by Takashi, as a way of controlling and releasing her anger in the right way, Akiza began physically beating up her old friend. A punch to the gut, a slap to the face, a kick to the ribs, Akiza didn't stop until all the frustration that was inside her was down to manageable level. All the while, the young woman continued berating Enoch for his previous apology.

"There's no need to apologize! It's either right or wrong! Don't mistake me for some f**king child! My name is Akiza Izinski! I'm almost 18-years-old and I don't need people to feel sorry for me because of what happened to me in past! I don't want you're apology Enoch and I sure as hell don't want your pity!"

Akiza continued attacking Enoch for about another 5 minutes before stopping to catch her breath. As she did that, Enoch fell to both of his knees and started coughing up blood repeatedly as more blood fell from his face. He soon slowly lifted his head towards her and saw Akiza glaring back at him. Just seeing him look back at her with an apologetic look on his face only caused Akiza to feel even more annoyed.

"You've told me that I've grown up, but it seems that you haven't," She said to him. "You're the same way as you were back during your time at the Arcadia Movement. Every time I would get mad you wouldn't resist. At least my new friends have the audacity to call me out when I get out of line."

"…I don't fight…back," Enoch stuttered. "Because…I know…that I'm the one who did wrong."

"…You're such a child," Akiza silently replied.

As Enoch continued struggling on the ground, Akiza couldn't stand seeing him in his present state. Despite what he did to her, the young woman couldn't stand seeing another person pain, especially if it was because her actions. So, after making sure no one was watching, Akiza proceeded to activate her Duel Disk and place a Spell Card into it. When she did that, a veil of light covered Enoch's body and soon his wounds began to heal. Once he was fully recovered, Akiza helped Enoch off the ground.

"Amazing," Enoch said as he looked over his newly recovered body. "How did you learn how to do that?"

"An old friend taught me," Akiza answered. "Anyway, it's time for you to answer my question. Why are you here Enoch?"

Enoch looked at Akiza for a few moments and saw that she really wanted an explanation for his sudden appearance. The young man knew that he would have to explain this to her eventually, so he decided that now was as best a time as ever.

"I'm on a mission," He explained. "You see, during the 5-years since I last saw you, I've become a spy of sorts. Many corporations hire me to sneak in and out of different places so that I can give them top secret information. With my natural athleticism and my Psychic Powers, the job is very easy for me. Plus the pay is good, so I can't complain."

"That doesn't answer my question, you asshole!" Akiza stated, quickly beginning to lose her patience.

"I know," Enoch replied, knowing that he's stalling. "Anyway my boss for this job, who happens to be a good friend of mine, wants me to get him some information on an important subject. However, the only way I can get it is if I compete in this tournament. You see, the reason I'm here is because my job requested it. Though, I admit that seeing you again is a good bonus."

Akiza crossed her arms while she thought about everything that Enoch just explained to her. The young woman could tell that something was off, but she didn't want to point it out until she had more proof. So, for the meantime, Akiza accepted Enoch's answer.

As the two of them continued to stand across from each other, Enoch looked over towards Akiza and saw that she was quickly becoming bored with him. The young man expected such a thing to happen, but he was still disappointed that it did. He soon remembered how Akiza interacted with her friends and how happy she seemed, especially when it came to Takashi Nakamura. When it came to him, it seemed like Akiza was an entirely different person, one far different than the girl he knew in the past. After thinking about that, Enoch remembered something and decided to talk to Akiza about it in order to receive confirmation.

"Hey Akiza," He said. "What's he like…that Takashi guy?"

"…Why do you want to know about him?" She asked.

"Just…just making conversation," Enoch answered.

Akiza looked at Enoch again before deciding to go ahead and answer his question. However, before she did so, the female Psychic took some time to remember all the things that she knew about Takashi, as well as all the things that he did for her. As she did that, a small smile appeared on her face. When he saw her smile, Enoch remained quiet as he was conflicted. On one hand, he was happy that Akiza was happy. On the other, he was upset that he wasn't the source of her happiness. Eventually, Akiza gather as much information about Takashi that could and presented it to Enoch.

"Takashi Nakamura," She started off. "Is, without a doubt, the most amazing person I've ever known. From the moment I first met him, I knew right away that he was special, even though I didn't want to admit it at first."

"He's special?" Enoch questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"…What I mean is that Takashi is a pretty incredible person," Akiza answered. "No matter how bad the situation is for him, he's able to look beyond the negative and see the positive. He doesn't let despair get to him for too long and he's able to continue moving forward as a result. Not a lot of people can do something like that and it's pretty amazing that he can. He's also an amazing Duelist, perhaps the best one I've ever seen before in my life. A lot of people think I'm stronger Duelist than he is and they may be right, but what I have in strength, Takashi makes up in intelligence. During the Duels that we had against each other, he was able to overcome any the strategies that I placed before him in only a couple of turns by simply clearing his mind and keeping his cool. That's a frightening ability and the fact that he grows stronger the longer the Duel goes on only makes him an even more dangerous opponent. However…the most incredible thing that I know about Takashi Nakamura is that he understands."

Enoch looked at Akiza with a confused expression on his face. Just what did she mean when she said that Takashi understands? From his point of view, the one person who would understand her the most would be himself, since he was in the Arcadia Movement like she was. He was about to ask her about what she meant, but Enoch stopped when Akiza simply presented his answer out to him.

"As I said, Takashi doesn't let despair get to him," She said. "The reason for that is because he himself has witnessed despair. From what I was told, the first love of his life died right before his eyes. The pain of witnessing something like that must be unimaginable. However, despite the pain that he was feeling, Takashi was able to overcome it and vowed that no one close to him would suffer the same fate. Usually, someone can't understand another unless they know exactly what they been through or at least, that what I believe. But from the moment I first looked into Takashi's eyes, I saw that he did understand my pain. That's amazing and is most likely one of the reasons why I….never mind, forget what I was about to say. To get back to the point, Takashi greatest quality is that he understands the pain of others and he does everything that he possibly can to help them overcome their pain, just like how he helped me."

As Akiza closed her eyes and gently held on to the necklace that Takashi gave to her, holding it close to heart, Enoch finally got a pretty good idea on what Takashi was like. He's the type of person who always puts the happiness of others before himself and is strong enough to protect the people that around him. It makes sense that something like him was able to help Akiza, a person who saw almost everyone in the world as her enemy, become the person she is now.

Also, even though she didn't say, Enoch had a pretty good idea what Akiza was about to say before she stopped herself. She was going to say that she fell in love with him, a statement that broke Enoch's heart a little as he loved her. He soon turned his head from the ally and turned his attention towards Takashi, who was busy getting some food from the snack bar. He then remembered the first two Duels that Takashi faced and proceeded to clinch his fist as a result.

"It seems…competing in this tournament might have some meaning after all," He thought quietly to himself.

"_Attention Duelists," _The announcer spoke over the loud speaker. _"The next Qualifying Duel is about to begin. Will Sho Kamishiro and Enoch Wylie please make their way over to the Dueling Field."_

Upon hearing the announcement of the next Duel, Enoch and Akiza both lit and soon looked at one another. Eventually the former smiled at her as he prepared to go out and face his opponent.

"Akiza," He said to her. "I know you're angry about me showing up out of the blue like this and I know that you're still upset about what I did in the past. However, despite all of that, I'm still happy that I got see you again and to see that you're doing well."

After saying that, Enoch proceeded to leave and started to make his way over to his scheduled opponent. As she watched him leave, Akiza started to remember how he was like in the past and compared it to how he is now. She then realized that while some things about him haven't changed since they last met, Enoch has become a much better person now than he was before. This caused Akiza to feel somewhat happy as she was glad that her old friend, despite how estranged their friendship is now, was doing well. She soon began to make her way back to her friends, but not before looking back at Enoch one last time.

"Enoch," She thought to herself. "Good luck."

After a few minutes, Enoch eventually made it over towards the field and saw that his opponent was already waiting for him. Sho Kamishiro was a young man who looked around the same age as Enoch. He had light blue hair, grey eyes, and was wearing a pair of small glasses. His outfit consisted of a dark jacket, which was covering the black shirt that he was wearing. He also was wearing a pair of black jeans that matched the grey shoes that he was wearing.

As the two combatants looked at one another, both of them were trying to get a feel for each others before the Duel began. Duel Monsters was a game of the mind and the more opponents you face, the better you are in getting in the head of your opponent. If a Duelist is able to get in the head of their opponent before the Duel begins, then their victory is pretty much guaranteed as their able to intimidate them and hinder their moves. However, if their opponent is at a similar level then they would not fall prey to the intimidation and be at equal ground with their foe.

On the surface, it seemed that both Enoch and Sho weren't able to intimidate one another. However, a lot of the expert Duelists that were in the crowd saw that wasn't really the case. They noticed that Sho was beginning to sweat a little and they knew right away that it was because he was being consumed by the intimidation that Enoch was giving off. Because of that, the others Duelists knew that if Sho wasn't able to calm down and get himself mentally ready then he wouldn't stand a chance.

"Alright Duelists," The referee who was overseeing this Duel said. "This Qualifying Match between Enoch Wylie and Sho Kamishiro is about to begin! Duelists, activate your Duel Disk!"

Enoch and Sho complied with the referee's request and proceeded to activate the Duel Disks that were attached to their respective arms. Once they did that, the device then shuffled both of their decks for a few short moments. When that ended, the both then drew 5 cards from their decks and waited for the referee to declare the start of the Duel. Once he was able to confirm that both Sho and Enoch were ready, the referee nodded his head and went on to lift both of his arms into the air.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Enoch: 4000 LP**

**Sho: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Enoch said as he placed his hand onto his deck. "Draw!"

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck, Enoch took a quick glance at it and saw that it was one of his favorite cards. He then looked towards all of the others cards that were in his hand and saw that he picked up a pretty good group of cards right away. With them in hand, the young man had a pretty good idea on how he wanted this Duel to go and felt confident that would be able to defeat Sho in only a few turns. So, without wasting any more time, Enoch went on to place the card he just drew onto his Duel Disks Monster Card Zone.

"To begin," He said. "I Summon: Serene Psychic Witch, in Attack Mode!"

**Serene Psychic Witch: ATK 1400 DEF 1200 LVL 3**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a bright flash of light shined across Enoch's side of the field. When the light began to fade away, a beautiful woman with curly pink hair and eyes of the same color appeared before him. The woman was wearing some sort of futuristic armor and was holding two strange blades that were connected to her armor by a wire.

As everyone in the crowd looked that the monster, Takashi was the one who paid the most attention to it. Even though this was his first time seeing the monster, the young woman knew right away what type of monster it was. Also, upon sensing the increase of Reiatsu that was created when Enoch summoned his witch, Takashi was able to confirm the familiar feeling that he felt about him as well.

"I knew it," He thought. "He uses Psychic-Type monsters like him and his Reiatsu is similar to his as well. Enoch Wylie…his power is almost identical to that of Sayer's."

Back at the Duel, Enoch prepared to continue on with his turn. However, before doing so, the young spy was able to tell that Takashi was analyzing his power and came to the conclusion that he was comparing it to Sayer's. However, while it was true that his and Sayer's Reiatsu felt similar, Enoch was determined to prove that their powers and style of Dueling was nothing alike. To prove that was case, Enoch proceeded to take two cards from his hand and insert them into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, two cards materialized face-down on the field, just right behind his Serene Psychic Witch.

"Next, I set two cards face-down and my turn," He concluded.

"Alright then," Sho replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Sho quickly turned his attention towards Enoch's side of the field and paid close attention to the face-down cards that he set last turn. The young man predicted that the reason why Enoch set those cards is so that he could protect his Serene Psychic Witch from being destroyed. That tactic was a common strategy used to protect weaker monsters from harm and Sho figured that his opponent his employing such a tactic as a means to stall for time.

Usually, such a move would throw a Duelist off guard and force them to change their strategy. However, that wasn't going to work with Sho. Though he was initially intimated by Enoch's presence, the young man quickly regained his composure after looking at the cards that were in his hand. With them, he would be able to bring his strongest monster without any trouble at all. If it were to appear during this Duel, Sho had no doubt that victory would be his and that he would be joining Takashi Nakamura and Akiza Izinski in the Finals.

So, now knowing what he needed to do, Sho began his turn by taking one card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, he then proceeded take a card from his Extra Deck and put it away before taking his deck from out his Duel Disk.

"I activate the Spell Card: Future Fusion!" He explained. "With this card, I can remove 1 Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck from play and then send from my deck to the Graveyard, the monsters needed two summon that monster. Then, on my Standby Phase two turns from now, I can proceeded to Special Summon the removed from play Fusion Monster."

Sho went on to pull five cards from his deck and place them into his Graveyard. Once he did that, he went on to place his deck back into his Duel Disk and pressed a button that shuffled all of his cards. When that finished, Sho continued on with his turn by inserting another card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate another Spell: Polymerization! With it, I fuse the Steamroid and the Gyroid that are in my hand in order to Fusion Summon: Steam Gyroid!"

**Steam Gyroid: ATK 2200 DEF 1600 LVL 6**

Upon play his Spell Card, a bright flash of light shined across Sho's field as the spirit of two Machine-Type monsters appeared before him. The spirits then fused together as the young man then took another card from his Extra Deck and place it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that Steam Gyroid, a monster that looked like a combination of a steam train and a helicopter, appeared.

"Now," Sho said as he took one more card from his hand and place it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I play one more Spell Card: Roid Protect! With the power of this Equip Spell, my Steam Gyroid can't be destroyed through card effects!"

A bright veil of light covered Steam Gyroid for a few moments as the power of Sho's Equip Spell began to take its effect. When Enoch saw this he figured that Sho made that move in response to his face-down cards. This informed him that he opponent was pretty careful about making his moves and that he didn't want to take nothing to chance. In a way, Sho's style of Dueling reminded Enoch of his own. However, before he could reminisce anymore, Sho continued on with his turn by having his Steam Gyroid attack.

"Go Steam Gyroid," Sho called. "Attack his Serene Psychic Witch!"

Gyroid complied and prepared itself to attack Enoch's Witch. Once it got close enough, the Machine-Type monster went to destroy Serene Psychic Witch by cutting her body in half with the propellers on its body.

**Enoch: 3200 LP**

"This move," Enoch complimented. "However, by destroying my Serene Psychic Witch you also activated its Special Ability. Now I can remove from play one Psychic-Type monster with 2000 or less Attack Points from my deck! The monster that's removed by this effect is then Special Summoned onto my side of the field, during my next Standby Phase."

Sho was slightly surprised by the ability of Enoch monster has he expected that his opponent only left on the field in order to use it later. However, it was Enoch's goal to have his monster be destroyed in order to activate its power. Because of that, Sho realized that he would have to be even more careful when he makes his moves as he can't be sure how Enoch will react.

Meanwhile, as his opponent continued to ponder the recent events, Enoch proceeded to pull out his deck and went on to grab the monster that he wanted to remove from play. Once he put it away, Enoch then put his deck back into his Duel Disk, shuffled his cards, and waited for his Sho to continue on with his turn. Eventually, Sho finished thinking and went to take a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down onto his side of the field, just behind his Steam Gyroid.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again," Enoch said. "Draw!"

After drawing a card from deck and placing it into his hand, Enoch went on to grab the Monster Card that he removed via the effect of his Serene Psychic Witch. Once he had it in hand, Enoch then went on to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, due to the effect of my Serene Psychic Witch, I can now Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Mental Seeker!"

**Mental Seeker: ATK 800 DEF 600 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light shined across Enoch's side of the field as a little boy wearing blue and black futuristic armor appeared. Once the child was out, he went on to wave his hand around, causing Sho's deck to glow a bright blue color.

"Next, I activate Mental Seeker's Special Ability!" Enoch continued. "When it's successfully Special Summon while it was removed from play, Mental Seeker can reveal the top 3 cards of my opponent's deck. I can then remove one of the three cards from while returning the other two back into the deck."

Sho looked on as the top three cards of his Dueling Deck materialized across the entire field. One of the cards was a Monster Card while the other two were Trap Cards. After looking at all three of the cards, Enoch knew which one he wanted to remove and proceeded to point towards one of the Trap Cards.

"The card that I choose to remove is your Mirror Force Trap Card!" He said.

Mental Seeker complied with Enoch's desire and went on to focus his attention towards the Mirror Force Trap. The Tuner Monster then used his Psychic Powers to send the Trap into an alternate dimension. Once the card was gone, Mental Seeker then focused his attention towards the other two cards and went on to send them back into the deck before shuffling them. When Mental Seeker finished using its power, Enoch continued on with his turn by taking a card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone."

"Next, I Summon: Hushed Psychic Cleric, in Attack Mode!"

**Hushed Psychic Cleric: ATK 0 DEF 2100 LVL 3**

Another flash of light shined across Enoch's side of the field as a new Psychic-Type Monster made its presence felt in the Duel. This monster had the appearance of a mysterious mage was wearing white and yellow robes and was carrying a futuristic staff.

"I activate Hushed Psychic Cleric's Special Ability!" Enoch declared. "By discarding one card, I can select one Psychic-Type monster from my Graveyard and remove it from play. The monster I choose to remove is my Serene Psychic Witch!"

Upon saying that, Enoch discarded one card to the Graveyard as he watched his Hushed Psychic Cleric begin chanting a spell. The chant caused the Graveyard section of his Duel Disk to glow, allowing Enoch to take his Serene Psychic Witch from it and put it away. Once that happened, Enoch then continued on with his turn.

"Now, I Tune my Level 3 Hushed Psychic Cleric with my Level 3 Mental Seeker!"

Both of Enoch's monsters nodded their heads upon hearing their master's declaration and proceeded to jump high into the air. They then began the process for a Synchro Summoning as Enoch took a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering the stars of those who wished, bring nightmares upon my foes. Synchro Summon! Come forth, Psychic Nightmare!"

**Psychic Nightmare: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 6**

After finishing his chant and placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a huge explosion of light erupted from Enoch's side of the field as he watched his monsters finished the summoning ritual. Once the light faded away, a new monster appeared to take their place. The creature had the appearance of a dragon with sharp claws, large fangs, a pair of blue wings. When it fully materialized onto the field, Psychic Nightmare went on to roar at the top of lungs, causing a small shockwave.

"I activate the second Special Ability of my Hushed Psychic Cleric!" Enoch declared. "When it's sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon the monster that I removed using its Special Ability. So return, Serene Psychic Witch!"

Enoch proceeded to place his Psychic Witch's card back onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as she reappeared onto the field. With two monsters now out o the field, Enoch felt confident with the current state of things. Not only would he be able to get rid of Sho's Steam Gyroid, but he would also be able to deal him some direct damage as well. He also felt confident that Sho's face-down card wouldn't be too much of a factor either as he had a means to get rid of it even if it were to activate. So, desiring to continue on with his momentum, Enoch went to point his figure over towards Sho's Steam Gyroid.

"Psychic Nightmare," He called. "Go and attack his Steam Gyroid...Psychic Shockwave!"

Nightmare nodded his head and went on to roar one more time. This time however, the roar released a pair of shockwaves that were directed solely towards Steam Gyroid. The power of the shockwaves sent vibrations throughout the Machine-Type monster's body, causing it to come appear bolt by bolt. As his monster was slowly being destroyed, Sho reacted by activating the face-down card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap: Supercharge!" He stated. "With this, since I'm being attacked while I have a Roid monster on the field, I can now draw two cards from my deck!"

As more of Steam Gyroid's body began to come apart, Sho quickly drew two cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. When that happened, Gyroid's body couldn't take the force of the shockwaves anymore and proceeded to implode as a result.

**Sho: 3800 LP**

"Now, with his field empty," Enoch followed up. "Serene Psychic Witch, attack his Life Points directly…Psycho Cut!"

Serene Psychic Witch nodded her head and went on to swing both of blades towards the ground. In doing so, she created a blast of Psychic energy that quickly made its way towards Sho, hitting him and causing him to lose more of his Life Points.

**Sho: 2400 LP**

As he watched his opponent's Life Points drop even further, Enoch looked over the cards that were in his hand and saw that he still had one more move that he could play. However, since his Battle Phase was over, there was no guarantee that making this play would be of any help. So, until he determined that the was right to make that move, Enoch placed the card to the end of his hand.

"I end my turn," He said. "So Sho, what will you do now?"

"Oh I'll show you." Sho replied. "Because it's my turn, Draw!"

Sho Kamishiro quickly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he soon turned his attention towards the monsters that were on Enoch's side of the field, especially his Psychic Nightmare. The young man knew that the longer he kept that monster on the field, the greater the chance his opponent would use it finish him and win the Duel. Sho wasn't about to let that happen and decided to make destroying Psychic Nightmare his top priority. So, after looking at all the cards in his hand, Sho quickly grabbed one and went on to insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn!" He said. "With it, I bring back my Steam Gyroid!"

A bright flash of light covered Sho's side of the field for a few moments as his Steam Gyroid returned to him. Once it was back, Sho then went on to take another card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone as well.

"Next, I equip Gyroid with the Spell Card: Fusion Weapon! With its power, Steam Gyroid's Attack and Defense Points increased 1500 Points!"

"I won't let that happen!" Enoch stated as he activated one of his face-down cards. "I activate the Counter Trap: Mind Over Matter! With it, by sacrificing one Psychic-Type monster on my side of the field, I can negate the activation of your Fusion Weapon Spell and destroy it!"

Sho's eyes widen as watched his Steam Gyroid attempt to receive the power up from his Fusion Weapon Spell. However, before it could even take effect, Serene Psychic Witch vanished from the field and used the psychic energy that it was given off to create a barrier that block the power from Sho's Spell and destroy it all together.

With his Spell Card now gone, Sho started to wonder what to do next. He would still have to wait another turn until the effect of his Future Fusion Spell activates and there was no certainty that he would make it until then. Things seemed dire for the young man as it looked like Enoch had him by the throat. Still, despite the odds that he was facing, Sho wasn't about to surrender. No matter how strong Enoch was and no matter what the result may be, Sho would keep on fighting until his Life Points hit zero.

So, after taking some time to think about it, Sho proceeded to take a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card then went on to materialize face-down on the field, just behind his Steam Gyroid.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

As Enoch nodded his head and got ready to begin his turn, Takashi and the others continued watching the Duel from the stands. While some of them were impressed with the way things are going, others weren't so. Takashi, Lilly, Crow, Misaki, and the recently returned Akiza were all able to tell that something was off.

"What is that Enoch guy up to?" Crow questioned. "Why isn't he trying to get rid of that Future Fusion Spell?"

"…I know," Misaki followed. "As long as Future Fusion is in play, Sho would be able to Special Summon the Fusion Monster he removed on his next turn. If he just destroys that Spell now, then Sho wouldn't be able to bring out his monster."

"Maybe he's trying to take down all of his opponent's Life Points first," Lilly pointed out. "I mean, doing that would accomplish the same thing."

As the three of them continued to talk about what Enoch's strategy was, Takashi and Akiza simply kept to themselves as the pondered the same thing. This is especially true for the latter, who was beginning to tap her right foot repeatedly on the ground.

"What are you trying to accomplish Enoch?" Akiza thought to herself. "Why aren't trying to end the Duel by using Psychic Nightmare's Special Ability? If you simply use it then could have ended this Duel a while ago. So why haven't you? It's like you're trying to drag out the Duel in order to show someone something…but what and why?"

While she continued to think about this, Takashi took notice at the way Enoch was Dueling as well and had the same conclusion that Akiza had. To him, it seemed that Enoch was trying to show Enoch something. The Psychic was far too good a Duelist to let this Duel drag out any more than it already has. Something must be up for Enoch to play this way, but what that thing was a mystery to Takashi. Eventually, the young man decided to keep observing the Duel. If Enoch didn't make a big play that resulted in Sho's defeat or near defeat, then it would confirm to Takashi that something else was taking place.

"It's my turn," Enoch said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

Quickly drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Enoch soon turned his attention towards Sho's side of the field. Along with his recently arrived Steam Gyroid, Kamishiro also had one card face-down on the field. Enoch had his thoughts about the card and quickly came to the conclusion that it was most likely a Trap Card. Now normally, he would attempt to get rid of that Trap before going and attempting to attack. However, Enoch had other plans.

"Now's not the time to make my big move," He thought. "I want him to continue watching me play. Because…if what she said about him was right, then I want see how much he can learn from this Duel."

After thinking about this for a few moments, Enoch turned his head and looked into the direction that Akiza and the others were. However, he wasn't looking at his old Psychic acquaintance. Enoch instead had his eyes focused on the man next to her, Takashi Nakamura. When he saw that he was looking at him, Takashi was surprised and wondered what he was doing. However, before he ask himself what happened, Enoch turned his head back towards the Duel and continued on with his turn.

"I activate my Psychic Nightmare's Special Ability!" He declared. "With it, I can now choose one card in your hand and guess its type. If I'm right, then Psychic Nightmare's Attack Points are increased by 1000 until the End Phase of my opponent's next turn!"

"…I see," Sho replied. "You're using the same guessing tactic that Akiza Izinski and Ran Kobayakawa employed during their Duel. However, don't assume that you'll be just as successful as them!"

Enoch didn't pay any attention to Sho's arrogant words and simply closed his eyes for a moment. As he did that, Takashi felt a sudden spike in the Psychic Reiatsu and new that he was up to something. So, without even thinking, the young man quickly made his way down the stands.

"Hey Takashi!" Crow called out. "Where are you going?"

"I'm heading down to get a better look!" Takashi replied, only giving out half of his true intentions. "You all stay there and I'll be right back!"

Crow looked toward Takashi as he continued to watch him make his way through the crowd of people. He didn't understand why he wanted to get a better view of the Duel since they were perfectly fine where they were. However, before he could even question about it further, the Blackwing Duelist soon noticed that Akiza was beginning to make her way through the crowd too.

"Akiza!" He said. "You're leaving too?"

"Sorry," She replied. "But I can't seem to get look from this angle. I'll be going with Takashi to get a better view!"

Now Crow was even more confused than he was before. Just what the heck was going on with his friends? Both of their eyesight couldn't be so terrible that they couldn't see from this measly distance. He was about to confront them, but he was stopped when Lilly grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"It's fine Crow," She said. "Let them go."

"But Lilly," Crow replied.

"No buts!" She snapped. "Look, I feel something off too. However, it wouldn't accomplish anything if all of us go down there without knowing what the hell is going on. At least if Takashi and Akiza go down then can figure what's going on and inform us when they get back."

Crow looked towards his old friend for a few moments and saw that she was serious in her statement. However, the Blackwing Duelist could also tell that Lilly was trembling slightly. It was like she could sense something, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Upon seeing that expression, Crow decided to let go and kept himself where he was. He soon turned his attention back towards the Duel and watched as something surprising occurred.

"You're middle card," Enoch said after reopening his eyes. "I have no doubt that it's a Spell Card."

Sho's eyes widen greatly upon hearing his opponent's guess. He soon looked down towards the middle card in his hand and saw that it was indeed a Spell Card. But how could that be? How could Enoch possibly make that guess? Those questions ran through Sho's mind for a few seconds as he was trying to figure what was going on. As he thought Enoch proceeded to watch as his Psychic Nightmare's body was beginning to glow with a bright purple color, increasing its Attack Points as a result.

**Psychic Nightmare: ATK 3400**

"What the hell?" Takashi spoke as he and Akiza made their way towards the Dueling Field. "How could he possibly know that his card was a Spell? Is he cheating somehow?"

While they continued to make their way, Akiza looked towards Enoch and she knew right away how he was able to correctly guess what card that Sho had. However, she choose not to reveal to Takashi.

"Now's not the time or the place to tell him," She thought. "I don't know what Enoch is up too, but I do know that he must be serious if he used that power."

"Go Nightmare," Enoch called, continuing on with his turn. "Destroy his Steam Gyroid once again…Psychic Shockwave!"

Nightmare complied with its master's request and proceeded to launch another barrage of Psychic Shockwave towards Steam Gyroid. Like before, the attack struck the Machine-Type monster and it began to come apart as a result. Sho, who too caught up in his own thoughts, failed to notice what was going on until it was already happening. By the time he finally got his senses together, Steam Gyroid imploded once again, causing him to lose another good chunk of his Life Points.

**Sho: 1200 LP**

As holographic smoke began to cover his opponent's side of the field, Enoch turned his head again and saw that Takashi and Akiza have made their way towards him. He smiled and nodded his head towards the latter of the two before looking towards his hand and pulling a card from it. Enoch then went on to insert the card into his Monster Card Zone and watched as it appeared face-down on the field, right behind of his Psychic Nightmare.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said with a small smile on his face.

After concluding his turn, Enoch looked on and watched as the smoke that was covering Sho's side of the field began to field. He then saw that his opponent was glaring at him with a furious expression on his face.

"You bastard," He said as he gritted his teeth. "You must have cheated! There was no way in hell that you could have possibly got that guess right. However, it doesn't really matter now…as you just made one major mistake."

"Oh?" Enoch replied. "And what would that be?"

"It's simple," Sho answered as he started to smile evilly. "It's because you let me bring out my ultimate creature! It's my turn, Draw!"

After swiftly drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Sho looked on as a collection of several Machine-Type monsters appeared on his side of the field. Soon the monsters began to fuse together, causing a bright flash of light to illuminate the entire area. It was at this moment that everyone realized that the effect of Sho's Future Fusion Spell was about to activate.

"I fuse the 5 Roid monsters that sent to my Graveyard two turns ago!" He declared. "In order to Fusion Summon: Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine!"

**Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine: ATK 4000 DEF 4000 LVL 12**

Once the flash of light faded away, everyone in the stadium was in awe at what they were seeing. Right in front of their eyes a giant robot, which was about the size of a skyscraper, was standing in front of Sho and staring down both Enoch and his Psychic Nightmare. The mere presence of the creature was overwhelming as it made even the toughest of Duelist wet their pants.

Normally such a move would be followed up with an attack, however Sho wasn't done just yet. He was determined to get some payback and decided that the next step in doing that was to activate the face-down card that he set during his previous turn. When Sho did that, another flash of light shined across his side of the field.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted!" He declared. "With it, I can now Special Summon one monster from my Graveyard. I think I'll choose one the Roid monsters that I discarded when I played Future Fusion. So appear now, Jetroid!"

**Jetroid: ATK 1200 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

When the light faded away from the field, a large fighter jet appeared next to Sho and started flying next to him. However, in comparison to Barbaroid, Jetroid seemed very insignificant.

"It's time for you pay cheater!" Sho yelled. "Barbaroid, destroy his Psychic Nightmare…Rocket Bombardment!"

Barbaroid complied with its order and began pointing its arms towards Psychic Nightmare. Once it took him, the Machine-Type monster then launch a large barrage of rockets and missiles towards the monster, which instantly destroyed it on contact.

**Enoch: 2600 LP**

"I'm not done with you yet!" Sho continued. "Because I'm now activating my Barbaroid's Special Ability! Since it successfully destroyed a monster through battle, my Barbaroid can now deal you 1000 points of damage!"

Enoch was on his knees from Sho's first attack as he was knocked back by the resulting shockwaves. As he attempted to get back up to his feet, the young man noticed that Barbaroid was going to attack him again. In order to prevent himself from falling back down, Enoch kept to the ground and proceeded to brace himself. He then watched as more rockets landed on his side of the field, causing him to lose more of his Life Points.

**Enoch: 1600 LP**

"Now…it's time for one more attack," Sho said. "Jetroid, attack his Life Points directly!"

Jetroid complied and began firing several lasers blasts from the tip of its nose. By the time the smoke from Barbaroid's attack began to fade away, one of the blasts struck Enoch right in the stomach. This caused him to fall down some more due to the shock of being attack while not being prepared.

**Enoch: 400 LP**

As the attacks finally ended, Sho started laughing hysterically to himself, happy that he was able to get some matter of revenge against his opponent. While that was happening, Takashi and Akiza were still continuing to observe the Duel.

"This is interesting," Takashi said. "Not only does Enoch have to deal with Barbaroid's 4000 Attack and Defense Points, but he has to be wary of Jetroid's Special Ability as well. If he attacks it, then Sho is allowed to activate a Trap Card from his hand. In other words, Enoch can't attack it recklessly."

"…Yeah," Akiza followed. "Still…I don't get it."

Takashi looked towards Akiza and saw that she had a confused expression on her face. Ever since the start of this Duel, the young woman seemed bothered by the way the Duel has been going. It was like she felt it should have gone one way, but it instead went another.

"Enoch," She thought. "What is going on with you? Why are you holding back?"

As she continued to think about this, Takashi turned his attention back towards the Duel and saw that Enoch was beginning to get back to his feet. He also noticed that despite the damage that he took from Sho's attacks, Enoch's Reiatsu was still as strong as ever.

"So you got back up," Sho said as he looked toward his opponent. "You probably should have stayed down. There's no way that you can defeat my Barbaroid."

"Don't assume that," Enoch replied. "You see, there's a reason why I wanted you to bring out your strongest monster."

"Oh really," Sho said. "And what exactly would that reason be?"

Enoch placed his hand upon his deck and turned his head towards Takashi and Akiza again. However, instead of focusing on Akiza, the Psychic Duelist instead had his attention toward Takashi. He then proceeded to raise his Reiatsu once more, surprising the Signer as a result.

"The reason why I decided to let you summon Barbaroid is because I want to display my power," He answered. "And the best way for me to do that is to destroy your strongest monster!"

Upon hearing Enoch say that let him summon his Ace Monster so that he could just destroy it latter, Sho started become irritated again. That statement only fueled his desire to defeat this opponent and put him in his place once and for all. However, because he had no more moves to make this turn, Sho had no choice but to end his turn.

"Make your move," He told him. "And let's see if you're not all talk!"

"Very well," Enoch replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After quickly drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Enoch wasted no time in grabbing one of the cards that he got during the beginning of the Duel. He then went on to insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as the Graveyard section of his Duel Disk began to glow.

"To start off, I activate the Spell: Miracle Synchro Fusion! With it, by removing from play the appropriate monsters from either my hand or Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck. I'll go on to remove my Psychic Nightmare and my Mental Seekers, two monsters that are resting in my Graveyard."

When Enoch took his selected cards from his Graveyard and placed them away, he went on to watch the spirits of the two appear before him. Once they were out, both monsters then began to fuse together as their master went on to grab a card from his Extra Deck and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Fusion Summon! Come to the field, Ultimate Axon Kicker!"

**Ultimate Axon Kicker: ATK 2900 DEF 1700 LVL 10**

Once the fusion between Mental Seeker and Psychic Nightmare was completed, a brand new monster was created in their place. This monster was similar to Nightmare and that it had the appearance of a dragon and a demon. Its body was covered in sharp spikes and it had snake-like end on the second half of its body. Its appearance was truly terrifying, but it still paled in comparison to that of Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine.

However…despite the size and power disadvantage that he was facing, Enoch wasn't worried at all. His eyes were filled with strength and determination as he knew precisely what to do help him not only bring down Sho's powerful monster, but also help him regain the strength that he lost as well.

"Now," Enoch said as he activated one of his face-down cards. "With Ultimate Axon Kicker on the field, it's time to activate the Trap Card: Psychic Mind Wipe! With the power of this Trap, I can remove from play one Psychic-Type Monster from my Graveyard in order to drain the Attack Points of one monster you control equal to the amount the removed monster! The monster I choose to remove is my trusty Serene Psychic Witch!"

Sho looked on in surprise as Enoch proceeded to remove Serene Psychic Witch from his Graveyard once again. He then looked on as the spirit of the witch appeared and went on to go inside Barbaroid's body. Once it was inside, Serene Psychic Witch then used its power to drain Barbaroid of some of its mental strength, which in turn also caused some of its attack strength to be drained as well.

**Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine: ATK 2600**

"Go Ultimate Axon Kicker," Enoch called. "Destroy Barbaroid now…Ultimate Psychic Blast!"

Axon nodded its head and began building psychic energy into its horns. Once it gathered enough power, Axon condensed the power into a blue energy beam which it proceeded to launch toward its target. The force of the blast of great, so great that it was able cut through Barbaroid's body like a hot knife cutting through butter.

**Sho: 900 LP**

Upon seeing his ultimate monster come apart right before his eyes, Sho was left flabbergasted. No one has ever defeated Barbaroid in battle and no one has ever been able to destroy it via a card effects. So, the fact that Enoch was able to do it so easily left him extremely dumbfounded. However, before the shock could fully sink into him, Sho watched as Enoch continued on with his turn.

"Since my Ultimate Axon Kicker successfully destroyed a monster through battle," He said. "Its Special Ability can now activate! I now gain Life Points equal to your destroyed monster's original Attack Points!"

As holographic sparkles began falling from the sky, Enoch parted his arms for a moment and began absorbing energy from the falling lights. When that happened, his Life Points were immediately increased far beyond their normal levels.

**Enoch: 4400 LP**

Once the sparkles ceased falling, Enoch didn't waste any more time and went on to activate the final face-down card that was on his field. When he did that, a giant yellow sphere appeared onto the field.

"Now, I activate my final Trap Card: Psychic Life Bomb!" He said. "With it, since my Life Points were increased due to the effect of a Psychic-Type Monster, you now take damage equal to the difference of our current points!"

Takashi and Akiza were shocked at what they just heard and they soon began to compare the Life Points between the two Duelists. Enoch had 4400 Life points while Sho only had 900. By doing the math, that would result in Sho losing 3500 Life Points.

"Holy crap…," Takashi said in astonishment.

As the sphere of energy began to crack in front of Sho, the young man attempted to look for something that could help him negate the effect of Enoch's Trap Card. Unfortunately for him though, Sho had no such card in his hand nor did he have any card on the field that could stop the effect either. As a result, the bomb exploded in front of him, causing him to lose the remaining of his Life Points.

**Sho: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>This Duel is over!" <em>The announcer said over the loudspeaker. _"The winner of the match is Enoch Wylie"_

Once they heard Enoch be declared the winner, everyone in the stadium began applauding him for his well deserved victory. Even Lilly and the others, who were still somewhat cautious of him, also gave their respects to Enoch as well. As she clapped her hands, Lilly began thinking about something.

"Enoch Wylie," She thought. "When he first showed up, the sensation that he gave off was very similar to Sayer's. However, the way he Duels makes me believe that perhaps he's indeed different from him. I guess we'll find out for sure once the Finals start."

Meanwhile, back on the Dueling Field, Enoch was beginning to make his exit from the stadium. However, before leaving, the young man proceeded to make his way toward Takashi and Akiza. Once he reached them, he soon turned his attention toward the female Psychic Duelist.

"So…how was that?" He said with a smile on his face. "I've improved a lot, haven't I Akiza?"

Akiza looked towards Enoch for a few moments as she began to think about the Duel he just participated in. Once she did that, the young woman then compared it to all the Duels that he had when the both of them were in the Arcadia Movement. Eventually, after she finished her comparison, Akiza gave Enoch an answer.

"I admit it," She said. "You have improved since the last time I met you. However, there is one thing that still puzzles me. Enoch, why were you holding back?"

Takashi eyes widen somewhat upon hearing Akiza say that Enoch was holding back during his Duel with Sho. To him, he found it pretty incredible that he was able to overcome Sho's Barbaroid like it was nothing. So, the fact that he wasn't even using his true strength surprised the young Duelist little.

"Let's just say," Enoch replied. "I wanted to make a good impression."

Upon saying that, Enoch turned his attention toward Takashi and began to raise his Reiatsu once again. Being the only one in the immediate area who could feel it, Takashi quickly realized that the person that Enoch wanted to impress who him and, from the way he could do, the Psychic Duelist did exactly that.

Once he finished trying to immediate Takashi, Enoch lower the strength of his Reiatsu and turned his focus back towards Akiza. He then smiled at her one more time before grabbing his things and getting ready to leave.

"Well…I better be going," He said. "With one week until the Finals, I can use this time getting ready. Also, there's a chance I might receive a quick mission and I'm going to need to head back to my place if I want to be prepared. I'll be seeing you later Akiza…and once again, I'm really glad that I got to see you again after all this time."

"…Yeah," Akiza softly replied. "…I'm glad I got to see you too."

With that said, the two Psychic Duelists parted ways. As she watched him leave, Akiza once again recalled how Enoch was in the past and once again realized that he is way different from the way he was before. Upon remembering that, a small smile began to appear on his face.

"You may have messed up big time in the past," She thought. "…But I guess I'm happy that you're doing okay."

As Enoch continued to walk away, the Psychic Duelist soon remembered something and quickly made his way back towards Takashi and Akiza. Once he reached them, he soon whispered something into the former's ear, shocking Takashi greatly. When he finished saying what he had to say, Enoch smiled at the two of them again before walking away.

"…What was that all about?" Akiza asked. "Takashi?"

Takashi didn't respond to Akiza question as he was still shocked by words that Enoch spoke to him. He soon looked towards him as he was walking away and began to wonder if what he just heard was true.

Meanwhile, as he walked away, Enoch proceeded to pull out a cell phone from his pocket and went on to make a call. After a few minutes, someone picked up on the other line and both he and Enoch started talking to one another.

"Hey," Enoch said. "I need a favor. I want to make a slight alteration to the next step of the plan."

"_And what would that be?" _The person on the other line replied.

Enoch closed his eyes for a moment and began to recall all the things that Akiza said about Takashi before his Duel again. He also took some time remember when he was spying on Takashi while and the other Signers were back home at Poppo Time. When Akiza left the room after talking to him, Takashi proceeded to unleash his powers in an attempt to frighten Enoch. The attempt failed to do its job, but Enoch was shocked that Takashi, someone who's only been using his powers for less than a year, was able to produce such strength. He also realized that if he didn't leave when he did, then Takashi would have probably released even more of his power.

Once he finished his recollection, Enoch pleased his phone next to his head and carefully explained what he meant when wanted the plans to be altered.

"I want to determine the worth of someone," He answered.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_The Fortune Cup's second Qualifying Round continues as the first Turbo Duel is about to begin. In the match, Toru is excited that his friend and rival, Kagura Toyoshima, will be participating. However, Kagura isn't as pleased about competing as other expect her to be. Just what is Kagura's reason for entering the Fortune Cup and how will she fair in her Duel?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 66 – The Path towards Vengeance_


	66. Chapter 66

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 66: **_The Path towards Vengeance_

* * *

><p>"Things are really beginning to heat up," Tem said as he talked to his friends. "There are only 5 Duels left until the Second Round is decided."<p>

"Yeah," Madas followed. "And out of the 7 of us who are left, only 5 can join Takashi, Akiza, and that Enoch guy, in the Finals."

As everyone waited for the fourth Qualifying Duel to begin, Tem and the others started talking about the current standings in the Fortune Cup and how it will affect the 10 remaining Duelists who have yet to compete. With Takashi, Akiza, and Enoch already acquiring their spots in the Finals, the race to join them was only going to get more intense as time went on. Each Duel now had more meaning to it and each Duelist knew that things were only going to get tougher as time went on.

However, while some were excited about the shortened race to reach the Finals, others weren't as happy. One of those individuals was Toru Ishida, best friend and adopted older brother of Takashi Nakamura. Ever since he and his friends were forced to enter the Fortune Cup by Lazar and the rest of Sector Security, Toru has been becoming increasingly more worried as each Duel went on. Lazar's threat to send him and all of his friends to the Facility was always running through his mind, even though he didn't express it out loud. In some ways, Toru believed that it would impossible to prevent this as each Duelist that he and his friends encounter is more powerful than the last. Also, the fact that they might have to face each other only made things more complicated as he had no desire to eliminate any of his friends from the Fortune Cup, especially since they earned the right to be here while he was forced to enter.

All of these negative thoughts ran through Toru's mind for quite a while, eventually causing him to have a depressing look on his face. Misaki, having noticed this before anyone else, simply sighed to herself before walking over towards him. Once she was there, the young woman proceeded to grab Toru by the arm and take him somewhere so that they couldn't be heard by the others. When they were a good enough distance away, Misaki let go of Toru and went on to slap him across his face.

"…Will you stop doing that," She said to him in a calm tone of voice. "…It's really becoming annoying when you wear that stupid expression of yours."

"I can't…help it," Toru replied, still reeling from Misaki's slap. "There's only a certain number of spots left in the Fortune Cup and Lazar said that we have to qualify for the Finals. If we don't then not only is he going to send us to the Facility, but also all of our other friends as well. Just thinking about that…makes me so…depressed."

Toru placed his head down and began gritting his teeth, trying his best to prevent himself from crying in front of Misaki. But Misaki, who was just looking at him, was just shaking her head in disappointment. She simply couldn't believe that Toru still hadn't figured this out yet. Eventually, her annoyance got the better of her and she once again slapped Toru across his face. Once she did that, Misaki then grabbed him by his shirt collar and glared at him.

"…I'm going to say this one more time so pay attention," She said to him. "When Lazar came up to us 3 months ago, he made it clear that he only wanted Takashi, Lilly, Crow, and Akiza to make it to the Finals. He doesn't care if we don't make it because we don't have their weird Signer Marks on our arms. My guess, the only reason why we're even here is because he, and the rest of Sector Security, wants to measure the skills of the others by having them face us. Listen to me Toru, I know this hasn't been easy for you, but you have to suck it up. Takashi and the others are probably feeling the same way you are, probably even more since they hold our fate in their hands. But if they can keep their cool and keep moving forward, despite all the pressure their feeling, then why can't you do the same. I mean, you are a man aren't you?"

After Misaki finished her speech, she looked at Toru with her usual emotionless expression while the young man began to absorb everything that was just spoken to him. It was true that Security was only interested in those that had the mark of the Crimson Dragon and that everyone else was of no consequence. Meaning, even if Toru and Misaki happen to lose this round, their friends wouldn't suffer because of them. Also, even though he might just have to face one of his friends in his next Duel, Toru was eventually able to remember that one of the reasons why he wanted to participate in the Fortune Cup was so that he could fight them. This tournament, despite its underhanded plot, was a way to prove to others, his friends, and most importantly himself that he belonged in the conversation of being Japan's best Duelist. So, after smacking himself for feeling that way he did, Toru turned his attention towards Misaki and looked at her with his usual smile.

"Thank you Misaki," He said. "I needed to hear that."

"…You don't have to thank me," She replied. "…I just wanted you to stop looking like such a moron."

"_Attention Duelists…the next Duel of the Second Round is about to begin," _The announcer said over the loudspeaker. _"Will Kagura Toyoshima and Yusuke Kamiji please make their over to the track."_

Upon hearing who would Duel next, Toru's smile quickly erupted into a much bigger one as he could hardly believe his ears.

"Kagura is about to compete," He said gleefully. "And it's going to be a Turbo Duel too…This is going to be so awesome!"

"…Who's Kagura?" Misaki asked bluntly.

Toru turned towards Misaki with a shocked expression on his face as he couldn't believe what she just asked. How could she possibly not know who Kagura is? The two of them met one another a few months ago, on the day they met Alex for the first time, so how could she not remember her. However, upon realizing that it had been at least 3 months since they last saw each other and the fact that the two of them didn't really have any type of interaction, Toru decided to explain all that he knew about Kagura to Misaki.

"Kagura Toyoshima is one of the greatest Duelists in all of Japan," He explained. "She's a skilled user in the Twilight Archetype and is able to manipulate her cards so well that she hardly receive any damage when she's Duel. Personally, I truly believe that she's the greatest female Duelist the world's ever seen since Bro's mother, Sakura Nakamura. In some ways, I consider her my rival since we started Dueling in the Pro Circuit around the same time. However, I think that's more one-sided on my part since I've never beaten her in any of the Duels that we had against each other."

As Toru continued to go on and on about how great a Duelist Kagura is, Misaki tried to remember the last time she met the Twilight Duelist. Eventually, she was able to do so as she remembered being introduced to her shortly before Takashi's Duel against Alex. Back then, Misaki considered Kagura just another friend of their roommates who seemed to be pretty good at Dueling. However, if she's as good as Toru claims her to be then things could be pretty rough once the Finals get underway. Still, having not seen her Duel before, Misaki decided to pay close attention to this Turbo Duel in order to get a proper assessment of her strength.

Once she finished thinking to herself, Misaki lifted her head back up and was about to ask Toru some more questions. However, when she did that, the young woman saw that Toru wasn't there with her as he was beginning to make his way down from the stands in order to get a better look at the upcoming Turbo Duel. Upon seeing that, Misaki looked at her friend with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"Toru...you idiot."

Meanwhile, as Toru was continuing to make his way down from the stands, both Takashi and Akiza were standing by the edge, still thinking about what took place a few moments. The two of them have just finished watching the Duel between Enoch Wylie and Sho Kamishiro and were still amazed on how it transpired. Enoch, displayed power techniques that allowed him to overwhelm his opponent and defeat him while he still had over the regular amount of Life Points. Not only that, but Enoch was also able to use the huge difference between his and his opponent's Life Points to his advantage. Upon seeing that, both Takashi and Akiza knew that things would get difficult for them if they had to face Enoch in the first round of the Fortune Cup Finals.

However, despite the skills that Enoch displayed during his match, that wasn't the most surprising thing that was on Takashi's mind. In fact, it was something else entirely. At the end of the Duel, just before Enoch was about to leave, the Psychic Duelist walked up towards Takashi and proceeded to whisper something in his ear. As he listened to what he had to say, Takashi felt like a huge bomb just exploded right in front of his face as he didn't expect Enoch to reveal that information to him. Upon hearing it, Takashi had a hard time determining whether or not Enoch's words were true, especially since he doesn't really trust him yet. However, if what he said was true, then that could possibly change how he not only felt about him, but some other people as well.

As Takashi continued to think about this, Akiza took a moment to glance over towards him and noticed the somewhat worried look on his face. Seeing him look like that caused Akiza to feel a little bit worried herself as she never enjoyed seeing Takashi like that. She much more preferred seeing him as his usual self; happy and carefree with a few hints of seriousness every now and again. Whenever he was like that, Akiza would much more at ease as that was the Takashi Nakamura that she has grown to fall in love with. But whenever he seemed worried or upset, like he seemed now, Akiza would also feel those things, due to her strong emotional connection with him. It's because of those things, as well as several other important factors, that Akiza always preferred Takashi to be happy rather than sad.

In an attempt in order to see what was bothering him, Akiza proceeded to walk up towards Takashi and went on to gently tap his shoulder. It took about 5 taps for her to finally get his attention, due to him being spaced out at the time, but when she did the young woman looked at Takashi and greeted him with a sweet and gentle smile.

"Hey Takashi," She said. "Is everything okay? You seemed distressed ever since Enoch left."

Takashi looked at Akiza for a moment before looking down towards the ground, trying to think of something to say to her. If he was perfectly honest with Akiza and told her what Enoch told him, how would she react to it? Would she be okay with it or upset? In the end, Takashi didn't know and he didn't want to take the chance that Akiza might become too upset or too suspicious upon finding out. Now wasn't the time or the place for such things, especially since the two of them needed to be ready to cheer on both Lilly and Crow when it came for them to Duel. So, after lifting his head and turning towards her, Takashi presented Akiza with the best smile that he could muster at the moment.

"Everything is fine Akiza," He answered. "I was just thinking about something."

"What were you thinking about?" She asked.

"Nothing too important," He replied. "I'll tell you later."

With the the conversation done, Takashi turned his attention back towards the field and saw that one of the Duelists, Yusuke Kamiji, was making his way towards the track. As soon as he saw him, Toru appeared and proceeded to place his arm around his step-brother as the two of them began to talk about the upcoming mach.

As she watched the two of them, Akiza thought about the facial expression that Takashi showed when he gave her his answer. She was able to tell right away that he was hiding something from her and that what he was thinking about was actually more important that what he's making it. A large part of her wanted to try and see if she could get some more information out of him, but she was able to hold herself from doing so. She then sighed a little bit before deciding to walk over towards her friends and join them, all the while thinking quietly to herself.

"For as long as I known him, Takashi has always been like this," She thought. "He would always hide things that are bothering him and play it off like it's nothing. I love him with all of my heart, but I wish he would be more open with me. I wish he would realize that no matter what it is, whether it be good or bad, I'll be here to listen and stand by him…just like he always does for me. I guess…all I can do now is wait until he's ready to tell me…but that's okay. I'm willing to wait him for as long as it takes. And when that time does finally come…I'll be here to listen to everything that's on his mind and give him a sense of healing that he always gives to others, especially me."

After she finished thinking to herself, Akiza made her way over to her friends and she joined them in their conversation about the upcoming match. While that was happening, the announcer appeared on the loudspeaker again and called for Kagura Toyoshima once more. However, no one made a move inside of the stadium and everyone there started to wonder where Kagura was. In truth, Kagura was in fact in the stadium, but chose not to respond to the announcer's declaration. She just stayed in one of the garages that the Fortune Cup officials provide for the competitors and sat there alone.

As she sat there all alone, the young woman had her eyes on two items that were placed in each of her hands. The first object was a beautiful white ribbon, that had a glittery look to it. If it was revealed in the sunlight in just the right angle then it would most likely shine brightly like a beautiful star. The second object was a black sword that was kept in an equally black sheath. The blade a menacing feel to it as just one look at the weapon can bring fear into hearts of other people.

As Kagura continued to look at both of them items, the young woman began to think about towards the past. It was during that time in her life that she first gained both her ribbon and her sword from one very important person. It's because of this one individual that not only is Kagura here today, but their also the reason why she's the person she is now.

_7 Years Ago_

_Kagura: Age 11_

In the outskirts of New Domino City, there lives a young girl named Kagura Toyoshima. Unlike how she would become in the future, this version of Kagura is much more open and friendly towards other people. She always enjoys having a good time and loves playing various games whenever she has the chance, this is especially true when it comes to Duel Monsters. For some reason, which is even unknown to Kagura herself, the game always came naturally to her. For Kagura, it was like she was born to play the game of Duel Monsters. To that end, Kagura would always use any spare time that she had reworking her deck, making sure that it was the best that it could possibly be.

However, despite her love for the game, there is one thing that Kagura cherishes far more than Dueling…and that thing would be her family. During the Zero Reverse incident that took place 11 years ago, Kagura's mother and father were killed in the destruction. Luckily for her, the young infant was with her cousin Vivi at the time so she was spared from suffering the same fate. As she watched her grow up, Vivi has tried her best in order to raise and provide for Kagura. She quit school in order to spend more time for her and even got a job working for Sector Security so that she could earn the money needed in order to take care of her.

With her own parents having been killed during Zero Reverse as well, the task of raising her young cousin has been a difficult one for Vivi. Still, despite all of those hardships and all of the things that she had to sacrifice as well, Vivi doesn't hold even one hint of resentment towards Kagura. The young woman loves her cousin deeply and is willing to do almost anything in order to secure her happiness. In return, Kagura feels exactly the same way and has grown to love Vivi as not only her cousin, but as her adopted mother as well.

For almost 12 years, Kagura and Vivi have lived a somewhat happy life during their time together. However, all that would change one day…and it changed because of one stupid argument.

"Let's see…maybe I should try adding this Trap Card. Or perhaps adding this Spell Card will provide even better results. Then again, this Monster Card has a pretty powerful effect too…so perhaps I should add it instead."

In the old apartment that she and her cousin has provided for the both of them, Kagura is busy putting in the finishing touches of her Dueling Deck. With the New Domino Junior National Championships is coming up in few days, the young girl wants to make sure that she's prepared to go into this competition as many other talented young Duelists, such as herself, are going to be competing too. In fact, Kagura has heard rumors that some of the Duelists that are going to be competing are said to be prodigies and that they're already receiving recommendations to enter the Pro League. Along with several other factors, that rumor has motivated Kagura into making sure that she was prepared for the tough battles that she is sure to face.

While she continued to work on her deck, Kagura turned her attention towards a digital clock that was sitting on her desk and saw that it was currently 3:50 pm. Upon seeing that, a large smile appeared on her face as she knew that Vivi would be coming home from work any minute now. Because of that, Kagura immediately stopped what she was doing and quickly made her downstairs from her room. Once she was at the final step, she sat herself down there and waited patiently for Vivi to open the door and appear.

"I can't wait for Vivi to get here," She thought quietly to herself. "Because of her job, we don't get to spend as much time together as we used too. However, since my 12th birthday is coming up, Vivi promised that she would take some time off so that we can be together more. This is going to be so nice."

Due to her job as a Sector Security Officer, Vivi schedule is very random and usually has to work long hours throughout the day. Kagura understands the troubles that her cousin has to go through in order to provide for the both of them and she also knows that what she does is in their best interest as well. Still, despite knowing that, the young girl still misses the early days in which both she and Vivi would spend countless hours playing together. So, the fact that Vivi promised spend time with her during her birthday meant a lot to Kagura and she wanted to make sure that her 12th birthday would be the best one yet.

Eventually, as soon as the clock turn 4:00, Kagura heard noises coming from the front door and saw that the doorknob was beginning to move. Upon seeing that, the girl began to get up from the steps and watched as the front door opened up, revealing a young woman with light blue hair and purple eyes. She had a somewhat slender build and was wearing the standard uniform that's given to all Sector Security officers. The woman was also carrying a Duel Disk on her wrist and a sword that was next to her hip. Once she fully entered the house, the women looked at Kagura and gave her a small smile before watching her run up and hug her very closely.

"Welcome home Vivi," Kagura said very happily.

"…Thanks Kagura," Vivi said softly, tired from her long day at work.

As Vivi walked toward the kitchen and placed her things on the table, Kagura rushed over towards her and began to bombarded her with all the thing that she wanted to do for not only her birthday, but for the rest of her cousin's time off too. Hearing her ideas made Vivi somewhat happy, but mostly sad as well since she just received some unpleasant news while at work. The news has bothered her throughout the day because she knew that Kagura would be the one who would take the hardest. No matter how many ways she could possibly explain it or point it out to her, Vivi knew that Kagura wouldn't like what she was about to tell her. Still…she also knew that she would be even more upset if she wasn't told. So, after thinking about for a while, the young woman decided to tell Kagura what she learned later on in the day.

Before that time though, Vivi decided spend some quality time with her young cousin so that she could be happy before hearing the depressing news. She did all the things that she liked doing, such as playing Duel Monsters or watching her favorite TV shows. This would continue for at least 3 hours, since Vivi wanted to take some time preparing dinner for the two of them. Once she finished cooking, the two of them started eating as they continued to talk about various topics. Eventually, just as they were beginning to finish their meal, Vivi decided that now was the time to reveal the terrible news.

"…Kagura," She started off. "I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?" Kagura asked.

"…You see, while I was at work, I went to talk with my boss so that I could ask for time off in order to spend time with you during your birthday." She explained. "However, before I got the chance to ask him, he immediately informed me that I was assigned to an important job. I'm supposed to head over towards the Satellite Sector with a couple of other officers and try and stop a couple of thugs from starting a gang war. I'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning and won't be back sometime next week. I'm so sorry…I know you wanted to spend time together during your birthday, but I have no choice."

Vivi closed her eyes for a moment and waited for a response to come from her cousin. However, after about 3 minutes of waiting, Vivi didn't hear anything. She soon looked back up and saw that Kagura was looking at her, with her usual happy expression. She then started laughing very happily as well.

"Hahaha...that was a nice joke Vivi," She said as she continued to laugh. "But she shouldn't lie like that. I mean, you promised me that we spend time together this week and you never broke a promise to me before."

Kagura continued laughing for a while, finding it amusing that Vivi would tell her such a thing. However, after a while, Kagura saw that her cousin wasn't joining her and that she had a serious expression on her face. Seeing that frightened her a little bit as it could possibly mean that Vivi was telling her the truth. So, in order to shake off her fear and disbelief, Kagura began laughing even harder. Unable to see her like this, Vivi walked over to Kagura and gently placed both of her hands on her shoulders.

"Kagura…I'm not lying to you," She said. "I'm telling you the truth."

Once Kagura saw Vivi staring straight at her, the young girl finally realized that her cousin was telling her the truth and that she did have to leave for the Satellite Sector. Upon realizing that, anger and sadness began to build out inside of her and she began lash out towards Vivi, knocking her hands from her shoulders in the process.

"Why?!" She asked. "You promised that we would spend my birthday together! You promised me Vivi! You skipped my birthday last year because of work and you promised that it wouldn't happen again. So why…are you breaking a promise to me now, when you never broke promises to me before?!"

As tears began to run down Kagura's face, Vivi felt very bad for telling her such horrible news, but she also knew that she had too. If something happens while she was at the Satellite, then at least Kagura would know that it was because of work and not because of something else. Even so, it didn't change the fact that she did break a promise to her, especially since she swore that she wouldn't do so.

Vivi was about to place her hands on Kagura again, but the young girl quickly slapped her hands away. She then glared at her for a few moments before running away towards her room and slamming the door. Vivi wanted to go after her, but she decided to stay where she was. If she went after her now then things would only become even more complicated between. At least if she gave her time to herself, then maybe Kagura would calm down a little and understand why she's doing what she's doing.

The two cousins, who were as close as sisters, stayed away from each from each other for the rest of the day. Early the next morning, while Kagura was still sleeping in her bed, Vivi walked into her room, holding two items. The first item was the sword that carried with her yesterday and the second was a white ribbon that was contained in a clear plastic box. Also, on top of the box, was a note address to Kagura from Vivi herself.

Once she placed the items on her desk, Vivi walked over to Kagura and saw that her eyes wrinkled, indicating that she's been carrying throughout most of the night. This made her cry a little, but she quickly wiped her tears before they fell from her face. Once she did that, the young woman then went on to gently kiss Kagura's cheek before exiting her room and eventually leaving their home. A few hours later, Kagura woke up from her slumber and quickly saw the items on her desk. After walking over and examining them she went on to read the letter that Vivi left for her. The letter read as follows.

_Dear Kagura_

_I'm sorry for breaking my promise and going out to work during your birthday, but I had no other choice. I know it may seem like I'm making excuses, but trust me when I say that I'm doing this for you. Still, it probably won't change the fact that you're still angry with me. So…I'm giving you these items as my way of saying sorry. The first is a beautiful ribbon that I bought at a pretty expensive store and the second is my sword Shusui, which was given to me by your father. Also, as a bonus, there's a card inside the box that also belong to your dad. He gave it to me before he died and told me to give it to you when you turn 12. I hope you like them and, once again, I'm very sorry for breaking my promise. I'll make it up to you when I get back. Until then, Happy Birthday Kagura. _

_Sincerely Vivi_

After she finished reading the letter, Kagura looked at the sword and the ribbon that Vivi gave her before looking in the box of former and pulling out a card from inside. She then went on to examine it for a few moments before closing her eyes and thinking. After she did that, Kagura placed the card back into the box before carrying it and the sword outside. Once she was outside, Kagura looked at the items one more time before placing them into a nearby trash can.

"I don't want your apologizes Vivi," She thought to herself as she prepared to go back inside. "…I hate you!"

With that, Kagura went back inside her home and prepared to continue working on her deck for the upcoming tournament.

_Present Day_

Back in the present, Kagura was still looking at the items that were given to her and proceeded to clinch them both. She then closed her eyes and imagined Vivi smiling at her, which almost caused her to shed some tears. Luckily, when the announcer called for her to come out for her Duel, the young woman was able to snap out her depressing state of mind. She then walked over to her black and white Duel Runner and mounted it before taking the white ribbon and tying on her head. Once she did that, Kagura then took her sword, Shusui, and placed it upon her back before putting her helmet on and riding out of the garage on her Runner.

When she finally made it outside, Kagura was greeted by a mixed reaction by the crowd. About half of the people there were excited to see her while the other half was upset that she made them wait for the next Duel. In the end however, Kagura didn't really give two cents about how the crowd felt about her. She just did what she usually does and tuned them out.

As she made her way over to the starting line, Toru was quickly become even more excited that Kagura was about to Duel and tried to get even closer to the action by crossing over the guardrail. However, before he could do that, Takashi stopped him and was able to drag her friend back to where they originally were. Akiza looked at the two of them for a moment before turning her head and looking towards Kagura. As she watched her, the Psychic Duelist noticed something about her facial expression, something that she found familiar. Unsure about what it was, Akiza decided to ask her friends about it and proceeded to turn her attention back towards them.

"Hey guys," She said. "Does Kagura seem different to you? She looks sort of…different."

Takashi and Toru were confused by Akiza's question and both of them decided to take a look at Kagura in order to find out what was different about her. After taking a few moments to examine her face, both boys turned their heads back towards Akiza and gave her their answer on the matter.

"Now that you mention it," Takashi said. "She does seem kind of off…"

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," Toru replied. "For as long as I known her, Kagura has always had a permanent scowl on her face. You guys are probably just imagining things."

Takashi and Akiza turned their attention back towards Kagura and saw her park her Duel Runner by the starting line. The two of them then took another look at her face and they still saw something off about her. However, they couldn't tell what exactly that something was. Was something bothering her or was it something else entirely. In the end, both Singers decided to pay close attention to this upcoming Turbo Duel, hoping that the way Kagura plays would give them an indication at what was going on.

Eventually, once the referee was able to confirm that both Duelists were ready to begin the match, he gave a signal for both Duelists to activate the Speed World 2 Field Spell. When they did, a purple aura appeared from both of their Duel Runners and proceeded to cover the entire stadium in its veil. Once that was Duel, the referee then started waving a checkered flag that he had in his hand, which signaled to both Kagura and Yusuke that they could begin the race. Both Turbo Duelists sped from the starting line at lighting fast speed, trying their best to outmaneuver the other so that they could reach the first corner. In the end, after thinking about how pointless this struggle is, Kagura deliberately slowed down her Runner, allowing Yusuke to not only reach the corner first, but also allow him to make the opening move as well. Some of the Duelists who were watching the match were confused why she did that, but the Duel between her and Yusuke was already getting underway, so they didn't have the chance to ask.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Kagura: 4000 LP**

**Yusuke: 4000 LP**

"It's my turn," Yusuke declared as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

**Kagura: SPC – 1 **

**Yusuke: SPC – 1 **

Upon drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Yusuke took the time to examine all the cards that he hand before making another move. Having heard of Kagura's reputation, the young man wanted to make sure that he didn't overlook any strategy that he could formulate. Eventually, after taking about a minute to think everything through, Yusuke figured out what he wanted to do for his opening move and proceeded to take a card from his hand and place it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"To start off, I Summon: Blade Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Blade Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light surrounded Yusuke's side of the field as the young man continued to drive around the race track. From that light, Blade Knight appeared and started flying right next to its master. Once it was out, and the light faded away, Yusuke continued on with his turn by grabbing two more cards from his hand. He then went on to take those cards and insert them into his Spell/Trap Zone. When that happened, the cards materialized right beside him in a face-down position for a few moments before disappearing.

"Next, I set two cards face-down," Yusuke continued. "With that, I end my turn."

"…It's my turn," Kagura spoke in a low and serious tone. "Draw!"

**Kagura: SPC – 2**

**Yusuke: SPC – 2**

After drawing a card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Kagura didn't waste any time in making her first move of the Turbo Duel. She started off by taking one of the cards that were in her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton!" She declared. "Since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can use this card's effect to draw 2 cards from my deck and then discard 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard."

Following through with the effect of her Speed Spell, Kagura proceeded to draw 2 more cards from her deck and add them to her hand. Once she did that, the young woman then went on to take one of those cards and insert it into the Graveyard section of her Duel Disk. As soon as that was settled, Kagura continued on with her turn by taking another card from her hand and went on to place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Card Trooper!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 400 DEF 400 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light shined across Kagura's side of the field as her Card Trooper appeared and started riding right beside her. Once it was out, Kagura then went on to draw 3 cards from her deck and inserting them all into her Graveyard.

"I activate Card Trooper's Special Ability!" She said. "By discarding up to 3 cards from my deck to the Graveyard, Card Trooper's Attack Points are increased by 500 for each discarded card. I just sent 3 cards from my deck to the Graveyard, so Card Trooper's Attack Points are increased by 1500!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 1900**

A bright yellow aura surrounded Card Trooper's body as its attack power was beginning to increase due to its Special Ability. Once the aura faded away, Kagura took her right index finger and extended it out towards Yusuke's Blade Knight!"

"Go Card Trooper," She called. "Attack his Blade Knight now!"

Card Trooper complied with Kagura's request and went on to point both of its hand blasters towards Blade Knight. Once it took aim, the Machine-Type monster fired two super-concentrated energy blast at Yusuke's monster, incinerating it in the process.

**Yusuke: 3700 LP**

Even though his knight was destroyed right before his eyes, Yusuke managed to keep his cool and showed no sign of fear or frustration. He then went on to activate one of the face-down cards that he set last turn, all the while still continuing to maintain a decent lead in front of his opponent.

"That was a nice attack," He complimented. "But unfortunately I'm going to activate the Trap Card: Miracle's Wake! With this Trap, I can Special Summon one monster from my Graveyard that was just destroyed through battle. Return to the field, Blade Knight!"

Another bright flash of light appeared on Yusuke's side of the field as the young man watched as his Blade Knight returned to him. However, despite the fact that she failed to permanently destroyed Yusuke's knight, Kagura wasn't upset about it. The young woman simply maintained her cold and silent expression as she continued on with her turn by taking one card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, the card appeared face-down on her side of the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," She said. "At that moment, Card Trooper's Attack Points return to normal since its Special Ability only lasts until the End Phase."

**Card Trooper: ATK 400**

As Kagura's turn came to an end and Yusuke was about to begin his next one, Takashi and the others were paying close attention to what was going on. While they watched the Duelists go at it, they remembered something familiar about Kagura's dueling style.

"Hey," Akiza said. "I remember now. Kagura used the same tactic when she faced Toru all those months ago."

"Yeah," Takashi followed. "I remember it too. I believe her strategy involves sending cards from either her hand or deck to the Graveyard since their abilities can only be activated once their over there."

"That's right," Toru continued. "Kagura is a user of the Twilight archetype, which usually involves Graveyard manipulation. In time, once she's able to send enough cards to the Graveyard, she'll be able to dominate her opponents with her most powerful monsters. This is especially true if she manages to bring _it_ out onto the field."

Takashi and Akiza both looked towards Toru, wondering what he meant when he said _it. _However, before they got the chance to ask him, both of them noticed that Yusuke was beginning to make his next move and proceeded to turn their attention back towards the Turbo Duel.

"It's my turn," Yusuke said as he placed his hand back on his deck. "Draw!"

**Kagura: SPC – 3**

**Yusuke: SPC – 3**

After drawing his next card, Yusuke turned his head back and examined Kagura's side of the field for a moment. When he did, the young man noticed her weakened Card Trooper and concluded that the only reason why she has it on the field is because the face-down card that she set last turn is meant to protect it. Realizing that, Yusuke decided that his best course of action is to simply build his defense by summoning a powerful monster onto his side of the field. So, without wasting any more time, Yusuke turned his head back and pulled his a card from his hand. Once he had it in hand, Yusuke then placed the card firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Key Mouse!" He declared.

**Key Mouse: ATK 100 DEF 100 LVL 1**

A small flash of light shined across Yusuke's side of the field for a few moments as a small mouse with a collar appeared before him. On the mouse's collar was a golden key as well as a lock that goes with it. The mouse also had another key with it, but instead of being attached to its collar it was instead placed on its tail.

"I now Tune my Level 4 Blade Knight with my Level 1 Key Mouse!"

As Yusuke placed the cards of both of his monsters into the Graveyard, both his Key Mouse and Blade Knight jumped into the air and got ready to perform the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. As they got ready, Yusuke went on to grab a card from his Extra Deck and went on to place it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Synchro Summon! Arrive in light, Armades, Keeper of Illusions!"

**Armades, Keeper of Illusions: ATK 2300 DEF 1500 LVL 5**

Once the ritual between Key Mouse and Blade Knight was completed, a giant flash of light completely covered Yusuke's side of the field for a few seconds. When it eventually faded away, the light revealed a powerful monster who was enveloped in a white aura. Its eyes were two different colors with one of them being fiery red and the other being icy blue. Also, along with the eyes, Armades' arms were also colored red and blue; showing that it has the power to control both fire and ice.

As soon as his Synchro Monster fully materialized onto his side of the field, Yusuke checked his hand in order to see what cards he should play next. Eventually, he came to conclusion that he didn't have to make any other moves as his Armades was already a force to reckon with. So, with that in mind, Yusuke revved up his Duel Runner and sped across the race track.

"I end my turn," He said.

"…Then it's my turn again," Kagura pointed out. "Draw!"

**Kagura: SPC – 4**

**Yusuke: SPC – 4**

"Armades, Keeper of Illusions," Takashi said to himself. "Now that's a rare sight to behold."

"What do you mean bro?" Toru questioned, turning his head towards Takashi.

"Armades is one of three monsters that belong to the Keeper Archetype," Takashi explained. "It's an extremely rare monster that prevents the opponent from activating card effects if it attacks or is attacked. Kagura is going to have to think this carefully if she wants to get past it."

As Takashi started to ponder what Kagura was going to do, the young woman proceeded to draw a card from her deck and place it into her hand. She then looked towards Yusuke's Keeper monster and instantly recognized what it was and what its powers are. To that end, Kagura realized that she needed to get a little bit creative if she wanted to overcome that monster and get through to her opponent's Life Points. So, after thinking about what to do, Kagura started her turn by taking a card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Shine Knight!" She declared.

**Shine Knight: ATK 400 DEF 1900 LVL 3**

When the card was placed onto her Duel Disk, another flash of light shined across Kagura's side of the field as she continued to make her way across the race track. When the light faded away, a knight that was completely covered in silver armor appeared and started flying to both Kagura and her Card Trooper. As it flew around, Shine Knight's armor started reflecting sunlight towards the crowd, causing them to cover their eyes. It was at that moment that everyone present figured out why Kagura's monster was called Shine Knight, as its armor was shining like the sun.

"Next, I once again activate the Special Ability of my Card Trooper! By discarding up to 3 cards from my deck to the Graveyard, Trooper's Attack Points are increased by 500 for every discarded card."

Kagura proceeded to take three more cards from the top of her deck and insert them into her Graveyard. When that happened, the aura the covered Card Trooper's body returned, causing its Attack Points rise to 1900 again.

**Card Trooper: ATK 1900**

"Now…I Overlay my Level 3 Card Trooper and Shine Knight!"

Upon hearing her declare that she was going to Overlay her Card Trooper and Shine Knight, almost everyone in the stadium had a confused expression on their faces. If that was her purpose, why go through the trouble of activating Card Trooper's Special Ability? All she really did was deplete her deck even more than before. Did she have some type of strategy or was it even deeper than that. In the end, most of the Non-Duelists didn't known and only some of the experienced Duelists had an idea on what her objective might be.

As they thought about that, Kagura proceeded to place Shine Knight's card on top of Card Trooper's and watched as both of her monsters transformed into two colorful orbs of light. The orbs then started flying all around her for a few moments as the portal to Overlay Network started to appear on the ground in front of her. Once it was out, both orbs began to make their way over towards the portal.

"With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network. Xyz Summon!"

Once both orbs dove into the Overlay Network, the portal started to release a large number of sparks until it eventually exploded. When that happened, Kagura went on to grab a card from Extra Deck and placed it on top of her Shine Knight and Card Trooper.

"Appear Now, Black Ray Lancer!"

**Black Ray Lancer: ATK 2100 DEF 600 Rank 3**

From the portal of the Overlay Network, a giant black and purple monster appeared proceeded to stand next to Kagura. The monster had a pair of metal wings, armor-like scales, and was holding a powerful red and blue lance in its right hand. Once Black Ray Lancer was out, Kagura continued on with her turn by activating the face-down card that she set one turn ago.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Black Ray Lancer! Once per turn, by removing one Overlay Unit, Black Ray Lancer can negate the Special Abilities of one monster on the field and the monster I'm choosing is your Armades, Keeper of Illusions!"

Yusuke's looked on in shocked as he watched Kagura's Black Ray Lancer detach one of the Overlay Units that was surrounding its body and absorbing it. Once that happened, the Xyz Monster then went on to fire a ray of black energy towards Armades which, once struck, proceeded to drain the Synchro Monster of its powerful Special Ability.

"Now, with that annoyance out of the way, I'm now going to activate the Equip Speed Spell: Black Ray Spear, from my hand!" Kagura said as she took a card from her hand and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone. "With that, as long as I have at least 3 Speed Counters, Black Ray Lancer can no longer be destroyed through battle!"

Black Ray Lancer raised its lance into the air and watched as a powerful black aura began to surround it. Eventually, the aura transformed the lance into a spear that had dark energy radiating from it. Some of the energy rubbed off on Black Ray Lancer, granting it a new power in the process.

"Black Ray Lancer, attack Yusuke's Armades…Black Bright Spear!"

Lancer nodded its head and went on to throw its new weapon towards Armades, Keeper of Illusions. However, since Yusuke's Synchro Monster was still more powerful than Kagura's Xyz Monster, Armades was able to repel the attack and send it right back to its source. When Black Ray Lancer was struck by its own attack, a small explosion occurred in front of Kagura. Although her monster wasn't destroyed, the young woman did lose a small portion of her Life Points as a result.

**Kagura: 3800 LP**

"What she do that for?" Akiza questioned. "All she did was damage herself so I don't get the point of her move."

"Sometimes you have to take a hit in order to give out an even bigger one," Takashi pointed.

Akiza turned her head towards Takashi and saw that the young man had a look of amazement on his face. It was clear to her that he was able to see the point of Kagura's move and was impressed on how well she pulled it off. Akiza soon turned her attention back towards the Duel and watch as Kagura started explaining the next phase of her plan.

"I activate the second effect of my Black Ray Spear!" She declared. "When the monster equipped with it attacks, but fails to destroy a monster through battle, Black Ray Spear doubles the Attack Points of my Black Ray Lancer and gives it the ability to attack again!"

**Black Ray Lancer: ATK 4200**

The aura that was surrounding Black Ray Lancer's weapon started to increase in power, which in turn also increased its wielder's attack power. Once it gained enough strength, Black Ray Lancer prepared itself to attack one more time.

"Attack again Black Ray Lancer!" Kagura yelled. "Black Bright Spear!"

Lancer complied and once again launched its weapon towards Armades. This time however, the Keeper Monster wasn't strong enough to overcome the assault and it ended up exploding once the spear penetrated its body. When that happened, a large explosion erupted across Yusuke's side of the field, which not only caused him to lose a good portion of his Life Points, but also slowed him down enough so that Kagura and move past him.

**Yusuke: 1800 LP**

"With that, I end my turn," Kagura said.

As soon as Kagura announced the end of her turn, almost everyone present in the stadium started cheering in unison. In a very unique way, Kagura was not only able to get rid of Yusuke's Armades, but was able to make a huge dent in his Life Points as well. Also, thank to her Equip Spell: Black Ray Spear, she also has a monster on the field that has over 4000 Attack Points. With all of those things going her way, almost everyone in the stadium believed that it would only be a matter of time until this Duel was over.

Meanwhile, as he straightened himself out from that last attack, Yusuke lifted his head towards his opponent and saw that Kagura was beginning to widen the gap between the two of them. The young man knew that she was a powerful Duelist and that she earned her spot here in the Fortune Cup, but he just had to see it in order to truly believe it. Now that he had, Yusuke knew that he could no longer hold anything back. If he wanted any chance of winning this Duel he is going to have to make his move now while had the chance and that was exactly what he planned on doing. So, with his determination to win rising to unimaginable levels, Yusuke proceeded to take his hand place it upon his deck.

"It's my turn," He said in a firm and determined tone of voice. "Draw!"

**Kagura: SPC – 5**

**Yusuke: SPC – 5**

After drawing the top card of his deck and taking a look at it, Yusuke saw that the card he just drew was exactly the one that he needed. With it, along with some of the other cards that he hand, he could formulate the strategy needed to not only take down Kagura's Black Ray Lancer, but also her decrease her Life Points so that their lower than his own. With that, Yusuke took a deep breath, revved up his Duel Runner, and proceeded to take the card he just drew and place it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"First, since you have a monster on the field and I don't, I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand. Take to the field, Cyber Dragon!"

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

Once he placed the card onto his Duel Disk, Yusuke watched as a Cyber Dragon arrive in giant flash of light. When it was fully materialized onto the field and started flying next to him, the young man then went on to take one card from his hand placing it into the Graveyard. He then went on to grab another card proceeded to place it on his Monster Card Zone as well.

"Next, by discarding one card from my hand and sending it to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card onto the field. Appear now, The Tricky!"

**The Tricky: ATK 2000 DEF 1200 LVL 5**

Another flash of light shined across Yusuke's side of the field as a new monster appeared before him and his Cyber Dragon. This one had the appearance of a clown that was completely covered it yellow and black striped clothing. It was also wearing a blue and black cape as well as armor plates that were on its knees and elbows. However, the most interesting thing about this monster is that it had to large red question mark symbols on its body. The first one was on its chest while the second one was on its face. The sight of that made people wonder whether or not the question mark that was on The Tricky's face was actually his face.

Once his monster was out on the field, Yusuke went to place Tricky's card right on top of Cyber Dragon's. When that happened, both monsters transformed into glowing orbs and began flying all over their master's side of the field. As they did that, the portal to the Overlay Network began to open right in front of Yusuke.

"I Overlay my Level 5 Tricky and Cyber Dragon!" He declared. "With these 2 monsters, I build the Overlay Network…Xyz Summon!"

As the two orbs proceeded to dive into the portal, the Overlay Network started erupting several sparks. When that happened, Yusuke went on to grab another card from his Extra Deck and proceeded to stack it on top of the first two cards that he played. This caused a monster to start appearing from the depths of the Overlay Network.

"Take the field Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon!"

**Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon: ATK 2600 DEF 1700 Rank 5**

As Yusuke's Xyz monster was beginning to appear from the Overlay Network, the colorful sparks that it was erupting quickly changed into pure black sparks. Once that happened, a black demon-like creature appeared and started flying next to Yusuke. Almost everyone present had no idea on what that monster was, but Takashi knew as soon as he saw it.

"Adreus," He said softly. "The Keeper of Armageddon…"

"I activate Adreus' Special Ability!" Yusuke declared, continuing on with his turn. "Once per turn, by removing one of its Overlay Units, Adreus can destroy one face-up card that my opponent controls and the he's choosing is your Black Ray Lancer!"

Kagura looked on in a small state of shock as she watched Adreus wave its hand around and create a small black hole. The force of the black hole sucked in her Black Ray Lancer which not only transported the monster to a unknown dimension, but also left Kagura wide open for a direct attack on her Life Points."

"Go Adreus," Yusuke called. "Attack Kagura's Life Points directly…Nightmare Surge!"

Adreus complied with its master's demand and prepared itself to launch a blast of pure negative energy towards Kagura. However, just when the Xyz monster launched its attack, Kagura reacted by taking a card from her Graveyard and removing it from the Duel. When she did that the spirit of a mighty warrior, who was carrying a large shield, appeared before her and block Adreus' attack.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Necro Gardna!" She declared. "By removing it from the Duel, I can negate your Adreus's attack!"

As Necro Gardna continued to protect Kagura from Adreus' attack, Yusuke looked on at the both of them and silently complimented on the latter's defensive strategy. It was clear that the reason why Kagura was discarding card to the Graveyard was so that she could activate their effects in a place where he can't reach them. However, while he was impressed by the move, Yusuke was prepared for it and immediately activated his second face-down card as a result.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted!" He said. "With it, I revive my Armades, Keeper of Illusions from the Graveyard!"

Upon activating his face-down down, a bright flash of light erupted in front of Yusuke as his Armades promptly returned to the field. The young man then pointed his finger towards Kagura and watched as his Synchro Monster immediately charged towards her.

"Armades, attack her Life Points directly…Ray of Misconception!"

Armades nodded its head and proceeded to bring both of its hands together. This caused the energy that was radiating both of his hands to build up and combine together into one powerful form of energy. Once it finished charging its attack, Armades then went on to fire it towards Kagura and since its Special Ability prevents the opponent from activating card effects when it attacks, Kagura had no way of stopping it.

**Kagura: 1500 LP**

A small explosion erupted in front of Kagura when Yusuke's Armades successfully launched its attack on her. The force the blow caused the young woman to lose her balance for few moments, allowing Yusuke to regain to lead and move ahead of her. Fortunately for Kagura though, she was able to quickly regain herself and began chasing after her opponent. As she did that that, Yusuke turned his head for a moment and saw that Kagura was catching up with her. Because of that, he decided to take a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When that happened, the card materialized face-down to side of him before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

As she prepared to begin her next turn, Kagura closed her eyes for a quick moment and started to once again reflect upon her past. When she did that, Kagura remembered something very personal to her, something that not only motivated her into becoming a better Duelist, but also caused her to become the Duelist that she is today. After she finished thinking about the past, Kagura opened her eyes and glared at her opponent. She then gently placed her hand upon her deck and prepared herself to draw her next card.

"…It's my turn," She said in a determined tone of voice. "Draw!"

**Kagura: SPC – 6**

**Yusuke: SPC – 6**

Drawing another card from her deck, Kagura took a quick glance at it and saw it was exactly the one that she needed. Then, at that precise moment, she heard the cry of a powerful dragon roar from inside her mind. The roar of the dragon alerted her on what she needed to do and quickly began her play by taking the card she just drew and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Monster Reborn!" She declared. "By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can revive one monster from either of our Graveyards. The monster I'm choosing is Chaos Hunter, a monster I discarded when I used my Card Trooper's Special Ability for the first time!"

**Kagura: SPC - 2 **

**Chaos Hunter: ATK 2500 DEF 1600 LVL 7**

A dark ray of light shot from out of Kagura's Duel Runner as the young proceeded to take a card from her Graveyard and place it upon her Monster Card Zone. When she did that a female warrior appeared onto her side of the field. She was wearing black armor all over her body and was also carrying a large sword-like whip. Once it was fully materialized onto her side of the field, Kagura then took one more card from her hand and place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Hanewata!"

**Hanewata: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

When Kagura placed the card onto her Duel Disk, a small flash of light appeared and shined across her side of the field for a short moment. From that light, Hanewata appeared and started standing next to Chaos Hunter. However, both monsters wouldn't be on the field for long as Kagura went on to take both of their cards and place them into her Graveyard. Once she did that, both Chaos Hunter and Hanewata jumped high into the air.

"I Tune my Level 7 Chaos Hunter with my Level 1 Hanewata!"

The two monsters nodded their head and began the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Kagura pulled out another card from her Extra Deck and placed it upon her Monster Card Zone. This action caused the cry of a powerful dragon to sound all over the stadium, shocking all the people present. However, out of all of those people, the one who was the most surprised was Takashi as he started to sense the approach of an extremely powerful creature.

"This Reiatsu," He thought. "It…it feels like…"

As he continued to ponder the power that he was feeling, Takashi noticed that a giant flash of light erupted from Kagura's Duel Runner. From that light, a giant started to appear as Kagura began speaking its summoning chant.

"Light from the heavens and Darkness from the shadows, merge together and become the power that upholds Justice! Synchro Summon! Show the Road to Dawn, Twilight Dragon!"

**Twilight Dragon: ATK 2700 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Once the Synchro ritual was finally completed, Kagura's Twilight Dragon fully emerged from the light it came from and started flying just above its master. Everyone watching the Duel was impressed by the sight of the creature as it was a dragon whose body was colored half white and black. Also, Twilight Dragon's eyes were also different colors with left one being white and the right being black as well. It was a very unique monster that no has ever seen before and caused a lot people to believe that Kagura has been saving this card just for this Tournament.

However, even though she managed to Synchro Summon her most powerful monster, Kagura wasn't finished yet. Just bringing out her Twilight Dragon was first part of her winning strategy. The second part of the strategy began right now as the young woman proceeded to activate the face-down card that she set at the beginning of the Duel.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Twilight Storm!" She said. "When Twilight Dragon is successfully Synchro Summon onto the field, the Attack Points of all of my opponent's monsters are reduced to 0 until the End Phase of this turn!"

Yusuke's eyes widen once Kagura finished explaining the effect of her Trap Card. He then looked on as a powerful Dragon-Type Synchro Monster started roaring at the top of its lungs, creating a gust of wind that began sucking the strength from both his monsters. Realizing that it would only be a matter of time until Twilight Dragon weakened Armades and Adreus completely, Yusuke snapped out his surprised state of mind and immediately activated his own face-down in response.

"That's not going to work!" He responded. "I activate the Counter Trap: Shrouds of the Keeper! With it, since a Keeper Monster on my side of the field is targeted by an effect, this card negates the activation of your Trap Card and destroys it!"

"I don't think so," Kagura replied. "I activate the Special Ability of my Twilight Dragon! Once, during either players turn, Twilight Dragon can negate the effect of one my opponent's Spell or Trap Cards and destroy it! All I have to do is discard one Dark Attribute monster from Graveyard and remove from play!"

As both Armades and Adreus combined their power and launched a blast towards Twilight Dragon, Kagura proceeded to take Black Ray Lancer's card and remove it from the Duel. Once she did that, Twilight Dragon fired a ray of black energy from its mouth. The blast collided with that of Keeper monsters attack, canceling them both out in process. Once that was taken care of, the powerful gust of wind that Twilight Dragon stirred up made its way towards both of Yusuke's monsters, draining all of their Attack Points as a result.

**Armades, Keeper of Illusions: ATK 0**

**Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon: ATK 0**

After draining the Attack Points of both of its targets, Twilight Dragon ceased the windstorm that it created and prepared itself for its next attack. Realizing that the end was fast approaching, Yusuke attempted to find some way of getting out of this situation. However, before he could formulate such a strategy, Kagura quickly launched her attack.

"Twilight Dragon," She called. "Attack Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon…Twilight Surge!"

The dragon complied with Kagura's order and started gathering both positive and negative energy from within its body. Once it gathered enough power, Twilight Dragon released all the energy that it stored in the form of a black and white blast. The attack went on strike Adreus, incinerating the Keeper monster and causing a large explosion to erupt around Yusuke's side of the field.

**Yusuke: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>This Duel is over!" <em>The announcer said over the loudspeaker. _"The winner of the match is Kagura Toyoshima!"_

As everyone in the stadium started cheering her for her victory, Kagura promptly parked her Duel Runner once she passed the finish line. She then took her helmet off for a moment and turned her attention towards Yusuke, who was lying on the ground due to the fact that the force from Twilight Dragon's attack created a shockwave that knocked him off his Duel Runner. While she was looking at him, Toru started clapping his hands as fast as he could, excited in the fact that his friend and rival was moving on to the Finals.

"Alright, that's what I'm talking about!" He said in an excited tone. "I knew she win this Duel, I just knew it! No offense you guys, but Kagura is the Duelist to beat in this tournament!"

Akiza thought about Toru's claim and the Psychic Duelist believed that he might be right about it. It was clear to her that Kagura was an amazing Duelist and the way that she won her Duel against Yusuke only supported that fact. Also, the way she kept calm under all that pressure impressed Akiza even more as it looked like Kagura tuned out the entire crowd and simply focused on what was going on in her Duel. Because of those reason, Akiza knew that if she faced Kagura in the Finals she would have to find a way around her complex and amazing strategies if she wanted any chance of winning the Fortune Cup and becoming the next Duel Queen of Japan.

However, as he thought about what just happened, Takashi wasn't simply focusing on Kagura's Dueling skills. He was also thinking about the power that he was not only feeling off her Twilight Dragon, but from herself as well. Ever since he met her all those months ago, Takashi knew that Kagura was an incredible Duelist with amazing talent. But, even though his senses weren't as strong as they were now, the young man also felt at strong power coming from the Twilight Duelist. Now, having gone through the training and has now gained the ability to sense the Reiatsu of those around him, Takashi was finally able to accept this one fact. Even after his training with Alex, Takashi is only at even ground with her.

"Toru may be right," He thought quietly to himself. "Kagura is an amazing Duelist and if I happen to face her there's no guarantee that I would win. I knew that she was strong and the fact that sense that Reiatsu from both her and her dragon only proved that. But still…there's something familiar about her, something I can't put my finger on. Just what is it…?"

As he continued to ponder the familiar vibe that he felt coming from her, Takashi noticed that Kagura was beginning to leave the stadium as she placed her helmet back on her head. But, before she restart her Duel Runner and ride away, Kagura noticed that Yusuke was beginning to make her way towards her. Once he was there, the young man took a moment to catch his breath before looking up towards her and extending his hand.

"Thanks for the awesome Duel," He said. "It sucks that I lost, but I gave it all I've got so I have no regrets. Anyway…I want to wish you luck as you make your way through the Finals. It's clear that only the best of the best is going to make it there."

"…It doesn't matter who I happen to face in the Finals," Kagura coldly responded. "Nothing will get in the way of me and my revenge. Nothing!"

Yusuke was confused by Kagura's sudden statement, but Twilight Duelist didn't bother to explain herself and simply drove out of the stadium. As she did, started thinking about her past again. She saw her younger self standing over a grave while holding the items that Vivi gave her just before she left. Kagura also remembered that she was crying over the grave while holding the items that her cousin gave her.

"I will avenge you Vivi," She said as she drove through the city. "I swore on your grave that I would avenge your death and that's exactly what I'm going to do. No matter what it takes, no matter who I have to sacrifice, I…will…avenge you!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_The next Duel of the Fortune Cup quickly gets underway as Misaki finds herself going up against Aiku. Despite the fact that she's still new to Turbo Dueling and that Aiku is her friend, Misaki is determined to win her Duel and make to the Finals. But, can her ingenuity and intelligence overcome Aiku's experience and the power of his Bursting Soul Dragon?_

_Next Time, on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 67 – Power Tool vs. Bursting Soul_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to apologize for taking so long to upload this chapter. I wanted to take a few weeks off after my summer break started in order to recharge myself. Now that I'm back home, I'm ready to bring you chapters at a much faster pace._

_Next, I want to point out something that happened in Kagura's and Yusuke's Turbo Duel. During the match, Kagura Xyz Summoned, Black Ray Lancer by using two Level 3 monsters. In the anime this is how you summon Black Ray Lancer, but in the original card game, you need two Level 3 Water monsters. I wanted to point this out so that the rest if you don't get confused and summon this monster the way I did._

_Lastly, I want to thank all of you for putting up with me for all this time. I really appreciate it and I hope that all of you will continue to support me and all of my works in the future. _

_Well guys, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	67. Chapter 67

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 67: **_Power Tool vs. Bursting Soul_

* * *

><p>"<em>Attention Duelists, the first half of the second Qualifying Round has been completed. The four Duelists who will be moving on to the Final Tournament are; Takashi Nakamura, Akiza Izinski, Enoch Wylie, and Kagura Toyoshima. The second half will begin after a 30 minute intermission. So remaining Duelists, please prepare yourselves until then."<em>

With the announcer declaring that the first half of Dueling has now been completed, everyone watching the Second Round match-ups realized two things. The first thing is that the four qualifying Duelists who made to the Finals were indeed worthy of doing so. Takashi, Akiza, Enoch, just recently Kagura have all shown that they're the best Duelists that Japan had to offer. They displayed their strength by bringing out rare and powerful monsters while at the same time showing their intelligence by using those monsters in a unique and strategic way. By just watching them compete, the spectators knew right away that these four Duelists were more than prepared for the battles that they're going to face in the Finals. Also, they all knew that it wouldn't be too much of a surprise that any one of them could make past the others in the Final Tournament and go on to face Alistair Miles for coveted title of Japan's Duel King.

The second thing that crowd realized is that the intensity for the second half of Dueling would be raised up to 11. It is said that when the pressure is placed on someone, two things are bound to happen. They either buckle down and push forward with greater strength or get run over and tossed by the wayside. For Lilly, Crow, and the other remaining Duelists, the pressure was now placed on them. They have to prove to not only the crowd, but to themselves that they deserve one of the 4 remaining spots that remain for the Fortune Cup Finals. For becoming the Duel King is not just something that anybody can have, it has to be fought for and earned.

Now, having just heard about the intermission between the first and second half of Dueling, Takashi and his friends have all decided to go meet up with one another and discuss the events that have lead up to now. Also, they could enjoy the snacks that they purchased a few minutes ago, just before Enoch's Duel against Sho. Once they were all together, everyone started enjoying all of their refreshments while, at the same time, talking to one another as well.

"That last Duel was absolutely amazing," Madas commented while he was eating his food. "Kagura was spectacular and that Twilight Dragon of hers was one of the most amazing things that I've ever seen."

"Yeah," Tem agreed. "It seems that whenever we Kagura compete she always brings something new to the table. Although, something seemed different about her during that Duel. It was as if there was something brooding inside of her, something dark."

"You're just seeing things Tem," Toru explained. "I've known Kagura longer than you and I can say with absolute certainty that there's nothing dark about her. I mean, Kagura's always been moody and preferred to by herself, but that's nothing new. She's probably so focused on the tournament that she's tuning out everything that's not important to her and focusing on things that really matter. I'm sure that by the time this is over, Kagura will go back to being the person that we usually know."

Tem thought about what Toru just explained to him and wondered whether or not he's right. While it was true that Kagura was more emotionless than people like Misaki, you would never get a bad vibe from being around her. In fact, you would actually feel safe because of the strength and confidence that she would constantly give off. However, that didn't seem to be the case during Kagura's Duel against Yusuke. Tem, even though he was entirely sure about what he saw, noticed something dark about Kagura. Although the strength and confidence that she always displayed was still there, it was as if something new was included into that mix as well. Tem didn't know what that something was, but a part of him seemed afraid of it. Because of that fear, the young man silently hoped that the thing that he noticed was only a figment of his imagination and not only more sinister.

However, there was one person who seemed to agree with Tem's view about Kagura, albeit the reason for it was not entirely the same. That person was Takashi, who was busy silently thinking to himself while he was eating his food. He also believed that there was something different about Kagura and that she seemed more distant that usual. When comparing her to both Akiza and Misaki, the both of whom still have their problems interacting with others, Kagura seemed like the type of person who could make friends, but chose to stay to herself. However, Takashi didn't really believe that to be the problem as some people are just cold to others despite their good intentions. The problem here was that something seemed off about her, like something or someone was causing her to act this way.

During her Duel against Yusuke, Takashi noticed that Kagura was giving off an extremely powerful Reiatsu. This was especially prominent when she Synchro Summoned her Twilight Dragon who seemed to have its own Reiatsu as well. While he was training for the Fortune Cup, Takashi learned from Alex that sensing Reiatsu isn't just a way of determining how powerful someone is. It's also used to determine whether or not to steer clear of that person. When the Reiatsu that someone emits has a warm feeling to it then you can generally trust that person can get along with them. However, when the Reiatsu that they give off is cold and dark then it's usually a sign that the person is dangerous and that you should stay away from them. Takashi sensed that cold feeling from Kagura and started to wonder whether or not she should be an enemy. In the end, though he decided to keep a closer eye on her, Takashi decided to believe in the friendship that he has with Kagura and hoped that cold Reiatsu that he's feeling from her will pass in time.

Speaking of Reiatsu, Takashi's mind has also been pondering the power that he's been sensing since the Second Round began. During the first 4 Duels each Duelist, whether they knew it or not, were giving off Reiatsu. This is especially true for both Kagura Toyoshima and Jay Slade. Both Duelists had two things in common with one another; they both emitted a powerful Reiatsu and both had a powerful Dragon-Type Synchro Monster that gave off its own Reiatsu. Now Takashi can be considered a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. He can tell when certain similarities pop up and he certainly noticed the similarities between Kagura and Jay. Because of that, Takashi remembered the similarities that he felt from both Alex McQueen and Aiku Gato and soon started to wonder about something.

"Alex told me that the Dragunity Knights are individuals who were chosen by the dragons who used to serve under the Crimson Dragon," He thought. "Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon, Jay's Fairy Oath Dragon, Kagura's Twilight Dragon, and Alex's Dragon, all of them are very similar to one another, like my Stardust Dragon. Could it be, I mean Alex did say that he knew who they were so…could it actually be them?"

As he continued to think about this, Takashi neglected to notice that the others were trying to get his attention. Some of them tried shaking him while others tried yelling at him. However, despite those attempts, their efforts were in vain as Takashi continued to sit silently. To that end, Lilly became really annoyed and proceeded to stand up and make her way behind him. Once she was there, she was about to take her hand and slap Takashi upside the head. However, upon feeling the wind shift behind him, Takashi instinctively ducked in order to avoid the blow. This move, though it allowed him to avoid being hit by his friend, also caused Takashi to hit the front of his head upon side of the table, causing him to hold his head in pain.

"…Ow," He moaned. "…That hurt. What the hell was I doing?"

"Apparently spacing out, you idiot!" Lilly answered while she helped from off the floor. "Did you even hear anything that we just talked about?"

As he continued to hold his head, Takashi noticed that everyone was looking at him. Some of them had looks of concern on their faces while others seemed slightly annoyed that he was ignoring them. Seeing their faces caused Takashi to feel bad as it was never his intention to ignore his friends. To that end, he started smiling as he gave off a light chuckle.

"Sorry about that," He said. "I was just thinking about something and I usually tend to space out when something's on my mind."

Takashi continued smiling in front of his friends, hoping that they would accept his explanation despite its half truth. Although it was true that he does space out when he's thinking, Takashi only does so when the subject is very important. When it comes to things like casual talks with his friends, he's usually able to pay attention to what other people are saying even when he's involved in another conversation of his own. Because of that, Takashi hoped that his friends would accept his answer as he didn't want them to know what he's was thinking about, at least not right now.

Eventually, Takashi's ploy seemed to work as most of his friends seemed to buy his response. Although some of them did know that there was more going then they're led to believe, they respect Takashi enough that they know he'll explain everything when the time is right. To that end, everybody was about to go back to the conversation that they were having. However, before that could happen, one person decided to speak out.

"…What were you thinking about?"

Everyone looked up and turned to the person who just asked that question. They saw that it was Aiku and he was busy looking at Takashi with a somewhat serious expression on his face. Seeing that facial expression made Takashi slightly nervous as he didn't want Aiku to know what he was thinking. So, in order to save face, the young man continued smiling to himself as he gently rubbed the back of his head.

"Nothing really," He replied. "You probably wouldn't be interested in it anyway. So umm….did you guys buy that new Tachyon Galaxy booster pack? I heard it has some pretty rare cards."

"What makes you think that I wouldn't be interested?" Aiku asked. "You will never really know unless you come out with it."

"Listen Aiku, I don't really want to talk about it," Takashi said as he slowly started to get irritated with his friend. "So please drop it and let's talk about something else."

"No," Aiku spoke as he began to get irritated with Takashi. "I want to know what's on your mind. So stop being such a b***h and tell us!"

Upon being called a b***h, Takashi immediately slammed his hands upon the table, causing the food and drinks that everyone had at the table to start wobbling around. However, this didn't frightened Aiku who returned Takashi's response by slamming the table with even greater force. The two of them then started glaring at one another, with Takashi angry at the fact that Aiku was trying to get into his business and Aiku angry at the fact that Takashi seemed like he was hiding something. Eventually, the two of them were about to come to blows with one another, but didn't happen as someone spoke up before they had the chance.

"Takashi's just thinking about a girl that he likes,"

Everyone's eyes widen upon hearing the words that were just spoken. A comment like that would usually be spoken by someone boastful like Toru or Crow. However, neither of them said a word since the argument began so it wasn't them. The comment, much to everyone's shock, came from the one person that they least expected. It came from Akiza.

"Earlier this morning Takashi told me about this girl that he liked," She continued. "He said that she's very smart, kind, and beautiful, but he also said that he still lacked the power to confess to her how he really feels. I bet that's what you were thinking about, right Takashi? You were trying to figure out what you going to say to say to this girl.

As everyone else looked on in confusion, Takashi and Akiza simply kept quiet as they stared at one another. Both of them have accepted the fact that they have fallen for one another, but they still don't have the strength to openly confess their feelings. Because of that, the two of them feel extremely embarrassed that such a revelation had to be revealed in order to not only prevent a fight, but to hide the truth as well. Eventually, after staring at each other for about a minute, both Takashi and Akiza sat back down at the table and kept to themselves.

Upon seeing that, Lilly and Crow both knew how their friends were feeling and they didn't want to make them any more embarrassed than they already were. To that end, the two of them looked at one another for moment before nodding their heads in agreement. They then turned their attention back towards their friends.

"Enough of this crap!" Crow yelled as he held his deck up into the air. "Instead of focusing on secrets and emotional things, we should be focusing on the upcoming Duels! It's only a matter of time before I happen to face one of you and when that happens I don't intend to hold anything back!"

Crow's declaration took a while to really kick in as everyone else was still both enticed and confused by what Akiza just revealed. Eventually though, both Madas and Tem became inspired by their friend's words and soon joined him in lifting their decks high into the sky. This eventually led to Lilly, Toru, Misaki, and reluctantly Aiku joining them and they proceeded to place their decks against one another before sitting back down and continuing the conversations that they were having before.

As they talked, Takashi was still thinking about what just transpired and wondered how embarrassed Akiza must be feelings. He soon slowly turned his head towards her and saw that she was busy looking down towards the necklace that he gave her. Seeing that made Takashi feel awful and it caused him to hold his own necklace as a result. The young man wanted to ask her how she was feeling, but he was afraid that she wouldn't respond to him. To that end, Takashi got an idea and immediately pulled out his cell phone. Once he did that, he then started texting someone a message and quickly sent it once he was finished. After a few seconds, Akiza's cell phone started to ring, causing to her to pull it out. When she did, the young woman saw that it was from Takashi and slowly opened her phone in order to see what it was. The message read as followed.

_Thank you for the save. I know doing that must've made you extremely uncomfortable and it shouldn't have come to that, but even so, thank you. I promise I'll pay you back Akiza. Name anything that you want and I'll do everything within my power to give it to you._

After reading the message, Akiza turned his attention toward Takashi for moment and saw that he was looking at her. She also noticed that his face was a little bit red, indicating that he was also embarrassed by what just happened. Upon seeing that, Akiza felt a little bit better as it showed that Takashi was feeling the same thing that she was. To that end, she went on to send a reply to his text message before going on to close her phone and placing it back into her pocket. When eventually got the message, Takashi took a deep breath before looking at it.

_You don't have to thank me for helping you and you don't have to owe me anything either. However, if you truly want to pay me back then I need 2 things from you. The first is that I want you to explain to me, in full detail, just what's going on later on tonight. The second one I'll explain to you after we finish having our conversation._

Once he finished reading the message, Takashi closed his phone and put it away before turning his attention towards Akiza. When he did, he saw her looking at him and he immediately nodded his head in response, showing that he understands what she wants and promises to explain everything to her as best he can. This caused Akiza to smile a little and she gently placed her hand upon Takashi's lap, who in return, placed his hand on top of hers. The two of them then smiled at one another as a small blush appeared on their faces.

However, unbeknownst to them, Aiku noticed the interaction between the two and quickly became more irritated as a result. Seeing the two of them together made the young man believe that both Takashi and Akiza feigning the whole thing in order to keep him from finding out what's really going on. This caused Aiku to feel very angry and somewhat betrayed, as he doesn't like it when he friends hide things from him. He believes that true friends never hide anything from each other and the fact that they did has caused him to wonder whether or not Takashi and Akiza really are is friends. To that effect, Aiku placed his hand upon one of the metal legs that were supporting the table and started gripping it in order to release his frustration.

"_Attention Duelists, the second half of today's Qualifying Round will begin momentarily," _The announcer declared over the loudspeaker. _"Will Aiku Gato and Misaki Himura please make their way towards the Dueling Track? I repeat, will Aiku Gato and Misaki Himura please make their way towards the Dueling Track?"_

Upon hearing both of their names being called, both Aiku and Misaki lit up and looked at one another for a few seconds. They then proceeded to get up from their seats and began to make their way towards their respective Duel Runners. As they did that, Toru decided to get up to and make sure that Misaki had everything she needed for her Duel while the others thought about the upcoming match up.

"So it's going to be Misaki and Aiku going at it," Crow said. "I wonder how this match is going to go."

"Who knows," Madas pointed out. "I watched both of their first round Duels and although Misaki has a lot of talent as a Turbo Duelists, Aiku still has more experience than her. Then again, I know for a fact that anything can happen during a Turbo Duel so we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Yeah…I guess you're right," Tem agreed.

As he placed his elbow upon the table, Tem noticed that the table was very wobbly, like something was wrong with its legs. This caused him to look to see what was going on and he was amazed by what he saw. Somehow, one of the metals legs looked like it was about to come apart. It was like someone took two hammers and used them to smash at the leg. However, that couldn't be it as the markings on the leg looked like someone did this by hand. This caused Tem to wonder just who did this and why, not knowing that the person who did just left the table.

Meanwhile, as that was happening, Misaki was busy over at her Duel Runner, making sure that she had everything prepared for her match against Aiku. Her Runner was in working condition and her Duel Disk was functioning normally as well. The only thing that was left was making sure that she had all of her cards, which she was doing at this moment. The young woman was busy examining each of her cards, making sure that they were precisely the ones she wanted to have. As she examined them, Misaki eventually came across one card in particular which surprised her greatly.

"Where did this card come from?" She wondered. "I thought I threw it away."

Misaki's eyes remained glued on the card, as she was sure that she had gotten rid of it a long time ago. However, she didn't have any more time to think about it as she heard Toru making her way over to her. To that end, the young woman quickly placed her deck into her Duel Disk before going on to place the card into her Extra Deck.

"Hey Misaki," Toru said as he finally reached her. "Are you all ready for your Duel?"

"…Yeah," She replied softly. "I'm ready."

Once she put her cards away, Misaki proceeded to get on her Duel Runner and start it up. As soon as she did that, she then went on to place her helmet on her head.

"Remember Misaki," Toru said as he watched her finished her preparations. "Try to have fun during your Duel. You seem to bring out your full power when you're enjoying yourself so try your best to let loose and bring out your true potential."

"…You make it seem so easy Toru," Misaki replied as she covered her entire face with her helmet's visor. "But I can't just let go and have fun during a Duel, at least not anymore."

Toru's eyes widen a little as he continued to watch Misaki get ready for her match. He then started to remember the Duel that she had against her First Round opponent; Alejandro. During that match, Misaki was on the brink of defeat against her opponent's powerful monsters. However, it was at that moment that something within her awakened, allowing her to fully enjoy herself and quickly pull off a strategy that allowed her to win. Upon remembering that, Toru believed that something was causing to seal off most of her emotions, preventing her from fully enjoying the Duels that she competes in and the fact that she admitted that it's hard for her to do so only supports that belief. Because of that, Toru started to wonder just what exactly happened to Misaki in order for her to act this way.

"Misaki…" He said. "What do you mean it's hard for you to have fun?"

Misaki kept to herself as she thought about what Toru just asked her. This caused her to think about something that happened in the past, something that not only she wishes to forget, but wishes she could take back. However, Misaki knows that such a thing is impossible as the past can't be changed, no matter much want it too. After she finished thinking to herself, Misaki sighed silently to herself before turning her head towards Toru.

"What I mean is that the last time I had too much fun, I ended up making the biggest mistake of my life," She explained. "That's why it's hard for me to have fun anymore, because it reminds me about my mistake."

With that said, Misaki revved up her Duel Runner and left before Toru could ask her anything else. As she watched her leave, Toru thought about all the time that he spent with her, whether it be training or simply hanging out. During those times together, the young man thought that he knew all about Misaki Himura. However, after listening to her answer, Toru now thought that he didn't know much about her at all. Just what exactly happened to Misaki that caused her to make her mistake and for that matter, what exactly is that mistake? No matter how hard he thought about it, Toru didn't know the answer to those questions and simply kept looking on as Misaki made her way towards the track's starting line.

"Misaki…"

When Misaki eventually reached the starting line, the young woman waited patiently for her opponent to show up so that their Turbo Duel could begin. Eventually, after a few minutes, Aiku arrived and soon placed himself right beside Misaki. The two of them then waited for referee to declare the start of the match while at the same time, making final preparations towards their respective Duel Runners. As they did that, Aiku glanced at Misaki for a moment before remembering what just took place between himself and Takashi.

"Hey," He said. "Misaki…just what's going on with Takashi? What exactly is he trying to hide?"

"…What the hell are you talking about Aiku?" Misaki questioned. "Why do you think he's hiding something?"

"Because," Aiku continued. "He's been acting strange all day, thinking quietly to himself, and a few minutes ago I saw him having a secret conversation with Akiza! Something obviously going on here and I'm positive that he's told you and rest of his roommates. So spill, is there something going on that we should know about?!"

As she listened to what he was saying, Misaki simply thought about everything that Takashi explained to her and the others about the Crimson Dragon, Dragunity Knights, and Rex Goodwin's plot. She could tell, even if he didn't say it out loud, that he wanted to keep that information within the group as he wasn't sure how their other friends would react to it. When she saw the anger on Aiku's face, Misaki knew that what Takashi said was right and that now wasn't the time for such things told. To that end, the young woman kept silent for a few seconds before finally responding to him.

"There are some things in this world that should be just left alone," She explained. "Aiku…you need to do yourself a favor and drop it. Otherwise you'll only be hurting yourself."

"Don't Bulls**t me, Himura!" Aiku yelled. "I know you guys are up to something and you're going to tell me what it is, one way or another!"

"…You don't have the power to do such a thing Aiku," Misaki calmly replied.

The two Duelists glared at one another for about a minute, with Aiku's glare being the more ferocious of the two. They were about to continue their verbal exchange, but they were stopped when the referee signaled that their Turbo Duel was about to begin. This caused both Misaki and Aiku to stop what they were about to do and focus completely their match. In a way, this was exactly a good thing as it allowed them to settled things with their cards instead of their words.

Eventually, once the referee started waving his checkered flag around, both Misaki and Aiku drove across the starting line and started racing towards the first corner. During the race, Misaki tried her best to beat Aiku, using all the things that she learned from both Toru and her own experiences. However, despite trying her hardest, Aiku's experience with a Duel Runner was simply too great to overcome and he was able to reach the corner first with distance to spare.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Misaki: 4000 LP **

**Aiku: 4000 LP**

"The first move's mine!" Aiku stated as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 1**

**Aiku: SPC – 1**

Not wanting to waste any time, Aiku swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, the young man then took another card from that hand and firmly placed it upon his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. This resulted in a bright flash of light shining across his side of the field as his monster began to materialize.

"I Summon: Achacha Archer, in Attack Mode!"

**Achacha Archer: ATK 1200 DEF 600 LVL 3**

When Aiku's monster fully materialized onto the field, everyone saw that it was a masked archer who had a bow in its left hand and a set of arrows that were placed inside a quiver on his back. Achacha Archer then took one of its arrows that were placed on his back quickly connected it to its bow, getting ready to fire it towards Misaki.

"I activate Achacha Archer's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned onto the field, Achacha Archer deals 500 points of damage onto my opponent!"

As Achacha pulled back its arrow, Misaki's eyes widen upon listening to Aiku explain the Special Ability of his first monster. She then attempted to move around the track before the arrow fired, in the hope that it would miss her. Unfortunately for her though, Achacha Archer kept its aim solely on Misaki and was able to accurately hit her when it released the arrow from the bow.

**Misaki: 3500 LP**

The resulting blow of Achacha's arrow caused Misaki to lose control of her Duel Runner to some extent. As she attempted to regain control, Aiku continued on with her turn by taking a card from his hand and inserting into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down to the side of him for a few moments before eventually disappearing from the field. When that happened, Aiku turned his head around for a moment and saw that the distance between him and his opponent was now even wider.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now Misaki, are you going to tell me what Takashi's hiding or do I have to get more forceful?"

"...Don't make me repeat myself," Misaki responded as she finally regained control of her Runner. "There are some things in this world that should be just left alone."

"Fine then," Aiku said. "I guess I'm going to have to make you tell me!"

As he turned his head back around, Aiku was becoming more increasingly frustrated with Misaki's refusal to answer his question. He soon came to the conclusion that no matter how much he pressed the matter, Misaki wouldn't say a word. To that end, Aiku decided that he would force the young woman to reveal the information that she was hiding, no matter what the price may be.

Meanwhile, as her opponent was becoming more frustrated with her, Misaki was becoming more annoyed with Aiku. Even though she hasn't known him as long as Toru and the others, she has learned much about him through the stories that they tell from time to time. Also, the fact that she's actually been to his house and seen just how kind of a person he is only convinced her even more that he was a nice person. However, that wasn't the case today. Aiku's determination to figure out what she and the others were hiding from him was causing a major change in his personality. As a result, Misaki knew that she would have to get into gear very soon or else something bad might happen. To that end, she firmly gripped the handle to her Duel Runner and started to slowly close the distance between them.

"…It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 2**

**Aiku: SPC – 2**

After drawing a card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Misaki quickly contemplated on what her opening move should be. Having only seen Aiku battle once before, Misaki didn't really know what to expect from him. All she did know that he had a powerful Synchro Monster in his Bursting Soul Dragon and he is also able to evolve it into its Assault Mode like Takashi can do with his Stardust Dragon. Because of that, Misaki knew that she needed to either end this Duel before Aiku was able to summon his Ace Monster or, at the very least, develop a strategy that would allow her to withstand it.

"…Alright," She thought quietly to herself. "What should I do? What's the best move for me to make?"

As she looked over her entire hand, Misaki saw that she didn't have any cards that could allow her to gain an advantage over her opponent. Not only that, but she also didn't have a card that would allow her to deal any damage this round. The only thing that she could do with the cards that she had was plan ahead. By doing that, she could probably not only survive the coming turns ahead, but also might have a chance in taking out Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon if it's summoned onto the field. So, after coming to terms with what she wanted to do, Misaki started her turn by taking 2 cards from her hand and inserting them into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"To start off, I set two cards face-down on the field," She stated.

The two cards materialized face-down on Misaki's side of the field, just beside her Duel Runner. As they began to disappear from sight, Misaki continued on with her turn by taking another card from her hand. However, unlike the first two, Misaki placed the card on her Monster Card Zone in a face-down, horizontal position. This resulted in the card materializing right in front of her as she continued to race across the track.

"Next, I play a monster face-down in Defense Mode before ending my turn."

"Is that all?!" Aiku questioned arrogantly as he watched Misaki finish up her turn. "Here, let me show you how it's done. It's my turn, Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 3**

**Aiku: SPC – 3**

After drawing another card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Aiku didn't waste any time making his next move. He started off by taking a card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. This caused another bright flash of light to appear in front of him as his monster started to materialize.

"I Summon: Celtic Guardian!" He declared.

**Celtic Guardian: ATK 1400 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

When the flash of light started to fade away, it was revealed that Aiku's monster resembled a humanoid elf who was wearing old medieval armor. The elf was also carrying a large broadsword that was about the same size as its body. Once it was out on the field, Aiku continued on with his turn by taking Achacha Archer's card and placing it into his Graveyard. He then went on to take another card from his hand and placing it in the same spot that Achacha used to be.

"Next, by sacrificing Achacha Archer, I can Special Summon: Turret Warrior, directly from my hand!"

**Turret Warrior: ATK 1200 DEF 2000 LVL 5**

Upon placing the card onto his Monster Card Zone, another bright flash of light illuminated across Aiku's side of the field. As it that happened, a machine-like warrior emerged from the light and started flying next to Aiku as he continued to ride around the race track. The warrior had grey and brown metal plating as well as a set of turret cannons placed on each of its shoulders.

"I activate Turret Warrior's Special Ability!" Aiku declared. "Since I sacrificed a Warrior-Type monster in order to Special Summon, Turret Warrior now gains the Attack Points of the sacrificed monster. In other words, my monster now gains all 1200 of Achacha Archer's Attack Points!"

**Turret Warrior: ATK 2400**

After he finished explaining the Special Ability of his monster, Aiku looked as his Turret Warrior started absorbing the energy that was left behind by his Achacha Archer. Once the monster was finished absorbing that power, the young Turbo Duelist turned his head once again and started pointing towards Misaki's face-down monster.

"Turret Warrior, go and attack Misaki's face-down monster!"

Turret complied with Aiku's instruction and started pointing its blasters towards Misaki's monster. This caused the card to flip up and materialize the monster that was on the image of it. When it fully appeared onto the field, it was revealed that Misaki's monster was a Geargiarmor, a Machine-Type monster who was holding a pair of shields in each of its hands.

**Geargiarmor: ATK 1100 DEF 1900 LVL 4**

"I activate Geargiarmor's Special Ability!" Misaki declared. "When it's flipped face-up, I can add 1 Geargia monster from my deck to my hand."

"That won't matter!" Aiku replied. "My attack still stands! Now go Turret Warrior and destroy that Geargiarmor!"

As Misaki took a card from her deck and added it to her hand, Turret Warrior proceeded to launch several rockets from its shoulder blades. Each of the rockets homed in on Geargiarmor and destroyed the Machine-Type monster in one massive explosion. Once her monster was gone, Misaki braced herself as she prepared for Aiku's second attack.

"Go Celtic Guardian!" He ordered. "Attack Misaki's Life Points directly…Crystal Saber Strike!"

The elf knight complied with its master's orders and quickly jumped high into the air as a result. It then took aim as it pulled out its sword and swiftly struck Misaki with it. The force of the blow not only caused the young woman to lose 1400 of Life Points, but the Sense Blast that blow created also caused to lose even more ground against Aiku as well.

**Misaki: 2100 LP**

When the crowd saw that Misaki Life Points have dropped to 2100, a large yelled erupted from them. Almost all of them believed that Aiku was going to win this Duel and, from what they're seeing right now, that prediction seemed to be on the verge of coming true. As a result, almost everyone at the stadium either started cheering for Aiku to win or booing for Misaki to lose.

Meanwhile, as that was happening, Takashi and the others were busy watching the Duel themselves. From what they were seeing so far, they knew that this Duel wasn't over yet. However, they also knew that if things didn't change for Misaki soon then the Duel would come to an end and Aiku would be declared the winner.

"C'mon Misaki," Crow said as he looked on in anticipation. "You need to get your s**t together!"

"I agree," Akiza replied. "Something does seem off with Misaki. Back when I first Dueled her, she was much more powerful than what I'm seeing now. I wonder what's happening."

As the two of them continued to talk about the way Misaki was playing, only Toru knew the real reason why she was Dueling the way she was. It was because she wasn't truly enjoying the Duel and thus wasn't able to play at her full potential. Toru knew that if Misaki was going to defeat Aiku and move on to the Finals, then she would need to get into the Duel and play like she wanted to utterly defeat her opponent.

"Misaki," He said quietly to himself. "You need to get fired up. Otherwise you're screwed."

Back at the Duel, Aiku was somewhat satisfied that he was able to deplete almost half of Misaki's Life Points. However, he also knew that doing that wouldn't be enough to get her to reveal the information that he wanted to know. Because of that, the young man decided that he needed to push her even harder so that she wouldn't have any choice but to confess what knows. To that effect, Aiku continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized face-down to the side of his Duel Runner for a few moments before eventually disappearing. Once that happened, Aiku proceeded to rev up his Runner and continue to widen the distance between Misaki and himself.

"I set one card face-down Misaki," He said. "With that, I end my turn,"

"…Then it's my turn," Misaki replied. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 4**

**Aiku: SPC – 4**

After drawing a card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Misaki quickly weighed her options and tried to figure out what she should do. With two monsters on Aiku's side of the field, it was pretty obvious to her that it wouldn't be too much longer before would bring out his Bursting Soul Dragon. Because of that, Misaki knew that she needed to take out one his monsters this turn or else things would get more troublesome. So, after realizing what she needed to do, Misaki quickly took a card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Goblindbergh!" She declared.

**Goblindbergh: ATK 1400 DEF 0 LVL 4**

A small flash of light shined across the young Turbo Duelist's field for a few moments as her Goblindbergh appeared and started flying next to her in its small airplane. Once it was materialized completely, Misaki then went on to take the card that she got from Geargiarmor's effect and place it onto her Monster Card Zone too.

"When Goblindbergh is successfully summoned onto the field, its Special Ability activates. With it, I can now Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. So appear, Geargiarsenal!"

**Geargiarsenal: ATK 1500 DEF 500 LVL 4**

Once she placed the card onto her Duel Disk, another bright flash of light covered Misaki's side of the field. From that light, a small tank that was filled with many different types of weapons appeared and started driving right next to her. The appearance of Geargiarsenal was very impressive, but the monster wouldn't be on the field for long as Misaki proceeded to take its card and stack it on top of Goblindbergh's. This caused both monsters to transform into colorful orbs of light.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Goblindbergh and Geargiarsenal!" Misaki shouted.

The two orbs of light started flying across the entire stadium for a few moments until the portal to the Overlay Network started to open. Once it was out, both orbs flew into the portal as Misaki took a card from her Extra Deck and stack it on top of her first two cards.

"With these 2 monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Appear now, Wind-Up Zenmaister!"

**Wind-Up Zenmaister: ATK 1900 DEF 1500 Rank 4**

As soon as declared what her monster was, Misaki looked on as the Overlay Network erupted a bright flash of light that covered her side of the field for a few seconds. When the light faded away, a colorful Machine-Type monster had appeared on Misaki's field, hovering close to her with the use of its wind expelling legs. The appearance of Zenmaister surprised some of the spectators who were watching the Duel as they never seen Misaki summon a Xyz Monster before. However, Aiku wasn't too impressed with the creature as he knew that he still had a more powerful in his Turret Warrior. Even if Misaki used Zenmaister to destroy Celtic Guardian, Aiku could simply destroy with Turret Warrior on his next turn. Unfortunately for him though, that wouldn't be the case.

"I activate Wind-Up Zenmaister Special Ability!" She declared. "For every Overlay Unit it currently has, Zenmaister gains 300 extra Attack Points! Right now, Wind-Up Zenmaister has 2 Overlay Units, which increases its Attack Points by 600!"

**Wind-Up Zenmaister: ATK 2500**

"Alright!" Tem said as he watched a red aura cover Zenmaister's body. "Now Misaki's monster is more powerful than both of Aiku's monsters!"

"Yeah," Lilly added. "But now the question is which one should she destroy. If she takes out his Celtic Guardian, that would allow Misaki to take out a good portion of Aiku's Life Points. However, if she takes out his Turret Warrior instead, then Aiku wouldn't be able to use to Synchro Summon is more powerful monsters. What will she do?"

As Lilly thought about this, Misaki already knew who she would have her Wind-Up Zenmaister attack. So, without another thought, the young woman immediately took her hand and pointed it towards Aiku's Turret Warrior!

"Wind-Up Zenmaister," She called. "Attack his Turret Warrior now!"

Zenmaister immediately complied with Misaki's demand and went to points both of its two hands towards Aiku's Turret Warrior. It then went on to fire a blast of concentrated energy towards the monster, incinerating it upon contact.

**Aiku: 3900 LP**

"With that Aiku, I end my turn."

Once she declared the end of her turn, Misaki focused all of her attention into trying to close the distance between herself and Aiku. As she did that, Aiku turned his head back towards for a moment and his opponent was attempting to make a comeback. Not wanting to let her obtain anymore momentum and also trying to destroy her will to continue the Duel, Aiku decided that the time for holding back was over. So, after firmly revving his Duel Runner, Aiku proceeded to place his hand upon his deck.

"It's time to show you the true power of my soul," He said to himself. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 5**

**Aiku: SPC – 5**

After swiftly drawing another card from his deck, Aiku took a quick glance at it and saw that it was precisely the card that he was looking for. With it in hand, not only would he be able to bring his most prized monster, but also deal Misaki an incredible amount of damage as well. So, with his plan now set, the young man proceeded to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as another flash of light illuminated across his side of the field.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Star-Imp Neutron!"

**Star-Imp Neutron: ATK 1600 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

When the flash of light that was covering Aiku's side of the field started to slowly fade away, a small star-shaped imp appeared and started flying next to him and his Celtic Guardian. Once it was out, Aiku then went to take a card from his deck and add it to his hand.

"When Star-Imp Neutron is successfully summoned onto the field, I can then take 1 Star-Imp from my deck and add it to my hand!" Aiku explained. "Now, I'll Tune my Level 4 Celtic Guardian with my Level 4 Star-Imp Neutron!"

Both of Aiku's monsters nodded their heads and proceeded to jump high into air in order to begin the process for a Synchro Summoning. As they began the ritual, Aiku quickly took both of their cards and placed them into his Graveyard before taking a card from his Extra Deck and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, another flash of light completely covered his field as everyone in the stadium started to hear the cry of powerful dragon.

"Golden flames of my soul, come together and form a new power! Synchro Summon! Descend, Bursting Soul Dragon!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2200 LVL 8**

Once the light from Aiku's Synchro Summoning faded away, Bursting Soul Dragon emerged onto the field as its body was surrounded by beautiful golden flames. The sight of the creature amazed many of the spectators who have never seen the dragon before while those who have seen it were impressed that such a powerful card was in Aiku's deck. The only one who wasn't impressed by the Synchro Monster was Misaki, who didn't like the fact that she had to find a way to take the thing down. She took a look at one of her face-down cards and saw that it could probably get the job done for her. However, the young woman also knew that the face-down would only work if Aiku called for his monster to conduct action. As a result, Misaki braced herself as she waited to see if her opponent would make that move.

As she waited, Aiku took noticed that despite the fact that he had his Ace Monster on the field, Misaki still didn't look too worried. He then remembered that she set two cards face-down on the beginning of her first turn and realized that one of them was meant to counter his Bursting Soul Dragon. If he had his monster attack without thinking everything through then not only could he potentially lose it, but also be dealt a large amount of damage as well. Aiku wasn't about to let that happen, as he knew that there was other ways of getting to his opponents that didn't involve attacking. So, as a small smile appeared on his face, Aiku turned his Duel Runner around and started drifting backwards as he activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Solar Flare!' He declared. "This Trap Card activates when Bursting Soul Dragon is successfully Synchro Summoned onto the field. Now, by not conducting my Battle Phase this turn, this card can destroy all the monsters that you have on the field and deal you damage equal their original Attack Points!"

Misaki's eyes quickly widen from shock as she watched as Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon started gathering a powerful white flame from its mouth. As the dragon continued to gather up the flames, Aiku's revved up his Duel Runner and quickly started making his way towards Misaki. As he did that, an invisible surge of energy started to surround his body as he began to close the distance between Misaki and himself. Once he got close enough to her, Aiku unleashed the energy towards his opponent, just as Bursting Soul Dragon launched its attack towards Wind-Up Zenmaister. The assaults overwhelmed the two of them, which not only caused Zenmaister's destruction, but also dealt Misaki a large amount of damage as well.

**Misaki: 200 LP**

After launching his attack, Aiku quickly turned himself around and saw that Misaki was on the verge of passing out due to the force of his move. Takashi and the others saw this too and they were quickly becoming worried for their friend. As each of them voiced their concerns, Takashi took the time to examine what just took placed and realize what Aiku just did to Misaki.

"Sense," He thought quietly to himself. "Aiku just hit Misaki with a powerful Sense Blast."

At the very instant Bursting Soul Dragon launched the effect of the Solar Flare Trap Card onto Misaki's monster, Aiku gathered up the Sense energy that the attack gave off and launched it towards her. The force from the attack, along with the wind and velocity that came when Aiku started driving towards her, completely overwhelmed the young woman as there was nothing she could do to stop it. Seeing that worried Takashi greatly as he knew that Misaki couldn't take another powerful attack like that. He knew that if she did then there is a good chance that she could get seriously injured or worse, killed.

Meanwhile, as Takashi was wondering what to do, Aiku made his way over to Misaki and saw that her eyes barely had any life to them. It was only through sheer luck that she didn't pass out right away from the attack and Aiku knew that it would only be matter of time before did. However, the young man didn't feel any sympathy for her as he believed that she brought all of this pain onto herself. If she had simply told him what Takashi is hiding then none of this would be happening and they would be having a simply and fun Turbo Duel. Unfortunately that wasn't the case as Misaki was too stubborn to admit what was really going on. As a result, Aiku felt that anything that happened to her during this Duel was her fault.

"You should have told me what was going on from beginning Misaki," He said to her. "If you did, this wouldn't be happening to you right now."

After saying that, Aiku ended his turn and started driving past her once again. Misaki, who barely heard a words that Aiku just said, slowly lifted her head and saw how the large gap that Aiku not only had on the track, but in Life Points as well. With only 200 points left, all Aiku had to do was activate Speed World 2's effect and he would be able to deal her 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in his hand. Even though he didn't activate the effect of the Speed Spell, Misaki knew that there was a chance that he could activate it on his next turn. This only made Misaki's situation even more direr for her.

"…Only 200 Points left and now monsters on the field," She thought quietly. "No matter how you look at it….the odds seem too great to overcome. Even so…I…"

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Misaki started smiling quietly to herself. From some strange reason, despite the odds that she was facing, the young woman was slowly becoming more and more excited. Misaki didn't know why she was feeling this way and a part of her didn't really care. Right now, all she wanted to do was get back into this Duel and defeat Aiku with all the power that she had. As a result of this mindset, Misaki's eyes became full of life again and she quickly started driving faster than ever had before. Everyone who was watching was shocked at how fast she was closing the distance and her friends were amazed that she was able to recover as quickly as she did. As they looked on, Toru noticed the smile that was on her face and watched as it quickly became bigger and bigger.

"That's it Misaki," He said to himself. "…Now the real fight begins."

"It's my turn!" Misaki yelled at the top of her lungs. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 6**

**Aiku: SPC – 6**

As she drew another card from her deck, Misaki took a quick glance at it and saw that she could use this turn. This caused her smile to become even bigger as she began to close the distance between her and Aiku even more. The sight of that shocked her opponent a little as he believed that Misaki didn't have any strength left within her. He was about to question her about her sudden burst of strength, but Misaki cut him off by placing the card that she just drew onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Morphtronic Scopen!" She declared.

**Morphtronic Scopen: ATK 800 DEF 1400 LVL 3**

A small flash of light shined across Misaki's field for a few seconds as her Morphtronic Scopen appeared and started flying next to her. Once it was out, Misaki continued on with momentum by activating one of her two face-down cards.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted, in bring back my Geargiarmor!"

Upon activating the Trap, another flash of light appeared on the field and from it, Geargiarmor soon arrived. Now that she had two monsters out, Misaki then proceeded to place both of their cards into the Graveyard and watched gleefully as her two monsters jumped high into the air.

"I Tune my Level 4 Geargiarmor with my Level 3 Morphtronic Scopen!"

The two monsters complied with Misaki's order and started to conduct the process for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Misaki then went into her Extra Deck and pulled out another card from it. After doing that, she then started chanting to herself as she placed the card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Docking strength with courage to protect the world's peace! Synchro Summon! Envoy of Love and Justice, Power Tool Dragon!"

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 2300 DEF 2500 LVL 7**

When the Synchro ritual ended, Power Tool Dragon emerged from a blinding flash of light that completed covered Misaki's side of the field for a few moments. The Machine-Type Synchro Monster then started to stare down Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon despite the difference in their attack power.

"Now, I activate Power Tool Dragon's Special Ability!" Misaki declared. "Once per turn, I can take a random Equip Spell from deck and add it to my hand!"

"I won't let that happen!" Aiku shouted back. "I activate the Special Ability of my Bursting Soul Dragon! Once, during either players turn, I can negate effect of one monster on the field and Bursting Soul gains Attack Points equal to level of the negated monster, multiplied by 100!"

As Misaki's Duel Disk started shuffling her deck, Bursting Soul Dragon made its way over to Power Tool Dragon and started to drain it of its powers. Upon seeing that, Misaki's smile grew even bigger as this was precisely the moment that she was waiting for. She went on to activate her other face-down card and watched as a purple aura started surround Bursting Soul Dragon's body, much to Aiku's confusion.

"What the…?" He questioned. "What's happening? What's going on with my Bursting Soul Dragon?"

"It's being infected," Misaki answered.

"Infected?" Aiku asked.

"That's right," Misaki confirmed. "I just activated the Trap Card: Viral Infection, which can only be activated when a Machine-Type monster I control is targeted by an effect. This card now negates the effect of your Bursting Soul Dragon and destroys it!"

Aiku's eyes widen as he watched the infection that his Bursting Soul Dragon receive quickly overcome his Ace Monster. He then looked as he creature destroyed itself due to the power of the virus. With it gone, Misaki was not only free to launch a direct attack against her opponent, but also add an Equip Spell to her hand due to her monster's Special Ability. As she looked at the card she just received, the young woman didn't waste any time and immediately inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, with your monster gone, I'm free to equip Power Tool Dragon with the Equip Speed Spell: Double Tool C&D!" She said. "With it, as long as I have 4 or more Speed Counters, Power Tool Dragon gains 1000 Attack Points!"

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 3300**

Power Tool Dragon extended both of its arms out and proceeded to grab a buzz saw and a drill that appeared right in front of it. Once the monster had both weapons in hand, Misaki started driving faster towards Aiku and eventually caught up with him. Upon getting a good look at her, Aiku noticed the huge smile that was on Misaki's face and was surprised that she was enjoying the Duel to such an extent. However, what surprised him even more is when Misaki turned towards him and started talking.

"…Back when you hit me with your attack, I barely got a word of what you said afterwards," She started off. "However, I did hear you tell me that everything that just happened is my fault. You're right about that Aiku. It was my fault that you struck me with your attack and it's my fault that you're about to be struck my attack! Power Tool Dragon…attack his Life Points Directly!"

Power Tool complied as it started swing both of its weapons towards Aiku's body. The force of the blow created a Sense Blast not only caused Aiku to fall off his Duel Runner, but also allowed Misaki to take the lead for the first time.

**Aiku: 600 LP**

As she watched her opponent attempt to straighten himself out, Misaki started smiling even more as the excitement that she was feeling reached a fever pitch. It's been a long time since that last felt this way and the young woman wanted to savor every minute of it. She then went on to conclude her turn by taking one card from her hand and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone. As the card materialized onto her side of the field for a few moments, Misaki turned her head and saw that Aiku had finally gotten himself together.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," She said. "Alright Aiku, it's your turn so show me what you got!"

"….Oh, I'll show you what I got Misaki," Aiku said softly as he held his head down. "I'll show that…AND MORE!"

Aiku started yelling at the stop of his lungs as he felt utterly humiliated by the fact that Misaki was able to damage him like she did. He now decided to stop holding back against her and fight this battle like he meant it. As a result, his resolve caused him to emit an extremely powerful Reiatsu from his body. The sheer force of the Reiatsu shook Takashi as he never expected that Aiku had so much power inside of him.

"How much power does this guy have?" He silent questioned. "The force it's emitting reminds me when Akiza lost control of her powers and they began to overtake her. Is this the same things or is it something else? Also, why does this Reiatsu feel so different than usual?"

While Takashi thought about this, Aiku's Reiatsu continued to increase as the young man began to make his way towards his opponent. Misaki, who is unable to feel the power that Aiku was giving off, only thought that her foe was getting psyched up like her. This caused her to smile once again as she prepared herself for Aiku's next turn.

"It's my move!" He stated. "Draw!"

**Misaki: SPC – 7**

**Aiku: SPC – 7**

Quickly drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Aiku immediately started off his turn by activating the face-down card that he set a few turns ago. When he did that, the card flipped face-up and a bright flash of light emitted from it.

"I activate the Trap Card: Descending Lost Star!" He declared. "With it, I can Special Summon a Synchro Monster that's residing in my Graveyard! However, the revived monster is placed in Defense Mode and loses all of its Defense Points, it loses one Level, and its Special Abilities are negated. Now reappear, Bursting Soul Dragon!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: DEF 0 LVL 7**

As the light from Aiku's Trap began to fade away, Bursting Soul Dragon reappeared onto the field and proceeded to take a defensive position in front of its master. Once it was out, Aiku then went on to take a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Speed Fusion! With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can fuse the Bursting Soul Dragon that's on my field with the Star-Imp Pulsar that's in my hand!"

**Star-Imp Pulsar: ATK 2000 DEF 800 LVL 4**

Once again, another flash of light covered Aiku's side of the field for a few moments as a new monster appeared before him. This monster looked very similar to Star-Imp Neutron, only instead of having a red aura covering its body, Pulsar's aura was blue. As soon as it materialized fully, both it and Bursting Soul Dragon started to fuse together as Aiku quickly took another card from his Extra Deck and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Fusion Summon!" He shouted. "Appear now, Radiant Soul Dragon!"

**Radiant Soul Dragon: ATK 3400 DEF 2800 LVL 10**

When the Fusion between Bursting Soul Dragon and Star-Imp Pulsar was completed, a powerful new dragon appeared to take their place. This creature looked very similar to Bursting Soul, but instead an orange and red body, it had a purple and blue one. Also, Radiant Soul Dragon was emitting a powerful blue and white flame from its mouth as well. The sigh of the beast surprised everybody, including Misaki, as they've never seen Aiku summon such a monster before. However, their surprise didn't end there as Aiku continued on with his turn.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Star-Imp Pulsar," He declared. "When it's used for a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summoning, I can destroy one face-up Spell or Trap Card that's on the field. I choose your Double Tool C&D!"

After explaining the effect of his monster, Aiku looked on as his Radiant Soul Dragon launched a powerful purple flame towards Power Tool Dragon's weapons. When the flames struck them, both the buzz saw and the drill melted away, draining the Machine-Type monster of its 1000 Attack Point power-up.

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 2300**

"Now, with that spell out of the way, Radiant Soul Dragon and destroy your Power Tool Dragon! Go, Flames of the Phantasm!"

Radiant Soul Dragon nodded its head and this time prepared itself to launch a stream of blue flames towards Misaki's Ace Monster. However, before the attack could take place, Misaki acted quickly by activating the face-down card that she set last turn. This caused a powerful barrier to appear around her as she continued to drive around the race track.

"I activate the Trap Card: Impenetrable Attack!" She responded. "With it, any Battle Damage that I receive for the reminder of the Battle Phase is reduced to 0!"

"That's not going work Himura!" Aiku replied as he inserted another card into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Solar Shift! With it, since you just activated a card effect, this card negates its activation and destroys it! All I have to do is give up 3 of my Speed Counters and remove either a Light or Fire Attribute monster from my Graveyard!"

**Aiku: SPC – 4**

As Aiku took Bursting Soul Dragon, a Fire Attribute monster, and removed it from play, Misaki looked on in disbelief as the barrier from her Impenetrable Attack Trap Card begin to break apart. When it disappeared completely, Misaki was left vulnerable from the damage that she would receive from Radiant Soul Dragon's attack. It was at that moment that the young woman started to feel the power that Aiku was giving off.

"What…what is this power I'm feeling?" She questioned.

As she continued to question what the power was, Misaki felt the force of it grow as Aiku began to make his way over to her. Knowing full well what could happen if the attack hit her, Misaki had no choice but to forcibly crash her Duel Runner in order to save herself. This didn't change the outcome of the Duel as her Power Tool Dragon was destroyed from Radiant Soul Dragon's flames, but it did allow her to come out of the match with her life.

**Misaki: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>This Duel is over!" <em>The announcer declared over the loudspeaker. _"The winner of the match is Aiku Gato!"_

As the spectators in the stadium started cheering for Aiku, Takashi and others immediately made their way from the stands and started heading towards Misaki. All of them noticed the way she crashed on the track and each of them knew that it was on purpose. Despite the fact that she's still quite new to Turbo Dueling, Misaki isn't so inexperienced that she would crash the way she did. The only explanation for it is that she purposely allowed herself to crash in order to avoid something that could seriously hurt her. Because of that, Misaki decided that it would be best to get injure on purpose and survive than to get injured by Aiku's Sense and possibly die.

While they made their way from the stands, Aiku parked his Duel Runner and slowly made his way over to Misaki, who struggling somewhat to get up from the ground. Even though she didn't suffer any broken bones or fractures, she was still pretty sore from the crash and needed to be treated. When Aiku reached her, the young man looked at Misaki for a moment as she looked at him. The two of them were glaring at one another with such ferocity that it seemed like they wanted to tear the other apart. Fortunately, such an altercation didn't occur, as the other finally made it to where they were and separated the two of them. While Akiza and Lilly tended to their injured friend and roommate, the boys had the attention solely on Aiku.

"What the hell Aiku?!" Toru said in an angry, but confused tone of voice. "I don't know what's going on with you, but you could've killed Misaki!"

"Yeah man," Crow followed. "I know you want to win, but you don't have to blow your opponent away with a Sense that could endanger their life. I mean, aren't we friends?!"

Aiku listened to Crow and Toru complaints, but didn't really care about what they had to say. He soon turned his attention towards Takashi and started staring at like he wanted to kill him. In response, Takashi kept his cool, but gently placed his hand upon his sword just in case something did go down.

"Friends…?" Aiku questioned. "I thought we were friends too. During the battle at the Satellite, all of us worked together in order to defeat Amon. We didn't hide anything from each other and that trust allowed us to win. I honestly believed that bond had been forged between us that could never be broken. We would always be there for each other and never hide anything from one another. But I guess that wasn't case."

Aiku walked over towards Takashi and quickly grabbed him by the shirt collar. This action shocked the others, with some of them wanting to step in and stop him. However, before they could take a single step forward, Takashi placed his hand out and singled for to not interfere. Whether this situation got physical or not, this had to be settled.

"I'm going to ask this one more time Takashi Nakamura and you better tell me the truth," Aiku demanded. "What exactly are you hiding? Is it something that we should know about, something that involves all of us?"

Takashi kept to himself as Aiku waited for his answer. The young man saw that his friend's eyes were full of anger as he hated the fact that things were being hidden from him. Takashi understood how Aiku was feeling and a part of him didn't really want to hide the truth from him. However, despite how he felt, Takashi knew that he had to keep the truth hidden. Even if it meant damaging his friendship with Aiku, Takashi knew that what he was doing was right. Hopefully, when this was all over, the two of them could sit down and talk about everything that transpired. But until then, Takashi simply sighed quietly too himself before finally responding to Aiku.

"…Listen," He said calmly. "It's none of your business."

Hearing Takashi say that, caused something in Aiku to snap. He about to punch him in the face, but Crow stopped him from doing so. This resulted in Aiku attempting to go after the Blackwing Duelist, but he was stopped when Takashi took the sheath of his sword and slammed it into Aiku's gut. The force of the blow knocked the young man towards the ground, causing him to spit up saliva.

"I know you're angry Aiku and you have every right to be," Takashi continued as he put his sword back to his side. "I'll explain everything when the time is right, but not until then. If you can't accept that then why don't you just leave!"

As Aiku started to recover somewhat, everyone else was surprised by what Takashi just said. Never before have they ever seen him get so aggressive with one of his friends. His actions informed all of them that even though Takashi wanted to tell everyone what he was hiding, it was in their best interest that they don't find out until later. To that end, Lilly and the other Signers accepted Takashi decision while both Tem and Madas trusted that their friend would explain everything when he felt the time was right.

When Aiku eventually recovered from Takashi's assault, the young man slowly got up from the ground and glared at Takashi once more. He then took quick glances towards the others and saw that they were on Takashi's side. Seeing that made Aiku even angrier as he now felt betrayed by all of his friends instead of just a few of them. A part of him wanted to fight each of them, but Aiku had enough common sense to know that it wouldn't serve any point in fighting a battle that he knows he can't win. So, with nothing else to do here, the young man turned his back and began making his way over to his Duel Runner.

"Aiku!" Madas called as he watched him leave. "Where are you going?!"

"Where I go is my business," Aiku answered while having his back turned. "You guys aren't my friends, so I don't have to tell you anything."

With that said, Aiku kept walking towards his Duel Runner and soon made his way over to it. Once he was there, the young man mounted it and started driving out of the stadium, not even taking the time to look back towards his former friends.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Despite the fact that Aiku has cut his ties with them, our heroes continue on with the Fortune Cup Qualifiers as the 6__th__ Duel is about to begin. Lilly finds herself up against Tem, but soon discovers that the young man is not completely into the match. Can Lilly convince her friend to fight this battle with all of his strength or will she make it to the Finals without even trying._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 68 – The Strength of a Hero_

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><p><em><strong>Announcement<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a quick announcement. _

_I wanted to apologize for the long update. I know I said that I was going to update faster during the summer, but things happened in my life that delayed me. I was also gathering ideas for future chapters and needed some time to work them out. Hopefully, I can give you the next chapter later on next week._

_Well, that's all for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	68. Chapter 68

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 68: **_The Strength of a Hero_

* * *

><p>"…That's hurts."<p>

With the Turbo Duel between Misaki Himura and Aiku Gato now over, Takashi and his friends, with the exception of Madas and Tem, were currently in one of the locker rooms that the Fortune Cup committee provides. As the Duel was coming to an end, Aiku released a powerful Sense that had the potential to seriously injure Misaki, if not kill her. In order to escape that fate, Misaki purposely crashed her own Duel Runner so that she could avoid the blast. By doing so, not only was she able to get through the Duel with her life, but also got through it with far less injuries. Despite that though, that doesn't mean that the young woman wasn't hurting.

In order to give her the proper treatment she needed, while at the same time making sure that no attention was being drawn towards her, Misaki's friends proceeded to take her into one of the locker rooms. Once they were sure that they were all alone, Lilly quickly examined all the injured areas that were on her friend's body before slowly closing her eyes and placing her hands in front of her face. The others then watched as Lilly's hands started to glow a light greenish color as she began to rub them against Misaki's body. As both Akiza and Crow looked on unimpressed, Takashi and Toru were amazed by what they were witnessing. They saw while Lilly was gently touching Misaki's body, the latter's injuries were slowly getting healed. In the eyes of an average person, it would seem like Lilly was using some type of magic to heal her friend. However, everyone present in the room knew that it was something even more amazing.

"…Whoa," Toru said in an impressive tone of voice. "Now that's cool."

"Yeah," Takashi agreed. "This is even more amazing than the time she healed all of us after the battle against Amon in the Satellite."

As the boys continued to marvel over Lilly's improved healing abilities, Akiza and Crow were busy thinking about how far their friend has come when it came to working on that skill. During the 3 months she spent preparing for the Fortune Cup, Lilly quickly came to the realization that she needed to improve on more than just her Dueling skills. Just as Akiza was trying to master her Psychic powers, Lilly knew that she needed to master her healing powers.

Ever since she first awakened them after the battle against Amon, Lilly has been healing some of the minor injuries that her friends have received. Some of those injuries include imperfect Sense blasts or injured limbs. However, even though she could heal her friends easily and swiftly, the toll that it took on her body was so great that she would have to rest for a couple of days before she could heal again. Her friend Wendy Marvell, a Psychic Duelist who's currently training in the Satellite, never had that type of issue before even though her healing abilities were less effective. The reason why Wendy left the group to train in the Satellite, instead of staying with her friends, was because of her own weakness. Deep inside her heart, she despised the fact that her friends were acquiring special abilities that made them stronger while she stayed the same. Even though her healing powers made her unique for a short time, when Lilly acquired them too, Wendy decided that she needed to get stronger. That way, with her improved abilities, not only would she allow herself to re-join her friends, but also have the means to take better care of them when things got rough.

During her training, Lilly realized that she's going through the same thing that Wendy went through. For the last couple of months now, especially during the incidents at the Arcadia Movement and the Satellite, Lilly has been bailed out by her friends. When she gave up hope during her battle against Amon, it was Takashi and Crow who gave her the strength to continue. And after her defeat against Alistair, it was Takashi who stood up for her and almost defeated the Duel King in her place. All of those things, as well as many others, have shown Lilly that she needed to become much stronger and useful to those around her. She didn't want her friends to bail her out of every problem. She wanted to stand side-by-side with them and do things in which they couldn't. To that end, Lilly devoted herself to perfecting her healing powers so that way she could be more useful to those who are counting on her.

"She's come a long way," Crow said silently to himself.

"I agree," Akiza followed.

After using her powers to heal all the noticeable injuries that were Misaki's body, Lilly retracted the energy that was forming around her hands and proceeded to grab the first-aid kit that was placed beside her. Once she had it in hand, the young woman then proceeded to pull out a long bandage wrap and started wrapping it around certain areas on Misaki. The feeling of having the uncomfortable and itchy bandage placed around her body made Misaki slightly irritated as she didn't like what she was experiencing. However, she also knew that it was her own fault that she ended up injured in the first place. In that regard, Misaki decided to bear with it for now and hope that she wouldn't have to wear for too long.

Eventually, Lilly finished working on her friend and went on to place the bandage back into the first-aid kit. After that, the young woman then examined Misaki's body one last time in order to make sure that she didn't miss anything. Once she was able to confirm that she hadn't, Lilly looked towards Misaki and presented her with a smile.

"All done," She said. "I've finished all the immediate work. All that's left is to let your body's natural energy finish the rest."

"…Thanks Lilly," Misaki replied, grateful that her friend just finished tending to her injuries.

"Don't mention it," Lilly said. "Truth be told, I'm the one who should be thank you Misaki. Since you crashed your Duel Runner on purpose, you were able to avoid serious injury and, as a result, that made it easier for me to handle your wounds. If you did get hit by Aiku's attack then that would have been a lot more work for me and I probably wouldn't have the strength to compete in my next Duel."

"I guess," Misaki agreed. "Still, I wasn't really thinking when I crashed my Duel Runner. I was just acting impulsively or, in a better choice of words, acting without thinking."

As the two girls continued talking to one another, Akiza took notice to what they were saying. She watched the Duel between Misaki and Aiku very carefully, especially near the end when Misaki crashed. During that instance, the young woman saw the look in her friend's eyes and it seemed to her that Misaki knew exactly what she was doing. If that was the case, why did she just say that she was acting only on impulse? That was the question that was running through Akiza's mind. She was about to question Misaki about it but Toru, who sensed what Akiza was thinking, quickly answered her question for her.

"Whenever Misaki Duels," He started off. "If her opponent pushes her to edge then she's able to have fun during the match. When that happens, Misaki's personality changes and it's like she becomes an entirely different person. Also, after the Duel is over, Misaki doesn't remember acting that way. The only thing that she can really recall is the final outcome of the Duel itself."

"…If that's the case," Akiza said, pondering what she just learned. "Does that mean that Misaki has a split personality, just like me?"

"I don't think so,"

Toru and Akiza turned their attention towards Takashi as he began putting his two cents into this conversation. The young man thought about everything that both his friends said as well as what he's seen during Misaki's Duel. He then came the conclusion that the two factors didn't match up with one another. There were certainly some things that connected, but not all the pieces seemed to fit in their proper place. Eventually he came up with a theory and decided to tell Toru and Akiza about it.

"If Misaki did have a split personality," He continued. "Then the change would have happened right away. However, I could tell during the Duel that Misaki's personality was gradually changing from the one we usually see to the one we saw during her match. That implies that Misaki's change is due to her suppressing her emotions instead of having an entirely different personality dwelling within her."

"Why would she want to suppress her emotions?" Toru questioned. "That's like saying she doesn't want to be neither happy nor sad. I just don't get it."

"I don't get it either," Takashi replied. "However…I guess the only one who can answer that question is Misaki, since she's the one who's doing it."

As Takashi, Toru, and Akiza continued talking about Misaki's sudden change of emotions, Lilly and Crow were checking on her one more time in order to see if she was doing alright. Once they were able to confirm that she was, the two of them sat beside her and started talking to one another.

"I have to say Lilly, you're getting better with that healing trick every time," Crow said with a smile on his face. "Maybe you should consider becoming a doctor."

"…No thanks," Lilly responded. "I have no intention in becoming a doctor Crow. Besides, what I do isn't really medical work. I'm simply just using my power to strengthen the healing energy that dwells within another. By doing that, it quickens their ability to heal naturally on their own. At least, that's what Wendy told me when she healed me the first time with her powers."

"Yeah…I didn't get any of that," Crow said in a slightly confused tone of voice. "All I know is that power of yours is really neat. We can really count on you when if something happens."

"You are so stupid," Lilly scolded. "You can't just depend on me to bail you out just because I have this power. It's not something I can use often as it takes a lot out of me just to heal one person completely. That's why I didn't heal Misaki fully. I need the strength to compete in my match before I can do that. Besides, it's the job the person being treated to try and prevent such injuries from occurring again."

"…That's exactly something a doctor would say," Crow said under his breath.

Lilly heard Crow's silent comment and started wailing on him out of annoyance. Misaki watched what was going on, but chose not to do anything about it as she deemed it none of her concern. She simply laid herself across the bench she was sitting on and started to rest. As she did that, the young woman noticed that Takashi was making his way up to her. When he eventually made his way up to her, Misaki noticed that Takashi had a slight sorrowful expression on his face. The sight of that bothered her to some extent.

"…What's wrong with you?" She questioned. "…You look like you're about to cry."

Takashi kept to himself when Misaki spoke those words. His mind was focus on the events that led up to her Duel against Aiku. First was the fight he had against him when he refused to reveal what he hiding. Then there was the Duel itself, when Aiku attempted to harm Misaki with his Sense, which lead to her crashing and getting injured. Lastly, there was the altercation that took place after the Duel, in which Aiku not only pressed Takashi for answers again, but also forced Takashi to strike him when he attempted to attack Crow. All of those things ultimately led to Aiku breaking off their friendship and severing his ties with all of them. Even though he's been trying his best to hold it in, Takashi just now reached the realization that his secretive actions not only led to one of his friends being hurt, but also cost him one of his friends as well.

"…I'm sorry Misaki," He said, placing his head down towards the ground. "It's all my fault that this happened. Because of me, not only did you get hurt, but we also lost a good friend in Aiku as well. I never wanted that to happen…I just…"

Quickly getting tired of Takashi's words, Misaki picked herself up from off the bench and made her way up to him. She then took her hand and, with all of her strength, firmly slapped her friend. The force of the blow knocked Takashi towards the ground, causing blood to pour from his mouth. As he recovered from the blow, everyone else looked at Misaki as she started speaking towards Takashi.

"Stop whining," She told him. "My injuries were my fault and mine alone. As for Aiku, you did the right thing in not telling him the truth. We can't afford to have him or the others know about the predicament that you guys are in right now."

"But…" Takashi said gently.

"Would you rather have know?" Misaki questioned

Takashi eyes widen upon thinking about Misaki's question. He didn't know how Aiku, Madas, and Tem would react to the news that if he, Akiza, Lilly, and Crow don't all make it to the Finals then everyone they know would be sent to the Facility. They would most likely be upset that they didn't tell them this information sooner, but at same time afraid at what might happen if that outcome did take place. Also, if they were paired up against one another while knowing that information, then there's a chance that they might hold back. Takashi didn't want that as Aiku, Madas, and Tem all worked hard to make this far in the tournament and he didn't want their hard work to go to waste just because of some threat. If they were going to lose to them, it would be in a fair fight with both sides holding nothing back.

"It's too late to change the past." Misaki continued. "At times like this, you just have to try not to feel. Just keep looking straight ahead. Regrets are deadly. The more you think about it, the less you can function. Turn half of your heart to stone. Concentrate on what we have to do now. That's what I've always done and that's the only way to go on fighting. I know you can do it Takashi…Probably better than I can."

Everyone looked at Misaki as she finished her speech and each of them, to some extent, agreed that she was right. After coming so far in the tournament, it would be stupid to look back and ponder on the things that they did right or wrong. Doing that would accomplish nothing. It's important to keep moving forward with regrets, for that is the surest way to achieve victory in not only this tournament, but in battle against Rex Goodwin and the rest of Sector Security as well. With that, Takashi thanked Misaki for her words and quickly regained his usual confidence.

"_Attention Duelists, the next match of the Fortune Cup Qualifiers is about to begin,"_The announcer said over the loudspeaker. _"Will the following Duelists please make their way to the track; Lilly Muto and Tem Uraki."_

Lilly's eyes lit up a little upon hearing her name called. She wasn't expecting to be involved in the next Duel, especially against Tem. However, the young woman quickly regained her composure and prepared herself to make her way over to the track. However, before she left the locker room, she was stopped when Toru called out to her.

"Lilly," He said. "Be careful during your match. Tem is a strong Turbo Duelist who uses the Heroic archetype, which also means his Ace Monster is most likely, Heroic Champion – Excalibur. Trust me when I say that you mustn't underestimate him."

"Don't worry," Lilly replied as she turned around to face him. "I never underestimate my opponent, no matter who they are. If Tem's Ace Monster is the powerful Heroic Champion – Excalibur, then he's going to love the power of my Ace Monster."

"Wait a minute Lilly," Crow responded, slightly shocked at what his friend just said. "Does that mean you're going to summon _it _during your Duel?"

Lilly didn't respond to Crow's question right away and simply turned to face her childhood friend. She then gave him an uncharacteristic smile, which freaked him out a bit, before turning back and leaving the room. Upon seeing that smile, Crow figured out that Lilly was intending to do exactly what he was thinking about and that realization caused the Blackwing Duelist to give out a smile of his own.

"I see," He thought quietly to himself. "This during is going to be more interesting than I thought,"

With that in mind, Crow quickly ran out of the locker room and tried to find a good spot to watch the upcoming Duel. Not wanting to miss the action either, Takashi and the others quickly followed behind him, with Misaki being the last one to exit the room. However, as she closed the door, Misaki noticed that he right arm had a small rash on it. The sight of that confused her somewhat as she hadn't noticed it before. However, she soon came to the conclusion that it must've appeared shortly after her crash.

"It's nothing," She said quietly. "It's just a small rash. No need to make a big deal about it."

Meanwhile, as the others are attempting to find seats to watch the Turbo Duel, Tem was busy tending to his Duel Runner on the other side of the parking lot. With him was Madas, who was busying talking to him while the young man was working.

"Looks like you're going against Lilly," Madas said as he continued to watch Tem work. "I watched her Duel in the First Round and I saw that she's a pretty incredible Duelist. And since she's a friend of Crow, which probably means she's pretty good when it comes to Turbo Duels as well. You're going to have your hand full in this match, my friend."

Tem kept to himself as Madas kept going on and on about how strong Lilly is and how much of a hard time he's going to have against her during their Duel. Hearing all of that caused him to wonder if he's going to stand even the slightest chance against her. Not only that, but Tem's mind was also preoccupied with the events that took place earlier. Even though he took Takashi's side and respected his privacy, Tem was upset that he lost a friend in Aiku because of it. He was trying his best not to show his emotions to Madas and the others, but he found it extremely hard to do so.

"Hey," Madas said, noticing that there was something on Tem's mind. "Is something wrong? You seem lost in thought."

"…I am," Tem replied, slowly lifting his head as faces his friend. "I've been thinking about a lot of things. Like my upcoming Duel with Lilly, as well as the things that happened with Takashi and Aiku. I mean, when I first entered this tournament, I thought it would be really fun to hang out with all of my friends and battle against some of the greatest Duelists in all of Japan. However, I'm starting to think that it's not going to be fun as I initially thought, especially when it seems like everyone is hiding something."

"That's just life man," Madas pointed out. "This isn't some fairy tale where everyone is going to be nice to one another and we all live happily ever after. We entered this tournament with the sole purpose of winning and becoming the next Duel King of Japan. In order to do that, we're going to have to face our friends eventually. All we can do is go at them with all of our strength as they do the same with us and hope that our power will prevail. If it does then we win, but if it doesn't that's okay too. In the end, the best Duelist has to win, whether it is us or them. And as for Aiku, he made his choice and now he has to live with it. If he can't respect Takashi's privacy and just go on b***chin about it, then maybe it's best that we're not friends now."

"I guess," Tem reluctantly agreed. "But…"

Even though Madas made a lot of good points in his explanation, Tem still had his doubts and it showed in his face. Seeing that annoyed Madas greatly as he didn't like it when people had doubts. He believed that having doubts was deadly as it could cost you much in the end. Whether it's a Duel or something even greater than that, you had to keep moving straight ahead. By doing that, you can bring out your full potential in practically anything that you set your mind too.

"Tem," He said. "I know it sucks it lose a friend, but even so you can't let that get you down. You just have to keep moving forwards while, at the same time, trust that the friends that you still have will continue to support you. It's all about having the strength to keep going, no matter what may happen in the end."

"…But I don't know if I that strength Madas," Tem replied.

"I'm sure that you do," Madas responded with a smile. "You're one of the strongest people that I know. In fact, you have the strength to become a hero if you really wanted it too. Just like those Heroic monsters that you have in your deck."

Tem pulled out his deck when Madas compared him to all of his Heroic monsters. As he looked through all of his cards, the young man noticed the look of strength and confidence that each of his creatures possess, especially that of his Heroic Champion – Excalibur. Looking at all of them, Tem wonder whether or not Madas' words were true. He didn't see any real comparison between him and his monsters, but Madas did have a unique ability of seeing the best in the people that he encounters, so there was a chance that his words were true. In the end, Tem didn't really know what to believe, which caused him to have even more doubts.

Eventually, the announcer appeared on the loudspeaker once again and declared that both Lilly and Tem make their way to the starting line or face disqualification. Upon hearing that, Tem quickly shook his head repeatedly in order to rid himself of his doubts and went on to mount his Duel Runner. As he started up the engine and put his helmet on, Madas walked up to him and proceeded to give him once last piece of advice.

"Tem," He started off. "Just remember what I said. You have the strength of a hero. However, you can only bring it out when you have absolutely no doubts in your heart and that you have completely faith in yourself. In other words, you can only be strong unless you believe that you are."

"…Right," Tem said in a half-hearted tone of voice.

With that said, Tem proceeded to ride off and make his way towards the track. As he did that, Madas looked at his friend and remember the look of doubt and confusion that he had on his face. However, he also remembered the happy expression that he has when he has no doubts. Upon remembering that, Madas hope that the Tem with no doubts would appear in this Duel instead of the one that he's seeing now.

"You can do this Tem," He said to himself. "Just believe in your strength."

As Madas made his way towards the others so that he can watch the Duel with them, Tem finally made it towards the starting line where he saw that Lilly was waiting for him. When he placed his Duel Runner next to her, both Turbo Duelists revved up their rides and waited for the referee to declare the start of the match. While they waited, Lilly turned her head towards Tem and smiled at him.

"Let's give our all Tem," She said.

"…Yeah," Tem replied as he slowly turned to face her.

Lilly noticed the hint of hesitation in Tem's words and wondered what was wrong. However, the young woman simply assumed that he simply nervous about their match and that he would get over it once it got underway. Because of that, Lilly nodded her head and turned to face the front of the track. When she did that, she noticed that the referee was on the verge of starting the match. When he did, both Lilly and Tem rode off from the starting line, attempting to be the first corner before the other.

"C'mon Lilly, don't let him get ahead of you!" Crow yelled as he watched the race from the guardrail.

"Move it Tem!" Madas responded as he sat right next to Crow. "You have to push harder!"

As the two rivals continued to push their friends to go faster, Takashi and the other simply encouraged both Lilly and Tem to give it their all. Soon, the two Duelists were on the verge of reaching the first corner and it seemed like Tem was going to make it before Lilly. However, as he attempted to make the turn, Tem noticed that his opponent was right up at his heels, attempting to pass him. The sight of that caused him to hesitate for a split second, which slowed him down enough so that Lilly would take the lead. Because of that, Lilly was able to reach the first corner before him and won the right to make the first move.

"Alright!" She said in a satisfying tone of voice. "I can make the first move now, but before I do that I'm going to activate the Field Spell: Speed World 2!"

Lilly quickly pressed a button on her Duel Runner, which went to activate the effects of Speed World 2. This caused a purple aura to surround the entire stadium, making it possible for the people in the audience to see the moves that both she and her opponent play. Once that happened, Lilly and Tem then went on to draw 5 cards from their decks in order to build their respective hands, with Lilly preparing to draw a sixth card in order to commence the start of her turn.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Tem: 4000 LP**

"I'll start things off!" Lilly said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 1**

**Tem: SPC – 1**

Swiftly drawing a card from her deck, Lilly took a quick glance at what she picked up and saw that it was the perfect card to start the Duel with. As a result, she wasted no time in place the card firmly upon the Monster Card Zone of her Duel Disk.

"I Summon: Magician's Valkyria!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

A small flash of light appeared before Lilly as her first monster materialized right in front of her. When it fully appeared, the young woman watched as her beautiful Magician's Valkyria arrived out onto the field. Once it was out, Lilly continued on with her opening move by taking another card from her hand and placing it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. This action caused a card to appear face-down right beside her. However, the card wasn't around for very long as it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

"I then set one card face-down," Lilly continued. "With that, I end my turn."

When Lilly concluded her turn, Tem nodded his head in response and prepared to make his first move of the match-up. However, before he drew his first card, the young man decided to examine the cards in his hand first. As he did, he saw that he had a pretty good hand and that some of the cards had the potential of taking down Lilly's Valkyria. Seeing that made him a little bit happy, but he soon remembered that his opponent set a face-down card at the end of her turn. Tem didn't know what type of card it was, but he had a feeling it was a card that could potential destroy his monsters if he attacked recklessly. To that end, Tem decided to play it safe for now and wait until Lilly's next turn in order to make a big play.

"Alright," He said as he revved up his Duel Runner a little. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 2**

**Tem: SPC – 2**

After placing his hand upon his deck and drawing a card, Tem took a quick peek at it and saw that it was a good card, but not the one he wanted at the moment. As a result, he proceeded to place it in his hand along with his others cards before looking over each of them one more time. After about a minute of looking, Tem found the card that he wanted to play and went on to pick it up from his hand. Once he did that, he then placed the card horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Heroic Challenger – Swordshield, in Defense Mode!"

**Heroic Challenger – Swordshield: ATK 0 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Tem watched as a bright flash of light covered his side of the field for a few seconds. Once it faded away, he saw that his Heroic Challenger – Swordshield was out on the field in a defensive position. He looked on at his monster for a few moments before looking over at his hand one more time. After seeing that making any more moves would be pointless now, Tem decided to do the only he believed he could do at that moment in time.

"I end my turn," He said.

Lilly's eyes widen in confusion upon hearing Tem declare the end of his turn. All he did was summon a monster with 0 Attack Points and 2000 Defense Points. He didn't set any face-down cards in order to support it nor did he make any other plays to follow it up. This caused her to wonder whether Tem drew a bad hand and had no other cards to play or he's simply baiting her into a false sense of security.

While Lilly wondered what Tem was really up too, her friends were busy watching the Duel between them intently. Like her, they were also shocked by Tem's lackluster play and wondered what he was up too. As a user of the Heroic archetype, he must know that Heroic Challenger – Swordshield's ability can reduce any Battle Damage he takes to zero and prevent his other Heroic monsters from being destroyed through battle. However, that only implies if the card is in his hand, not on his field.

"What is he up too?" Akiza questioned.

"Beats me," Tem replied. "Usually, when I face Tem, he wants to start off strong so that he doesn't lose any momentum. This is very uncharacteristic of him to start off slow like this."

As Akiza and Toru continued to talk about what's happening, Madas silently wondered the same thing and started to wonder if what he said to Tem before the Duel really got through to him. From what he was seeing, it seemed that it hadn't. However, Madas has been wrong before and hoped that this was one of those cases.

"It's my turn again," Lilly said as she placed her hand back on her deck. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 3**

**Tem: SPC – 3**

After drawing another card from her deck, Lilly took a look at what she just drew and saw that she picked up another good card. She then looked back at the cards that were in her hand and quickly formulated an idea in her head. If this worked, then she could not only take down Tem's Swordshield and deal him a massive amount of damage, but could also be able to set up future plays down the road. Because of that, Lilly decided that this plan was worth executing and went on to make her move. She started off by taking a card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Breaker the Magical Warrior!" She declared.

**Breaker the Magical Warrior: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Once she placed the card onto her Duel Disk, Lilly watched as Breaker appeared out onto the field and stood beside her Magician's Valkyria. She then looked on as Breaker pulled out his sword and proceeded to have it absorb an orb of light that appeared along with its summoning.

"When Breaker is successfully summoned out on the field his Special Ability activates!" She continued. "He now gains one Spell Counter and for Counter he has Breaker's Attack Points increase by 300!"

**Breaker the Magical Warrior: ATK 1900 SC – 1 **

As Breaker continued to absorb energy from the orb that he absorbed, Lilly continued on with her turn by taking the card that she just drew and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When that happened, an orb of light appeared in front of her Valkyria and she watched as the female Spellcaster proceeded to place her hand into it.

"Next I equip Magician's Valkyria with the Speed Spell: Wonder Wand!" She explained. "With this card, as long as I have at least 2 Speed Counters, Valkyria's Attack increases by 500 points!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 2100**

After placing her hand into the orb that was in front of her, Valkyria soon found herself holding on to a new wand and proceeded to pull it out. When she did, the mage took a look at it and saw that it had Aztec design with a green orb on the top of it. Valkyria also noticed that this new wand was beginning her increase her magical powers. Eventually, it increased her powers to such a degree that she felt confident that she could breakthrough Heroic Challenger – Swordshield defenses. Fortunately for her, she would get the chance as Lilly proceeded to conduct her Battle Phase.

"Magician's Valkyria," She called. "Attack Heroic Challenger – Swordshield…Mystic Scepter Blast!"

Valkyria complied with her master's orders and quickly jumped high into the air as a result. She then combined the powers of her first wand with that of her Wonder Wand. This resulting combination of magical power formed a purple orb of energy that gradually started to increase in size. Eventually, once the orb was about the size as Valkyria's body, the mage proceeded to launch it towards Challenger – Swordshield. When the attack struck the monster, a huge explosion occurred, obliterating it completely. Once it was gone, Lilly then went to have Breaker get to begin his attack towards Tem, now that his field was empty.

"Go Breaker," She said. "Attack Tem's Life Points directly!"

Breaker nodded his head in agreement and went on to point his sword towards Tem. He then quickly his way over to him and struck him with one fell swing. The resulting blow didn't cause the young man any physical harm, but it did cause him to lose his balance as well as a good portion of his Life Points.

**Tem: 2100 LP**

As Tem attempted to get himself back in order after Breaker's attack, Lilly continued on with her turn by looking over her hand. Even though she managed to take down almost half of her opponent's Life Points, the young woman believed that such a move could inspire Tem to make an even bigger play on his next turn. As a result, Lilly decided that she needed to be prepared for it if it did happen. To that end, Lilly took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card appeared face-down on her side of the field for a few seconds, just like her other face-down card. However, like her other face-down, the card quickly disappeared soon after arriving.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," She said. "Okay Tem, let's see what you'll do now."

After Lilly finished up her turn, Tem was able to balance out his Duel Runner and continue on with the Duel. However he noticed that while he was trying to get himself straight, Lilly was able to widen the distance between them. The sight of that shook him a little as it reminded him about what Madas said about Lilly's skills. He then started to wonder whether it was a good idea to just play defensive on his first turn. However, as soon as he thought about that, Tem quickly shook his head in disapproval.

"No…stop thinking like that," He thought to himself. "This will work. It has to work."

After spending some time shaking that doubts from out of his head, Tem went to accelerate his Duel Runner and slowly close the distance between himself and Lilly. As he did that, the young went on to place his hand upon his deck and got ready to conduct his next turn.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 4**

**Tem: SPC – 4**

Quickly drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Tem decided that the time was now. If he waited any longer then Lilly would most likely take advantage and win the Duel on her next turn. As a result, he went on to grab one card from his hand and firmly place it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Heroic Challenger – Double Lance!"

**Heroic Challenger – Double Lance: ATK 1700 DEF 900 LVL 4**

Once he placed the card onto his Duel Disk, another bright flash of light quickly illuminated Tem's side of the field. When it faded, his Heroic Challenger – Double Lance proudly appeared in front of him and prepared itself for battle. However, but it could get the chance to attack, Tem then went to take another card from his hand and also place it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I activate Double Lance's Special Ability!" He stated. "When it's successfully summoned, I can Special Summon another Double Lance from either my hand or Graveyard!"

Heroic Challenger – Double Lance raised one of its weapons just as Tem place another card onto his Duel Disk. When he did that, another Double Lance appeared right beside the first. Once that happened, Tem then went on to grab one more card from his hand. However, instead of placing it into his Monster Card Zone, the young man instead inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder! With it, since I have at least 2 Speed Counters, I Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster directly from hand. However, in exchange, that monster cannot attack this turn."

Tem quickly grabbed another card from his hand and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone, right next to his other cards. Once he did that, a third flash of light shined in front of him as another monster began to materialize onto the field.

"I Special Summon: Heroic Challenger – Night Watchman!"

**Heroic Challenger – Night Watchman: ATK 1200 DEF 300 LVL 4**

When the light faded away, another Heroic Challenger appeared on Tem's side of the field and stood next to both of his Double Lances. The monster, as its name suggested, looked like a watchman with dark armor, a purple cape, and a grey helmet. It was also holding an item in each hand. The first was sword that firmly clinched in its right hand while the second was the old lantern that was held in its left.

Once he had all three of his monsters out, Tem went on to stack all three of his Heroic Challenger cards on top of one another. That action resulted in all three of his monsters transforming into colorful orbs of light, which began flying across the stadium.

"I Overlay both of my Level 4 Double Lances and Night Watchman!" He declared.

The orbs of light continued flying across the stadium as Tem proceeded to pull a card out from his Extra Deck. When he did that, a large portal appeared in front of him and he watched as all three orbs quickly dove themselves into it. Once he saw that, Tem firmly placed the card that he was holding on top of his Heroic Challenger cards.

"With these three monsters, I build the Overlay Network. Xyz Summon!"

As the orbs swam around inside the portal, a giant explosion occurred, causing an array of beautiful sparks to appear and shower the audience. It was at that moment that everyone noticed that a monster was beginning to appear from the depths of the Overlay Network.

"Appear now, a warrior who embodies the power of fire, Heroic Champion – Kusanagi!"

**Heroic Champion – Kusanagi: ATK 2500 DEF 2400 Rank 4**

As the monster finally came out from the portal of the Overlay Network, almost everyone in the stadium looked on in amazement as a powerful samurai appeared and stood by Tem. Kusanagi's appearance consisted of old 1800's samurai armor that had a black and orange design to it. He was also wielding an extremely sharp sword that had intense orange flames surrounding it like a tornado. The sight of the Heroic Champion got those who were watching the Duel really pumped up for what was to come next. However, not everyone was feeling the same way.

"Heroic Champion – Kusangi…?" Lilly questioned. "Why isn't he using Excalibur?"

That question ran through Lilly's mind for a while as she wondered why her opponent wasn't using his Ace monster against her. She was certain that Tem would bring it out once he had the opportunity to do so, but that wasn't the case at all. This caused her to wonder what was going on as Tem's style of playing seemed slightly different from what Toru explained to her earlier.

While she continued to think about this, Lilly's friends were wondering the exact same thing. Normally he would bring out Heroic Champion – Excalibur first before trying to Xyz Summon his other Champions, like Kusanagi. Also, the fact that he lost almost half of his total Life Points still bothered them to some extent. Eventually, Madas soon got up from his seat and started making his way towards the edge of the guardrail. He then looked on with great interest as he watched Tem continue his turn.

"Heroic Champion – Kusanagi," Tem called. "Attack Lilly's Magician's Valkyria…Fire Sword Slash!"

Kusanagi nodded his head and began channeling more fire into its sword. Eventually the sheer intensity of the flames themselves changed the color the sword from silver to orange. Once that happened, Kusanagi proceeded to make its way towards Lilly Valkyria, with the intention of cutting the mage down. However, just before that could happen, Lilly quickly activated one of her face-down cards as a result.

"Not so fast!" She stated. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Spellbinding Circle! With the power of this card your Heroic Champion – Kusanagi can no longer attack nor can it change its Battle Mode!"

After explaining the power of her Trap Card, Lilly looked on as her Magician's Valkyria conjured up a spell of binding that she quickly launched towards Heroic Champion – Kusanagi. However, the summoning of that type of spell was precisely the thing that Kusanagi was looking for and he proceeded to swing his sword at it. When he struck it, Lilly looked on in confusion as Kusanagi started absorbing the energy from her Trap Card.

"I activate Heroic Champion – Kusanagai's Special Ability!" Tem declared. "Once, during either players turn, I detach one Overlay Unit in order have my monster to negate the activation of your Trap Card and destroy it! Not only that, but if I successfully use this effect, Kusanagi also gains 500 extra Attack Points!"

Kusanagi continued absorbing energy from Lilly's Spellbinding Circle just as one of the Overlay Units that was surrounding him inserted itself into his body. When that happened, the warrior was able to fully absorb the power of Lilly's Trap and integrate its powers into his own.

**Heroic Champion – Kusanagi: ATK 3000**

"Uh oh!" Toru said in disbelief. "Now that Spellbinding Circle is gone, Kusanagi can go ahead and finish its attack!"

"Yeah," Takashi agreed. "Not only that, but since it activated its Special Ability, Kusanagi attack will deal even more damage to Lilly than before."

The two boys looked on in anticipation as they watched Tem's Heroic Champion continue to make his way over towards Lilly's Valkyria. However, Madas wasn't as excited as they were and sensed something was off. Soon, the young man saw that his suspicions were validated as he watched Lilly activate her second face-down card.

"I was saving this card until you brought out your Heroic Champion – Excalibur," She pointed out. "However, it seems you've left me no choice. I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Spellbinding Illusion!"

Tem eyes widen from confusion as had never heard of this face-down card before. Just what is Spellbinding Illusion and what type of powers does it have? Eventually, the young found out as he watched Magician's Valkyria quickly conjure up another binding spell just before Kusanagi struck her with his sword. When she finished, the mage placed it on the powerful warrior and looked on confidently as its magic began to take an effect of him. Soon, Kusanagi started screaming in agony as the flames that were surrounding its blade quickly died down, returning it to normal. Tem had absolutely no idea what was going on. Just what was happening to his creature? He was about to question Lilly on her actions, but he saw that the young woman was already beginning to explain.

"With the power of this Trap Card, the Special Abilities of your Heroic Champion – Kusanagi are negated!" She explained. "Not only that, but it also causes your monster to lose 500 of its Attack Points as well!"

Once Lilly finished explaining her card's effect, she looked on as her Spellbinding Illusion continued to take its toll on Champion – Kusanagi. Eventually, it came to the point that warrior couldn't stand it anymore and lowered his sword completely. This resulted in Kusanagi not only losing the power to destroy Lilly's Trap Cards, but also the strength that it gained from doing so, which made it even weaker than the monster that it was about to attack.

**Heroic Champion – Kusanagi: ATK 2000**

With Kusanagi's Attack Points now lower than that of its intended target, Tem quickly called off his monsters attack before it could finish. He started to contemplate what he was going to do next as he had never anticipated that Lilly would block the Trap countering ability of his Heroic Champion.

"What now?" He silently questioned. "I can't attack Magician's Valkyria because its strength now exceeds that of my Kusanagi. Not only that, but I can't attack Breaker the Magical Warrior either due to Valkyria effect. As long as it remains on the field, I'm forbidden from attacking Lilly's other Spellcaster-Type monsters. What should I do? What should I do, damn it?!"

Tem continued to ponder his situation as he couldn't think up of any immediate counter to Lilly's brilliant play. He tried looking over hand in order to see if it had the answer, but he found that he no cards that could get the job done. Bringing out Heroic Champion – Kusanagi was all he had and with it now disabled and powerless, Tem had no other moves to make. The sight of that crushed the young man's spirits and he did the only thing he could due to the situation he was currently in.

"I end my turn," He said sorrowfully.

"Then it's my turn," Lilly replied. "Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 5**

**Tem: SPC – 5**

Lilly turned her head back towards Tem again as she drew another card from her deck. The young woman was still confused that he summoned Heroic Champion – Kusanagi instead of Excalibur and she saw that the expression on Tem face also indicated that he was bothered by his own move as well. Seeing that face made Lilly want to figure out why her opponent was acting the way he was, but soon realized that she needed to focus on the matter at hand. She then decided to question him after she watches what he does during his next turn. To that end, Lilly began her own turn by taking Magician's Valkyria's card and the Wonder Wand Speed Spell from her Duel Disk and placing them into her Graveyard.

"I activate the second effect of Wonder Wand," She stated. "By sending it and the monster to the Graveyard, I can now draw two cards from my deck!"

After she placed both of her cards into her Graveyard, Lilly looked up and saw that her Valkyria was disappearing from the field. The mage looked towards her as she was fading away and smile, happy that she was useful to her master. Lilly returned her monster's affection with a smile of her own and kept watching as Valkyria disappeared completely. Once she was gone, Lilly proceeded to draw two cards from her deck, due to the effect of Wonder Wand, and held them in her hand. She examined both of the cards and saw that they were precisely the ones that she was hoping for. As a result, Lilly quickly placed one of the cards away while she took the other and placed it upon her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Shining Sprite!"

**Shining Sprite: ATK 1000 DEF 400 LVL 3**

When placed the card onto her Duel Disk, she watched as another flash of light covered her side of the field for a few seconds. When it faded a small, but beautiful fairy appeared and started flying all around her side of the field. The fairy had blonde hair with green eyes and was wearing a cute golden dress. Also, Shining Sprite's body was also covered in a golden aura, which gave it an even more radiant look to it.

"Now, I Tune my Level 4 Breaker the Magical Warrior with my Level 3 Shining Sprite!"

Both of Lilly's monsters nodded their head in compliance to her order and quickly jumped high into the air in order to begin the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. As they started the process, Lilly took both their cards from off of her Monster Card Zone and put them into their Graveyard. Once she did that, she then made her way over to her Extra Deck and pulled out a card from it. Lilly then looked at the card for about a second before turning back towards Tem, who seemed shocked at what she was doing.

"I don't know what's on his mind," She thought to herself. "But hopefully this will snap him out of it and force him to play more seriously."

Lilly turned back towards the card that she was holding and lifted high into the air for a few moments. It was at that moment that both Shining Sprite and Breaker the Magical Warrior finished the Synchro Ritual and a huge explosion of light appeared across the field. As the light blinded those who were watching the Turbo Duel, Lilly went on to place her card onto her Monster Card Zone and began chanting to herself.

"The Holy Light of Protection, shine down and become Eternal Life! Synchro Summon! Appear now, a regal birth, Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 3000 LVL 7**

When the light from the Synchro Summoning was slowly beginning to fade, a loud, but beautiful cry emerge and echoed across the entire stadium. Upon hearing that cry, Takashi eyes lit up and immediately jumped from his seat. He then made his way to where Madas was and started to examine the fading light.

"No way…" He said in a state of confusion and disbelief. "She actually summoned it. I thought she would wait until the Finals to bring it out."

The monster that Takashi was questioning about was Lilly's pride and joy, her beautiful Ancient Fairy Dragon. The dragon's appearance also surprised the rest of his friends while everyone else in the stadium was cheering in amazement at the sight of the majestic beast. As they looked at it, they quickly realized what Crow meant when he said _it. _He was referring to Ancient Fairy Dragon.

"So you really did bring it out," Crow said to himself. "Lilly…you only bring out that card unless it's something really important. Just what's going on between you and Tem?"

As the Blackwing Duelist continued to question his friend's actions, Lilly went on with her turn by watching Ancient Fairy Dragon body glow in the same golden aura that was surrounding her Shining Sprite. Tem noticed the aura as well and recognized the similarities it had Lilly's Tuner Monster. Eventually, it came to the point that the young man figured out what was going on.

"It's a two-layered plan!" He said out loud.

"That's right," Lilly confirmed. "I activate the Special Ability of my Shining Sprite! When it's used to Synchro Summon a Light Attribute monster, that monster gains 1000 extra Attack Points until End Phase of my opponent's next turn!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 3100**

After continuing to absorb the energy that it received from Shining Sprite, Ancient Fairy Dragon released an even louder cry than the one it gave just after its summoning. The sheer force of it created a sonic vibration that started shaking the stadium to some extent. The shockwave also shook the track as well, as Tem began losing his balance to some extent. As he attempted to recover, Lilly proceeded to have her Ace monster do battle against Tem's Kusanagi.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon, attack Heroic Champion – Kusanagi! Ancient Light!"

The dragon complied with Lilly's request and immediately started to increase the strength of the aura that was surrounding its body. Eventually, it came to the point that the aura started to consume everything that touched. When it came in contact with Heroic Champion – Kusanagi, the Warrior-Type monster was instantly enveloped inside of it and started screaming in pain. Tem looked on in a state of utter disbelief as one of his prized monsters vanished right before his eyes just as his Life Points began to drop again.

**Tem: 1000 LP**

Once the light from Ancient Fairy Dragon's attack faded away, the only thing remaining was the dragon itself. Heroic Champion – Kusanagi was gone and Tem was still coming to terms with what just happened. In what seemed like an instant, Lilly was able to strip his monster of its powers and destroy it as well. Not only that, but Lilly also had a powerful monster on the field that had over 3000 Attack Points. None of the monsters that he had in his deck could match the strength of Ancient Fairy Dragon and even if managed to power them up, Tem believed that Lilly would still have a way to counter it. The thought of that made the young man doubt not only his chances of victory, but also his actually Dueling skills as well.

Meanwhile, as they continued to watch the Duel, Takashi and the other were all looking on with look of mixed reaction. They expected this Duel to be a great one with both sides giving it their all. However, that only seemed to be the case with Lilly. Tem's style of play looked sloppy. It looked like something was preventing him from bring out his full power.

"Just what is going on with him?" Toru questioned. "It's like he's hesitating."

"I know," Takashi agreed. "He wasn't like this before. I wonder what's going on with him?"

While the two boys continued to discuss the matter, Madas already knew what was wrong with their friend and wonder what he could do about. He tried talking to him about his doubts, but that didn't seem to work. Now, with the Duel already in motion, he couldn't stop it in order to give him more advice. For moment, Madas had no idea what to do. It seemed to him the only thing he could do was cheer for Tem. Then, at the moment, something hit him.

"Cheer for him," He thought. "That's it. I got it!"

As Madas prepared to put his plan into motion, Tem was wondering what he should do in order to get out of the situation that he was in. Lilly clearly had him on the ropes and he had no cards in his hand in order to make a comeback. Things seemed hopeless for him and he soon contemplated about giving. He was about to stop his Duel Runner, which is the sign that a Turbo Duelist is surrendering the match, but he stopped when he Lilly slow herself down so that her pace matched that of his. Once she was at his speed, the young woman took her hand and smack Tem across the face, much to the shock of everyone watching.

"Ow!" Tem complained as he held his face. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I should be asking you that question!" Lilly firmly replied. "From the moment this Duel started, I was wondering what was going on with you as your moves seemed sloppy and unfocused. At first, I thought you were luring me into a false sense of security, but I now see that it's more than that. Just what the hell is up with you Tem?!"

"…It's…it's nothing," Tem answer hesitantly. "I'm just…out of it because you're good…that's all."

"That's Bulls**t!"

Lilly's shout caught Tem off guard and he started wobbling out of control. Seeing that, Lilly quickly reacted and grabbed his hand before he fell off his Duel Runner. She then used all of her strength to pull him up, even though it caused her to lose her balance a little bit. As he watched her get herself back together, Tem started to wonder why she did that.

"You…you help me?" He said in confusion.

"Of course," Lilly replied. "I can't just sit by and watch someone in trouble. Besides, if you crashed I would be declared the winner and I don't want to win that way!"

Hearing Tem's confusion grew even more as he didn't quite understand what Lilly was telling him. For what she was telling him, it seemed that Lilly had every intention of winning the Duel. However, that didn't mean that she wanted because of a technicality. For Lilly, the Fortune Cup Qualifiers are more than just a trial that she has to go through in order to ensure the safety of her and her friends. It was far more personal than that.

"A few months ago," She continued. "I lost horribly to an opponent that I really hate. I was so determined to beat him and make him pay for all the things that he's done. However, I wasn't strong enough to overcome him. Since then, I've trained with all of my heart and soul so that I can get him back the next time we Duel. I've entered this tournament with the sole purpose of making him pay. However, that won't mean anything if one of my opponents surrenders because of their doubts and weaknesses!"

"…What do you mean?" Tem questioned.

"Victory only has merit when it's achieved through hard work," Lilly explained. "I'm a strong Duelist because I worked hard in order to become one. When I win a Duel, it shows me that all my hard work paid off. However, that's not the case when my opponent gives up. If they do that, then I won't know if I could've defeated them. That's like saying you're either too chicken to face or I'm not worth your time. I know that you're the type of man who would never do that Tem! I heard that you give it all in whatever you do and that you Duel with all of your heart and soul. That strength is also extended to your Heroic monsters, which are known for their fierce strength and never give up at attitude. If you give up now then you're not only disrespecting me, but you're also proving to the world just how weak and feeble you are. You have the strength of a hero Tem Uraki…its name to show it!"

After finishing her speech, Lilly stared intently at Tem as she awaited a response from him. As she did, the young man was busy thinking about everything that she said. It was true that he would usually give it his all during a match and that he would never give up until his Life Points hits zero. He would show the very same tenacity that his Heroic monsters display and keep going until the very end. However, with Lilly's strength and all the things with Aiku still going on in his head, Tem still had his doubts. That is, until he heard something from a distance.

"Don't give up man!"

Tem turned his head towards the direction of the source of the sound and soon found Madas standing on top one of the chairs, cheering for him while waving his shirt around. Even though things looked dire for his friend, Madas still had faith that Tem would be able to pull though and wanted to show that he believed I him. As a result, Madas continued cheering for Tem despite embarrassing himself by having his shirt off and waving it like he was at a college student at a football game.

However, Madas' display of passion had contagious feel to it as Takashi, Toru, and Crow proceeded to get up from their seats and do the same thing. They didn't care that it would make them stand out, they wanted to cheer for their friend and persuade him to keep going. Akiza and Misaki, even though they had no intention of doing the same thing that the boys were doing, felt the same passion that they were feeling. As a result, the two girls also cheered for Tem, hoping that their words will persuade Tem to keep going.

After seeing all his friends cheer him on, Tem turned his attention back towards Lilly and saw that she was still looking at him with a fierce look in her eyes. Seeing that look made him remember why Aiku left as he didn't like that Takashi was hiding things from him. Lilly must feel the same way that Aiku does, but she's not letting it get to her. She's not letting what's happening earlier affect what's happening right now. Seeing that made him finally realize how much of an idiot he's been acting. What's happens outside of a Duel shouldn't have any meaning during the actual Duel itself.

"I'm so stupid," He said to himself. "I let my doubts and personal feelings get in the way of what really matters right now. I came here to win and that's exactly what I'm going to do! My name is Tem Uraki. I'm 15-years-old and I will win this Duel…because I know I have the strength to do so!"

With his desire to win now apparent to him again, Tem started yelling at the top of his lungs in order rid of himself of anything lingering doubts he may have left. Once he did that, Tem glared at Lilly as his eyes were now filled with passion and determination. He then revved up his Duel Runner and started to make his way past her. Once she saw that, Lilly smiled as she knew that the real Duel was about to begin. As a result, she revved her Duel Runner as well and quickly made her way up to her opponent. She then continued on with her turn by taking a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card materialized in front of her for a few seconds before eventually vanishing.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "With that, I end my turn!"

"Alright!" Tem yelled. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 6**

**Tem: SPC – 6**

After drawing a card from his deck and seeing that it was exactly the one he needed, Tem started smiling confidently as he proceeded to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the young man then started to explain the effect of the card he just played while placing his hand back upon his deck at the same time.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton! With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards from my deck at the cost of discarding one card from my hand to the Graveyard!"

Tem swiftly drew another two cards from his deck and took a quick glance at them before placing them into his hand. He then took a card that he didn't need and placed it into his Graveyard before continuing on with his turn. He continued by taking one of the cards that he just recently drew and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Heroic Challenger – Spartan!"

**Heroic Challenger – Spartan: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Once Tem placed the card onto his Duel Disk, the young man watched as his Heroic Challenger – Spartan appeared before him from a bright flash of light. When it fully materialized onto the field, Tem then took the other card that he drew and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Heroic Revival! Now, by removing 2 Speed Counters, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or bellow Heroic monster from my Graveyard! So appear, Heroic Challenger – Double Lance!"

**Tem: SPC – 4**

A bright flash of light erupted on Tem's side of the field as his trusty Heroic Challenger – Double Lance appeared and started standing next to Heroic Challenger – Spartan. However, the two Warrior-Type monsters wouldn't be around for long as Tem promptly took both of their respective cards and stacked them on top of one another. Once he did that, both Spartan and Double Lance transformed themselves into colorful orbs of light.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Spartan and Double Lance!"

The two orbs started flying around the entire stadium just as the portal to the Overlay Network reappeared in front of Tem. When it fully emerged, both orbs dove themselves into it. Tem then went on to grab another card from his Extra Deck and quickly stacked it on top of his Heroic Challenger cards. This action caused the Overlay Network to erupt again and release another array of sparks.

"With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!"

Another eruption occurred from within the portal just Tem finished his chanting. He then looked on as another monster began to make its way out of it. The people in the audience were amazed at the sight of the creature as it seemed more powerful than Tem's first Xyz Monster.

"Appear now, a warrior who embodies the power of lightning, Heroic Champion – Excalibur!"

**Heroic Champion – Excalibur: ATK 2000 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

When the monster eventually made it way out of the Overlay Network, Madas' eyes lit up in approval as he was glad that Excalibur was now in the Duel. He then waited to see what Tem was going to do with his Ace monster now that it's on the field. Quickly though, the young man would get that chance as Tem immediately took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I equip Excalibur with the Speed Spell: Lightning Blade!" He explained. "With it, as long as have 4 Speed Counters, my Heroic Champion's Attack Points increase by 800!"

**Heroic Champion – Excalibur: ATK 2800**

Excalibur unsheathed the sword that it had on its back and raised it high into the air. Then, from out of nowhere, a random lightning bolt appeared and struck the blade. The power of the lightning bolt energized the power of the sword and, by extension, Excalibur as well. This increased its already impressive strength to even higher level. However, even with that power-up, Tem was done yet and immediately took the two cards that were underneath Excalibur's card and placed them into his Graveyard.

"Next, I activate Excalibur's Special Ability! By removing 2 of its Overlay Units, Excalibur's Attack Points are doubled until the End Phase of my opponent's next turn!"

**Heroic Champion – Excalibur: ATK 5600**

Lilly looked on in a state of both excitement and fear as watched Excalibur absorb both of its Overlay Units into its body. With the power of those Units, the Heroic Champion's power was increased to an even higher level and was now the most powerful monster on the field. Realizing that, Lilly kept her finger close to her Duel Disk, as she needed to be ready to activate her face-down card when Tem launched his attack.

"Alright Lilly," Tem said. "You've wanted my best, well here it is! Heroic Champion – Excalibur…attack Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

Excalibur complied and prepared to swing its mighty sword towards Lilly's dragon. However, just before the attack struck, the young woman activated her face-down card. The power of the card created a barrier, which was strong enough to withstand Excalibur's attack.

"Sorry, but I activate the Trap Card: Impenetrable Attack!" She stated. "With it, I can choose to either negate the Battle Damage of this attack or prevent my dragon from being destroyed through battle this turn! Obviously, from what you're seeing, I choose the latter."

"It doesn't matter Lilly!" Tem pointed out. "Even if you use your Trap Card to save your monster, you're still taking damage!"

Tem was right in his explanation as an explosion occurred between his Heroic Champion and Lilly's Trap. The power of the explosion created a shockwave that caused Lilly to not only lose control of her Runner for a little bit, but also cost her 2500 Life Points as well.

**Lilly: 1500 LP**

"I'm not done yet Lilly!" Tem said as he watched her straighten herself out. "Since Heroic Champion – Excalibur attacked your dragon, but failed to destroy it in battle, I can now activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Heroic Burst! And with its power, you're now taking damage equal to your monster's Level, multiplied by 200 points!"

Lilly's eyes widen in disbelief as Tem took his Heroic Burst Speed Spell and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as the remnants of energy that was leftover from the explosion formed together into one powerful blast. The energy then shot towards Lilly, hitting her and causing to lose 1400 of her Life Points.

**Lilly: 100 LP**

When the blast finished its assault on Lilly, she attempted to get herself back together as she was beginning to lag behind. As she did that, everyone else in the stadium was shocked by what they just witnessed. In just one turn, Tem was not only able to bring out his best monster, but also drain Lilly of 3900 of her Life Points. Never before have they seen such a play. They then realized that it would take a miracle for Lilly to turn things around.

"…The Duel is reaching its climax," Misaki pointed out.

"Yeah…," Akiza agreed.

"Lilly's going to need to win on her next turn or it's over for her," Takashi explained.

"Don't worry," Toru said. "She's not going to let us down."

"We'll see about that," Madas countered. "Now that Excalibur's out, Tem's strength is increased several fold."

"I can see that," Crow agreed. "But the same can be said for Lilly and her Ancient Fairy Dragon."

As the other contemplated the possible scenarios, Tem turned his head around and saw that Lilly was making her way up to her. He also noticed that despite his amazing assault, her eyes still did not falter. The sight of that made him happy as he was glad that he was facing an opponent as strong as her. He then decided to continue the excitement by taking a card from his hand and placing it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card momentarily appeared face-down on his side of the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now Lilly, let's go! Both of our strongest monsters are on the field! The stage is set for showdown the likes of which the world as never seen!"

"I agree Tem," Lilly agreed. "The time has come to see which of us is the stronger Duelist. No matter who wins, we'll know who deserves to make it to the Finals!"

With that said, Tem revved up his Runner again and started to widen the distance between himself and Lilly. However, Lilly had no intention of falling behind and managed to match his pace. Still, despite the fact that she didn't fall lose any distance, the young woman was still behind in terms of Life Points and power, due to her Shining Sprite's effect ending this turn.

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 2100**

"Alright!" She exclaimed. "It's time now. My turn, Draw!"

**Lilly: SPC – 7**

**Tem: SPC – 5 **

After drawing a card from her deck, Lilly took a glance at it and saw that it was a card that she could definitely use. She then examined all of the other cards that she had in her hand and soon saw a strategy for victory. By placing these cards in the correct order, Lilly believed that she could conjure up a move that would allow her to overcome Tem's Heroic Champion – Excalibur and win the Duel. However, such a play would be difficult and there was a chance that Tem already saw through her move and had a counter for it. The thought of that scenario ran through her mind for a few moments as she knew that everything was depending on this last move. As a result, Lilly looked towards her Ancient Fairy Dragon and saw that it was staring back at her.

_You can do this Lilly. Just believe in yourself._

Lilly nodded head after hearing Ancient Fairy Dragon's voice and immediately cleared her mind of her negative thoughts. She then firmly took the card that she was holding and promptly slammed it across her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Gagaga Magician!" She declared.

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto her Duel Disk, Lilly watched as Gagaga Magician appeared and started flying next to her. She then quickly grabbed another card from her hand proceeded to insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next I activate the Speed Spell: Gagaga Call! With it, since I have at least 3 Speed Counters and face-up Gagaga Magician on my field, I can now Special Summon Gagaga Girl from my hand!"

**Gagaga Girl: ATK 1000 DEF 800 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light shined across Lilly's side of the field as a beautiful magician appeared before her and Gagaga Magician. This mage was wearing clothes similar to that of her fellow Spellcaster, with the exception of being more revealing as her face was not covered up. Gagaga Girl was also holding a cell phone with a tiny skull key chain at the end of it.

"I activate the Special Abilities of both Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl! For Gagaga Magician, his Special Ability allows me to change his Level from 1 to 8 until the End Phase of this turn. I choose to make Gagaga Magician a Level 2 monster. Then, for Gagaga Girl, her Special Ability allows her to assume the same Level as my magician, making her a Level 2 monster as well!"

**Gagaga Magician: LVL 2**

**Gagaga Girl: LVL 2**

With both of her magicians now at the same Level, Lilly didn't waste any time in placing both of their cards on top of one another. She then watched as her magician's transformed into orbs of light and began flying all around the stadium.

"I Overlay my Level 2 Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl!" She declared. "With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network. Xyz Summon!"

The portal to the Overlay Network once again appeared onto the field as Lilly's two monsters quickly made their way over to it. Once they made their way inside the portal, a giant explosion of light occurred. When that happened, Lilly grabbed another card from her Extra Deck and placed it firmly upon her Monster Card Zone, right next to Ancient Fairy Dragon's card.

"Shine beautifully, a magician whose powers dwell in light, Shining Elf!"

**Shining Elf: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 Rank 2**

Once the explosion began to fade away, everyone watched as a powerful magician appeared and started standing next to Lilly. The Spellcaster was wearing ancient armor which was colored white, purple, and gold respectively and had his mouth covered by a purple scarf. Shining Elf was also holding a powerful sword in his right hand, which was radiating a golden aura. The sight of that aura reminded Tem of Lilly's Shining Sprite and instantly assumed that it had a similar effect. Fortunately for him, he had prepared for such an outcome.

"I activate the Continuous Trap: Excalibur's Soul!" He declared as he activated his face-down card. "With it, as long as Heroic Champion – Excalibur is on my field, any Xyz monsters that my opponent summons can't attack until next turn!"

After explaining the effects of his Trap Card, Tem watched as his Excalibur released a powerful and overwhelming pressure across the entire field. The pressure didn't affect Lilly's Ancient Fairy Dragon, since it wasn't a Xyz monster, but it did take its toll on Shining Elf. Eventually, the power became too much for the Spellcaster to overcome and was force to one knee as a result. Upon seeing that, Tem believed that he had Lilly since her monster couldn't attack and her Ancient Fairy Dragon couldn't stand up to his Excalibur. However, that belief soon flew out the window as Tem noticed something off about Shining Elf. Upon taking a closer look at him, Tem saw, much to his surprise, the spirit of Gagaga Girl in front of Shining Elf.

"I activate Gagaga Girl's Special Ability!" Lilly said. "When she and another Gagaga monster are used to Xyz Summon, I can choose one monster on my opponent's side of the field and drain it of all of its Attack Points!"

Gagaga Girl nodded her head and started typing something on the cell phone that she was holding. Once she finished what she was doing, the spirit presented it to Heroic Champion – Excalibur and a bright flash of light started to shine from the phone. The power of the light began to drain all of the mighty warrior's powers, much to Tem's shock and disbelief.

**Heroic Champion – Excalibur: ATK 0**

"Now…Ancient Fairy Dragon," Lilly called as she watched Heroic Champion – Excalibur's power drain completely. "Attack Excalibur…Ancient Light!"

Tem looked on as Ancient Fairy Dragon created another flash of light that began to make its way towards his Heroic Champion – Excalibur. However, instead of being afraid of the light than before, Tem was satisfied with it. Granted, he wasn't happy that he was about to lose, but he wasn't upset either. During this Duel, he learned to fully overcome his doubts as well as keeping his personal troubles away from what really matters. Also, the fact that a powerful opponent such as Lilly was moving on made him happy as she deserved this victory. So, with the light closing in on his monster, Tem braced himself and watched as Lilly's attack consumed both him and Excalibur.

**Tem: 0 LP**

"_This Duel is over!" _The announcer said over the loudspeaker. _"The winner of the match is Lilly Muto!"_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With her victory over Tem, Lilly has secured the 6__th__ spot in the Fortune Cup Finals. Now the 7__th__ Duel is about to begin as Crow and Madas are pitted against each other. These two have had a rivalry since their first encounter, in which Madas won. Can Crow avenge his loss and become the 7__th__ qualifying Duelist or will Madas once again achieve victory over him?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 69: Black-Winged Dragon vs. Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements <strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to thank all of you for helping me reach over 400 Reviews. You have no idea how much that means to me and I'm really happy that a lot of your reviews have been really positive. I hope that you will continue to review Over the Nexus as we now make the trip to 500._

_Next, I want to clear the air about a certain factors within the story. As you know, I've been using the word Reiatsu, which means Spiritual Pressure, and Takashi is now wielding a sword. These are not allusions to the manga/anime series Bleach. Reiatsu is the invisible force that's produced when someone or something is generating an incredible amount of energy. When you watch a TV show and see characters that use an energy attack, odds are their powers generate a force that can have an effect on those present. As for the sword, Takashi created it during his fight with Amon, back in Chapter 44. Since then, Takashi kept it with him as he didn't feel the need to throw it away. Also, as you continue to learn more about Takashi, you'll discover why he wields his sword and how he learned to be so good in Martial Arts in general._

_While we're on that subject, I want to explain why I integrate hints from different series into this story. The nexus, in Over the Nexus, means a connected series or group. In others words, you're grabbing ideas from different sources. I'm simply using ideas from different stories in order to make this one more interesting. However, that doesn't mean the aspect of Over the Nexus will change. This story will continue to remain a mostly Yu-Gi-Oh series with Dueling acting as one of the main points to it. I just don't want to do a story in which every affair is settled with a Duel. No offense, but I'm not going to settle a small affair, such as a debate over who gets to watch TV with a Duel. In some cases, you need to settle issues with a good old fashion fist fight or talk._

_Lastly, I want to inform all of you that I've decided to continue my second story; Trials to Becoming a Master. Please look out for Chapter 3 of that story sometime in the nearby future. _

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	69. Chapter 69

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus

Fan Fiction by: Spirit Reader

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Including GX, 5D's, and Zexal) original creator: Kazuki Takahashi

**Chapter 69: **_Black-Winged Dragon vs. Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon_

* * *

><p>"<em>This Duel is over!" <em>The announcer declared over the loudspeaker. _"The winner of the match is Lilly Muto!"_

After a fierce battle in which she had to give it everything she had, both mentally and emotionally, Lilly has successfully defeated her friend Tem Uraki in the second round of the Fortune Cup Qualifiers. Now, with her victory, Lilly has not only secured the 6th spot in the Finals, but also moved herself and her friends one step closer into securing their safety from the clutches of Sector Security. The thought of that brought a small smile upon Lilly's face as she knew she did a good job.

As she skid her Duel Runner across the race track, Lilly lifted her head and looked upon the large crowd of people that made up the stadium audience. All of them were cheering in unison as they were excited that such an excellent Duelist has not only made her way into the next round, but also gave them an exciting Duel as well. However, in her personal opinion, Lilly didn't care less about what the crowd thought about her. Whether it cheers of approval or jeers of disapproval, the young woman simply didn't care how the crowd reacted. Having been in this tournament for two rounds now, Lilly has seen that the masses will easily change their opinion about someone depending on how their doing. Seeing that always made her mad as it showed her that the audience is very fickle and will easily betray someone if they're not doing something they like. So, as she stopped her Runner, all Lilly did in response to the crowd's cheers was place her head down and close her eyes.

While she did that, the Duel Mode on her Runner was beginning to deactivate, resulting in all the holograms to slowly fade away. One of those holograms included her Ace Monster, Ancient Fairy Dragon, who proceeded to release one final roar. The sheer volume of the dragon's roar caused Lilly to reopen her eyes and look upon it as it continues to disappear. Upon seeing her Dragon, Lilly instantly tuned out all the noise that the crowd was making and started talking to her monster.

"Thanks for helping me out back there…Ancient Fairy Dragon," Lilly said. "I'm glad I can always rely on your strength."

'_I will always be there to lend you my power Lilly,' _Ancient Fairy Dragon replied._ 'However, you deserve most of the credit. It through your strength and kindness that you not only won you this Duel, but also allowed your friend to gain the strength to keep going, even when things looked dark for him.'_

"I guess," Lilly said softly. She soon turned her attention towards Tem and saw that he was being congratulated by their other friends. "But that's only because I have friends who believe in me and give me the strength to keep going. If it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't even be here today."

Ancient Fairy Dragon looked at Lilly very intently as she thought about what she just said. Ever since she's known her, Ancient Fairy Dragon as seen Lilly encounter several tragedies in her life and overcome them every time. And, like the young Singer explained, it was because she had her friends by her side that she was able to get through those tragedies. Also, because of the love she has for her friends, Lilly has worked hard to improve herself so that she doesn't lose them. Ancient Fairy Dragon was glad that her partner's strength came from her desire to protect her loved ones instead some other selfish cause. However, she also noticed that something was missing.

'_Lilly," _She called, quickly grabbing her attention. _'It pleases me to hear you say that. However, at the same time, I can tell that you're not using your powers to their fullest extent."_

"…I'm not using my powers….to the fullest?" Lilly questioned. "What do you mean?"

'_Ever since that incident when you were a little girl, I've always watched over you and given you strength whenever you needed it,' _Ancient Fairy Dragon elaborated. _'No matter what the trial you had to face, I've tried my best to help you overcome it. The same thing can be applied towards your friends, who have always supported you, even when you have doubts. You have gained strength because of all of us. But even so, there are some things that you can only obtain through your own effort. Lilly…you have yet to stand on your own two feet and that's why you're unable to utilize your full power.'_

"…If that's the case," Lilly replied silently. "Then how do I stand…on my own two feet?"

'_I cannot answer that question," _The dragon told her. _'You must search the depths of your soul in order to find it…just like your friend Takashi did. However, I have faith that you can do it Lilly. You just need to believe in yourself.'_

With her message given, Ancient Fairy Dragon completely faded away and returned to the Spirit Realm, leaving Lilly with more questions than answers. It was true that Lilly relies on the support of her friends to get her out of trouble, but she's always made it a point to try and handle things on her own if she had the power to do so. However, in recent days, that hasn't been the case. It's like she has to count on people even more, especially in times when her resolve wavers. If what Ancient Fairy said was correct, then it's possible that Lilly has been relying too much on her friends. That she needs to learn to count on her own power to get her through problems and only have the help of her friends when she really needs it. In the end, Lilly didn't really know. However, she believed that she'll find the answer, just like Ancient Fairy Dragon said she would.

Eventually, after she finished thinking about it, Lilly noticed that her friends were making their way over to her, congratulating her on a job well done. Seeing all of them brought a smile back on Lilly face as she was happy that they were happy. She then remembered Ancient Fairy Dragon's words and came to the conclusion that even though she relied on her friends a lot, the fact remained that she needed them. She wouldn't have gotten past the troubles in her life without them and that her life would not be worth living if they weren't there to comfort her. Even if it meant being unable to stand on her own, Lilly felt that as long as she had her precious friends by her side, she could get by just fine.

As Lilly and the others continued talking, Tem looked at all of them from afar and smiled upon seeing how close they all were. He could tell that all of them have their own unique personalities and that they may get into fights every now and again, but they still care about each other deeply and are willing to go to any lengths in order to make sure that they, or anyone else they know, are okay. Their close relationship, in a way, resembled very much like a close-knit family. The thought of that made Tem smile as it made him happy that he not only knows all of them, but is friends with all of them as well.

Soon, as Tem continued to look upon Lilly and the others, Madas made his way up to him and gently place his arm his head. He then proceeded to give him a noogie before looking towards him and smiling.

"That was a sweet Duel man," Madas said in approval. "I'm sorry that you lost though,"

"It's okay," Tem said as he got Madas' arm from around his head. "I mean…it sucks that I lost, but I'm not mad about it. In fact, I feel…happy."

"Happy?" Madas questioned.

"Yeah," Tem confirmed. "You see, Dueling Lilly has given more than just a simple victory. It's allowed me to fully overcome any of the doubts I had earlier and finally see that I'm as strong as anyone else here in this tournament. Also, Dueling her as also showed me that I shouldn't let what's going on in my personal life effect me. Granted, I'm still a bit upset about how Aiku left, but I'm not going to let that stop me. I'm going to keep moving forward with all my strength and not let anything stop me from achieving the dreams that I want to achieve."

Tem took out his Heroic Champion – Excalibur card from out of his Extra Deck and raised it high into the air. He looked at his Ace Monster for a few moments before turning his attention back towards Madas.

"It just like you said," He continued. "My strength is represented through my monsters. So as long as I don't lose hope, I know I can succeed."

Madas smiled after listening to Tem's speech, as he was glad that his friend was back on the right track. He then looked over to where the others were and saw how happy they are. Seeing them happy like that made Madas happy as well, causing him to remember something from his past.

"You know," He said. "Back before I met those guys, I was actually kind of a jerk. I didn't really get close to anyone and I got mad for even the simplest things. However, that all changed when I met Crow for the first time. Dueling him not only brought out the best of me as Duelist, but as a person as well. After that I started opening up to people more and I made a lot of new friends in the process, like Takashi, Lilly, and the others well. I'm really grateful that I not only know them, but I can all of them my friends as well."

"Yeah," Tem agreed. "I feel the same way."

Tem and Madas nodded their heads towards each other, signifying their agreement that being friends with Takashi Nakamura and the others has really helped them out in more ways than one. Both of them have had their struggles, both inner and external, but were able to overcome them because they had them by their side. Being friends with all of them was one of the best things that happen to them and both Tem and Madas agreed that they would do everything within their power to make sure not to betray their friendship.

Soon, after spending some time with the others, Lilly made her way towards Tem. When she reached him, she went to extend her hand out to him. Tem nodded his head in response to this and proceeded to shake her hand as a result. The two Duelists then started smiling at each other for a few moments before eventually breaking the handshake.

"That was a great Duel Lilly," Tem said to her. "I'll be rooting for you in the Finals."

"Thanks Tem," Lilly replied. "I appreciate that."

Madas and the others all smiled upon the interaction between Lilly and Tem. Even though one of them had to lose in their battle, they didn't let that affect their friendship in the slightest. In fact, in some ways, it actually improved it. It was because of the belief that Lilly had in Tem's skills that allowed him to Duel the way he did towards the end of the match. That instance has proven that good friends can bring the best in one another, whether it be Dueling or anything else.

"_Attention Duelists," _The announcer called from over the loudspeaker. _"The next Duel is about to begin."_

Everyone looked up upon hearing the announcer speak and prepared themselves to learn about the next Duel. This was especially true for Crow, Toru, and Madas, as the three of them have yet to compete. With only 2 Duels remaining in the second round and only 4 Duelists remaining, the three of them knew that either one or two of them would be taking part in the next match. The real question was whether or not their facing one another or the mysterious 4th Duelist who have yet make himself known. Eventually, all of them would find out as the announcer named the competitors who would be competing in the 7th Qualifying Duel.

"_Will the following Duelists please make their way to the Duel Track; Crow Hogan and Madas Elvin."_

After the announcer declared who was going to be participating in the next Duel, everyone turned their heads towards Madas and Crow, who were both shocked that their names were called. The two then turned their heads and looked at each other for a moment. Soon after that, the two of them soon found themselves smiling confidently, as this was the moment that they've been waiting for. Even though the both of them wanted to face each other during the Finals, this was still a good opportunity for them. Now, the two of them not only have the opportunity to make to the Finals, but also settle the rivalry that they started all those months ago.

With their desire to face each other now reinvigorated, Crow and Madas silently nodded their heads towards one another before making their way towards their respective Duel Runners. As they did that, Takashi looked at Crow for a moment and remembered something that he heard a while ago. He then turned his attention towards Lilly and proceeded to ask her a question.

"Hey Lilly," He said. "Didn't Crow and Madas face each other in the past?"

"That's right," Lilly confirmed. "Crow told me that they Dueled shortly after the Fortune Cup was announced. He also told me that he lost that match."

"However, Madas did say that his Duel with Crow was the hardest match in his life," Tem said. "He also said that he only won that Duel because of the powers of his Galaxy/Photon Deck and most notably, his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon."

Upon hearing Tem say the name Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, Takashi closed his eyes for a moment and thought about the powerful monster. Galaxy-Eyes is a powerful monster, whose statistics rivals that of the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It also has the power to remove itself and the monsters it battles from play, leaving a possible opening for direct attacks. It's pretty much mandatory for anyone using Galaxy or Photon cards to it in their deck.

Once he finished thinking about it for a moment, Takashi pulled out his deck from its holster and started looking through all the cards. As he looked through them, Akiza noticed what he was doing and decided to take a peek. When she looked over at his cards, Akiza saw that Takashi had his own Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.

"I didn't know that you had Galaxy-Eyes Takashi," She said to him.

"It belonged to my mother," Takashi explained. "When she passed away, I inherited all the cards that she collected throughout the years. I just happen to find it in the Photon section of her cards and I decided to put it in my deck, believing its power could help me out. However, I only used it once during a Duel and that was when I fought that Security Officer back in the Satellite."

"I see," Akiza said. "Well, since you have a Galaxy-Eyes, that must mean you have a way to fight it don't you?"

"I do," Takashi confirmed. "And the best way to defeat it is to make sure that it doesn't leave the field. The real question is, whether or not Crow has the ability to do that."

"He does have the ability," Lilly supported. "If Crow's good a one thing, it's being able to learn from his mistakes."

While everyone continued talking about how the styles of the two Duelists will come into play, both Crow and Madas finally made their way over to the starting line. Once they were there, the two of them made final preparations towards each of their Duel Runners. As they did that, Crow glanced over towards Madas' Runner and seemed surprised by it.

"Hey Madas," He called. "Since when did you have a Duel Runner?"

"Do you remember my friend, Miri Miyagi?" Madas questioned.

Crow thought about that name for a moment and instantly flashback to the day he first met Madas. On that day, his Runner broke down and nice young woman named Miri helped him out by giving him a brand new engine that she designed. Crow also remembered that Miri has very light eyes that made him believe that she was blind, despite the fact that she has perfect 20/20 vision.

"Oh yeah, I remember her," Crow said. "Does that mean that she made your Runner?"

"That's right," Madas said. "Miri is a very talented mechanic and she's been one of my best friends ever since I was a little kid. Even I went I acted up and got sent to the Facility, she always had my back and even managed to bail me out. I owe her a lot, especially since she made me this Duel Runner when I qualified for the Fortune Cup. That's why I want to win the tournament's prize money, so that I can pay her back."

"I see," Crow said, understanding his friend's intentions. "So where is she now? Since the two of you are close, I would think that she would be here supporting you."

"Miri isn't really comfortable being around a lot of people," Madas explained. "This is especially true when it comes to large stadium crowds. And besides, she's not even in Japan right now. She's in America, doing a project for someone. I wanted her to be here, but she it's really important and had to go."

Madas placed his head down for a moment and started thinking about his friend. As he did, Crow noticed the look on his face and could tell right away that Madas' relationship with Miri was more than just friendship. He saw that he had strong romantic feelings for her. This reminded Crow of some of the relationships that a few of his friends have, like with Takashi and Akiza. As a result, Crow decided to say something that he felt could lift his friend's spirit.

"I know you want her to be here," He started off. "But, in a way, she is. Miri puts all of her heart and soul in her work, I know this because the engine she gave me is still working to perfection. Because of that, it's like she leaves an imprint of herself in all her work. She may not be here physically, but a part of her soul is, inside of your Duel Runner and inside of you."

Madas' eyes lit up a little after hearing Crow say that to him. He then started thinking about how hard Miri works when it comes to her projects and how she always puts her soul into everything that she does. So, in a way, she was indeed here with him. The thought of that brought a smile back on Madas' face and he soon nodded his head towards Crow as a result.

"Yeah…you're right," He said. "Then I guess…I better give this Duel everything I have. That way Miri can feel it, even though she's not here."

"Right," Crow agreed. "And I'll be right here giving it my all too."

With both of their minds set, Crow and Madas acknowledged each other one last time before getting themselves fully prepared for their upcoming Duel. Then, after a few minutes of waiting, the referee started waving his checkered flag and the two Duelists immediately drove from the starting line and began to make their way over towards the first corner. As they made their way over to it, both Crow and Madas proceeded to press a button on both of their Duel Runners.

"I activate the Field Spell: Speed World 2!" They declared.

Upon activating the Field Spell, a purple aura erupted from both of their Runners and started to completely envelop the entire stadium. Once that happened, the two of them continue their race towards the first corner. For the most part they seemed neck and neck, being unable to get past the other. This was very surprising, especially for Lilly as she believed that Crow was more experienced rider. Eventually, as they reached the final stretch, it looked like Madas was about to reach the corner first. However, at the last moment, Crow revved up his Duel Runner and gave himself as sudden boost a speed. The boost allowed him to take the lead for a moment and reach the first corner just before his opponent. As a result of his achievement, Crow was now allowed to make the first move in their Turbo Duel.

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Crow: 4000 LP**

**Madas: 4000 LP**

"Let's get this party started!" Crow suggested as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 1**

**Madas: SPC – 1**

Once he drew his first card of the Duel, Crow took a quick look at it before placing it in his hand. After he did that, the Blackwing Duelist started to reflect on the last time he faced Madas in a Duel. During that time, he tried to match his opponent's summoning speed with that of his own and part of Crow felt that was the reason for his defeat. This time he wanted to slow down his pace to some extent and only speed up, or bring out the big guns, unless he really needed too. To that end, Crow took one of his cards from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite!"

**Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Crow watched as a bright flash of light illuminated onto his side of the field. From that light, Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite appeared before its master and started flying beside him. Once he saw his monster by his side, Crow continued on with his turn by grabbing two more cards from his hand. He then went on to insert them into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone, Crow watched as the cards appeared right beside him in a face-down position before vanishing.

"I set two cards face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

"It's my turn now," Madas declared. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 2**

**Madas: SPC – 2**

Without wasting any time, Madas quickly drew the top card from his deck and placed it into his hand. As soon as he did that, the young man looked through all 6 of his cards and started coming up with a strategy. Like Crow, Madas remembered their previous Duel and reflected on all the things that he did right and wrong. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that it best to start out hard and fast. By doing that, Madas believed that he could build up enough momentum to stay ahead of Crow throughout the entire match and beat him again. So, with his strategy set, Madas took one the cards from his hand and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"To start off," He said. "I Special Summon: Photon Thrasher!"

**Photon Thrasher: ATK 2100 DEF 0 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light covered Madas' side of the field for a few moments as he watched his Photon Thrasher appear beside him. Once it fully materialized onto the field, Warrior-Type monster took its large sword and directed it towards Crow's Blackwing, showing that it wanted to cut it down.

"When I have no monsters on the field, I can Special Summon Photon Thrasher directly from my hand," Madas explained as he grabbed another card and also placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "Next, I Normal Summon: Photon Crusher!"

**Photon Crusher: ATK 2000 DEF 0 LVL 4**

Another bright flash of light illuminated across Madas' side of the field as another Photon Monster appeared before him. When the light faded, Photon Crusher appeared and stood right beside Madas and Photon Thrasher. However the two monsters wouldn't be on the field for long as their master proceeded to take both of their cards and stack them on top of each other.

"I Overlay both my Level 4 Photon Thrasher and Photon Crusher!"

As soon as Madas finished saying that, the two Photon Monsters transformed themselves into colorful orbs of light. The orbs then started flying all across the stadium for a few seconds, impressive the spectators with their display. Eventually, as the orbs flew around, a colorful portal appeared in front of Madas as rode across the track, causing the orbs to stop and turn their attention to it.

"With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network. Xyz Summon!"

The orbs shot towards the portal, letting themselves be engulfed by it. Once that happened, a powerful eruption occurred, causing beautiful flares of light to appeared and shine down upon everyone. It was at that moment that Madas grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed on top of his two Photon cards.

"Show yourself, Starliege Paladynamo!"

**Starliege Paladynamo: ATK 2000 DEF 1000 Rank 4**

From the portal of the Overlay Network, a powerful warrior emerge and began to make itself known to everyone watching the Duel, especially Crow. The warrior was completely covered in a white and blue armor and was also wearing a bright purple helmet. Paladynamo was also wielding a fairy large sword which was not only around the same size of its body, but was fairly see through as well. Also, like all Xyz Monsters, Starliege Paladynamo had 2 colorful Overlay Units surrounding its body.

As everyone watched Madas summon his monster, Takashi seemed somewhat confused by his move. It wasn't the fact that he summoned an extremely powerful monster, but it was the type of monster in general.

"He didn't summon Galaxy-Eyes," He thought to himself. "Does he not have it in his hand yet or is he simply not choosing to bring it out? Either way, Crow will have to stay on his toes because I can tell that Madas is just getting started."

"I activate Starliege Paladynamo's Special Ability!" Madas declared as he continued on with his turn. "Once per turn, by using one Overlay Unit, Paladynamo can not only negate the abilities of one your monsters, but it can also drain it of all of its Attack Points as well!"

Crow's eyes widen a little as he saw one of Paladynamo's Overlay Units be absorbed into its body. He then looked on and watched as the Warrior-Type monster shot a blue-colored blast of energy from its sword. The blast struck Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite, draining the monster of not only all of its powers, but all of its strength as well.

**Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite: ATK 0**

"Now," Madas continued. "With your monster's Attack Points gone, Starliege Paladynamo can attack your Zephyros the Elite! Go, Starliege Purge!"

Paladynamo nodded its head upon listening to Madas' instructions and began swinging its sword around as a result. Once it gained enough momentum, Paladynamo dashed towards Crow's Blackwing monster proceeded to slice it in two. The resulting blow not only created a Sense that knocked Crow back a little, but also caused him to lose a good portion of his Life Points as well.

**Crow: 2000 LP**

While Crow was still reeling from that last attack, Madas turned his towards him and smile confidently. Not only did managed to destroy his opponent's monster, but he also caused him to lose half of his Life Points as well. As long as he kept this up and maintained the pressure, Madas felt pretty good that he was going to win this Duel. With that, he soon turned head back and started widening the distance between himself and Crow. As he did that, Crow recovered from the Sense blast and immediately activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted!" He declared. "With it, I can Special Summon that's residing in my Graveyard. I choose Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite!"

As Crow's Trap Card reappeared and flipped itself up, Zephyros the Elite emerged and took its place right by its master's side. When Madas saw this, the young man was slightly annoyed that he wasn't able to get rid of it permanently, but didn't let it show on his face. He simply kept his cool and turned his attention towards his hand. It was still his turn so he wanted to see if he any others moves to make before handing things back to Crow. Eventually, the Photon Duelist saw that he didn't have any other cards that he wanted to play and decided that what he did this turn was enough.

"I'm done for now Crow," He said. "Now…let's see what you'll do know."

"…I'll show you," Crow replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 3**

**Madas: SPC – 3**

Crow acted quickly by drawing one card from his deck and placing it into his hand. He then went on to look through his cards for a moment before grabbing one and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield!"

**Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield: ATK 100 DEF 1800 LVL 2**

A bright flash of light covered Crow's field for a moment as his Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield materialized and started flying next to him. Once it was out, the Blackwing Duelist continued on with his plan by taking another card from his hand and placing onto his Duel Disk.

"Next, since there's a Blackwing on my field, I can Special Summon this card directly from my hand. Appear now, Blackwing – Bora the Spear!"

**Blackwing – Bora the Spear: ATK 1700 DEF 800 LVL 4**

Once again, another flash of light emerged onto Crow's field as his Blackwing – Bora the Spear appeared and started flying next to him and his other Blackwing monsters. Upon seeing the number of creatures that were on his opponent's side of the field, Madas prepared himself for what was to come. Even though none of Crow's monsters were as strong as his Starliege Paladynamo, the Photon Duelist knew that was going to change very quickly.

"I Tune my Level 4 Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite with my Level 2 Blackwing – Mistral the Silver Shield!" Crow declared.

The two assigned Blackwing monsters nodded their head in agreement to their master's instructions and quickly flew high into the air as a result. As they began to conduct the ritual for a Synchro Summoning, Crow took both of their cards and placed them into his Graveyard before grabbing another from his Extra Deck. Once he had the card in hand, a giant explosion of light consumed his side of the field. It was here that Crow took the card he picked up and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Pitch-dark power, lodge in its great wings and stir up the divine winds! Synchro Summon! Gust fiercely, Blackwing Armed Wing!"

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2300 DEF 1000 LVL 6**

As the light from the Synchro Summoning started to fade away, everyone looked on as Crow's Blackwing Armed Wing appeared and stood next to him. The powerful Synchro Monster seemed prepared for battle as it stared down Madas' Starliege Paladynamo like it was itching to kill it. Eventually, the monster would its chance to do so as Crow proceeded to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Blackwing Armed Wing," He called. "Attack Madas' Starliege Paladynamo…Blackwing Barrage!"

Armed Wing nodded its head in compliance to Crow's order and proceeded to point its spear gun towards its target. Once it took aim, the powerful Synchro Monster fired a power barrage of energy blasts at Starliege Paladynamo. All the blasts struck Madas' monster, causing it to explode right beside him.

**Madas: 3700 LP**

"I activate my Paladynamo's Special Ability," Madas said as he was still engulfed by the debris of his monster's explosion. "When it's destroyed, I can draw one card from my deck!"

"That's fine," Crow replied. "It won't help you. Because with no monsters on your field to protect you, Bora the Spear can go in and attack your Life Points directly!"

As Madas drew one card from his deck, the young man finally got away from the explosion that his Starliege Paladynamo created. However, just as he did that, the Photon Duelist noticed that Bora the Spear was right on his tail. He tried everything within his power to outrun it, but Bora was simply too fast. Because of that, the Blackwing monster was able to strike Madas with its spear, causing him to not only lose control of his Runner, but also lose a portion of Life Points as well.

**Madas: 2000 LP**

Once Crow saw his opponent's Life Points match his own, the Blackwing Duelist knew that he was able to take away Madas' momentum. However, he knew that the Duel was still far from over and he needed to be ready when things got serious. So, in order to prepare for that moment, Crow took one card from his hand and placed inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. As soon as he did that, the card appeared face-down on his field for a few minutes before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said.

After he ended his turn, Crow revved up his Duel Runner and began to make his way over to Madas. Eventually, in practically no time at all, Crow was able to catch up with Madas and soon pass him. It was at that moment that the Photon Duelist was able to recover from Crow's attack and began to chase after him. In the span of just one turn, the roles of both Duelists were reversed with Crow out in front and Madas falling behind. However, despite that fact, Madas was determined to get things back to where he believed they belonged.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 4**

**Madas: SPC – 4**

Upon drawing his next card, Madas took a quick glance at it and saw that it wasn't the card that he was hoping to get. The sight of that discourage him a little bit, but soon got over it once he saw that he had another card in his hand that could allow him to get the card he wanted. With that in mind, Madas acted quickly and went on to insert that card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton!" He declared. "With this, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can draw 2 cards from deck at the cost of discarding one card from my hand to the Graveyard. "

After playing his Speed Spell, Madas drew two cards from his deck and took a quick look at them. Upon examining them, Madas' lit up as one of the cards was precisely the one he was looking for. He then looked over the rest of his cards and saw that he had all the pieces needed to not only take back control of this Duel, but also practically secure his victory as well. So, in order to get his plan in full swing, Madas went on to take one the cards that he drew and place it into his Graveyard. After that, he then grabbed another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder!" He continued. "With its power, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster directly from my hand. In exchange, that monster can't attack this turn."

Once he finished explaining the effect of his Speed Spell, Madas quickly grabbed the card that he wanted to Summon and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, the Photon Duelist looked on as a small flash of light illuminated across his side of the field.

"I Special Summon: Photon Satellite, in Defense Mode!"

**Photon Satellite: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

As the flash of light on Madas' field began to fade away, Crow looked on in confusion as a small satellite appeared on his opponent's side of the field. However it wasn't the fact that Madas summoned a monster that confused Crow much. It was the type of monster that he summoned that bother him so much.

"Why bring out a monster that doesn't have any Attack and Defense Points?" Crow questioned.

"Because," Madas replied as he took another card from his hand and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone. "Since I have a Photon monster on my field, I can Normal Summon this monster without a release. Appear now, Galaxy Knight!"

**Galaxy Knight: ATK 2800 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

When Madas placed the card onto his Duel Disk, another bright flash light appeared on his side of the field. From that light, his Galaxy Knight appeared and started flying next to him. The mere sight of that monster brought a sense of fear into Crow's heart as it reminded him about his first lost to Madas. It was because of this monster, as well as Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, that the Blackwing Duelist lost that Duel. This caused Crow to prepare himself as he knew that since Madas already brought out Galaxy Knight, his other Ace monster would appear to join it.

"I activate Galaxy Knight's Special Ability!" Madas declared as he grabbed a card from his Graveyard. "When it's Normal Summoned via its first ability, I can make it lose 1000 Attack Points until the End Phase of this turn in order to Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from my Graveyard!"

**Galaxy Knight: ATK 1800**

**Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

As Galaxy Knight's attack power began to increase, Madas proceeded to take the card that he got from the Graveyard and place it onto his Monster Card Zone. Once that happened, a powerful array of light emerged onto his field and began to cluster together. This build up light energy soon transformed itself into the powerful Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, who started roaring ferociously once it was fully materialized.

Upon seeing the creature, everyone in the stadium started cheering in unison as they were excited to see such a powerful monster appear in this Duel. They then went on in anticipation as Madas went on to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon," He called. "Attack Blackwing Armed Wing…Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes roared once more as it began to building power from within its body. As it did, its body started glowing brighter and brighter until it was around the brightness as star. Once that happened, Galaxy-Eyes released all of that built up power into one concentrated energy blast, which proceeded to hit Blackwing Armed Wing, destroying the completely.

**Crow: 1300 LP**

"Now Galaxy Knight," Madas continued. "Go on and attack Blackwing – Bora the Spear…Galaxy Swords Dance!"

After giving out his order, Madas watched as his Galaxy Knight made its way over to Crow's Bora the Spear. Once it reached it, the Galaxy monster went on to slice Bora's body several time with its small, but powerful sword. The movements of the strikes were so swift that at first, it seemed that nothing happened. However, that changed when Crow slowly noticed that pieces of his monster were beginning to come apart.

**Crow: 1200 LP**

Once Bora was gone from the field, Madas felt relieved that he was able to get rid all of Crow's monsters and once again take the lead in the down. However, soon found out that only half of that was true as Crow went on to activate one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Miracle's Wake!" He said. "With it, I can Special Summon one monster that was destroyed through battle this turn. The monster I choose is my Blackwing Armed Wing!"

A bright flash of light covered Crow's field for a moment as his Blackwing Armed Wing returned to the field via the effect of his Trap Card. The sight of that annoyed Madas while at the time, making him more excited. He was upset with the fact that he wasn't able to rid Crow of all of his monsters, but he was also happy since such a move would only make the Duel even more interesting. So, in order to make sure that interest remained intact, the Photon Duelist went on to take one card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the card materialized face-down on the field for a few moments before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I'm finished for now."

**Galaxy Knight: ATK 2800**

When Madas declared the end of his turn, Crow started to contemplate his next plan of attack. The only monster that he had on the field was his Blackwing Armed Wing and its Attack Points don't come close to Galaxy-Eyes or Galaxy Knight's. If he wanted to win this Duel, Crow knew that he needed to find a way to take down one of those monsters before the end of his next turn. The only question is; how was he going to do it?

"With the cards I have now," He said to himself. "I have no way of bringing down Madas' monsters. It feels like that Duel all over again. Wait a minute…that's it. I got it!"

Finding inspiration in his previous defeat to Madas, Crow figured out what he needed to do in order bring down one of his opponent's monsters. So, now ready execute his plan, the Blackwing Duelist went on to place his hand upon his Dueling deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 5**

**Madas: SPC – 5**

After drawing a card from his deck, Crow immediately placed the card into his hand before grabbing another card. As soon as he had it in hand, Crow proceeded to place the card he chose onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Attack Gainer!"

**Attack Gainer: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

When Crow placed his card onto his Duel Disk, another bright flash of light covered his side of the field for a few seconds. From that light, a young warrior appeared and started flying next to him. The warrior was wearing dark green armor and wearing a helmet that covered its eyes. Attack Gainer also had long bright red hair, which was reaching down towards the end of its back.

As Madas examined the Tuner Monster, he started to wonder why Crow decided to summon it. Was he planning on performing another Synchro Summoning or did he have something else in mind? In the end, the young man didn't know what his rival was going to do and simply continued to look on as Crow proceeded to grab a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next I activate the Speed Spell: Birds of a Feather! With it, since I have 4 or more Speed Counters and one Winged Beast-Type monster on my field, I can Special Summon another Winged Beast-Type monster directly from my hand. So take the field, Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky!"

**Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky: ATK 100 DEF 800 LVL 1**

After explaining the effects of his Speed Spell, Crow went on to take Jetstream's card and place it onto his Monster Card Zone. Once he did that, a bright flash of light shined across his field as the small Blackwing monster appeared before him. However, it would be around for long as Crow proceeded to take all three of his monster cards and place them into his Graveyard.

"I Tune my Level 1 Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky and Level 6 Blackwing Armed Wing with my Level 1 Attack Gainer!"

All three of Crow's monsters nodded their head and immediately jumped high into the air in order to begin the Synchro Ritual. As they got ready, Crow didn't waste any time and quickly grabbed another card from his Extra Deck. Once he placed the card onto his Duel Disk, a large light consumed the entire field and the Blackwing Duelist began chanting something to himself as a result.

"Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 1600 LVL 8**

Once Crow finished his chant, a powerful cry began to emerge from the light that was coming from his field. Soon, as the light began to fade, Black-Winged Dragon appeared and its arrival shocked most of the people who were present in the stadium. None of them have ever seen a dragon like it before and they started to wonder what type of powers did it have. Eventually, they would all get the opportunity to find out as Crow quickly revved up his Duel Runner and began to go faster.

"I'm happy to see that you're pulling out all the stops Crow," Madas said with a smile on his face. "However, even with your Black-Winged Dragon, both my Galaxy Knight and Galaxy-Eyes are more than a match for it."

"I know that," Crow pointed out. "It was because that match-up that I lost our first Duel. However, I don't plan on making the same mistake this go around."

"Oh really…" Madas pondered. "And how do you intend to do that?"

"Like this," Crow said confidently. "I activate the Special Ability of my Attack Gainer! When it's used to Synchro Summon, I choose one monster on my opponent's field and drain it of 1000 Attack Points. The monster I choose…is your Galaxy Knight!"

**Galaxy Knight: ATK 1800**

Madas looked on in disbelief as Black-Winged Dragon fired two red laser beams from its eyes. The beams struck Galaxy Knight, causing it to return to its weakened state. Once that happened, Crow went on to conduct his Battle Phase and looked on intently as Black-Winged Dragon started roaring again.

"Black-Winged Dragon," He called. "Attack Madas' Galaxy Knight…Noble Stream!"

The dragon obeyed Crow's demand and released a powerful blast of red and black energy from its mouth. When the blast hit Galaxy Knight, the warrior started screaming in agony as it was being completed obliterated. Also, due to the resulting shockwave that the attack created, Madas was sent back a couple feet, causing him to lose ground to Crow again.

**Madas: 1000 LP**

After Black-Winged Dragon finished his attack, Crow turned his head around and watched as his rival quickly got himself together and began catching up to him. The sight of that put a small smile on his face as it meant that Madas was far from giving up this Duel. Crow also knew that as long as Madas had his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon on the field, things would only get more intense for him. Because of that, the Blackwing Duelist proceeded to take a card from his hand and insert into his Spell/Trap Zone, believing that it could prove useful as a possible counter measure. Once he did that, he watched as the card appeared right beside him in a face-down position before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said.

Once Crow finished his turn, everyone in the stadium started cheering for him as loud as they could. Even though he didn't take out Galaxy-Eyes, the fact that he took out Galaxy Knight was still a very impressive feat. Now, with both Duelists Ace monsters on the field, everyone believed that the Duel was getting ready to enter its final stages, which would only cause things to become even more intense.

"Alright," Madas said as he put his hand on his deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 6**

**Madas: SPC – 6**

After swiftly drawing his next card, Madas looked towards Crow's Black-Winged Dragon for a moment before looking towards his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. As he looked at both dragons, the young man realized that his monster was still more powerful than his opponent's. However, didn't mean he could just go ahead and attack it without thinking. Crow did have a couple a face-down cards on his field and Madas felt that one of them could potential destroy his Galaxy-Eyes if he had it attack Black-Winged Dragon. Madas couldn't let that happen, especially now that his Galaxy Knight has been destroyed. So, after thinking for about a minute, the Photon Duelist came up with an idea. Instead of aiming for Black-Winged Dragon, he should instead simply aim for Crow himself. To accomplish that, Madas grabbed a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Photon Lizard!"

**Photon Lizard: ATK 900 DEF 1200 LVL 3**

A small flash of light erupted onto Madas' side of the field as a new Photon monster appeared before him. This new monster had the appearance of a red and blue lizard that was emitting photon energy from different sections of its body. Once his lizard finished materializing, Madas quickly revved up his Runner as he continued on with his turn.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Photon Satellite! Once per turn, I can target one other Photon monster on my field and have it combine Levels with my Satellite. I choose my Level 3 Photon Lizard, which means both its and Photon Satellite's Level now becomes 4!"

**Photon Satellite: LVL 4**

**Photon Lizard: LVL 4**

Both Photon Lizard and Photon Satellite started glowing a bright blue color as the two of them started exchanging power until they both had the same amount. Once they were, Madas then went to stack both of their cards on top of one another and watching as both of his monsters started to transform.

"I now Overlay both my Level 4 Photon Satellite and Photon Lizard!"

The two Photon transformed themselves into two colorful orbs of light. They started flying all across the stadium for a few seconds as the portal to the Overlay Network reappeared in front of Madas. Once they portal was fully opened, the two orbs made their way towards it and went inside.

"With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!"

After going inside of the portal, a giant eruption occurred and another array of colorful light began to pop out from it. It was at that moment that Madas grabbed another card from his Extra Deck and placed it on top of his two Photon Cards. Once he did that, the young man then looked on as a new monster began to emerge from the portal.

"Appear, Constellar Omega!"

**Constellar Omega: ATK 2400 DEF 500 Rank 4**

The monster that was coming out the Overlay Network had the appearance of centaur, a man with a horse like body. However, unlike most centaurs, Constellar Omega's body was completely covered in a beautiful gold and silver armor. It also had a pair of Greek wings and a sword that also seemed Greek in origin. Also, like all Xyz Monsters, Omega had two Overlay Units flying around its body.

Once Constellar Omega fully emerged from the Overlay Network, Crow started pondering what Madas was up too. At first, he believed that he wanted to have Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon attack and destroy Black-Winged Dragon before having his new Xyz Monster come in with a direct attack. However, Crow quickly erased that possibility from his mind as it was too simple a move. He then decided to wait and see what was to come next, as he was prepared for the outcome no matter what it was.

"Next," Madas continued as he inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I equip Galaxy-Eyes with the Speed Spell: Photon Wing!"

Madas watched as the wings that were on his Galaxy-Eyes' back began to change shape a little. Soon they extended and grew out about at least 10 inches. Also, the wings started glowing much more brightly than they usually do, indicating that the dragon has gained a new power.

"I activate the effect of Photon Wing! Now, since I have 6 of more Speed Counters, I can take one Xyz Monster on my field and all of its Overlay Units be absorbed into Galaxy-Eyes!"

Crow looked on in shock as Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon absorbed both of the Overlay Units that were surrounding Constellar Omega's body. Once that happened, the Blackwing Duelist then looked on as the powerful started glowing even brighter than over.

"Now, since that happened, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon gains Attack Points equal to Constellar Omega's Rank, multiplied by 200 points! Omega is Rank 4, which Galaxy-Eyes gains 800 Attacks until the End Phase of this turn!"

**Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK 3800**

After it finished absorbing the power of both Constellar Omega's Overlay Units, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon was now at least twice its normal size. The mere sight of the monster's increased sized, impressed everyone present. However, the only person who didn't feel the same way was Crow, who now had to deal with it. Still, despite having to deal with that new problem, Crow quickly discovered that Madas still had one more trick up his sleeve.

"I activate the final effect of Photon Wing!" He said. "Now, since I successfully used its first effect, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon can now launch a direct attack on your Life Points! Go…Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes complied with its master's order and proceeded to turn its attention away from Black-Winged Dragon and towards Crow. Once he had him in sights, Galaxy-Eyes took aim and fired a powerful stream of photon energy towards its target. It seemed over for Crow at that moment, but the Blackwing Duelist was able to act quickly and activate one of his face-down cards as a result!

"Not so fast!" He said. "I activate the Trap Card: Spirit Flock! With it, since I'm now the target of a direct attack, I can remove two Blackwing monsters from my Graveyard in order to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase!"

Crow swiftly grabbed his Blackwing Armed Wing and Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky from his Graveyard. Once he did that, he watched as the spirits of both of his monsters appeared and shielded him from Galaxy-Eyes' attack. Madas was upset upon seeing that as he thought he had Crow at that moment. However, he quickly got over it and started formulating another strategy. He looked around all the cards that were in his hand and on his field and soon remembered the other face-down card that he set last turn. Seeing that card, as well as another card that was in his hand, gave Madas a brilliant idea.

"Throughout this Duel, Crow has been trying his best to prevent Black-Winged Dragon from attacking Galaxy-Eyes," He thought to himself. "However, if I play my cards right, I can force that confrontation to take place."

With his plan set, Madas proceeded to take the card that was in his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, the card appeared face-down on his side of the field for a few moments before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn and Galaxy-Eyes' Attack Points return to normal."

**Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK 3000**

When Galaxy-Eyes' Attack Points returned to their normal value, Takashi and the rest of his friends started thinking about the current flow of the Duel. Throughout most of the match, both Crow and Madas have been trying to get their Ace monsters to attack other monsters instead of themselves. This was especially true for Crow, since he knew about Galaxy-Eyes banishing effect. Eventually all of them, each in their own way, came to the same conclusion. In order for either Duelist to win this Duel, they must have their dragons attack each other. For whichever one who ends up victorious in that confrontation will be the one who wins this Duel for their master.

"It's my turn," Crow declared. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 7**

**Madas: SPC – 7**

Once he drew another card from his deck, Crow took a quick look at it and saw that it wasn't a card that could help him get through to Madas. At best, all he could do was destroy his Constellar Omega with Black-Winged Dragon and deal his opponent 400 points of damage. Such a tactic wouldn't be the best trade-off since it wouldn't get rid of his immediate problem; Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. In order to get past it, Crow needed to draw again and hope that the next card would be more fruitful. Fortunately, he had just a way to do that.

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" He said. "By removing all 7 of my Speed Counters, I can draw one card from my deck."

**Crow: SPC – 0**

After draining himself of all of his Speed Counters, Crow placed his hand on his deck and drew another card. Once he pulled it, the Blackwing Duelist took a glance at it and saw that it was the card that he was hoping for. With it, he could get past Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and win the Duel. Because of that, Crow didn't waste any time and went on to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!"

**Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame: ATK 1800 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light appeared on Crow's side of the field for a few moments as his Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame appeared and started flying next to him and his Black-Winged Dragon. The sight of monster confused Madas as not only was it weaker than both of his monsters, but it was also weaker against Crow's monster as well. He then started to wonder if Crow wasted all of his Speed Counters for nothing. However, he soon realized that wasn't necessarily the case.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite! By returning one face-up card I control to my hand, I can Special Summon Zephyros from my Graveyard. In exchange, I take 400 points of damage."

As Crow returned Shura's card back to his hand, the young man watched as the monster disappeared from the field and Zephyros the Elite returned to take its place. However, by doing so, a red stream of energy came of the Blackwing's body and began to make their way towards Crow.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Black-Winged Dragon!" He said. "When I'm about to take damage via an effect, I can negate it by having Black-Winged Dragon lose 700 of its Attack Points. Also, by using this effect, Black-Winged Dragon gains one Blackwing Counter!"

Black-Winged Dragon intercepted the energy blast that was coming towards Crow and began to take the damage from it. This caused the dragon to not only lose 700 Attack Points, but also cause a portion of its wings to glow a bright red color.

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2100 BWC- 1**

"Now, with the damage now gone, I can now activate Black-Winged Dragon's second Special Ability! By removing all of its Blackwing Counters, Black-Winged Dragon can not only regain all of its Attack Points, but also drain one monster you control of 700 their Attack Points for each removed counter. The monster I choose is your Constellar Omega!"

Black-Winged Dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs as the power that it absorbed by intercepting Zephyros' effect damage ability started to leave its body. As that happened, the portion of its wings that were red began to return to their normal color. Once all of that power was gone, it made its way over to Constellar Omega and started to drain it of some of its strength.

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800 BWC – 0 **

**Constellar Omega: ATK 1700**

"Also Madas, since Black-Winged Dragon drained your monster of its Attack Points, you now take damage equal to the number points lost!"

Madas' eyes widen as he watched some of the negative energy that was coming off of his Constellar Omega begin to make its way towards him. The Photon Duelist tried its best to avoid the energy, but he wasn't able to do so. As a result, Madas ended up losing 700 Life Points.

**Madas: 300 LP**

"Now, with everything in place, I think it's time to end this Duel!" Crow said. "Black-Winged Dragon, attack Madas' Constellar Omega…Noble Stream!"

Black-Winged nodded its head and released a powerful blast of red and black energy towards its intended target. Madas knew that if this attack landed then he would lose the Duel. He couldn't allow that to happen and so he activated a face-down card in order to make sure that the Duel continued.

"I activate the Trap Card: Shift!" He said. "With this, I change the target on your attack from Constellar Omega, to Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

As Black-Winged Dragon continued to make its way towards Constellar Omega, the Xyz Monster soon found itself being teleported to a different section of the field. Soon, Constellar Omega was in the spot that Galaxy-Eyes was, making Galaxy-Eyes the new target to Black-Winged Dragon's attack. However, before the attack connected, Madas then went to activate another face-down.

"I'm not done yet Crow!" He said. "Next, I now activate another Trap Card: Photon Current! With it, since a Light Attribute Dragon-Type monster I control is being targeted by an attack, that monster now gains Attack Points equal to that of the attacking monster's, until the end of the Damage Step!"

After activating his Trap Card, Madas watched as Galaxy-Eyes struck by Black-Winged Dragon's Noble Stream and started absorbing the energy from the attack. This caused the monster to gain Attack Points, equal to that of Black-Winged Dragon's attack.

**Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK 5800**

"Galaxy-Eyes," Madas called out too. "Use your new strength and destroy Black-Winged Dragon…Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes nodded its head and proceeded to launch a Photon Stream with even more power than before. Crow realized that such an attack would be the end of him, so he acted quickly and activated his final face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: No Entry!" He declared. "With it, all monsters that are in Attack Mode are now switched into Defense Mode!"

Black-Winged Dragon noticed the intense blast of photon energy heading towards it and immediately dodged the blast by ducking its head. Once it did that, the effect of the No Entry Trap Card activated, forcing it, Zephyros, Galaxy-Eyes, and Constellar Omega into Defense Mode. Also, since the Battle Phase was over, Galaxy-Eyes' Attack Points returned to normal.

**Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK 3000**

Once the battle had come to an end, Crow let out a sigh of relief as he just narrowly avoided defeat. He then looked towards Madas and realized that he was several times stronger than he was during the first time that they fought. He soon came to the conclusion that this Duel, despite how intense and fun it was, is going to end soon. Because of that, Crow looked over towards the final 2 cards that were in his hand and picked them up. After examining them, the Blackwing Duelist decided to put his faith into those two cards and proceeded to insert them into his Spell/Trap Zone. This caused the two cards to appear face-down on the field for a few seconds before eventually disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down," He said. "I end my turn."

After Crow announced the end of his turn, Madas turned to face him and realized that this was the best Duel of his entire life. The both of them were giving it all they had, not letting up for an instant. A part of him wanted it to last forever, but he knew that such a thing was impossible. In this Duel, one of them had to win and the other had to lose. And, despite his friendship with Crow, Madas was determined that he would end up being the loser.

"Here goes," He said to himself. "This will most likely be my final turn. I have to win…I have too."

Gathering all the strength and courage that was inside of him, Madas placed his hand on his deck and prepared to draw, what he believed to be, his final card. Before doing so, the Photon Duelist up towards his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and watched as it nodded its head at him. Seeing that brought a smile on his face as showed him that his Ace monster had absolute faith in his victory. With that, Madas took the plunge and began his next turn.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 1**

**Madas: SPC – 8**

After drawing a card from his deck, Madas took at look at it and his eyes lit up like he was a kid at candy store. With this card he had one more chance to get rid of Black-Winged Dragon and potentially win the Duel. So, with his desire to win burning more than over, the Photon Duelist started off his plan by grabbing both Galaxy-Eyes' and Constellar Omega's cards and switching them to a vertical position.

"First, I'm switching both of my monsters back into Attack Mode!"

Both Galaxy-Eyes and Omega complied too their master's order and immediately returned themselves to Attack Mode. Once they did that, Madas continued by taking a card from his hand and inserting into Attack Mode.

"Next I activate the Speed Spell: Stop Defense! With it, since I have 3 or more Speed Counters, I can switch your Black-Winged Dragon back into Attack Mode."

Crow looked on as his Ace monster was forced from Defense Mode to Attack Mode. With it now unable to defend, Crow knew that Madas would go on to have his Galaxy-Eyes attack. However, he didn't do that right away. Instead, the Photon Duelist went on to activate one of the effects of the Speed World 2 Field Spell.

"I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" He declared. "By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can deal you 800 points of damage equal to the number Speed Spells that are in my hand. I have 2 Speed Spells, which means you're being dealt 1600 points of damage!"

**Madas: SPC - 4 **

"That's not going to work Madas!" Crow countered. "Did you forget? Black-Winged Dragon's Special Ability negates effect damage by having it lose only 700 Attack Points! Not only that, but it also gains one Blackwing Counter!"

A ray of light shot from Madas' Duel Runner and began to make its way towards Crow. However, before it connected, Black-Winged Dragon blocked the attack and started to absorb all the negative energy that it had. This caused the Synchro Monster to once again lose 700 Attack Points and gain one Blackwing Counter.

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2100 BWC – 1**

"Galaxy-Eyes," Madas called. "Attack Black-Winged Dragon…Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes complied and quickly fired a large stream of photon energy from its mouth. As the attack was coming towards his monster, Crow quickly thought about his opponent's plan and had a feeling on what he wanted to do. Because of that, the Blackwing Duelist quickly activated one of his face-down cards face-down in order to counter it.

"I activate the Trap: Prideful Roar!" He declared. "With it, by taking the difference in our monsters current Attack Points, Black-Winged Dragon now gains attack equal to that of your Galaxy-Eyes with an additional 300 points!"

Black-Winged Dragon reacted to Crow's Trap and fired its powerful Noble Stream towards Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Soon, both dragons stream attack collided with one another and a power struggle began. Since Galaxy-Eyes had the stronger attack at first, Crow took the difference in both monsters Attack Points. However, by doing so, Black-Winged Dragon absorbed some of the power from its opponent's attack and started to incorporate it into its own.

**Crow: 300 LP**

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 3300**

After absorbing some of Galaxy-Eyes' attack, Black-Winged Dragon released an even stronger version of its Noble Stream and began to push back the Photon Stream. So a play would discourage any other Duelist, but not Madas. A part of him expected Crow to play Prideful Roar and he already had a counter measure against it.

"I activate Galaxy-Eyes' Special Ability!" He said. "When it battles against another monster, I can banish both of them until the end of the Battle Phase!"

Galaxy-Eyes started roaring as it began to send both it and Black-Winged Dragon into another dimension. However, before both monsters could disappear completely, Madas acted quickly and proceeded to insert the card that he drew at the beginning of his turn into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, since Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is using its Special Ability, I can activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Photon Shockwave!" He said. "With it, by removing 3 of my Speed Counters, you're now taking damage equal to Level of your removed monster, multiplied by 100 points! Black-Winged Dragon is Level 8, which means you take 800 points of damage!"

**Madas: SPC - 1**

As Galaxy-Eyes was beginning to disappear alongside Black-Winged Dragon, the shockwave from departure began to shake up the entire stadium. Soon, several electric sparks began to appear, all of which targeted Crow. The Blackwing Duelist knew that if he was struck by any of the sparks, he would lose the Duel. So, in a last ditch effort to prevent that from happening, Crow activated his final face-down card.

"I activate the Counter Trap: Courageous Heart!" He said. "With it, by cutting my Life Points in half, I can negate the activation of your Galaxy-Eyes' Special Ability!"

**Crow: 150 LP**

Madas' eyes opened in shock as he watched Black-Winged Dragon try everything within its power to prevent itself and Galaxy-Eyes from disappearing into the alternate dimension. Eventually, the Synchro Monster decided to get creative and struck its tail into the ground for a moment. It then grabbed Galaxy-Eyes and both monsters suddenly stopped. The sudden jerk, caused the Photon monster to lose its focus and cease trying to use its removal effect. It was at that moment, that Black-Winged Dragon took aim and fired its strongest Noble Stream at the Photon monster. By the time Galaxy-Eyes saw the attack, it was already too late and it was consumed by it.

**Madas: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>This Duel is over!" <em>The announcer said over the loudspeaker. _"The winner of the match is Crow Hogan!"_

Once the announcer declared the winner of the Duel, everyone in the stadium started cheering in unison. In what potentially was the best match of the day, Crow Hogan was able to defeat Madas Elvin and secured the 7th spot in the Fortune Cup Finals. It was a Duel in which either Duelist could have come out the winner, but on this day it was Crow who was the better man.

However, despite the enormous cheering that he was receiving from the crowd, the ones who were cheering for Crow the most was his friends. All of them were very proud for what he accomplished, especially Takashi, Lilly, Akiza, and the others. Because of his victory not only did Crow managed to join them in the Finals, but also managed to prevent Lazar's threat from taking place. With the 4 Signers now in the Finals, Sector Security could no longer send them to the Facility and they could fight with all their hearts without having such a threat hanging over them. The mere thought that brought a sense of relief to all of them and they were all extremely grateful to Crow as a result.

As they all were beginning to make their way towards the two Duelists, both Crow and Madas stopped their Duel Runners and watched as all the Solid Vision holograms began to disappear. Once they were all gone, the two Duelists got up from their respective rides and began to make their way towards each other. When they reached a certain length, the two looked at one another for a moment before extending their arms and shaking hands.

"That was a great Duel Madas," Crow said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah," Madas replied, returning Crow's smile with one of his own. "It was the best Duel I ever had in my life."

Despite one of them came out the winner and the other the loser, both Crow and Madas knew that they learned a lot from this experience. It was through their epic match that both Duelists learned where they currently stand and how they can go further from where they are now. They could now take all the things that they experienced and apply them to their future battles, especially the ones that would have against each other. The two of them knew that their rivalry was only getting started. With one victory for Madas and the other Crow, the rubber match was on its way and both of them knew that it would be far more intense than the first two Duels put together.

Once the two of them finished shaking each other's hand, both Crow and Madas saw that their friends were making their way towards them. The sight of that made them smile and they proceeded to greet them very warmly. As soon as they were all together, all of them talked about the epic match that they just saw and began to dissect every little detail to it. Some of things that were said were good while some others were bad. However, despite all the positive and negative comments, all of them agreed that this Duel would be one to remember.

Eventually, after talking to everyone for a few minutes, Madas left the group for a moment and started looking towards the bright blue sky. A small part of him was still stinging from his defeat and he needed to be alone for a moment in order to clear his mind. As he proceeded to do that, Tem saw what he was doing and walked over to him in order to see if he was okay. After seeing that he was, the young man asked the Photon Duelist a question.

"What are you thinking about?" He questioned. "Is it Miri?"

"…Yeah," Madas confirmed. "Before the Duel began, I told Crow that I wanted to have such an awesome match Miri could feel it all the way from America. I want to believe that I accomplished that. But still…I wished she was actually here in person."

As Madas closed his eyes for a moment, Tem silently looked at his friend and knew exactly what he was feeling. Being the only other man, aside from Crow who figured it out on his own, Tem knew about Madas' feelings for Miri. He also knew how it felt to not having someone you care about be here in person. Even though the spirit of that person will always be with you, it didn't change the fact that some relationships work the best when the people are actually there. Tem knew that all too well and decided to give his 2 cents on the matter.

"Hey man," He said. "I wished Miri was here too. But know…she'll be here soon than you think. And when that happens…I know she'll be happy to see you."

With that said, Tem left Madas to be alone and returned to the others. Once he was gone, Madas closed his eyes for a moment and started thinking again. As he did that, a strong gust of wind blew across the entire stadium for a few seconds. When the wind finally stopped blowing, Madas opened his eyes and smiled.

"Miri…"

Meanwhile, in the United State of America's New York City, the entire area of buzzing as thousands of people were making their way towards wherever destination that they wanted to go too. One of those individuals happened to be Miri Miyagi, who just arrived in the country just the other day. This was the first time the young woman had been to America and she was getting a firsthand experience on how one of the country's biggest cities act. Needless to say, Miri didn't like what she was seeing.

"…Damn it," She silently cursed. "Why am I doing this? Here I was, minding my own business, when Underground Duel King; Alex McQueen shows up, asking me for a favor. I mean, I know were good friends but I don't see why he wanted me to come here and run this errand for him. He knows I don't like being around a lot of people."

As Mir continued to question Alex's intentions, a strong wind started blow through the entire city of New York. As she felt the wind, Miri sensed something familiar about it, something that caused her to smile a little. When the wind finally stopped blowing, Miri looked up towards the sky and started thinking about someone.

"I see," She said. "That's why."

With her reason being in the country now reestablished, Miri let out a sigh and started walking around the city. Eventually she came across a large building that had the named; Manjoume, written on the middle of it. After confirming that this was the place that she needed to go to, Miri didn't waste any time and proceeded to go inside.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With the 7__th__ spot now filled, only one more Duelist can earn a place in the Fortune Cup Finals. Toru is determined to be the final Duelist as he wants to be there to support his friends in the challenges ahead. However, the Scrap Duelist will have his hands full as his opponent will be no pushover. Can Toru win and join his friends in the Finals or will the mysterious cards of his opponent will be simply too much for him to overcome?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 70: Heart-Earth_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, it's Spirit Reader here with a couple of announcements._

_A few months ago, I started a Pokémon story called; Trials to Becoming a Master and posted two chapters. However, due to laziness and lack of motivation, I ended up stopping the story and went on to focus completely on Over the Nexus. For a while, I thought about abandoning the story all the together as I felt that it couldn't go anywhere and that Pokémon stories are too simple. But with the help of some devoted reviewers, some of which are also good Over the Nexus fans, I decided to give the story another chance. By the time you finish reading this, Chapter 3 of Trials of Becoming a Master will be up. I hope you take a look at it and give a review as well, since your input as means a lot to me. Also, as always, please review this latest chapter of Over the Nexus as I always love hearing from you guys._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	70. Chapter 70

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Special Thanks: **_Overlord Reign _

**Chapter 70: **_Heart-Earth_

* * *

><p><em>15 Years Ago<em>

_Takashi:__3-years-old_

_Toru:__4-years-old_

It's a bright and sunny day in Crash Town, desert hometown of Takashi Nakamura and Toru Ishida. Almost everyone was outside doing their own thing, whether it be playing with friends or handling important affairs all by themselves. Even though Crash Town is a place that has more problems than it should have, everyone tries their best to make the most of what's going on. It's a long and difficult process, but one that the residents have learned to accept and endure. However…, some residents find the process harder than others.

"I'm…so…bored…"

In a small house on the outskirts of Crash Town, young Toru is currently watching the infant Takashi with the help of the latter's grandfather; Klaus. Since Takashi had no other relatives and Klaus is always so busy to doing other stuff to provide for him, it usually falls on Toru to keep an eye on his step-brother. But, despite that responsibility, Toru was never really fond of that job. Now, that's not to say that he disliked Takashi. In fact, Toru was really fond of him and was glad to have Takashi as a little brother. It just that watching Takashi all the time got in way of some of the things that Toru wanted to do. He wanted to go outside and hang out with his other friends, not stay inside and keep an eye on a boy that wasn't even potty trained. It's because of that, as well as other reasons, that Toru quietly wished that Takashi would hurry up and get older so that he could take care of himself. But, since Takashi was barely 3-years-old, Toru found that wish to be too far away to be granted.

As the young boy continued to do his job, he watched Takashi stack some building blocks that were on the floor. Even though he was young and didn't know very much about a lot of things, Takashi was always interested in things that caught his eyes. Whether it be something cool on TV, something nasty on the ground, or even something as simple as blocks, if Takashi liked it then he would play with it. However, because he was so young, Takashi didn't have any real understanding with the things that he found so interesting. He would usually do anything he felt was right with them and hoped that it turned out the way he wanted. This was especially true when it came to the blocks. Even though he was trying to do something creative with them, all Takashi was really doing was stacking the blocks into a simple tower. In the eyes of most people the tower wasn't really special, but for Takashi, tower was everything.

Because he was so determined to make sure that all of the blocks were stacked up, Takashi did everything within his power in order to make that happen. At first, he tried simply stacking them up at a normal pace. But since the number of blocks he had exceeded his actual height, they would usually fall whenever Takashi reached a certain point. When that didn't work, Takashi then tried stacking the blocks while standing on something high, hoping that they would fall into place on their own. But that didn't turn out well either since the blocks would usually ricochet off the ground, thus making more of mess than before. As of right now, Takashi was on his third attempt and things seemed to be going well.

On this attempted, he was trying to stack the block slowly so that they wouldn't fall and then get on stop of something so that he could go higher. Despite being so young, Takashi was a fast learning for someone his age and always remembered something that didn't turn out right for him. Whenever something like that happened, Klaus wondered if Takashi was smarter than what he was letting on while Toru believed that his little brother was simply just lucky. Either way, things were looking good for Takashi at this moment in time.

With only a few more blocks left until he stacked them all, Takashi prepared himself to place the next one on top of the tower. As he grabbed it and made his way up, the young boy noticed that his tower was beginning to wiggle a little. Realizing that he didn't have much time, Takashi quickly rushed and tried to get the next block on. However, because he was rushing, Takashi was causing the bucket that he was standing on to lose its stability. This caused him to lose his balance and he eventually fell off the bucket and onto his tower of blocks, which resulted in it falling down for a third time. When Takashi noticed this the sight of seeing his tower fall down again caused him to cry in frustration. His crying was so loud that Toru had to cover his ears as hard as he could just to endure the pain that he was feeling. Eventually, Klaus walked over to his grandson and picked him up from off the floor. He then tried his best to comfort him, which had little to no result.

"…Klaus," Toru called.

"What is it Toru?" Klaus questioned while trying to get Takashi to calm down. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Toru pointed out. "I know that Takashi is young and you need help watching him, but why do I have to do it? Can't you get somebody else?"

Klaus looked at Toru as they young boy was pointing out his complaints. He knew that Toru wanted to be with his other friends, especially on such a nice day, but instead he had to stay inside and watch Takashi. Klaus knew that very well and to tell the truth, he wanted him to have some time to hang with people his own age. But, at the same time, Klaus knew the importance of watching Takashi and wanted to educate Toru on that very same importance.

"Listen Toru," The old man started off. "I know this is something that you don't like doing, but I really need your help watching Takashi. After all, you are his older brother."

"…That's another thing," Toru said. "I thought brothers had the same last name. If we're brothers, why is my last name Ishida and his is Nakamura?"

"Being brothers doesn't mean you have to have the same last name," Klaus explained. "There are plenty of other factors involved that make two people brothers. However, if were to pick one of those factors then it would be this one. Toru, being brothers is not a matter of name, but instead a matter of the heart."

Toru didn't really understand Klaus' explanation as it seemed to over the top for him. How can a heart determine brothers when it's so much either to determine it when you have the same last name. Klaus noticed the confusion in the young boy's eyes and made his way over to two pictures that were standing on a counter as a result. After looking at those pictures, Klaus turned his attention back towards Toru and continued on with his speech.

"Before both of your and Takashi's parents died, all of them were extremely close with each other," He said. "This was especially true for your dad and Takashi's dad. The two of them were so close that a powerful bond was forged between them. Whether they had to face good time or bad times, the two of them would face them together. It's because of that strong bond that it became hard to see that the two were not brothers. I wanted to raise both you and Takashi in a similar way. I wanted the two of you to have a powerful bond, just like the one that your dads had. That way, no matter what type of situation the two of you find yourself in, you'll be there to support one another and have the others back. That's what I mean when I said that it's a matter of heart that determines brothers."

When Klaus finished his explanation, Toru kept to himself and started thinking about what he just heard. A lot of the things that were said still seemed a bit over the top for him, but the young boy did understand that concept of bonds. He knew that he was very close to Takashi, despite the fact that he hated watching him all the time. The two of them would usually do everything together, whether it be playing with each other or watching their favorite anime TV shows. Both Takashi and Toru loved hanging out with each other, even though they could get on each other's nerves from time to time. What that the meaning behind Klaus' words, that brothers are determined by heart and not name. In the end, Toru didn't know, but he hoped that what he just thought about was the case.

As Toru continued to ponder about this, Takashi finally started to calm down and stopped crying. Once that happened, Klaus put him down and watched his grandson make his way back towards the blocks. Despite making failing to stack all the blocks for third straight time, Takashi was still determined to do it. The sight of that made Klaus smile as it showed that his grandson had the will to never give up on the things he wanted to do.

While continuing to make his way over to the blocks, Takashi suddenly realized something and stopped dead in his tracks. He then looked down towards the ground for about a minute before making his way over to Toru, who was still reflecting on what he just learned. Once he reached him, Takashi pulled on his Toru's shirt until he finally got his attention. When Toru looked down at him, he saw that Takashi was smiling.

"…Brother…," He said. "Help me…big brother."

Upon hearing Takashi's plea, Toru's eyes widen a little. This was the first time that Takashi had actually called him his big brother. Even though the two of them weren't related by blood, it didn't change the fact that Takashi held Toru in high regard and always enjoyed being with him. Takashi loved Toru and, in a lot of ways, he wanted to be just like him when he grows up. That caused Toru to smile for the first time all day and he immediately shook his head at his little brother before going with him to stack up the blocks.

As the two of them did that, Klaus looked at the both of them and noticed the teamwork that they were using. While Toru was busy carefully stacking the blocks up, Takashi was trying his best to make sure that the tower didn't fall down. It wasn't very complex, but it didn't have to be. Working together never has to be overcomplicated. As long as both sides understand what they have to do and execute it in a way that works best for everyone, then everything would turn alright in the end. The thought of that and the fact that both Takashi and Toru were able to do it put a small smile on Klaus' face.

"Good," He thought quietly to himself. "The two of them we'll need such teamwork. Especially when they get older and they have to deal with the trials to come."

After spending about 20 minutes stacking all the blocks, both Takashi and Toru realized that they only had one more left. The thought of that made them both happy and nervous at the same time. They knew that if they managed to get this one up then all they would have accomplished their task, but they also knew that if they messed up then they would have to start all over. With all that in mind, the two boys decided to go for it and Takashi proceeded to slowly hand the final block over to Toru. Once he had it in hand, Toru then went on to slowly make his way over to the top of the tower while Takashi held it together. For a few moments, things were pretty tense as it felt like the slightest touch could knock the tower over. However, after about 3 minutes of anticipation, Toru slowly stacked the final block on top of the tower. When that happened, both boys looked on as the tower started wiggling for a few seconds before eventually stopping. Upon seeing that, both Takashi and Toru cheered with joy.

"Yes!" The both yelled. "We did it!"

Indeed they did. By working together, Takashi and Toru were able to accomplish their goal of stacking all the blocks. As they celebrated their accomplishment, the two boys started jumping up and down all over the place. Due to the vibrations that their jumping was creating, their block tower was beginning to shake back and forth. Klaus noticed this and tried to two boys to notice what they were doing, but to no avail. As a result, the tower fell down again and all the blocks scattered across the floor. When Takashi and Toru noticed this, the two boys kept quiet for about a minute before they started laughing.

"Fun," Takashi said happily. "That was fun."

"Yeah," Toru agreed. "It was fun."

Once the two of them finished laughing, Klaus made both Takashi and Toru put all the blocks away before bringing them over to have lunch. While they did that, Takashi looked over towards Toru for about a moment before saying something to him.

"Thank you…big brother," He said with a smile.

"Sure thing…little brother," Toru replied.

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

"We did it! We actually managed to pull it off!"

With the 7th Duel of second Qualifying Round now over, everyone was cheering at the fact that Crow Hogan was able to defeat his friend and rival; Madas Elvin. With his victory, Crow not only secured his place in the Fortune Cup Finals, but also managed to secure the safety of himself and all of his friends as well. Having been forced into the tournament by Lazar, Vice-Director or Sector Security, Crow and the holders of the Mark of the Crimson Dragon told that they had to qualify for the Fortune Cup Finals or else they and everyone they knew would sent to the Facility for the rest of their lives. Ever since then, that threat has been plaguing their thoughts almost every single day. However, because of his victory, Crow joins Takashi, Akiza, and Lilly in the Finals, thus rendering the threat null and void.

Everyone was very happy about this, but none were as happy as Toru Ishida. Lazar's threat been eating away at him ever since he first it heard from the Vice-Director's mouth. Even though it didn't really apply to him, Toru was still very worried by it as the threat put a lot of extra pressure on his friends, especially Takashi. However, with all the Singers now in the Finals, Toru felt like a huge weight was taken off his shoulders and that he could continue on with this tournament without the fear of Lazar's threat anymore.

While everyone continued cheering for Crow, Toru walked over towards Takashi as he noticed his little brother was busy looking at the sky. Having known him for so long, Toru knew that whenever Takashi looked up towards the sky it usually meant that something important was on his mind. As a resulted, Toru wanted to know what was going on in his step-brother mind, hoping that he could help him out in any way he can.

"You okay bro?" He questioned. "What's on your mind right now? I thought that you would be happy now that Sector Security can no longer lock us up."

"…I am happy," Takashi replied. "It's just…I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Toru asked.

"While I was training with Alex," Takashi continued. "I assumed that he was preparing me for something big that was going to happen here at the Fortune Cup. I still believe that to be the case, especially since the Final Duel is going to against Alistair, but for something reason I feel like something even worse than him is going to happen. Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much…"

Once he finished explaining how he felt to Toru, Takashi started to reflect on everything that he noticed during the first 2 Qualifying Rounds. During those matches, the Duelists that he and his friends face were incredibly powerful. This was especially true for the Duels that Jay, Aiku, and Kagura participated in. All three of them showed off incredible strength and skill, especially the latter two as they were able to reach the Finals. Also, all three of them revealed a very powerful Dragon-Type Synchro Monster that had the same vibe of Stardust Dragon and the other Singer Dragons. The thought of those dragons, and the Duelists who wield them, has caused Takashi to come to a realization about something, something that could change the shape of the entire tournament.

Also, another thing that was on Takashi's mind was his encounter with Akiza's old friend; Enoch Wylie. Ever since he met him, Takashi has since a familiar power coming from off him, a power that reminded him a lot about Sayer, his former enemy. Just remembering the feeling of that power has caused the young man to question whether or not Enoch is on the up and up. However, whenever he's on the verge of admitting that he's not on their side, Takashi recalls the words that Enoch said to him after his Duel and he's force to reconsider everything. If what he said was true, then it was like everything he knew was being thrown out the window and being replaced with something new. Takashi didn't really like all those changes as they led to unpredictability, which meant that anything could happen at any time.

As Takashi continued to ponder everything that was on his mind, Toru noticed the look of confusion and worry that was on his step-brother's face and realize how much this has been bothering him. Despite the fact that he was the type of person who would always try to cheer other people up, Toru knew that Takashi is sometimes plagued by his own doubts and fears. Those doubts were usually stemmed from the failures that Takashi suffered in the past, which continue to haunt to do this day. Toru knew this all too well and wanted to try his best in order rid the negative thoughts that were on Takashi's mind.

"Listen bro," He said. "Don't worry about it too much. There's only one spot left for the Finals and I intend on taking it. Once that happens, the big thing that you're talking about shouldn't be able to happen and we focus all of our attention in making sure that Alistair is taken off his throne."

"…Right," Takashi agreed.

Takashi wanted to believe in some of things that Toru pointed, but a part still had a feeling that something was up. However, since he didn't want to worry him too much, the young man simply agreed Toru and hoped that he was right. Once he did that, the two of them made their way back towards the others and prepared for the moment when the announcer would declare the beginning of the final Duel. Eventually, that moment came.

"_Attention Duelists,"_ The announcer declared, catching everyone's attention. _"The final Duel of the Fortune Cup Qualifiers is about to begin. Will the follow Duelists please make their way over to the stadium floor; Toru Ishida and Kuromu Nesara._

Upon hearing the names of the two Duelists that were called for the Final Duel, everyone in the stadium had a confused look on their faces. Most of them knew who Toru was, since he's been competing in several tournaments ever since he first arrived in New Domino City, but none had ever heard about this Kuromu Nesara before. Just who was he exactly and how good of a Duelist was he? Those were just some of the questions that were some of the questions that were on the spectators minds. Soon though, all of them waited patiently in their seats and hope that this mysterious Duelist would appear soon.

As they waited, Takashi started to feel a strange sensation coming from his right arm. When he looked down at it, the young man noticed his Signer Mark was glowing very brightly. Seeing that caused Takashi to wonder why his mark was glowing as it only did that when something dangerous was either approaching him or his friends.

"Wait a minute…," He said quietly to himself. "Could this be…?"

Just when he was about to confirm what he was thinking, Takashi suddenly stopped when he sensed a tremendously powerful Reiatsu coming from the crowd. The sheer force of the Reiatsu was so great that Takashi was having a hard time trying to keep himself up since the pressure he was feeling was forcing him down. As he tried to overcome it, Takashi lifted his head for a moment and noticed someone was making his way over to the stadium floor. The person had the appearance of a tough young man with long silver hair and red eyes. He was wearing a dark shirt with a pair of equally dark pants and had a silver jacket placed over him. Upon getting a good look at the guy, Takashi realized that he was the source of the Reiatsu that he's been feeling.

"I'm guessing that's your opponent Toru," Madas pointed out. "Make sure to give him hell."

"I intend too," Toru replied.

Full of energy and anticipation, Toru grabbed his Duel Disk and prepared to make his way over to the stadium floor. However, before he could take a single step forward, the Scrap Duelist was suddenly stopped by Takashi. He then watched as his little brother grabbed him by the arm and began to take him away.

"We'll be right back guys," He said with a fake smile on his face.

"Where are you two going?" Crow questioned.

"Nowhere special," Takashi said. "I just going to give Toru some advice before his Duel starts."

As Takashi took Toru away, everyone else was very confused by their friend's actions. If giving Toru advice was the only thing that Takashi wanted to do then why didn't he do it right here? It didn't make much sense to tell him something like that while somewhere far away. As they began to wonder about this, Akiza decided to find out what's going on and began to make her towards her two friends.

"Umm…guys," She said. "I'll be right back."

Lilly and the other nodded their heads towards Akiza, understanding what she intended to do and not wanting to get in her way. Once she was out of sight, all of them then turned their attention back towards the stadium floor and watched as Kuromu was waiting impatiently for his opponent to arrive. While they did that, Akiza continued to follow Takashi and Toru for a few minutes before finally noticing that they stopped. Once she saw that, the Psychic Duelist then hid herself behind a small building so that the boys couldn't see her while also making sure that she could hear what their saying.

"Wait a second bro," Toru said, confused at what he just heard. "Can you repeat what you just said?"

"…Sure," Takashi replied. "Toru…I want you to withdraw from this match."

"Oh," Toru said. "Okay…I just wanted to be sure."

After hearing that Takashi wanted him to pull out of the match, Toru quickly balled up his right fist and wacked his little brother upside the head. He then watched as Takashi placed his hands on top of his skull, reeling from the force of the blow.

"Bro," Toru firmly spoke. "For someone so smart, you sure can be stupid. Why? Why the hell would I drop out now, especially after coming so far?"

"Because…," Takashi replied. "I can sense how dangerous that Kuromu guy is."

"What do you mean?" Toru asked.

"During my training with Alex, I learned how to sense Reiatsu, or the spiritual pressure that all living things give off," Takashi explained. "Reiatsu can come from many different sources, but it's most commonly given off by highly experienced Duelists. Also, the denser the Reiatsu that Duelist has, the more powerful they usually are. This Kuromu Nesara, I don't know who he is, but the Reiatsu he's giving off is so dense that I nearly fell to his feet upon sensing it. If I, someone who can sense and give off strong spiritual pressure, nearly got crushed by this guy's power then how in the hell do you expect to deal with it. Listen Toru, I'm only saying this because I don't want you to get hurt."

After listening to Takashi's explanation, Toru thought about everything that he just learned about his opponent. However, it didn't take him long to disregard all the things that he just learned and immediately hit Takashi upside the head again.

"Ow!" Takashi cried. "What the hell?"

"You say something that dumb again and I'll hit you even harder!" Toru yelled. "Listen, I don't care if you sense the power that this guy has, I'm still going to face him."

"But Toru," Takashi said, trying his best to convince him otherwise.

"No buts!" Toru firmly replied. "Besides, if this guy really is dangerous, then it's important that I take him out before the Finals."

Toru looked at his little brother for a moment and noticed the look in his eyes. He saw that Takashi was determined to make sure that he didn't go out there and face Kuromu in the final Qualifying Duel. However, the Scrap Duelist also saw that Takashi was very worried about him as he didn't want to see his older brother get hurt. Toru knew exactly how Takashi felt, but he also knew that he couldn't run away from this battle.

"Bro," He said. "I never told you this before, but when you were younger, Klaus made me promise him something."

"Grandpa did?" Takashi said in a confused tone of voice.

"That's right," Toru confirmed. "But it wasn't just Klaus. Our Teacher also made me promise her something. Both of them told me that I needed to make sure that you were safe. I'm not exactly sure why, but they wanted me to do whatever I could to make sure you stayed out of trouble. For the longest time I tried to fulfill that promise, but I quickly discovered that it's an extremely hard promise to keep. I'm not as strong as you little bro, I can admit that. However, despite my lack of strength, I try my best to make sure that you don't get hurt, because a lot of people would be devastated if you were to die. I mean, just think how Akiza would feel. So…that's why I'm going to fight this battle. Even if this Kuromu guy is strong, I'm going to do everything within my power to defeat him because doing will allow me to keep you safe."

After speaking his mind, Toru pat Takashi's shoulder before making his way towards the stadium floor. As he walked, Takashi turned around to face his brother, but couldn't find the strength to stop Toru from leaving. Never in his life has he ever heard such passionate words come from his mouth. He could tell right away that everything that Toru just said was true and that he meant every single word. No matter how he felt, Takashi couldn't stop Toru from leaving as that would be an insult to his step-brother's honor. So, the young man simply let him go and silently hope that things would turn out for the best.

"…Hikari," He silently said as he looked up towards the sky. "Please watch over him."

As Takashi silently for the spirit of his friend to watch over Toru, Akiza was busy looking down towards the ground. She had just heard everything that both Takashi and Toru said and was trying to come to terms with it all. Eventually, the Psychic Duelist quietly sighed to herself as she began to make her way back towards the others.

"Takashi…" She thought quietly to herself.

Eventually, after about ten minutes of waiting, everyone in the stadium noticed that Toru was beginning to make his way over to the arena floor. The sight of him really pumped everyone up as his arrival meant that the final Qualifying Duel was about to start. Once he reached the Dueling Field, everyone glued themselves to their seats and got ready as the festivities were about to get underway.

"Sorry about that," Toru said as he quickly caught his breath. "I got held up. My little brother wanted me to drop out of the match, but I told him that I couldn't do that."

"…Oh really," Kuromu firmly replied. "Well that was a mistake on your part. If you had dropped out then you would've saved yourself from the pain and humiliation that you're about to feel right now."

Toru listened to Kuromu's words and realized right away that his opponent meant everything that he just said. However, the Scrap Duelist didn't care. Unlike Kuromu, who he assumed was only in the tournament for status, Toru was Dueling for something even more precious. He was Dueling for the safety of his little brother and all of his friends. Because of that, Toru firmly placed his fist by his heart as he activated his Duel Disk.

"We'll see about that," He replied. "I have no intention of losing to you. I have the power of heart by my side and with it…I will defeat you!"

"Power of heart?" Kuromu questioned as he activated his own Duel Disk. "Fool. The heart's only purpose is to deal pain onto others. Allow me to show you what I mean."

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Toru: 4000 LP**

**Kuromu: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Toru declared. "Draw!"

Toru quickly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, the Scrap Duelist analyzed all 6 of his cards and pondered what his opening move should be. Having never seen Kuromu before, let alone see him Duel, Toru had no idea what cards his opponent had nor what his style of play was. For all he knew, Kuromu could a Duelist who utilizes styles all the way from Ritual Monsters to the new Xyz Monsters. Because of that, Toru decided that it would be to play it safe, but still be somewhat aggressive with his moves. To that end, he started off his turn by taking one card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I'll start off by activating the Spell: Graceful Charity!" He explained. "With it, by discarding 2 cards to the Graveyard, I can draw 3 cards from my deck!"

Once he placed his Spell Card into his Graveyard, Toru quickly grabbed two more cards from his hand and placed them there as well. As soon as he did that, Toru then went on and draw 3 more cards deck, adding the total number of cards in his hands to 7. He then started thinking over his strategy again, just in case his new cards made want to rethink things, before grabbing one card and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Scrap Chimera, in Attack Mode!"

**Scrap Chimera: ATK 1700 DEF 500 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light illuminated a small portion of Toru's side of the field for a few seconds as his Scrap Chimera materialized before him. Once he was fully onto the field, the monster released a powerful roar, the force of which caused the ground next to it to begin breaking apart.

"When Scrap Chimera is successfully summoned, I can then Special Summon one Scrap Tuner monster from my Graveyard!" Toru explained. "I Special Summon: Scrap Beast, in Defense Mode!"

**Scrap Beast: ATK 1600 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

As the ground began to break apart some more, another powerful roar began to sound from it. It was then Toru's Scrap Beast burst through and started standing next to Scrap Chimera in a defensive position. Once that happened, Toru then went to grab two more cards from his hand and insert them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized right behind both of his monsters, in a face-down position.

"I set two cards face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

When Toru ended his turn, everyone who was watching the Duel seemed to have a somewhat mixed reaction of their faces. It just didn't make much sense for Toru to summon a Tuner Monster, but not use it for a Synchro Summoning. Was it that he couldn't Synchro Summon with his monsters yet or perhaps he was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to do so? In the end, they didn't know what the Scrap Duelist was thinking. However, they did know that whatever he was thinking, he had better hope that Kuromu didn't see through it.

"…It's my turn," Kuromu said coldly. "Draw."

Slowly, but surely, drawing a card from his deck, Kuromu took one small glance at it before placing it into his Graveyard. As soon as he did that, the young man then responded by taking one card that was in his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"By discarding Pinecono from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon: Acorno, directly from my hand."

**Acorno: ATK 200 DEF 400 LVL 1**

A small flash of light illuminated across Kuromu's side of the field for a few seconds as his Acorno appeared onto the field. The appearance of the small Plant-Type monster made everyone wonder if the mysterious Duelist was a Plant Duelist, just like Akiza Izinski. No one in the stadium could prove that theory, but it was quickly supported when Kuromu grabbed Pinecono's card from his Graveyard and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I activate Pinecono's Special Ability. When it's sent to the Graveyard via Acorno's effect, I can Special Summon it."

**Pinecono: ATK 400 DEF 200 LVL 1**

Another small flash of light covered Kuromu's side of the field for a few moments as a new monster appeared and stood next to his Acorno. This monster, Pinecono, had an appearance that seemed very similar to that of an elf. However, instead of having hair, there was a large pinecone on Pinecono's head. Not only that, but the Plant-Type Monster also had a pinecone shaped skirt as well. Once it was fully materialized onto the field, Kuromu then went on to grab one more card from his hand and place it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Battle Fader, in Attack Mode."

**Battle Fader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

One more flash of light covered Kuromu's field for a few seconds as a Battle Fader appeared and started standing next to his other two monsters. Once it was out, everyone seemed more confused with Kuromu's moves than they did with Toru's. Unlike Toru, who summoned powerful monsters, but failed to take advantage of them, Kuromu simply summoned weak monsters who paled in comparison to them. The sight of those three monsters made almost everyone question if this Duelist was actually taking the match seriously or was he just simply playing around. After about a minute of thinking about, Takashi finally realized something about all three of Kuromu's monsters.

"Oh crap!" He said in disbelief. "He couldn't be…"

"I Overlay my Level 3 Acorno, Pinecono, and Battle Fader!" Kuromu declared.

Takashi's thoughts were correct as he watched all three of Kuromu's monsters transform into colorful orbs of light and begin flying around the entire stadium. The mysterious Duelist wasn't simply summoning weak monsters. He was trying to bring out the total number of Level 1 monsters required in order to perform a Xyz Summoning. It was because of the low Attack and Defense stats of those monsters that not made Takashi, but everyone else, question the real motives of Kuromu's moves. Now that his plan has been revealed, another question soon popped into everyone's mind. Just what Xyz Monster was Kuromu trying to bring out?

"With these 3 monsters, I build the Overlay Network. Xyz Summon!"

A bright portal of light covered Kuromu's entire field for a few moments and three of his monsters made their way towards it. As they did that, Kuromu quickly stacked their cards on top of one another before grabbing one card from his Extra Deck and placing it on top of them. As soon as he did that, all three of his monsters dove into the Overlay Network and a powerful eruption occurred from it.

"Appear now, Number 54: Lion Heart!"

**Number 54 – Lion Heart: ATK 100 DEF 100 Rank 1**

Colorful sparks of light started popping out of the Overlay Network as a powerful Xyz Monster started to make its way from it. The monster had the appearance of a powerful warrior that had its face completely covered in a colorful mask. It also had a very muscular build and was wearing an old armor, similar to the ones that Aztec warriors use to wear in the past.

However, despite the strong appearance that Lion Heart had, that wasn't the thing that surprise everyone the most. It was the fact that the Warrior-Type monster was a Number. That fact amazed everyone, especially Takashi. The young man believed that out of all the competitors who were competing in the Fortune Cup, he was the only one who had a Number. However, with the fact that Kuromu had one as well, changed everything now. Nothing was for certain now and that anything could happen. That revelation frightened Takashi greatly has it meant that Toru would have an even harder time than what he originally thought he would.

"Number 54: Lion Heart," Kuromu called. "Attack Scrap Chimera…Burning Crosscounter!"

Lion Heart complied with Kuromu's order and began to make its way over to Toru's Scrap monster. As it did so, the Scrap Duelist was highly confused by his opponent's move as it didn't make sense to him. If this attack was successfully the not only would Lion Heart lose, but it would also be destroyed and Kuromu would lose Life Points equal to their monsters Attack Point difference.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Toru asked.

"This," Kuromu responded. "I activate Lion Heart's Special Ability! First, since it's in Attack Mode, it can't be destroyed in battle. Also, any Battle Damage that I take in this battle, you take as well!"

Toru's eyes widen from shock as watched his Scrap Chimera counter Lion Heart's attack and bite the Number monster straight in the head. This caused a powerful electrical aura to cover its entire body for a few moments before splitting up and making its way towards both Toru and Kuromu respectively. When the electrical shock hit them, both Duelists started screaming in pain as their Life Points began to drop.

**Toru: 2400 LP**

**Kuromu: 2400 LP**

Once the electricity stopped shocking their bodies, both Toru and Kuromu struggled to get back to their feet. The sight of seeing his older brother being hurt by the kamikaze like ability of Lion Heart caused Takashi to crush one of the guardrails that he was holding on to. He then was about to rush over towards him, but calmed down when Toru was able to get back up and look towards him. The Scrap Duelist then shook his head in disapproval, indicating that he was fine that he didn't want Takashi to interfere in the match. Once he did that, Toru turned himself back around and watched as Kuromu was continuing on with his turn. The young Duelist proceeded to take one card from his hand insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone, causing one face-down card to materialize behind his Number.

"I set one card face-down," Kuromu said. "With that, I end my turn."

"Then…it's my turn then," Toru said. "Draw!"

After drawing another card from his deck, Toru took a moment to look at it before turning his attention back towards Number 54: Lion Heart. As he looked at the Number, the young man thought about his previous strategy and decided that it wasn't going to cut it anymore. As long as Lion Heart was on the field, he couldn't have his monsters attack it without running the risk of being damaged. In order to get rid of it, Toru knew that he had to think outside the box.

"If I can't destroy Lion Heart," He thought quietly to himself. "Then the next best thing for me is to return it from where it came."

With his new plan set, Toru acted quickly and placed the card that he drew into his hand. Once he did that, the Scrap Duelist then picked up one card from that hand and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Scrap Searcher!"

**Scrap Searcher: ATK 100 DEF 300 LVL 1**

A small flash of light appeared on Toru's side of the field for a few seconds as his Scrap Searcher materialized onto the field. As soon as the little monster was out on the field, Toru continued on with his plan by taking its, Scrap Chimera's, and Scrap Beast's cards and placing them into his Graveyard.

"Next, I tune my Level 1 Scrap Searcher and Level 4 Scrap Chimera with my Level Scrap Beast!"

All three of Toru's Scrap monsters flew high into the air once Toru called out towards all of them. They then began to start the procedure for a Synchro Summoning as Toru went on to grab a card from his Extra Deck. Once he had the card in hand, the Scrap Duelist then went on to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"From the remains, a dragon with the power of two appears and makes itself known to the world! Synchro Summon! Combine, Scrap Twin Dragon!"

**Scrap Twin Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2200 LVL 9**

When the Synchro Ritual of Scrap Beast, Chimera, and Searcher finally came to an end, a bright flash of light completely consumed Toru's side of the field for a few moments. When it faded away, Scrap Twin Dragon was finally just above its master's head and released an earth-shattering roar with both of its two heads.

"I activate Scrap Twin Dragon's Special Ability!" Toru declared. "Once per turn, by destroying one card on my side of the field, I can choose two cards on your side of field and return them to your hand! I destroy one of my face-down cards in order to return your face-down back to your hand and your Lion Heart back to your Extra Deck!"

Scrap Twin Dragon complied with Toru's demand and proceeded to destroy one of its master's two face-down cards by having one its head devour it. Once that happened, the second head turn its attention towards both Lion Heart and Kuromu's face-down. Soon, the dragon's eyes changed from a light blue color to a dark red color, indicating that it was about to use its Special Ability. It was at that moment that Kuromu took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Graveyard.

"I don't think you can get rid of Lion Heart that easily," He said to his opponent. "I activate the Special Ability of my Effect Veiler! By discarding to the Graveyard, I can negate the effect of your Scrap Twin Dragon until the end of the turn!"

Once Kuromu finished explaining the effect of his monster, an Effect Veiler appeared on the field and got in front of Toru's Scrap Twin Dragon. As soon as it did that, the tiny Spellcaster Tuner Monster then covered the dragon in a veil of beautiful glitter, causing it lose Special Abilities.

The sight of seeing his monster lose all of its powers really frustrated Toru to no end. The Scrap Duelist knew that if he just attacked Lion Heart straight on with his Scrap Twin Dragon then end result would be a Draw, with both Duelists losing all of their remaining Life Points. In order to get around that, he had hoped to utilize of the powers of his Scrap Twin Dragon in order to bring both Lion Heart and Kuromu's face-down back to his hand and Extra Deck respectively. However, since that wasn't the case, Toru now had to come up with a brand new plan in order to get around his opponent's monster.

While he pondered this, Takashi and the others were trying to come up with ways to take out Lion Heart as well. Because of its Special Ability, attacking it straight away was suicide and since it's most likely not its only power, destroying it by card effects might not be the best idea either. As a result, only two other options presented themselves. The first option, which meant trying to return Lion Heart back to the Extra Deck, failed as Kuromu has cards that can negate such an effect. The second option, which was far more risky, was trying to negate the effect of Number 54: Lion Heart itself. Since not all of Lion Heart's powers are known, the chances that someone can negate its ability to cause damage to both Duelists seemed very slim to none. However, if Toru wanted to win this Duel, the others knew that he had to try.

Eventually, after pondering what to do for about 3 minutes, Toru realized that he didn't have any other moves to make. The other face-down card that he had on the field couldn't be activated at the moment and he had no other cards to play either. Also, if he attacked Lion Heart, the damaged from that battle would be bounced to him. As a result, Toru decided to just call it turn.

"That's it for now," He said.

"Good," Kuromu replied. "Now…let me show you the true power of Number 54. I Draw!"

Once he drew a card from his deck, Kuromu immediately placed it into his hand as he didn't even need it. Truthfully, if he had a card to either send it to the Graveyard or remove it from play he would use it. Right now, the only thing that was on this Duelist's mind was showing Toru the true intent of his Number Card and how it far surpassed even the toughest monsters in his deck.

"Lion Heart," He called. "Attack his Scrap Twin Dragon…Burning Crosscounter!"

"What are you doing?!" Toru questioned as he watched Lion Heart make its way over to Scrap Twin Dragon. "If you attack then we're both going to lose!"

"Wrong," Kuromu calmly replied. "You're the only one who will lose. I activate Lion Heart's second Special Ability! By using one of its Overlay Units, Lion Heart can reduce the Battle Damage that I would take from this battle and send it all straight to you!"

Toru's eyes widen after hearing the second ability of his opponent's monster. He then realized why he chose to receive damage during the first battle instead of the second one. By taking damage during the first battle, Kuromu in fact created a unique barrier that prevented his opponent from attacking right away. Not only that, but it would also give Kuromu the chance to catch his opponent off guard with Lion Heart's second ability and finish him off without taking any damage at all. The strategy was reckless and in some ways insane, but Kuromu managed to pull it off in such a way that it almost seemed ingenious.

As Toru continued to be amazed by his opponent's strategy, the Scrap Duelist neglected to pay attention to the fact that he was about to lose. Once he finally noticed what was about to happen, Toru acted quickly and activated his face-down card just seconds before his Scrap Twin Dragon was about to counter Lion Heart's attack.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Half Shut!" He declared. "With it, by cutting the Attack Points of my Scrap Twin Dragon in half, my monster can't be destroyed through battle!"

**Scrap Twin Dragon: ATK 1500**

When his Spell Card eventually took effect, Toru watched as his Scrap Twin Dragon began to shrink until it was about half its original size. Once that happened, the Synchro Monster soon found itself still being confronted by Kuromu's Lion Heart, who was just about to attack it with its claw. However, despite the fact that it was now weaker than before, Scrap Twin Dragon was still more than match for the Number Monster and quickly pushed it aside. However, because couldn't be destroyed through battle, Lion Heart simply returned to Kuromu's field as one of its Overlay Units left its body and began to make its way towards Toru. Eventually, the Unit transformed itself into a powerful bolt of lightning that proceeded to strike the young Duelist, causing him to lose 1400 of his Life Points.

**Toru: 1000 LP**

"Nice trick," Kuromu said sarcastically. "By using Half Shut on your own monster, you were able to reduce the damage you received by half. However, by doing that, you've only prolonged your suffering!"

Acting quickly in response to his monster's failed attack, Kuromu proceeded to take a card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, everyone in the stadium noticed that Scrap Twin Dragon's body was beginning to glow a bright red color.

"I activate a Quick-Play of my own," Kuromu said. "It's called Heart Burn! With it, since Number 54: Lion Heart attacked your monster, but failed to destroy it in battle, your monster is now removed from play and you take damage equal to Level, multiplied by 100 points. Scrap Twin Dragon is Level 9, which means you're taking 900 points of damage!"

As the effect of Kuromu's Quick-Play began to overwhelm Scrap Twin Dragon, everyone watching the Duel looked on in a state of both shock and awe as the powerful Dragon-Type Synchro monster exploded into thousand pieces. The sheer force of the explosion not only not only caused Toru to fall flat on his back, but it also resulted in him not being able to bring back Scrap Twin Dragon for the remainder of the Duel. Furthermore, due to the effect of Heart Burn, Toru lost 900 of his Life Points, bringing him down to a mere 100 points remaining.

**Toru: 100 LP**

"Humph," Kuromu scoffed as he took a card from his hand and inserted into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I hope this little experience has taught you the true purpose of the heart. It's meant to harm, not help. That's its only reason for being, it always has and it always will. Now, I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Once the materialized face-down on Kuromu's field, just behind his Lion Heart, Toru struggled to get back to his feet. With the removal of one of his strongest monsters, and no Spell or Trap Cards on his field, things looked extremely dire for him. Also, since Scrap Twin Dragon was removed from play and not destroyed, its other effect to bring a Scrap Monster to Toru's field couldn't activate. This would lead to even more problems as it would be extremely difficult to bring out a monster that had the power to deal with Lion Heart and its unique powers. Things seemed hopeless for Toru and a part of him wanted to surrender the Duel. However…

"Toru!" Someone from the stands called. "You have to stand up!"

Toru's eyes widen upon hearing the voice of the person who was calling out to him. He then slowly turned his head towards the direction of the voice and saw that it was Takashi. His little brother was cheering as loud and as hard as he could for him, trying to persuade him to get back up and keep fighting. Despite the fact that he was worried about his safety and that he originally wanted him to surrender, Takashi was still trying to give Toru the strength to continue.

However, it wasn't just Takashi who was cheering for him. Toru also saw all of his other friends cheering for him as well. None of them wanted him to lose, especially to some guy who uses cheap kamikaze tactics to get at his opponent's Life Points. All of them wanted Toru to show Kuromu the true power of Dueling, the power that comes from the heart. It wasn't something that only inflicted pain onto others. The heart is instead something that gives strength to others. It gives them the power to keep going no matter what difficulty and also gives them to courage to move forward despite how afraid you might be. Akiza, Lilly, Crow, Misaki, and everyone else wanted Toru to show that type of strength, the strength he always displayed whenever he picked up at deck.

Upon seeing his friends cheering for him so passionately, Toru soon found the strength to get back up to his feet. He then turned his attention towards Kuromu and started glaring at him fiercely which only resulted in his opponent becoming very annoyed.

"What's with that look?" Kuromu questioned. "Are you upset that you're about to lose?"

"…No," Toru responded. "I'm upset with myself. I can't stand the fact that I was getting my ass handed to me by someone like you. Well I'm standing for it anymore! This time I'm taking down your Lion Heart…and you along with it!"

"…I like to see you try," Kuromu replied.

Now finished talking to his opponent, Toru immediately placed his hand upon his deck and prepared himself to draw another card. Before he did however, the Scrap Duelist closed his eyes for a brief moment and cleared his mind. It was at this moment that Toru started visualizing the one card that he needed to turn this situation around. If he can just draw that card, then his victory would be assured and he would be able to join Takashi and the other Signers in the Finals. Toru had promised to always be there for his step-brother and protect him. He may have been unable to fulfill it during some moments of his young life, but he had every intention of keeping it now!

"It's my turn!" Toru yelled. "Draw!"

Gathering all the power from both his heart and soul, Toru firmly drew the top card from his deck and looked at it closely. Once he did, the young man realized that it was precisely the card that he was searching for. With it, he knew that the time for his counterattack has begun and that he needs to make the most of it now. So, in order to start his comeback, Toru proceeded to place the card into his hand before grabbing another one and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"From my hand, I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reincarnation! With it, by discarding one card in my hand to the Graveyard, I can take one monster from there and add it to my hand!"

Toru wasted no time and went on to take the card that he drew at the beginning of the turn and place it into his Graveyard. As soon as he did that, Toru then went on to grab his Scrap Chimera card from the Graveyard and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I once again Normal Summon: Scrap Chimera!"

A bright flash of light illuminated a portion of Toru's field as his Scrap Chimera returned to his side. Like before, once it was fully materialized, Chimera started roaring at the top of its lungs. It was through this action that the ground started breaking apart again and Toru grabbed another card from his Graveyard.

"I activate Chimera's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned, I can then Special Summon one Scrap Tuner Monster from my Graveyard! So return to the field, Scrap Beast!"

As the ground continued to break apart, Toru's Scrap Beast Tuner Monster began to claw its way through the earth and soon returned back to its master's side. As soon as he had both of his Scrap monsters back on field, Toru then went on to take both of their cards and place them back into his Graveyard.

"I tune my Level 4 Scrap Chimera with my Level 4 Scrap Beast!" He shouted.

Both Scrap Beast and Chimera complied with Toru's instructions and proceeded to jump high into the air in order to perform a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, everyone in the stadium were wondering just what exactly Toru was up too. If his Scrap Twin Dragon couldn't compete with Kuromu and his Lion Heart, then what hope could he have with a Synchro Monster of a lower Level? That logic didn't seem to make much sense to a lot of people, but they soon discovered why Toru made the move that he just did.

"The earth's discarded pieces will now come together and form a new power! Synchro Summon! Now reanimate, Scrap Dragon!"

**Scrap Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

When the Synchro ritual finally reached its conclusion, a bright flash of light consumed the entire field for a few moments. During that instance, a roar of an extremely powerful dragon could be heard throughout the entire stadium. It was the roar from Toru's Ace Monster, his all-powerful Scrap Dragon, who emerged from the light and made itself known to everyone present.

"What's that thing going to do you?!" Kuromu questioned. "You have no face-down cards to use its Special Ability. Also, even if your monster's stronger than Lion Heart, I can use my Number's Special Ability to reflect all the damage towards you! It's pointless you fool, there was no way an insignificant little worm like you could defeat me."

"…You're wrong!" Toru shouted back. "I will defeat you…and I'll do it now! Scrap Dragon, attack Number 54: Lion Heart…Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Scrap Dragon complied with Toru's demand and proceeded to build up power from within its iron body. Once it had gathered enough strength, the dragon then released a powerful blast of wind and iron shards towards its target. The sight of this surprised everyone as it looked liked Toru just signed his own death warrant.

"Fool!" Kuromu yelled. "I told you couldn't defeat me! I activate Lion Heart's Special Ability! By using one of its Overlay Units, Lion Heart can reflect the damage from this attack from me to you!"

As Scrap Dragon's attack continued it make its way over towards it, Lion Heart put both of its hands out and prepared itself to block the attack. However, just before the attack struck it, a strange armor of scrap and iron began to cover the Number's entire body. Everyone was confused by what was happening, especially Kuromu who was awestruck by it.

"From my Graveyard, I activate the Trap: Scrap Armor!" Toru declared. "This card can only be activated by removing it from play when my opponent's activates a monster effect during my Battle Phase. Now, the effect of that monster is now negated until the End Phase of the turn!"

Kuromu's eyes widen upon hearing Toru explain the effect of his Trap Card. He had assumed that he had his opponent down for the count; however that wasn't the case at all. By not giving up, Toru was able to make the use of his Trap and negate the reflective powers of Lion Heart. Now, with them gone, there was nothing stopping Scrap Dragon from continuing on with its attack and finishing this Duel. Kuromu couldn't accept such a result and looked towards his face-down card. As he attempted to activate it, the young man soon found himself caught in a giant explosion that was created from his monster's destruction.

Upon seeing the explosion consume everything on Kuromu's side of the field, including himself, everyone in the stadium started cheering in unison. Toru Ishida, after being behind throughout the entire match, was able to get around his opponent's powerful monster and win the Duel. With his victory, Toru earned the final spot in the Fortune Cup Finals and will be facing the other 7 Duelists who had qualified as well. Such a scene made everyone extremely happy, especially Takashi who proceeded to let out a sigh of relief.

"…It's over," He thought quietly to himself. "It's finally over."

As Takashi continued letting out sighs of relief, something soft and warm gently touch his shoulder. When he turned his head in order to see what it was Takashi saw that it was Akiza, who was smiling at him. The sight of her smile made him smile as well. It was a short Duel that had a couple of close call to them, but Toru was able to persevere and emerge as the victor. That fact made them both very happy as it meant that their friend wouldn't have to deal with such a situation again.

However…not everything is as it appears to be. Just Takashi was about to go down and congratulate his brother, he started to sense a powerful Reiatsu coming from the smoke of the explosion. The Reiatsu was very familiar, so familiar in fact that it felt like Takashi had just felt it moments ago. After about a second of thinking about it, the young Signer soon realized that he did sense it before and immediately turned his head back towards the holographic smoke cloud. He then went to examine every aspect of the cloud itself and soon discovered that there was someone standing inside of it. When the cloud eventually faded away Takashi, and everyone else for that matter, soon discovered that it was Kuromu, who was laughing loudly to himself.

"…What the hell's going on?" Toru questioned as he tried pondering the situation. How can you still be standing? I know for a fact that I destroyed your monster and depleted the rest of your Life Points!"

"You're only half right," Kuromu pointed out as he kept snickering to himself. "You did indeed destroy my Number, which is a surprise in its own right. However, by doing that, you allowed me to activate my Heart of Solace Trap Card. With it, since a monster I control was destroyed through battle, I take no damage and instead gain Life Points equal to that of your attacking monster!"

**Kuromu: 5200 LP**

As Kuromu's Life Points started to exceed their normal value, Toru was still trying to comprehend what just happened. He was sure that he had his opponent right where he wanted him. He had looked over every detail and made sure that his moves were precise and accurate. However, despite all of that, it still wasn't enough to take Kuromu down. In fact, his move only made him even stronger than he was before. That revelation shook Toru to his very core and he started to wonder what other moves he could possibly make. None of his other cards had any real power to them and even if he used his Scrap Dragon's effect to get rid of his opponent's final face-down card, it would force him to destroy Scrap Dragon itself. Doing that would leave him open for a direct attack and with only 100 Life Points left, an attack by virtual any monster would spell the end for him. With no idea on what to do, Toru looked towards his Scrap Dragon and hoped that its power and strength would allow him to stick around for a least one more round.

"I…I end my turn," He said in a somewhat disappointed tone of voice.

"Good," Kuromu replied. "Now, it's time for the beginning of your end Toru Ishida! I Draw!"

Kuromu swiftly drew another card from his deck and looked at it for a few seconds. Upon seeing it, the smile that was on his face grew even bigger as it was the card that would permanently seal Toru's fate. He then went on to present this card towards his opponent before placing it into his Graveyard.

"How appropriate," He said. "I'm going to trash you with this card. I send my Garbage Ogre from hand to the Graveyard! By doing that, I can add one Garbage Lord from my deck to my hand!"

When Kuromu placed his Garbage Ogre card into his Graveyard, one card popped out from his deck. Once he saw that card, the Duelist immediately grabbed it and went on to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"It's a good thing I have all these Life Points!" He said. "Because by giving up 2000 of them, I can Special Summon: Garbage Lord, from my hand!"

**Kuromu: 3200 LP**

**Garbage Lord: 0 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

When Kuromu finished declaring the name of his next monster, a small tornado suddenly appeared onto his side of the field. As it began to disappear, the tornado revealed a mysterious monster who was covered in robes made of out garbage. It was also wearing a crown and holding a staff that made out of the same disgusting material. Once Garbage Lord was out on the field, Kuromu continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, since I Special Summoned a monster with 1500 or less Attack Points, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell: Inferno Reckless Summon! With it, we can now Special Summon all monsters that have the same name as ones we currently have on the field from our hand, deck, or Graveyard! Because of that, I can now Special Summon two more Garbage Lords from my deck!"

Two more cards soon popped out of Kuromu's deck and the young quickly grabbed them and placed them onto his Monster Card Zone. When that happened, two more tornados appeared on his field, each containing one Garbage Lord. This act brought the total number of Garbage Lords on Kuromu's side of the field from 1 to 3, effectively surpassing his opponent in terms of monsters. Plus, since the effect of Inferno Reckless Summon only applies to the hand, deck, and Graveyard, Toru wasn't able to bring out 2 more Scrap Dragons since they can only be found in the Extra Deck. Also, since he had only one Scrap Dragon to begin with, Toru still wouldn't able to bring out another one even if the Spell's effect also included the Extra Deck Zone.

"Toru Ishida," Kuromu said as he placed his hand upon his Duel Disk. "You said that you had the power of the heart by you side. However, it seems to me that your heart's power wasn't strong enough. So, allow me to show you, the true…power of the heart! I Overlay all 3 of my Level 5 Garbage Lords!"

As Kuromu stacked all 3 of his Monster Cards on top of each other, he watched as his Garbage Lords transformed themselves into dark orbs of energy. Those orbs then started flying around the entire stadium for a few moments as the portal to the Overlay Network began to appear below them.

"With these three monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!"

When the portal to the Overlay Network materialized onto the field, all three of the Garbage Lords made their way over to it. Once they entered it, a huge explosion occurred and the entire field was overwhelmed by a huge hurricane. Then, as if it came out of a nightmare, a hideous and creature began to make its way out the portal.

"Behold!" Kuromu shouted. "This is my ultimate creature! A monster that's so powerful it completely consumes anything that it encounters. Now, devour his very heart and soul, Number 53: Heart-Earth!"

**Number 53: Heart-Earth – ATK 100 DEF 100 Rank 1**

As Kuromu's new monster continued to make its way out of the Overlay Network, everyone got a good look at it and soon found themselves absolutely repulsed by it. Number 53: Heart-Earth looked like a demon from the darkest depths of hell. It had no face, but had a pair of long demonic arms placed at both of its sides. Also, the place where its heart should be was filled by a mysterious substance that seemed dark and corrupted. Truly, it was a monster far beyond anyone's expectations.

Once his newest Number was out, Kuromu looked over towards Toru and saw that his eyes were completely filled with fear. Seeing his distraught and agony put a smile on his face as it meant that Toru had finally realized how hopeless things were for him. Despite the fact that he managed to defeat Number 54: Lion Heart, its power paled in comparison to that of Heart-Earth's. Now that his opponent has truly discovered fear and despair, Kuromu decided that it still wasn't enough. He wanted Toru to suffer even more and proceeded to do that by taking one card from his hand and placing it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The then went to materialize face-down on his side of the field, just behind Heart-Earth.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now Toru Ishida…draw you next card, because it will be the last time you do so!"

Kuromu's words shook Toru as a part of him believed that he was right. Was his next draw truly going to be his last one? That thought ran though his entire mind, breaking his resolve completely. Eventually, the Scrap Duelist saw himself making his way towards his deck, not fully aware of what he was doing.

"I…I draw," He stuttered.

Once he slowly drew his next card, Kuromu's eyes lit up with joy. He then proceeded to activate both of his face-down cards as the time was now to obliterate Toru Ishida and show just how strong the heart, when its used to inflict pain onto others, truly is.

"I activate 2 Continuous Trap Cards!" He declared. "The first Trap is, Heart of Malice! With it, as long as Heart-Earth is on the field, it can't be destroyed by card effects! The second Trap is, Attracting Hearts! The power of this Trap Card forces the monster with the highest Attack Points on your side of the field to attack Heart-Earth!"

As Kuromu started laughing like a mad man, Toru watched in utter shock as his Scrap Dragon started to prepare itself to attack Heart-Earth. He then turned his head over towards his hand and searched for a card that could stop his monster. However the only cards that he had on him were ones that could potentially destroy his opponent's Number and since Heart of Malice prevents Heart-Earth from being destroyed such a tactic wouldn't work. Because of that, all Toru could do was watch helplessly as Scrap Dragon with a barrage of wind and iron towards Number 53.

"I activate Heart-Earth Special Ability!" Kuromu shouted. "When it's under attack, Heart-Earth gains Attack Points equal to that of the attacking monster until End Phase of the turn!"

**Number 53: Heart-Earth – ATK 2900**

Scrap Dragon's attack continued to make its way over to Heart-Earth. However, just as the attack was about to hit it, the Xyz Monster quickly proceeded to absorb its power and add it to its own strength. When that happened, the substance that was in the middle of its body started to glow a bright purple color.

"Go Heart-Earth, attack Scrap Dragon and put an end to this Duel….Infernal Surge!"

Heart-Earth complied with its master's instruction and released a powerful blast of purple colored flames towards Scrap Dragon. When the fire struck it, Scrap Dragon was instantly vaporized into oblivion. However, it didn't just stop there. The flames of Heart-Earth's attack kept going and soon found itself completely covering Toru's body. The sheer amount of heat that the fire gave off inflicted a large amount of pain onto the Scrap Duelist, who could only scream in agony.

**Toru: 0 LP**

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><p>"<em>This Duel is over!" <em>The announcer said over the loudspeaker. _"The winner, and the final qualifying Duelist, is Kuromu Nesara!"_

As the announcer finished his declaration, everyone silently watched as Toru fell to the floor at the exact moment that Heart-Earth vanished from the field. For a few moments, none of them had anything to say as they were at a loss for words. However, after taking a moment to comprehend everything that just happened, a large cry of cheers and applause occurred as the crowd was congratulating the winner of the final Duel in the Fortune Cup Qualifiers. However, not everyone had the same enthusiasm. In fact, some of them were very distraught by what just transpired.

"TORU!"

With the Duel now over and his older brother lying on the ground, Takashi let his cool and immediately rushed over towards Toru. He was soon followed by the rest of his friends who were also very concerned for their friend. When all of them eventually reached him, Takashi looked over Toru's body and saw that he had some noticeable physical injuries. However, the young man also noticed that Toru had a lot of bruises on his body as well, indicating that he suffered internal injuries as well.

Soon, as Lilly took over and examined the full extent of Toru's injuries, Takashi turned his head towards Kuromu and looked at him with a murderous glare. The Signer then soon found himself grabbing his sword his hip, ready to pull it from its sheath and slice Kuromu's head off. When he saw this, all Kuromu could was smile as he proceeded to deactivate his Duel Disk.

"What's with that look?" He questioned sarcastically. "You seem upset."

"…Bastard," Takashi grunted. "How dare you do that to my big brother. I'm going to completely crush in Finals. You hear me…I'LL CRUSH YOU UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT!"

As he declared his desire to defeat him in the Finals, Kuromu noticed that tears were beginning to form around Takashi's eyes. The sight of them caused him to sigh a little and he soon began to make his way out of the stadium. However, before left, Kuromu turned his head back around and glared at Takashi with an equal amount of intensity.

"You…don't have the power to crush anything."

A powerful Reiatsu, far more intense than the one he emitted earlier, shot from Kuromu's and completely consumed the entire stadium. While most of the people there were able to feel it, Takashi was able to and soon found himself on the ground with Signer Mark glowing intensely. However it wasn't just him. Akiza, Crow, and Lilly also felt the same exact power and found themselves on the ground with their marks glowing as well. Madas, Tem, and Misaki, all of which were unaffected by the Reiatsu that Kuromu was giving off, quickly made their way over to their friends and checked to see what was going on with them. When Kuromu saw this, the young man scoffed at the sight and began to make his way out of the stadium.

As Kuromu continued to get farther and farther away from them, Takashi and all the other Signers soon found themselves feeling much better. However, all of them were still pretty shaken up by what they just experienced. To them, it wasn't like being attacked by a Psychic Duelist. It was something far more worse and evil than that.

"What the hell…was that?" Crow questioned.

"I…don't know," Lilly replied. "But I feel like…I felt something like that…before."

While the both of them continued to shake off that experience and try to understand what happened, Akiza turned his head towards Takashi and saw that he was by his brother's side. Despite being brought to brink of exhaustion by Kuromu's strange attack, Takashi was still more concerned by Toru's well-being that of his own. Eventually, Takashi noticed that Toru's eyes were beginning to open somewhat. However, he also noticed that his eyes barely had any life to him, thus indicating that he was barely conscious.

"…Bro," Toru said softly. "I…I'm…so…sorry."

Takashi's eyes widen as he watched Toru's pass out from his injuries again. He then started to remember all the good times he had with his big brother. From the moment they stacked the tower of blocks to everything else since then. Toru has always been there to support Takashi despite his lack of strength. However, from what Takashi was seeing right now, it seemed like this was something that Toru wouldn't be able to come back from. As a result, Takashi screamed in agony, which was only blocked when the announcer said something over the loudspeaker.

"_Attention Duelists," _He said. _"This concludes the Fortune Cup Qualifying Rounds. The 8 Duelists who qualified for the main event are; Takashi Nakamura, Akiza Izinski, Enoch Wylie, Kagura Toyoshima, Aiku Gato, Lilly Muto, Crow Hogan, and finally Kuromu Nesara. These 8 competitors will face each other in the illustrious Kaiba Dome one week from now on Saturday July 8__th__. Will all of you please be there as we prepare to determine our first ever Fortune Cup Champion!"_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With the Qualifiers now over, Takashi and the other must now regroup and think about everything that just took place. One of the first things they do is explain everything they currently know to Madas and Tem, as both of them deserve to know what's really going on. How will the two of them take the news and what's Goodwin's next move now that the Finals are set? _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 71: The Next Phase._

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to thank Overlord Reign for his OC; Kuromu Nesara. I promise to use him to the absolute best of my ability._

_Second, I want to discuss a topic that I've been hearing a while now. A couple of my reviewers have questioned my use of cards that aren't in the originally Yu-Gi-Oh card game or giving real cards different effects. The reason why I choose to do that is because, to me, using cards that aren't in the originally trading card game makes the story a bit more interesting. _

_Now, don't get me wrong, I intend to use most of the cards and effects that are in the card game. It's just, when one of my characters is using a card like Stardust Dragon or Number 53: Heart-Earth, I want to have unique cards that can help support them. The Yu-Gi-Oh anime tends to do that a lot and I figured, why not do the same thing. After all, the best thing about Yu-Gi-Oh is the several types of unique cards that are available. I want to make use of that fact and make this story even more interesting for everyone._

_Well, that's it for now. Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	71. Chapter 71

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 71: **_The Next Phase_

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><p>Takashi Nakamura is a young man who likes a lot of things in this world. One of the things that he likes is to play the game of Duel Monsters. Having played the card game ever since he was a little boy, Takashi has grown to love it and has quickly become one of the most important things in his life. Another thing that Takashi enjoys doing is eating. Being born with an extremely high metabolism, Takashi burns off the food that he eats really quickly and, as a result, he's forced to eat more than the average person. However, eating more has never bothered him in the slightest. Takashi has always enjoyed a good meal and the fact that he could eat more than other people only meant that he could enjoy the food even more. Still, despite his love for food and Duel Monsters, there is one more thing that Takashi loves above all else. That one thing is…his friends.<p>

Having been raised by only his grandfather, Takashi has always wanted to have a family like other kids his age. He never had the chance to have a mother say that he loved him or have a father say that he was proud of him. That fact has always made him very lonely and he would sometimes wish that he could be like the other kids his age and have a family like them. However, despite his lack of a family, Takashi has made up for it by having a large number of friends. Akiza, Lilly, Crow, Misaki, and all the other close companions that Takashi has met ever since he first arrived in New Domino City has quickly erased some of the loneliness that dwelled within his heart. Because of that, Takashi has made a promise to himself that he would protect his friends, who in turn acted as the family that he never had. However, if Takashi has learned anything in his life it's that some promises can't be kept.

The last Duel of the Fortune Cup Qualifiers is proof of Takashi being unable to keep that promise. During that match, Takashi was forced to watch as Toru, the man who grew up with him and acted like his big brother, was utterly defeated by his opponent; Kuromu Nesara. Not only that, but the young man also had to watch as Kuromu's Ace Monster, Number 53: Heart-Earth, dealt Toru real damage during the match. Watching his older brother fall to ground and being unable to help him bothered Takashi to end and he wished that the Finals started today so that he could get his hands around Kuromu's throat. However, after witnessing the power of his monsters and feeling the dense pressure of his Reiatsu, Takashi was beginning to wonder whether or not getting his hands on Kuromu was even possible.

As Takashi thought about this, he and his friends proceeded to bring Toru over back over to Poppo Time so that his wounds can be tended too. With them were both Tem and Madas who, after witnessing Toru's Duel against Kuromu and seeing the marks that their friends had beginning to glow, began to question what was really going on. Upon seeing the looks on both of their faces, which contained a mixture of confusion and concern, Takashi decided that he would tell them everything that he knew. Both Madas and Tem supported all of them throughout the first two rounds of the Fortune Cup and have shown nothing but respect for their privacy. Now, with the Signers now in the Finals, Takashi believed that now would be as good a time as ever to reveal to them the truth as the both of them deserved to know what was really going on.

While the two of them waiting in the apartment's living room, Takashi and the others were busy in Toru's room. Ever since his Duel against Kuromu ended, Toru has yet to regain consciousness and has remained asleep for several hours. As he slept, Lilly has been during everything within her ability to heal him with her healing powers. However, it's been about an hour since she began her treatment and the young woman could tell right away that she hasn't been making any real progress. Eventually, after another 5 minutes of no results, Lilly stopped treating Toru and turned to face her friends.

"…Lilly," Takashi said in a concerned tone of voice. "How is he?"

"It's hard to say," Lilly answered. "Toru's injuries are different from anything I've ever seen before. It's like he got hit by a Psychic Blast that contained the force of a Sense Blast. That caused him to have several internal and external injuries and it's extremely difficult to tend to them both at the same time. Also…there's the power of the attack itself."

"The power…?" Crow questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

Lilly kept to herself for a minute as she tried to come up with a way to explain what she meant while trying not to confuse the others. Eventually she got an idea and proceeded to call Takashi over to her. Once he walked up to her, Lilly then went to call over the others before lifting up Takashi's shirt, thus revealing the giant cross-shaped scar that he had on his chest. As they all looked on, with Akiza looking hesitantly as she was the one who made the scar, Lilly took her other hand and tried to heal it. However, like with Toru's injuries, nothing was happening to it.

"During my training I discovered something," She continued. "I learned that while I can heal injuries, the overall time in which they can be healed depends on the power of the wound itself. For example; something that has no power, like a knife or sword wound, can be healed right away as long as it doesn't scar up. However an injury with an extreme amount of power, like a blast from an extremely powerful Psychic Duelist, is something that I might not be able to heal as its power surpasses my own. This is why I can't heal the scar that's on Takashi's chest as it was a wound that Akiza gave him and her power is greater than my ability to heal it."

"…Does that mean…that you can't heal Toru's injuries?" Misaki asked.

"I don't know," Lilly replied. "I'll do what I can, but that's all I can promise…The full extent of Toru's injuries is still unknown and they might beyond my power to heal."

"…Lilly…just do what can for him," Takashi said. "Please…"

Lilly looked at Takashi as he pleaded for to heal his older brother. She then recalled everything that he's ever done for her, especially when it came to the battle against Amon in the Satellite and how he defended her when Alistair berated her for her defeat against him. During those times, Takashi showed no fear and always displayed an amazing display of strength that Lilly always admired. In fact, before she discovered that Takashi and Akiza had strong feelings for one another, Lilly herself had small crush on him. So, the fact that she's seeing him in this depressed state really made Lilly feel for Takashi and she decided to try her best to heal Toru.

"Okay," She said. "I'll do my best."

With that said, Lilly went back to healing Toru's injuries, only this time with more motivation than ever. As she worked, Takashi and the others left the room and proceeded to make their way downstairs to meet up with Madas and Tem. Once all of them were together, they went on to sit down and began talking about what's really going on. To start things off, Takashi brought out his right arm and revealed his Signer Mark to both Tem and Madas. He then signaled for Akiza and Crow to do the same thing and the two of them quickly complied.

"Let's see," Takashi said. "How should I explain this? Akiza, Crow, Lilly, and myself are Signers; protectors of the world chosen by the Crimson Dragon, an ancient god that's been looking over the world since its creation. Rex Goodwin, the director of Sector Security and the one who set up the Fortune Cup in the first place, knew who we were and forced all of us in the tournament. Also, because of the threat that vice-director Lazar gave to all of us, if us Signers didn't qualify for the Finals then everyone that we know, including ourselves, would be sent to the Facility."

After finishing a portion of his explanation, Takashi covered his arm back up and waited for his friends to give their response to what they just learned. As he waited, Takashi thought about their reaction and was prepared to be ridiculed by both Madas and Tem for what he's been hiding from them for the last couple of months. It wasn't like he wanted to hide this secret from them, but he felt for everyone's best interest that it be kept hidden. Also, because of the threat was kept in the dark, the overall spirit of the tournament wouldn't be compromised and everyone could give it their all. Takashi was prepared to be insulted by his friends, but wasn't going to apologize for this course of action. He felt that he did the right thing and that's something he couldn't apologize for. Eventually, after thinking about for a few minutes, Madas looked towards him and responded to his explanation.

"I don't know what to think about all this personally," He started off. "Protectors of the world and gods seem a bit over the top for me. However, after seeing Toru's injuries and watching those strange marks of your glow for the second time, I'm starting to believe that you might be right. Still, despite all that, you shouldn't have hid that threat from all of us. Takashi…did you honestly think that we would get sacred and run away just because we would get sent to the Facility if you guys lost?"

"…No," Takashi said after a short pause. "The reason why I kept it secret is because I didn't want the pressure that we were feeling affect the rest of you. All of you earned your place in the Fortune Cup and I didn't want you to feel any different in the chance that you lost."

"I see," Tem said. "And do you all of you believe in what he's saying?"

Akiza, Crow, and Misaki all nodded their heads in approval to Tem's question. All of them, including both Lilly and Toru, didn't want their friends to be affected in any if they learned about this problem that they faced. They all wanted to have fair Duels and for the most part, that happened. Even though it meant keeping secrets, they truly believed that it was for everyone's best interest and they all promised to relay the truth to them once the problem was settled.

Once they saw the others support Takashi's claim, both Madas and Tem looked at one another for about a seconds before nodding their heads. They then turned their attention back towards them and, after looking at all of them with a somewhat serious expression, both boys proceeded to smile.

"We understand," Tem said.

"Yeah," Madas agreed. "Granted, the fact that you hid something this important from us is somewhat annoying, we still understand why. Hell, if put in the same position I would probably do the exact same thing. I'm just glad that this is now all out in the open and that we don't have to hide anything from each other anymore."

Takashi and the others smiled upon hearing Tem and Madas agree to their actions as it brought them a great sense of relief. Now, with nothing else to hide, all of them could work together and make sure that Goodwin's plan doesn't come to fruition. Doing that would not only secure the safety of their other friends and love ones, but probably the rest of the world as well. That thought made everyone smile and it just motivated them all into making sure that the world that their all living in remains the same.

Soon after that, Takashi continued to explain everything that he knew about what's going on with Goodwin and the Fortune Cup. One of the things that he mentioned was the presence of the Dragunity Knights. After explaining to Tem and Madas that the Knights are special individuals that are destined to help the Signers in their quest for peace, Takashi also included his suspicions that a few of them have entered the Fortune Cup, albeit without them knowing about whom they are. That statement shocked everyone in the room and it only caused them to have even more questions than ever.

"So…" Misaki said while trying to come to terms about what she just learned. "Who are these people that you think are Dragunity Knights?"

"I can't say for certain if they're Knights or not," Takashi replied. "However, after watching them Duel and feeling the Reiatsu, or Spiritual Pressure, that they were giving off, there's a strong possibility that Jay, Aiku and Kagura are Dragunity Knights."

Upon hearing the names of the people that Takashi suspected, everyone in the one lit up in a state of confusion as they didn't expect him to name them. However, after remembering the Duels that each of them participated in during the Second Round, all of them quickly calmed down and started to realize that Takashi's claim might actually be true. Jay, Aiku, and Kagura have each displayed amazing skills during their matches, far beyond from what anyone has seen from them before. Also, all three of them have a unique Dragon-Type Synchro Monster, similar to the ones that the Signers have. That reason, above anything else, supported the claim that they were Dragunity Knights even more.

"So," Akiza said. "You think they're like Alex."

"Like I said, I can't say for certain," Takashi pointed. "But the Reiatsu they were unconsciously admitting has caused me to suspect them."

"Okay then," Crow interjected. "Then, of the three of them, which do you believe to be the strongest?"

Takashi kept to himself for a moment as he thought about Crow's question. Jay, Aiku, and Kagura are all extremely powerful Duelists and the process of determining which of the three were the strongest was really hard. He was never really the type of person to judge someone's Dueling skills as he believed that every Duelist gets stronger with each Duel that they compete in. However, after thinking about it for a moment, Takashi was able to come up with a theory of who was the strongest.

"As of right now," He started off. "I think the strongest of the 3 of them is…Kagura."

"…Why would you think that?" Misaki asked. "I mean, after losing to him today and feeling the power of his Sense, I think that Aiku might be the strongest."

"I thought so too at first," Takashi pointed out. "However, during your Duel against him, I was able to sense that Aiku was close to bringing out the full extent of his power. That wasn't the case for Kagura as she won her Duel against Yusuke with very little effort. Also, unlike Jay and Aiku, she wasn't using all of her power. In fact, I think Kagura might be the strongest Duelist in this entire tournament…even stronger than me."

As he thought about the fact that Kagura might actually be a better Duelist than him, Takashi pulled out his deck from its case and looked at it. Out of all of the decks that he built, this one was the strongest. So, if it was true that Kagura was stronger than him, then even with this deck, Takashi still wouldn't be able to defeat her. Everyone present wondered if that thought was bothering their friend and were about to question of he was okay. However, before any of them had the opportunity to do so, Takashi stopped thinking about it and went back to explaining the current situation to everyone.

"Well…I guess I won't really know unless I fight her," He said with a small smile. "Anyway, that's who I believe to be the strongest of the 3 of them. Now, with that matter settled, I want all of you to promise me something."

"Promise you what?" Madas questioned.

"I want you to promise that you won't reveal this information to Jay, Aiku, or Kagura," Takashi answered. "Until we can confirm that they are Dragunity Knights, I want to keep this a secret from all of them. That way, we won't be making any false accusations."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tem asked. "I mean, I understand why we should keep this secret from Jay and Kagura. But are you sure that we should keep this from Aiku? I mean, look what happened today."

Takashi nodded his head gently as he thought about what happened today with Aiku. The reason why he's not with everyone right now is because Takashi was keeping secrets from him and that he didn't like being kept in the dark. In Aiku's eyes, he doesn't consider people who keep secrets from him his friends. In fact, he considers so people to be his enemies if anything else. Takashi knew that if he kept this information from Aiku then there would be a good chance that the young man would despise him and the others even more. Still, despite that, Takashi believed that it was something that had to be done.

"Don't worry about Aiku," He told all of them. "When the time comes…I'll deal with him."

After saying that, Takashi kept to himself for a moment while everyone else looked at him. Even though he tried his best to keep his emotions in check and not show any signs of worry, all of them could tell that this has been extremely hard for him. Not only did he have to lie to everyone, but his actions also caused him to not only lose a good friend in Aiku and nearly cost him his step brother's life. The fact he managed to keep his emotions in check for this long has been nothing short of amazing. Still, despite how amazing that feat was, Akiza and the others knew that Takashi could possibly lose it if things weren't settled quickly. As a result, they decided to make sure that they ended this affair as soon as possible so that everything would go back to the way it used to be.

Eventually, after a few minutes of silence, everyone began to hear someone coming from upstairs and saw that it was Lilly. The young woman was visibly tired as she never treated someone with injuries such as Toru's before. Also, the fact that she had to use her own natural power in order to temporarily improve Toru's body didn't help either. The ability to heal other people doesn't come without its costs and this was the result of that.

As Lilly slowly made their way up to them, Crow immediately got up from his seat and made his way to his friend. He then helped her make her way over to the couch so that she could rest. Once he did that, Crow then went on give Lilly as glass of ice-cold water before sitting down next to her. After she finished drinking the water, Lilly placed the glass down and took one more deep breath before speaking to everyone.

"I've just finished working on Toru," She said. "And…he's in stable condition. He'll make a full recovery."

Takashi's eyes lit up with happiness upon hearing that Toru is going to be okay. Ever since he was injured, the young man has felt an extremely amount of pain and regret as he believes that it should've been him that was injured by Kuromu's attack and not his brother. So, the fact that Toru would make a full recovery made Takashi feel a whole lot better as it meant that his brother wouldn't be a casualty from this stupid affair.

"However," Lilly continued. "He'll still need plenty of rest, so he won't be doing any Dueling for a while."

"That's fine," Takashi pointed out. "As long as he's okay…that's good enough."

With Toru's recovery now fresh in their mind, everyone became even more motivated to settle this problem once and for all. Rex Goodwin and the rest of Sector Security has done nothing but pressured them because of the marks that the Signers have and they were getting sick and tired of it. If they wanted to go back to way things were, Takashi and the others knew that they had to fight harder than ever before. They would have to use all of their strength and skills in order to crush Goodwin's damn ambitions and make sure that nothing like this would happen again. As a result everyone gained a new sense of resolve and they all swore to win.

Once everything was explained and they decided to fight this battle together, Tem and Madas both decided that it was time for them to head on home. Even though they accepted the fact that some godly power was involved in all of this, they still needed time to adjust to this new information. However, both of them agreed that they would come back soon in order to set up their plan of attack. Before the both of them left the apartment, Takashi called out to them as he made his way to them. As soon as he reached his friends, the other stood by as Takashi started speaking.

"Hey guys," He started off. "I know that this is a lot to take in, but I want to thank you for supporting us. For the longest time, I've scared because I didn't know what was going to happen. In fact, a small part of me wanted to handle all of this by myself because of didn't anyone to get hurt. However, that wish became impossible when Toru got hurt. Now, with things going as they are now, I realize that my power isn't enough to end this. In order to end this for good, I'll need the power of my friends and allies and I'm happy that I can consider you guys as such."

"…Don't mention it Takashi," Tem said with a smile.

"Yeah," Madas agreed. "I mean after all, we are friends."

Takashi nodded his head in agreement as all of them were friends and as such, they would support each through thick and thin. He then smiled to himself before extending his arm out and placing it in front of them. Upon realizing what Takashi wanted to do, both Tem and Madas responded by placing their hands on top of his. Once they did that, the three of them were soon joined by the others who proceeded to place their hands on top of theirs. All of them, in one way or another, have thrown into this conflict and each of them knew that it was only going to get harder from here on out. However, along with that fact, all of them knew that as long as they stick together then everything would work out in the end.

* * *

><p>In Sector Security's main office building, which placed in the Tops section of New Domino City, Vice-Director Lazar has been working around the clock ever since the Fortune Cup was first set up. He had to approval all the finer details of the tournament in order to keep the public eye from finding out what's really going on and to sanction all the Duelists who have competed so far. This was to supposed to be Goodwin's job, since he's the one who organized the tournament in the first place, but he's hasn't been around since he decided to train Alistair. As result, Lazar has been left to deal with everything and he's not happy about it.<p>

However, the Vice-Director wasn't alone in his troubles. Mina Simington, Goodwin's secretary and the one who generally watches over Alistair for him, was helping Lazar in his work. While Lazar focused on the affairs of the tournament, Mina was in charge making sure that the actual affairs of Sector Security were still in place. She had make sure that all the officers were doing their jobs right and to see if anything out of the ordinary was going on. Also, another one of Mina's jobs was to keep an eye on the Signers and anyone their close too, just to make sure that she and the rest of Security are always a step ahead on them.

While the two of them worked, both Lazar and Mina were discussing the current state of things now that the Fortune Cup Finals were set. Since the Signers have all reached the Finals, there was no need to keep the threat that Lazar placed out a couple of months ago. However, that didn't mean that they were done with them. For Goodwin's plan to truly succeed, they needed Takashi and the others to be matched up against opponents that would push them to their limit. Only then would they gain the strength needed to fully summon the Crimson Dragon, which they failed to do the last time they were all together. That plan was on the forefront of their minds, but it didn't mean that the plan itself didn't have a couple of loose ends.

"So let me get this straight," Lazar said. "You're telling me that Takashi Nakamura has explained everything that he knows to both Tem Uraki and Madas Elvin."

"That's correct," Mina confirmed. "I've just received word that Takashi informed the two of them about what's going on and both Madas and Tem have agreed to help the Signers in their cause."

"…I see," Lazar looked up at the roof for a moment as thought about what he just learned. "Well, even with the two of them, it won't help. Our plan can't be stopped by them."

As Lazar thought about his side's victory, Mina was busy looking at a touch screen computer that she had on her person. The information that was on the display screen seemed very troubling and she wanted to tell the Vice-Director about it. That information, probably above anything else, was the real reason why Mina was meeting up with Lazar instead of working by herself on her own things.

"Vice-Director," She said, trying to get his attention. "…I've also received word that the problem that's been occurring over the last couple of months is still going on. I have our best people on the job, but we just can't seem to find who's causing it."

"Then it's obvious to me that you and your people aren't doing a good enough job!" Lazar pointed out. "I thought I told you that I wanted this matter settled as soon as possible."

"I know sir," Mina said. "However, it hasn't been that easy. If you just give us a little more time then I'm positive that we can make some significant progress…"

"Fool!" Lazar yelled. "We don't have time! The Director could show up here at any moment and if he finds out what's going on then he'll have our heads. I know you don't want to go down like that Mina…so get off your ass and find this guy!"

Mina nodded her head in compliance and got ready to leave the room in order to continue her investigation. However, just as she was about to open the door, someone proceeded to do it from the other side. Upon seeing that person enter the room, Mina instantly froze up with fear as she couldn't believe who it was. When Lazar noticed that she was just standing there, he was about to yell at Mina and tell her to leave. But, after seeing the person that Mina saw, the Vice-Director froze up as well.

"So…what's this problem that the two of you were talking about?"

The person in question was Rex Goodwin, who had just returned after training Alistair for the past 3 months. As if he never left at all, the Director still maintained his strong standing since his mere presence intimidated both Mina and Lazar. When he saw the two of them like that, Goodwin gave a small and unnoticeable smile as he proceeded to take Mina's touch screen computer and began to examine the data that was on it. Once he finished looking over the data, Goodwin returned the device over to Mina before making her way over towards the window. As he looked over all of New Domino, Lazar quickly snapped out of his frightened state and went on to greet his boss.

"Um…it's…it's good to see you Director Goodwin," He stuttered a little. "How…did Alistair's training go?"

"It went fine," Goodwin answered, not even taking the time to face his Vice-Director. "Alistair has gained the strength that I've expected him to obtain. He'll be ready when it comes to defend his title against the winner of the Fortune Cup."

"That's…that's great to hear," Lazar replied. "I knew that Alistair had what it took. I mean after all, you were the one who choose him to come here from the Satellite in the first place."

"…Don't try and change the subject Lazar," Goodwin told him. "Explain to me what's been going on here in my absence."

In order to get his Vice-Director to explain everything that he knows, Goodwin released a unique Reiatsu from his body. What made this Reiatsu so special is that it affected Lazar, causing him to fall to both knees. Normally, people who can't sense or feel Spiritual Pressure are usually unaffected by it as their too weak to comprehend it. That reasoning is similar to the concept that 2 dimensional beings are unable to interact with 3 dimensional beings. However that wasn't the case with Goodwin. Being a master of Reiatsu, he was able to control his power to such a degree that people who are immune to normal Reiatsu are affected by his. This is why he always has a demanding presence wherever he goes as his power always intimidates those who are around him.

As Lazar struggled to overcome the pressure that he was feeling, Mina finally snapped out of her depressed state of mind and saw what was going on. In order to prevent herself from experiencing the same thing that her superior was feeling, the young woman proceeded to answer Goodwin's question.

"Sir," She started off. "For the last couple of months, we have discovered that someone has hacked into the Security database and is stealing information. We don't know who's behind it, but we can tell that this person is very skilled in making sure that nothing he does is noticeable."

"I see," Goodwin said as he released Lazar from the grip of his power. "Then I know actually who doing this."

"Excuse me sir…?" Mina questioned.

"Nothing," Goodwin quickly continued. "Anyway, this problem poses no threat. I've already set up the proper countermeasures so that it doesn't happen again. Besides, my plan has gone too far to be stopped now. Soon, the Crimson Dragon will appear and the war will finally begin after 5000 years."

As Goodwin said that, both Mina and Lazar looked at one another for a second before turning back and facing their boss. Even though they knew what Goodwin wanted to do and agreed to help him, the two of them still didn't know all of the details. This caused them both to wonder what Goodwin really wanted to do once this war began and how he would go about it.

"Now," Goodwin said. "It's time to begin the next phase of my plan. Lazar, set up the match-ups for the Finals. Mina, get everything ready for the party."

"Yes sir," Both Mina and Lazar said in unison.

After receiving their orders, the two of them quickly made their way out of the office so that they could accomplish their respective jobs. Once they were gone and he was all alone, Goodwin looked high up in the sky and examined all of the stars. All of them looked very beautiful, but their appearance didn't impress the Director. In his eyes there was only one star that he cared about, but he wasn't able to find it.

"Very soon," He thought quietly to himself. "The Dragon Star will appear and when it does…this world will never be the same again."

* * *

><p>Its midnight in New Domino City and almost everyone is asleep, resting for the next day. However, there was one person who was still wide awake as he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep. That person is Takashi Nakamura, whose busy examining the stars while on the roof of Poppo Time. Ever since he first arrived in New Domino City almost 11 months ago, the young man has made the roof of his apartment his favorite spot. For him, the roof was the best place to watch the stars, which is something he always like doing ever since he was a little boy.<p>

As he looked at all of them, Takashi was busy thinking about all the things that's happen to him over the course of this year. In the beginning he was still in Crash Town, living with his grandfather Klaus. However, after rescuing his young friend Nico from the hands of a Radley Family thug, Takashi was forced into exile in order to protect himself and his love ones. He was told to go to New Domino City so that he could achieve his dream one day becoming the world's best Duelist, just like his late mother Sakura did before him. However, his dream been side-tracked by all the things that he's witnessed and experienced since coming to the city.

His battle against Sayer and the Arcadia Moment was just one of things that he had to overcome during his time here. Not only did that incident show him that he was gifted with strange new powers, but it was during that time he was branded with his Signer Mark. During that time, Takashi didn't know how he got the mark and why it gave him these powers. However, he simply put that thought into the back of his mind and used his new abilities to help kill Sayer and end his world conquering ambitions.

Shortly after that, Takashi was drawn into battle that ended up deciding the fate of the entire Satellite Sector. In that conflict he faced Sasuke, otherwise known as Amon, the leader of the Crashing Sharks gang. Like him, Sasuke had a Signer Mark, but he was far more experienced in the use of its powers. This pushed Takashi into a corner and nearly brought him to the brink of death. However, after looking deep within himself and believing in the power that he and his friends possessed, Takashi was able to stop Sasuke and save the people who lived in the Satellite.

Handling those incidents made Takashi really happy as it meant that he being true to his vow to help other people, even if it meant experiencing hardship. At the same time however, those incidents made Takashi very sad. Even though he fought against both Sayer and Sasuke, he wasn't actually the one who took their lives. That honor was given to Akiza and Lilly. Also, while the two of them did that, Takashi was unconscious and unable to help. That fact bothered him as he wants to be the one who protects, not the one who is protected. He then resolved to get stronger so that his friends wouldn't have to risk their lives in order to make sure that he was okay.

After a month of looking through all of his cards, Takashi was able to construct a new deck and felt that he was strong enough to tackle any obstacle. However after his Turbo Duel with Alex McQueen, New Domino City's Underground Dueling King, Takashi was shown just how weak he really was. He then started to have doubts about his own skills and that began to have a negative effect on not only his strength as a Duelist, but his strength as a person as well. It was only after his Turbo Duel with Alistair that Takashi realized that he needed to get stronger. Not only for himself, but for the sake of his friends and for the memory of his friend Hikari, who was the first that Takashi ever truly loved.

So, after learning about the Fortune Cup and Goodwin's plans for him and the rest of the Signers, Takashi decided to train with Alex in order obtained the strength that the Underground King knew he had. The training was rather difficult and Takashi was brought to the brink of death on more than one occasions. However, after remembering why he Duels in the first place, Takashi was able to get up time after time. This battle was going to be the toughest thing that he'll ever face and he couldn't afford to lie down and die while he friends fought. He owed it to them to keep going, even though it was actually they who owed him. That's just the type of guy Takashi is. He always cared about the safety of his friends and would risk everything for him, even if it meant not taking in the value of his own life.

As he continued to recall everything that's transpired up until now, Takashi kept looking at the stars that twinkled in the night sky. The sight of them always brought him a sense of relief as the stars were the one thing that never changed, even if everything else around him did. In the past, Takashi didn't think about looking at the stars in such a way and simply looked at them because of he liked too. However, after a conversation that he and Hikari used to have about the matter, Takashi's view about them changed. He could still remember the words that she spoke, even after all this time.

_There so beautiful, yet so far away. It's strange to think that some of the stars that we're looking at have been dead for thousands and thousands of years. It makes you realize where we stand, just how…small all our troubles are in the scheme of things. How incredibly brief our lives our. We have to try and make the most of every moment because we're given so few of them._

Hikari's words, just like her life, were something that Takashi would never forget. Even though she was very young when she died, she had wisdom far beyond her years. Some of the things she said confused Takashi while others didn't. However, despite that, he would always take everything that she said to heart and would try his best to apply what she tells him in his everyday life. To sum it all up, Takashi loved Hikari deeply and it still pains him to accept that she's really gone.

"…Hikari," He silently said. "I wonder…if you were alive, what would you say to me? What would you say if you saw me like this? Would you try and encourage me or would simply ridicule me for feeling this way. I wish you were here. It's been so hard without you around."

As Takashi continued to ponder over the loss of his friend, someone was beginning to make his way up to him. The young man was able hear the footsteps that the person was making and proceeded to turn himself around in order to see who it was. When he did, Takashi saw it was Akiza, who was dressed in an evening gown. The gown consisted of a long pink dress, with sweat pants of the same color. Over the gown was a white coat, which protected Akiza from the cold. Upon seeing her wear that, Takashi blushed a little bit as her attire suited her well. It was far better from what he was wearing as his outfit only consisted of black sweat pants and a blue undershirt. Also, unlike Akiza, Takashi was barefoot while standing on the roof.

"…Sorry," She said while trying to hide the blush that was on her face. "Did I disturb you?"

"No," Takashi replied. "I was just recalling the past. It's something that I do from time to time so it's no big deal."

Takashi tried putting on a fake smile so that his friend could be put at ease, but Akiza was able to see right through it. Having been with him for so long, Akiza has been able to tell if Takashi was either happy or sad just by looking at his facial expression. Whether this ability was a result of them being such good friends or the fact they have a strong connection with one another was unknown to her. However, Akiza did know that she never liked it when Takashi was sad. She loved him with all of heart and she preferred it when he was happy and kind, as it was so those things that allowed him to reach her the way he did.

"So," Takashi continued. "What brings you up here? I thought you would be asleep by now."

"…Takashi," Akiza said as she looked up at him. "It's time for you to keep your promise to me. I want you to tell me what you were hiding from Aiku earlier today."

Upon hearing her reason why she was up on the roof with him, Takashi instantly remembered the promise that he made to Akiza earlier in the day. He promised her that latter on in the day he would explain to her what's been on his mind ever since watching Enoch Duel. He also remembered that he owed her something else, which she would explain after they had their talk. So, after getting his mind together, Takashi recalled the way he was feeling after he saw Enoch and proceeded to explain how he felt to Akiza.

"Okay…," He said. "I did promise I'd tell you and I'm a man of my word. Akiza…during my training with Alex he told me that he was going to send someone to help us during the Fortune Cup."

"I see," The Psychic Duelist replied. "But how is that bad? Shouldn't we get all the help that we can get? I mean after all, we are facing all of Sector Security."

"I know," Takashi agreed. "And I agree with you. However, after Enoch won his Duel, went on to tell me something. When I heard it, I was immediately shocked and I didn't know what he said was true or not."

"What was it…?" Akiza asked.

Takashi kept to himself again as he didn't know how Akiza was going to react once he told her what Enoch told him. A part of him wanted to lie to her and say that it was something that wasn't really relevant. However, after seeing the expression that was on her, Takashi decided against that plan. For Akiza, learning the truth was essential as she didn't want to be left in the dark. She wanted to support her friends in everything that they did, but she couldn't do that if they hid things from her that she should know. Takashi knew that and silently cursed himself for thinking such a thought. He then went on to take a deep breath before telling Akiza what Enoch said to him.

"He said," He started off. "That the person that Alex sent…was him."

Akiza eyes widen upon hearing Takashi say that Enoch was the one that Alex sent to infiltrate the Fortune Cup. She then immediately began to think about why Enoch would choose to take such a job and instantly remembered that he told her that he has a job as a spy. Such a career would require him to sneak into different places without the public eye knowing about his true intentions. Akiza knew that, but she was still left with a lot of questions.

"…Is that true?" She asked Takashi. "Did Alex really recruit Enoch to compete in the tournament?"

"I'm not sure…," Takashi told her. "I mean, I trust Alex and I know that he wouldn't lie about something like this. But…I just can't bring myself to trust Enoch. He feels too much like Sayer. The Reiatsu that he gave off is too similar to his…and that's what making me feel apprehensive of him. That's what's been bothering me all this time."

After saying what he had to say, Takashi sighed quietly to himself before looking over at Akiza and waiting for her response. As he did that, the young woman thought about what she just learned for a while and tried to see if there was any truth behind it. Although Akiza trusted Takashi, her trust for Alex wasn't up there because she doesn't really know him. Also, her trust for Enoch was even worse not only because they haven't seen each other in almost 5 years, but their overall relationship was strained as a whole. This caused the young Psychic Duelist to think about a lot of things, one of which involved her and Enoch's time back at the Arcadia Movement.

"…Now that think about it," She said. "Sayer used to do strange experiments back when I first entered the Arcadia Movement. I don't know all the details, but I do know that Enoch was one of his most common test subjects. Maybe that's the reason why sensed Sayer's power coming from him. It could be that he did something to Enoch that allowed him transfer a portion of his power into him."

"Yeah…" Takashi agreed. "You could be right…but still."

Takashi believed Akiza's reasoning as Sayer's plan to rule the world was to absorb the power of all the Psychic Duelists that was with him and add it to his own. Such a plan would require a large amount of testing, so the theory that he inserted a portion of his power into Enoch wasn't unbelievable. Even so, Takashi still felt weary of him. He couldn't quite explain it, but it felt like Enoch doesn't really see him. What that means is that Takashi believes that Enoch doesn't really see him as a person, but as a Signer and the individual who helped free Akiza from Sayer's grip. He just didn't know how about it and that was causing him to have doubts about himself.

As he looked up towards the stars in order to clear his mind, Akiza looked at Takashi and came to realize something. There's a lot more things that Takashi's thinking about than just with what he learned from Enoch. In her eyes, it was like he was questioning himself and his own resolve. The strength of a person depends on their will to do what they believe right and commit to it all the way. For Takashi, such a feat was extremely hard for him as he had a lot on his plate. Not only did he want keep true to his vow and protect everyone that he encountered, but he also had the added responsibility of being the leader of a group of extremely powerful Duelists. A leader sometimes has to do things that are aberrant and Akiza believed that Takashi couldn't really do that. It's not like he couldn't do things that were out of character, but it probably didn't fit his overall personality.

Eventually, after thinking about for a few, Akiza decided to come out and ask what else was bothering Takashi. Throughout the entire time that she knew him, Takashi has always been there for her and helped her out when she needed him. She couldn't do the same thing when he needed help then not only could she not really call herself his friend, but she also wouldn't have the right to confess his true feelings to him as well. So, after walking up to him, Akiza went on to ask Takashi to open up to her.

"Takashi…," She said. "If something else is bothering you, then you can tell me. I'll be here to listen."

"I'm okay Akiza," Takashi replied with keeping his up towards the stars. "Please don't worry about me."

"But I can't help not worrying about you Takashi," Akiza told him. "You're always putting so much pressure on yourself and yet you don't let anyone else lighten the load. I just want to show you that I can carry some of your burdens. That way, you don't have too."

"…I don't have the right to let anyone do that Akiza," Takashi said. "No…to be more accurate, I lost that right."

"What do you mean…?" She asked.

As Akiza asked him to explain his answer, Takashi once again thought about his past and all the mistakes that he made. Those mistakes have forged him into the person that he is today and the person that he is now is someone that he's not particularly proud of.

"When I was little," He explained. "My grandpa told me that my name has a lot of meanings, such as praiseworthy and warrior. However, the meaning that stood out the most for me was; someone who protects. My name means to protect other people and for the longest time, I've strived to do that. However…I simply wasn't able to do it. A lot of people, some of which were my closest friends, died while I was trying to protect them. The despair of seeing the people you care about die is something that I don't want others to experience. That's why I keep my problems to myself as I believe that I'm the only one who deserves to deal with them. Everything that's happened to me is my fault and I deserved to be punished for it."

Takashi closed his eyes and kept quiet as thought about what he just said. The young man never revealed so much to anyone before. Not even Toru, the one person who knows him better than anyone else, knew about this. Takashi believed that he deserved to live a life of unhappiness, despite the dreams that he wanted to achieve for himself. It wasn't what he wanted, but he felt that he had no choice in the matter. He then waited for Akiza to either say something to him, but soon found himself very surprised when she proceeded to hug him close to her.

"…You don't deserve to be punished," She told him. "Takashi…you may not believe this, but I do. To me, you've saved more people than the people that you've failed to save. You single handily brought happiness and hope too many and that's something that you should be proud of. You've once told me that the positives in life outshine the negatives and this is one of those cases. So please…don't say such things anymore."

Akiza slowly let go of Takashi and looked at him as he looked at her. She then went on to gently touch the side of his face that contained his first cross-shaped scar. Her touch felt so warm to him as it felt like the rays of the morning sun was upon him. Takashi then looked on as Akiza gave a smile that was just as warm as her touch.

"Takashi…you're the kindest and most considerate person that I've ever known. So please don't doubt yourself…because I don't. I'll stick by your side and support you until the very end, no matter what happens."

As she slowly moved her hand from his face, Akiza noticed that the expression that was on Takashi's face was beginning to return to way it normal is, a face that's filled with happiness. Her kind words has allowed Takashi to see all the good things that he's done, which gave him the strength to push away all the doubts and regrets that he kept hidden within his heart. She was right in what she said. All the good things that he's done have far exceeded all the things that he failed to do. All he needed to do was continue on the path that he believed was right and that would allow him to save even more people.

Once he regained his resolve, Takashi gave Akiza a sincere smile which she greatly appreciated. He then gently touched her face for a moment before speaking to her.

"Thank you Akiza," He said. "I really needed to hear that."

"Don't mention it," She replied kindly. "I'm glad that I could help."

The two of them kept smiling at one another as small breeze brushed against their skin. For Takashi Nakamura and Akiza Izinski, all the problems in the world didn't seem to matter very much when they were together. Both of them brought a sense of relief and happiness to the other and were extremely grateful for that. They then both decided, each in their own way, that they would do everything within their power to defeat Goodwin and make sure that happy moments like this would continue for a very long time.

Eventually, after feeling another evening breeze, Akiza started to feel cold and decided to head back inside so that she could get some sleep. As she turned herself around and began to make her way back inside the apartment, Takashi instantly remembered something quickly called out to her. Once she stopped and turned herself back around to face him, Akiza listened as Takashi asked her a question.

"Hey Akiza," He said. "What about the second favor I owe you? Didn't you say that you would tell me about it once we finished having our talk?"

"Oh yeah…," She replied. "I nearly forgot about that. Give me a second."

Akiza didn't really care about the second favor that Takashi owed her as she personally felt that she owed him more than he owed her. However, after thinking about it for a moment, the young woman decided to make the most of it. She then went on to think about all the things that she would like from Takashi, but she couldn't think of anything. If there was anything that she really wanted, it was for Takashi to return the feelings that she had for him. However, when she realized that she still lacked the confidence to openly confess her feelings to him, Akiza decided that there was only one real way to do that.

"Alright," She said. "Takashi…I've decided what I want from you."

"And what's that?" He asked.

"What I want…is for both of us to face each other in the Final Duel of the Fortune Cup." She answered.

Takashi was shocked when heard what Akiza wanted from him. He expected that she would want something like a rare card or anything else like that. However, he wasn't expecting that she would want the both of them to face each other in the Duel that would determine who would face Alistair for the title of Duel King. He was about to question her about the request, but Akiza was already ahead of him and began explaining herself.

"After watching your Duels in the Fortune Cup Takashi, I'm beginning to see you in a way that I've never seen before," She explained to him. "Everything about you was so happy. And I don't mean a smile or a laugh. I mean true happiness. While you're in that state, you not only bring out the best in yourself, but the best of your opponent as well. Also, it's like the opponents that you've face are able to understand you better than they were before the Duel began. Takashi…I want to face you in the Finals while you're in that state of mind. Doing so would not only make me a better Duelist, but would also allow me to understand you more, even if it's just as little. So…what do you say?"

Takashi thought about her reason to face him in the Final Duel and it made a lot of sense to him. Recently, during his last couple of Duels, he was able to enter a state of mind that seemed almost euphoric. He would utterly enjoy the battles that he faces, even if it meant coming very close to defeat. Also, while in that state, Takashi can understand the Duelists he facing a lot better than he could before. Even though he always had that ability, he felt that it improved significantly while he's Dueling that way. Plus, the fact that he could have the chance to understand Akiza, a person that cherished very dearly, better was also very appealing to him. As a result, it didn't take Takashi long to agree with Akiza's suggestion and nod his head in approval.

"Alright," He said with a smile. "Let's do it. Let's face each other in the Final Duel."

Akiza smiled upon hearing Takashi agree to her suggestion and began to nod her head as well. The two of them then went on to shake each other's hand, signifying this promise. After they did that, another cool breeze rubbed against them and they both felt really cold. As the two of them proceeded to make their way inside in order to get warm, Akiza looked towards Takashi one more time and thought about why she suggested such a thing to him.

"Takashi," She thought quietly to herself. "During our Duel, I feel I'll finally have the courage to tell you. The courage to say that…I love you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As the Signers rest after making it into the Finals, Alex McQueen has to think about what his next move should be. However, he finds it very hard to do so when his rival challenges him for his title as Underground King. Can Alex turn back his rival's challenge or will he lose the title that he fought so hard to obtain?_

_Next Time, on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 72: Sparks Fly in the Underground_


	72. Chapter 72

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Special Thanks: **_Serpentdragon_

**Chapter 72: **_Sparks Fly in the Underground_

* * *

><p>A person's perception of time mostly depends on their actual state of mind. A day can seem really fast if someone is excited or having fun and day a can seem really slow if someone is bored or tired. For Takashi Nakamura and his friends, their perception of time was in the middle of those two areas. In other words, things were normal for them. 2 days have passed since the final Duel of the Fortune Cup Qualifiers and a sense of peace could be felt throughout all of Poppo Time. Even though Toru was still unconscious from his Duel against Kuromu Nesara, the young man's health is gradually becoming better and better. In fact, after seeing him improve so much in just one day, Lilly determined that it would only be a matter of time until he finally did wake up, making the others very happy as a result.<p>

When he was first injured, everyone was very worried as Lilly told them that since the overall degree of Toru's injuries were so great there was chance that she might not be able to heal them. This, along with the fact their troubles in the Fortune Cup were just beginning, caused them to feel an extreme amount of anxiety. However, all that changed when Lilly told him that he was going to be okay. With that knowledge now in hand, all of them quickly started to feel much better. Crow returned to his causal, fun-loving self while Misaki went back to being calm and mostly emotionless. Akiza was also feeling much better as she went back to her kind and loving self which brought a sense of happiness back to their home. The only one who didn't feel completely better was Takashi, who still partially blamed himself for Toru's injuries. But, after comparing the expression he has now to that of when Toru was first injured, everyone saw that it wouldn't be too long until he returned back to his usual self too.

Eventually, on an early Tuesday morning, something amazing happened. Toru finally woke up. Lilly's hard work finally paid off as she watched her friend open his eyes for the first time in over 2 days. She went on to immediately call everyone over to his room and when most of them got there, all of them expressed their relief that Toru was okay. The only one who wasn't with them was Takashi as he busy with his early morning workout on the roof. Lilly was about to go get him but Toru, who still pretty sore from his battle, stopped her and said to leave Takashi be. Once he did that, the young man listened closely as the others explained to him what happened while he was out and what they're planning to do moving forward.

"…I see," He said as he pondered everything he heard. "So that's what happened. I'm sorry guys. If I wasn't so weak then maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't beat yourself up Toru," Akiza replied, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah," Crow agreed. "You did all that you could and that what counts. Besides, in a way, you did help us out. Since you made that Kuromu guy reveal his Ace Monster, we can now come up with a way to defeat it and get him out of our hair once and for all."

Both Lilly and Misaki nodded their heads in agreement with latter even presenting Toru with a sketchbook of all the possible ways to defeat Number 53: Heart-Earth. Seeing that sketchbook, as well as hearing the encouragement that his friends were giving him, made Toru feel much better. However, a part of him was still somewhat depressed as he still wanted to do more for all of them. He soon found himself smashing his hand against his bed, but quickly stopped when the pain from his injuries started to flare up.

Eventually, after seeing that he still needed to rest some more, Lilly looked towards everyone else and told them that they should leave. Agreeing with her, all of them proceeded to do so and told Toru that they would come back later. However, just before Akiza could leave, the Scrap Duelist grabbed her hand and told her to stay. Once the others left the room, Toru told his friend to close the door before bringing her back over to him. As soon as she was by his side, Akiza sat on Toru's bed and listened closely as he started to talk.

"Akiza," He started off. "How's Takashi been doing?"

"…He's doing okay," She replied after pausing for a moment. "I mean, he's still a bit upset that you ended up like this, but he's quickly getting over it. This is especially true once he and I had our talk the other night."

"I see…"

Toru kept to himself for a moment as he thought about how Takashi would usually react to these situations when he was younger. Back during those times, the depression that Takashi felt would reach extreme levels. He would either stay to himself for long periods of time or take his frustrations out on himself by doing reckless things. Toru never wanted to see his little brother like that and would try his best to make him feel better. Usually that job would fall to their childhood friend Hikari, but since she was no longer alive the duty fell to Toru. Most of the times his efforts paid off, but there were some cases that even Toru's advice fell on deaf ears. Takashi, for everything he does, is a pretty stubborn person and he when he's upset about something, he'll usually take it pretty hard.

"When I was younger," Toru continued. "Takashi's grandfather, Klaus, and our martial arts master, Izumi, made me promise them something. Something that I've tried my best to do…"

"And what promise was that?" Akiza asked.

"They made me promise that I would protect him." He answered. "Even when he was little boy, my bro was always a pretty reckless person. Whether it was the time he climbed to the top of the town saloon or when he fought an entire group of desert thieves with only his deck and his fists, Takashi would do things that nobody else would. In an effort to prevent him from being too reckless, Klaus and Izumi had me watch over him and keep him safe. However…as time went by…I found myself unable to keep that promise."

"What do you mean?" Akiza said as she continued to listen. "What kept you from keeping that promise?"

Toru looked into the eyes of the Psychic Duelist and saw that Akiza was very interested with what he had to say. Whenever anything that involved Takashi was mentioned, especially when it involved his past, Akiza would be the first person to listen in. Whether it was because of the growing feelings she had for him or for some other reason that only she knew, Akiza always wanted to know more about the man whom she considered her savior. By just looking at her kind, and somewhat worried expression, Toru knew right away that he was doing the right thing. He then went to continue his explanation as Akiza kept listening intently.

"Like my bro, my dream is to one day become the greatest Duelist in the world," He continued. "To accomplish that dream, I worked hard and stopped doing everything that I considered a distraction. I stopped hanging out with some of my friends and even dropped out of my teachings with Izumi. All I cared about back then was being number 1. So…when the opportunity came for me to finally leave Crash Town for New Domino City, I simply couldn't say no. Of course Klaus was upset about this, but Takashi supported me 100%. My little brother wanted me to be the best that I could be and even if it meant being alone for a while, he was okay with that. I felt very happy when he said that, but I also very upset at the same time. When I left Crash Town I swore that when I achieved me goal, I would come back for Takashi and bring him with me to New Domino City. I felt that by that time, I would have achieved the strength to properly protect me little brother. Boy…was I sure wrong."

"How so…?" Akiza asked.

"New Domino is a pretty cool place, but it's not without its share of problems," Toru told her. "There are plenty of powerful Duelists, several gangs roam around at night, and underworld dealings are a paramount. I tried becoming powerful enough to handle those problems, but I quickly learned that I'm only a small fish in an incredibly large ocean. Maybe that's why I challenged you when we first met, so that I could prove myself. However…I wasn't able to touch you Akiza. You were simply too strong for me. So when I saw Takashi, for the first time in 3 years, I was worried that he wouldn't stand a chance against you. I was wrong. Not only did he stand a chance, but he won too. He defeated the most powerful Duelist that I've ever faced and did it without a hint of fear in his eyes. It's ironic; I wanted to protect Takashi, but he ended up protecting me. Very soon, I saw that I simply wasn't able to keep my promise to Klaus and Izumi as Takashi was now at the point that he no longer needed my protection."

As Akiza continued to listen to Toru's story, the young woman was beginning to feel for him. Even though she didn't like the fact that he ran off from his promise in order to achieve his dream, the fact that he still attempted to keep it stuck with her. Also, the fact that Toru felt unworthy of protecting Takashi stayed with her too as she knows just how much he cares about him. However, despite everything that she just learned and how she was feeling, there was still one thing that Akiza didn't understand.

"Why are you telling me this Toru?"

"Because," He replied. "Out of all the people that I've seen Takashi with, you're the only person who has had such a positive effect on him. When our childhood friend Hikari passed away, Takashi was sent spiraling into a pit of despair that was slowly consuming his soul. Even when he looked happy, there were times that he still cried silently at night. Eventually, I thought that there was nothing helping my little brother. However…all that changed when he met you Akiza. By just being with you, Takashi is slowly becoming the guy I used to know, if not better. You're saving him Akiza and for that I'm truly grateful. So…if it wouldn't be too much trouble, can I ask a request from you?"

"Sure," Akiza said.

"Can you…carry on where I failed and watch over Takashi for me?" He asked. "I know that if anyone can do it, it's you."

Once Toru finished his plea, then young man put his head down and waited for Akiza's response. He was asking a lot out of her and she had every reason to say no. After all, for the first time in a long time, she was beginning to have the life that she always wanted, one filled with happiness and friends. Watching over Takashi also meant looking out for him whenever he did something dangerous and that was a burden that no one should have to bear, especially because of his carelessness. However, if anyone could shoulder that burden, it was Akiza Izinski. Toru truly believed that her love for Takashi was deep that she would follow him to wherever he desired to go, even to the depths of Hell if necessary. Eventually, after waiting for no more than 30 seconds, Toru's belief was validated.

"Of course Toru," Akiza said with a loving smile on her face. "I'll always be there for Takashi. After all, he's always been there for me and I couldn't call myself his friend if I didn't do the same."

Akiza smiled at Toru once again, which not only made him feel a lot better, but also confirmed that he thought about her was true. He then watched as she left his room in order to get Takashi. Once he was all alone, the young man thought about the relationship that Takashi has with Akiza and compared it with his previous relationship with Hikari. After thinking about it for a moment, the Toru knew which relationship was stronger.

"Bro…just tell her how you feel already. It's obvious that your love for Akiza…far surpasses your love for Hikari."

Meanwhile, on the roof of Poppo Time, Takashi was continuing with his early morning workout. When he first started training under Izumi, back when he was 5-years-old, Takashi was told something that has stuck with him throughout his entire life. He was told that if one wanted to have a strong mind then must have a strong body. Knowledge was useless without the strength to utilize it and Takashi believed that with all his heart. Because of that, he decided that he would always take time out his day to work out and master his body. By doing that, he believed that he would not only become a better Duelist, but an overall better person as well.

As he was doing sit-ups on the ground, the Takashi was busy thinking about the current state of things that he and his friends are going through. Having fully gained the trust and help of both Tem and Madas, Takashi now has two more allies in his quest to stop Goodwin and save the world. However, with every ally he makes there was another enemy waiting around the corner. Having lost Aiku as a friend and gained Kuromu as a foe, Takashi knew that things were only going to get harder and harder. He then wondered what his next course of action should be and how to go about handling it. However, as he pondered that question, Takashi started wondering about something else as well.

"Alex," He said to himself. "What are you going to do now?"

During his training with Alex, Takashi was informed about a lot of things that concern both the Fortune Cup and Goodwin's plans for the Signers. Some of the things that he discovered were so incredible that it changed the way he wanted to go about the tournament. However, despite learning those things, Takashi believed that Alex wasn't telling him everything. Was it because the Underground Dueling King didn't trust him with that knowledge or maybe it was something else entirely. In the end, Takashi didn't know and that bothering him a little. He soon decided to shake those thoughts from out of his mind as it was only distracting him from what he believed to be the current problem. One he did that, Takashi told himself that he will discover that truth later and went back to his workout.

When he finished his last sit up, Takashi performed a back flip from off the ground and quickly landed straight on his feet. He then picked up a football that he brought with him and started tossing it up and down for a while. Once he tossed it up for the tenth time, Takashi threw it high into the air and positioned himself carefully as the ball fell back towards the ground. When the football reached a certain length, Takashi jumped up and performed a spinning kick that knock the ball towards the entrance to the roof. He then looked on with a smile on his face as the football continued to make its way towards the nearby door.

"Perfect kick," He stated with a smile on his face. "That has to be my best one yet."

As he continued to smile about what he just did, Takashi noticed that the door was beginning to open and saw that Akiza was on the other side. Just seeing her face changed his expression from happiness to shock and fear as he watched the football make its way over towards her. He attempted to run over to Akiza, but stopped when the Psychic Duelist simply returned the kick back to him by doing the same kicking move that he just did. When Takashi managed to recapture the ball he looked back over towards Akiza, who was smiling while making her way over to him. However, Takashi wasn't smiling as he was amazed that she was able to return the football the way she did.

"Holy crap," He said in disbelief. "Akiza…how'd you do that?"

"What are you talking about Takashi?" She asked him. "You were the one who taught me martial arts. I just figured that was a perfect opportunity to show you what I learned."

"Oh…right,"

Takashi was stunned by how well Akiza performed that spinning kick as he forgot that he was the one who taught her to do it in the first place. Initially, the only reason why he decided to teach her martial arts was so that she could control her emotions better. In the beginning, Akiza had no control over her Psychic powers and Takashi believed that the reason for that is because she had anger issues. She would simply get upset over every little thing and that caused her to have a frail state of mind. After remembering what Izumi told him, about needing a strong body in order to have a strong mind, Takashi decided that it would be best to take Akiza on as his temporary apprentice. Even though he was told to not take people on who over 10-years-old, with Izumi believing that people over that age are impossible to train, Takashi believed that it was better than doing nothing for her. Fortunately, his decision turned out to be the right one as Akiza took the training really well. She not only gained control over her incredible powers, but also became nicer person overall too. Eventually, after seeing the results that the training had provided for her, Takashi asked Akiza if she would like to be his permanent apprentice and the young woman happily accepted.

It's been nearly 9 months since then and Akiza's skills have improved immensely. Even when she was separated from Takashi for 3 months, due to his training with Alex, she continued on with her lessons and pushed forward. This strong commitment, along with the fact that she found the training to be really helpful, has allowed Akiza to reach the skill of a first degree brown belt. Although this was nowhere near Takashi's skill level, with him being a tenth degree black belt, it was still pretty impressive, especially since she reached that level in 9 months in which her master had to train for 3 years in order to obtain it.

"So…," Takashi said, pulling himself for his state of shock. "What brings you up here? I thought I told you that you have the week off from training so that you can focus on the Fortune Cup."

"I know," Akiza replied. "But that's not why I'm here. Toru is awake, Takashi. In fact, he woke up just a few minutes ago."

Hearing Akiza say that Toru was awake caused Takashi to light up with happiness. For the last 2 day he's been extremely worried about his brother's health, even though he would try not to show it. However, now that Toru was now okay, Takashi could now truly feel better about what's going on and really push forward towards his goal.

"That's great," He said in a happy tone of voice. "I'm so glad that he's okay. Now, with him better, I feel that I don't have to carry the weight of his injuries anymore. I can really push forward and stop Goodwin's plans…so that I can protect everyone from his insane ambitions."

As she watched the smile on Takashi's face slowly becoming bigger and brighter, Akiza proceeded to smile with him. She knew how hard this was for him and she was glad that he was now happy. However, despite what she was feeling, the Psychic Duelist recalled what he said about protecting everyone. Those words made her ponder about something that's been on her mind, ever since she first met Takashi.

_If Takashi is going to protect everyone…then who's going to protect him?_

After remembering the promise she made to Toru about always being there for him, as well as her own feelings, Akiza knew right away that the duty of protecting Takashi, one who protects everyone else, fell to her. It would be difficult, but she was willing to accept that hardship. Takashi Nakamura meant everything to her…and no matter what may happen, that fact will never change.

"I'll protect you Takashi. I'll always be there to protect you."

"…What was that Akiza?" Takashi said, hearing her say something. "I couldn't hear you."

"It…it was nothing," Akiza replied in a slightly embarrassed tone.

Gently grabbing his hand, Akiza started to bring Takashi back downstairs so that he could see Toru. As they walked together, Takashi noticed how warm her touch was and that it was even warmer than when she touched his cheek the other night. He also remembered all the kind things that she said to him that day, especially when she said that she would happily carry some of the burdens that he was holding. All those things made him really happy and he soon came to a realization. Even though he admitted it before he began his training with Alex, this was the clincher. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, this was how he felt.

"There's no doubt about it anymore," He thought quietly. "I'm in love…with Akiza Izinski."

* * *

><p>If a phrase could describe the way things work in New Domino City's Dueling Underworld it would be; survival of the fittest. This is especially true for the battles that take place under the city streets as it's every Duelist for themselves. The strong are praised for their strength and the weak are cast by the way side. It's for that reason why Underground Dueling is so exciting, yet terrifying at the same time. All the Duels are hardcore and it's not uncommon for a competitor to lose their life during the match. In fact, it's pretty much expected that someone is going to die. Most of the Duelists have already lost their pride, either being banned from the Pro League or another Dueling organization, and, in their eyes, they have nothing to lose. For them, as long as they have the chance to be recognized as the best, they don't care if they lose their life. That belief is shared by all…all but one that is.<p>

Alex McQueen is a 21-year-old man who is considered by many to be one of the most powerful, yet respectful Duelists to ever participate in Underground Dueling. It's through his skill that earned him the title of Underground Duel King, which is only given to the best Duelist. Even though the title is not recognized by any Dueling organization, just being considered a king as some value in the eyes of a lot of people. This is especially true for Alex as he's the one who's carrying the title. He wants to make Underground Duels something more than what they currently are and for that reason that Alex doesn't want to die competing. However there's another, even more important, reason why Alex tries his best to stay alive.

Alex is a Dragunity Knight, one of a selected group of people who are destined to support the 5 Signers and aid them in their fight against the forces of darkness. Due to this responsibility, he takes his job very seriously and does everything within his power in order to make sure that evil never triumphs. This is especially true when he discovered Rex Goodwin's plan for the Signers and the Crimson Dragon. Alex knows that nothing good can come from the Director's ambitions and has been building countermeasures in order to stop him. One such countermeasure was training Takashi, the leader of the Signers and the one who wields the mark of the Dragon's Head on his right arm, for the coming battle. Another countermeasure was to send Enoch Wylie to spy on Sector Security and have him steal important information that he could use in his fight. For the most part Alex's plans have worked, but he knows that hard part has only just begun and because of that…he knows that he can't afford to die yet.

One afternoon, while preparing his Duel Runner in his hideout, Alex was pondering everything that has transpired recently. He just received the results of the Fortune Cup Qualifiers and for the most part, all the Duelists that he believed that would advance to the Finals did. However, the one Duelist that he didn't expect to make was Kuromu Nesara, person that he knows the least about. This mysterious competitor simply appeared from out of nowhere and has shown remarkable strength, especially with the use of his Number Cards. Also, the fact that Alex was able to sense the sheer force of Kuromu's Reiatsu, even from deep underground, disturb the Knight greatly.

"…Kuromu Nesara," Alex said quietly as he continued to work on his Runner. "Just who the hell are you?"

Kuromu's appearance wasn't the only thing that was bothering Alex recently. The young man has also noticed that the Reiatsu of many of the other competitors has spiked during the Duels in the Qualifying Rounds. Duelists like Aiku Gato and Kagura Toyoshima have shown tremendous potential, especially the latter as Alex believes that Kagura's strength is equal if not greater than Takashi's. Also, another thing that's been bothering him is that he feels that Goodwin is one step ahead of him. Even though he managed to obtain more information about his goals, Alex's attempts to go further have been foiled as the Director has set up blocks that have stopped him accessing his database again. Plus, Goodwin has sent several spies throughout New Domino City in order find Alex and bring the Knight to him. Because of that, Alex has been forced to stay underground until things die down and that was something that he did not like.

"What should I do? What can I do? I don't want to leave everything to Takashi as he already has too many problems on his shoulders. I mean, I know I trained him and he's grown significantly since then, but he's still unable to draw on _that _power. If he's going to win this tournament then he has to find a way to use it, but can he? And what about the rest of the Signers, how will they fair? I know all of them are strong, but they haven't faced anything like this before. I want to be there to help them, but I can't move in my current situation. What should I do…damn it!"

"Will you stop whining," A female voice said for a far. "You're sounding like a baby."

Alex's eyes lit up a little as he recognized the voice of the person who just said that to him. He soon lifted up his head and looked around his hideout before finally finding the individual. It was a beautiful young woman with short black hair and light purple eyes. Her attire consisted of black and white shirt with a red skirt and she was wearing a pair of oval shaped glasses. She also had a very curvy figured and her breast size was about the same as an average woman, if not below average. As Alex looked at her while she was standing against the wall with her arms folded, he got up from off the ground and wiped the sweat that was on his face with a towel.

"I do not," He replied to her. "Shut your mouth Sona."

"I'm just calling it like I see it…you big crybaby,"

The girl's name is Sona Shitori and she's been a good friend of Alex ever since the two of them were little kids. Like him, Sona knows about Goodwin's plans and is one of the few individuals in the world who knows the identities of the 5 Signers. By extension of that, Sona also knows that Alex is a Dragunity Knight and has even discovered the other individuals who are Knights as well. It's because of her knowledge, and the fact that their childhood friends, that Alex considers Sona as one of the few people in the world that he can trust completely. However, despite all that, the two of them still get into petty arguments from time to time.

"Why are you crying about what's happening?" She asked him. "Did you honestly believe that this was going to be easy?"

"Of course not," Alex said. "It's just…I thought I had everything planned out. But with the power of competitors in the Fortune Cup and Goodwin blocking my movements, I feel like my plans are coming apart."

"That's life Alex. Sometimes things don't go the way you want them too. When that happens you either have to man up and keep going or assume the fetal position and whine like a baby. And from what I'm seeing…it seems like you're doing the latter."

Alex was becoming annoyed with things that Sona was saying and small part of him wanted to pop her right in the mouth. However, the young man never went through with those thought as he knew, even though he didn't want to admit it, that she was right. Sona was always like that as she would berate Alex whenever he lost his resolve over something that she believed to be stupid. But even so, Alex felt that his thoughts were valid. In his mind, things were slowly falling apart and he didn't have the power to fix it now. If something wasn't done soon then everything that he's fighting for would be for nothing and that was something that he didn't want to happen.

As he continued to wallow about his predicament, Sona closed her eyes for a moment as she proceeded to pull something out from her pocket. When she did, the item was revealed to be a beautiful golden necklace that had the image of a powerful hawk. She then began twirling the necklace around as she reopened her eyes looked towards the ceiling.

"You know," She said. "The real reason why you're feeling this way is because today's the day you were forced to leave her. As a Dragunity Knight you're fighting to protect the world, but Alex…you need to remember why _you_ fight."

Sona tossed the necklace over to Alex and the Dragunity Knight used both of his hands to catch. When he looked at it, the young man's eyes began to tear up a little as he remembered what it was and who gave it to him.

"Amara…"

"Right," Sona said. "You're fighting for Amara Flyheart, the only woman that you ever truly loved. 3 years ago today, you were forced to break up with her because of your duties as a Dragunity Knight and you've never forgiven yourself for that. Alex…I know how you feel, but you need to realize something and you need to realize it right now. If you don't get your s**t together then you're not only going to lose Amara, but also any chance you have to back together with her."

Alex continued to stare at the golden necklace and closed eyes as he started to recall his relationship with Amara. As he continued to recall his time with her, a strong fire started to build within him and he soon felt more powerful than ever. When he reopened his eyes, Alex placed the necklace around him and wiped the tears from his eyes. He then looked back towards Sona and smiled at her.

"You're right," He said. "Thank you Sona."

"…Shut up," She replied as a small blush appeared on her face. "I didn't say that for you. I said it because we can't have a Dragunity Knight being a spineless jellyfish."

As the blush that was on Sona's face slowly became bigger and bigger, Alex simply kept smiling as he knew how she truly felt. Even though she berates him constantly, Sona Shitori is in love with Alex McQueen. She's loved him ever since they were little kids. However, despite how she feels, Sona knows that her feelings for Alex are unrequited as he loves Amara more. It's a painful realization and for the longest time she had a hard time accepting it. But, knowing that she can show her love through her devotion to his cause, Sona puts up with it and saves face by acting the way she does. Alex respects her for that resolve and promised to make it up to her, no matter how long it would take for him to do so.

Eventually, after the both of them returned to their proper state of mind, both Alex and Sona left the hideout and began making their way deeper under New Domino City. Once they reached a certain level, the two of them started to hear the sound of people cheering coming, from a certain area. Both of them knew who was making the noise and they also knew that it was only going to get louder. However, even that knowledge, the two of them kept moving forward without any hesitation. When they finally reached the area, Alex and Sona saw that they entered a large area that contained a home-made Turbo Dueling track. They also saw that the entire place was filled with thousands of spectators, most of them being excited that Alex has finally arrived.

"He's here!" One person yelled at the top of his lungs. "The Underground King is here!"

The underground arena exploded with Alex's arrival as everyone has been waiting for him to appear. Today was a special day for all of them as the time has finally come for the King to defend his title. Like with other Duel King title matches, it's very rare for the Underground King to defend his title. So, when that time finally does come, it's a really special moment for everyone present.

While Alex was busy making last minute adjustments on his Duel Runner, Sona was busy surveying the area and noticed that the excitement level was through the roof. Seeing that surprised Sona a little…and that began to bother her. Even though she knew that title matches were an exciting moment, she's had never seen the people be so pumped up. Something else was driving their enthusiasm and Sona had a feeling what it was.

"…Don't tell me," She said as she sighed a little. "That he's your challenger today."

"Yup…" Alex said as he sat up.

"Lovely…that's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Sona began shaking her head back and forth as another large pop began to erupt throughout the make-shift stadium. Suddenly a large man, who was riding an equally large Duel Runner appeared and started riding throughout the track. The sight of this person excited a lot of people as they knew who he was and how powerful he is during a Duel. When he eventually made his way towards Alex, the individual got off from his Duel Runner and stared down Alex, who calmly looked back at him.

"Hello McQueen…," He said. "I hope you ready to lose it all."

"Nice to see you too Takuto," Alex replied.

The individual's name was Takuto Kurugi and he was the Underground Duel King before Alex came along. Known for his tough and ruthless style of play, Takuto made it point to rule the underground with an iron fist and wasn't afraid to kill anyone, whether it was a competitor or a bystander, who deemed disrespectful. It's because of those things that the people have given the nickname, Dark Reaper, to Takuto and he accepted it without even flinching. However, Takuto's life began spinning backwards once Alex came and took his title from him.

When he lost the title of Underground King, Takuto lost it in more ways than one. His actions became more coldhearted and the respect that he had gained throughout the years vanished. However, in order to keep themselves from feeling his wrath, the people in the stadium cheer for him anyway and do it very loudly. For them, they would rather cheer for someone they hate than die. That's the reason why Sona was shaking her head in disapproval as she knew the crowd was cheering for Takuto out of fear and not because that they liked him.

"You stole everything from me McQueen," Takuto continued as his anger began to rise. "You stole not only my title, but my honor as well. I hope you ready to repent…with your life!"

"…Everything you've lost Takuto was because of you Takuto," Alex replied as he placed his helmet on his head. "I have no intention of dying...least of all to you."

The two Duelists looked at one another with fierce glares as the tension between them began to build up. Soon, both of them decided to settle this on the track and began mount their respective Duel Runners. Once they did that, both Alex and Takuto made their way over to the starting line and the crowd looked on intently as the title match was about to begin. Though it seemed like the people wanted Takuto to win, with their cheers becoming louder and louder, they secretly hoped that Alex was the one who emerged victorious.

Eventually, the time for hoping and waiting was over as both Duelists activated their Speed World 2 Field Spells, causing the entire area to be enveloped by a powerful aura. As soon as that happened, both of them sped off and raced towards the first corner. At first, it seemed like Alex had the advantage as his Duel Runner was smaller and faster than Takuto's. However, the former King's ride held a tremendous amount of power and he used every bit up to not only pass Alex, but widen the distance between them as well. When he reached the corner before him, he looked back towards the champion and smiled evilly at him.

"You see McQueen, you can't even touch me! I'll show you, and everyone here, just who the true King of the Underground is!"

* * *

><p>"DUEL!"<p>

**Alex: 4000 LP**

**Takuto: 4000 LP**

"I won the first move, I draw!" Takuto declared as he pulled the top card from his deck.

**Alex: SPC – 1**

**Takuto: SPC – 1**

After drawing his first card of the Duel, Takuto took a quick glance at it and saw that it was precisely the card that he needed. With the power of this card then he would not only be able to defeat Alex, but also show the upstart what his true place in the world really is. So, without missing a beat, Takuto took the card and inserted into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the former king then went to grab another card from his deck and placed horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, a bright flash of light shined across his field at the same time as a face-down card appeared beside him for a moment.

"To start off, I set one card face-down. Then, I Summon; Masked Dragon, in Defense Mode!"

**Masked Dragon: ATK 1400 DEF 1100 LVL 3**

When the flash of light that was covering his field started to fade away, Takuto watched gleefully as his Masked Dragon appeared and quickly assumed a defensive position. He then looked back towards Alex and watched as the current Duel King was still trying to catch up with him. Just seeing him like that gave Takuto an immense amount of joy as he knew that his opponent had no idea what he had in store for him. Even if he destroys his Masked Dragon, it wouldn't change anything. In fact, it would actually push things forward. It was only the first turn of the match-up, but Takuto could really see his victory.

"With that, I end my turn. Now McQueen…let's see what you'll do."

"It's my turn," Alex said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

**Alex: SPC – 2**

**Takuto: SPC – 2**

When drew his first card of the match-up, Alex looked at it for a quick moment before placing it into his hand. He then examined the other cards that made up his hand before looking back over towards Takuto and the cards that he had out. Alex knew right away that his challenger had plan for him and that there was good chance that he would spring it when he least expected. However, Alex didn't mind that. For him, it didn't matter that Takuto had something planned out for him. He already beat him once in order obtain the title of Underground King and he was going to defeat him again today, no matter what plan he had in store. It's to that end that Alex proceeded to grab one card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"From my hand, I activate the Speed Spell; Angel Baton! With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can now draw 2 cards from my deck at the cost of sending one to the Graveyard."

Alex swiftly drew the top 2 cards from his deck and examined them real quick before placing them into his hand. He then went on to take one card from that hand and place it into his Graveyard before continuing on with the rest of his turn. Alex's next move consisted of him grabbing another card from his hand and placing it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon; Dragunity Dux, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragunity Dux: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light covered Alex's side of the field for a few seconds as his trusty Dragunity Dux appeared and started flying beside him as he raced on the track. Once his monster was fully materialized onto the field, Alex then went to grab the card that he previously discarded to the Graveyard and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate my Dragunity Dux's Special Ability. When it's successfully summoned onto the field, I can select one Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type Dragunity monster in my Graveyard and equip it to Dux. The monster I choose is my Level 2 Dragunity Phalanx!"

**Dragunity Phalanx: ATK 500 DEF 100 LVL 2**

As he soon as Alex said the name of the monster that he wanted to be equipped to Dragunity Dux, a bright yellow light shot from his Graveyard and immediately struck his monster. When the light faded, Dragunity Dux was covered in armor that looked very similar to that of Dragunity Phalanx. However, the armor wouldn't appear for long as it soon started glowing some more as Alex grabbed Phalanx's card from his Spell/Trap Zone and placed on his Monster Card Zone.

"When Dragunity Phalanx is equipped to a monster its Special Ability activates. I can now Special Summon this Tuner Monster straight to the field!"

The armor that was on Dragunity Dux continued glowing brighter and brighter until it finally disappeared and placed itself beside the monster. Eventually, energy that the armor was originally made out of transformed itself into Dragunity Dux, who roared with an incredible amount of intensity when it finally materialized.

"I Tune my Level 4 Dragunity Dux with my Level 2 Dragunity Phalanx!"

The two Dragunity monsters nodded their heads simultaneously and quickly flew high into the air. Once they reached a certain height, the two of them began to process for a Synchro Summoning and Alex watched them as he pulled a card from his Extra Deck. When the summoning eventually reached its peak, Alex placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When the rider and dragon are synchronized, their union will unleash countless possibilities! Synchro Summon! Equip yourself, Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana!"

**Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana: ATK 1900 DEF 1200 LVL 6**

When the Synchro Summoning finally ended, a giant flash of light illuminated all of the underground for a few moments before finally fading away. As soon as that happened, Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana had appeared and was busy flying just above Alex's head. When Alex saw his Synchro Monster above him, a small smile appeared on his face as he once again grabbed Phalanx's card from his Graveyard and inserted it into his Spell/Card Zone.

"Now, I activate Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana's Special Ability! When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, I can select a Level 3 or lower Dragon-Type Dragunity monster from my Graveyard and equip it to my Knight! So, once again, appear Dragunity Phalanx!"

The yellow light once again shot from Alex's Graveyard and quick consumed Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana in its brilliance. When it eventually faded away, the Synchro Monster soon found itself being covered in the armor that Dragunity Phalanx is known to be in. All the spectators who were watching the Duel was very impressed with the Duel King's move as he was able to make a lot use of only a few cards. However, Alex's turn wasn't done yet as the young man still had one more card to play and he immediately inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone as a result.

"And now, with my monster now on the field, I think I'll equip it with another card. I activate the Speed Spell: Fairy Meteor Crush! With it, as long as I have 2 or more Speed Counters, this card will grant my Vajrayana the Piercing Ability!"

A bright pink aura covered Vajrayana's body for a few seconds, indicating that it just gained a new power. When Takuto saw this, the former Underground King didn't seem too impressed by it as he considered the move something that a child would come up with. He then continued to look on as Alex began to close the distance between them while preparing to conduct his Battle Phase.

Go Vajrayana!" Alex yelled. "Attack his Masked Dragon, Dragon Drill Strike!"

Vajrayana complied with its master's demand and began spinning around so fast it looked like a giant orange drill. Once picked up enough speed, the Dragon-Type Synchro Monster quickly made its way over to Takuto's Masked Dragon and proceeded to run itself right through it. It was through this action that Takuto not only lost one of his monsters, but a portion of his Life Points as well.

**Takuto: 3200 LP**

"…Thanks for that McQueen," Takuto said with a sinister smile on his face. "By destroying my Masked Dragon, you've activated its Special Ability. Now, I can Special Summon one Dragon-Type monster from my deck that has 1500 or less Attack Points."

"I know what your monster does Takuto," Alex pointed out to his opponent. "I'm not a novice to this game."

"Is that so…then I'm sure you'll know what monster I'm going to bring out," Takuto looked towards his deck and watched as a card that was in the middle of it popped out slightly. The young man quickly pulled out that card and went on to place it onto his Monster Card Zone. "Take to the field, Red-Eyes Black Chick!"

**Red-Eyes B. Chick: ATK 800 DEF 500 LVL 1**

A small fireball appeared in front of Takuto and watched as it soon transformed itself into a giant egg. After seconds of waiting, the egg started wiggling around and a small Red-Eyes Black Dragon popped out. When Alex saw the tiny Dragon-Type monster, the young man knew what was coming next. However, since he couldn't attack anymore this turn, he decided that he would prepare for that moment and pulled out 2 cards from his hand. He then went on to insert them into his Spell/Trap Zone and Alex watched as both cards appeared beside him in a face-down position before eventually disappearing.

"I set 2 cards face-down…and end my turn,"

"It's my turn," Takuto declared. "Draw!"

**Alex: SPC – 3**

**Takuto: SPC – 3**

Once he drew another card from his deck and placed it into his hand, Takuto immediately went towards his Red-Eyes Black Chick's card and inserted it into his Graveyard. When he did that, another fireball began to surround the creature which only got bigger with every second passed.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Red-Eyes Black Chick!" Takuto said to his opponent. "By sending this card to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one Red-Eyes Black Dragon directly from my hand!"

**Red-Eyes B. Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

When the fireball that was covering Red-Eyes Black Chick reached the height of a large boulder, the almighty Red-Eyes Black Dragon popped out from the flames and began roaring at the top of its lungs. Alex recognized the monster right away and remembered hearing stories of legendary Duelists like Joey Wheeler and Atticus Rhodes being very proficient in the use of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. However, unlike the two of them, the Duel King knew that Takuto had mastered every aspect of the Red-Eyes archetype instead of just focusing on one. This fact was evident when he watched Takuto continue on with his turn by grabbing a card from his hand and placing it on his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon; Totem Dragon!"

**Totem Dragon: ATK 400 DEF 200 LVL 2**

As soon as he placed the card onto his Duel Disk, Takuto watched as he Totem Dragon appeared and started flying right next to him. However, in comparison to his bigger and stronger Red-Eyes, the former King realized that having such a monster out was nothing short of embarrassing. Fortunately for him however, the small dragon wouldn't be around for long as he proceeded to take it off his Monster Card Zone and replace it with another card from his hand.

"McQueen," Takuto said. "You must be wondering why I summoned Totem Dragon, a monster with only 400 Attack Points. Well, I'm going to tell you as I needed Totem Dragon out so that I can banish it from the field."

"Banish it?" Alex questioned.

"That's right. By banishing this Dragon-Type monster from the field, I can now Special Summon this card directly from my hand. Now destroy everything, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"

**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2400 LVL 10**

Once Takuto called out its name, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon appeared onto the field just as Totem Dragon disappeared from it. When it arrived, the dragon started roaring and it was soon joined by its master's other Red-Eyes monster. From the way things were looking now, Alex chances of retaining his title were becoming slimmer and slimmer. However, things weren't done for him yet as Takuto still had plenty more in store for the man that he hated the most.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Darkness Metal Dragon!" He declared. "Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Dragon-Type monster from either my hand or Graveyard. The monster I choose to Special Summon is, Red-Eyes Wyvern!"

**Red-Eyes Wyvern: ATK 1800 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

Takuto quickly grabbed as card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. When that happened, his Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon started roaring again as its eyes started to glow a bright crimson color. Eventually, as the color of Darkness Metal's eyes reached its peak, Red-Eyes Wyvern appeared and started flying right by its fellow monsters. The sight of having three Red-Eyes monsters on the field caused a huge smile to appear on Takuto's face as the young man turned his Duel Runner around and started staring at Alex as he drifted backwards. He then extended his arm out to the Underground King and gave him a thumbs down before conducting his Battle Phase.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon, attack his Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana…Inferno Fire Blast!"

The normal Red-Eyes complied with its master's order and nodded its head as a result. It then started building up energy from within its body and got ready to fire it at Alex's monster. However, being prepared for such a situation, Alex responded to Takuto's play by activating one of his 2 face-down cards.

"I don't think so!" The Duel King shouted. "I activate the Trap Card; Negate Attack! With it, I can negate your monster's attack and end the Battle Phase!"

As Red-Eyes Black Dragon finished building up power and released a gigantic fireball at Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana, a powerful wormhole appeared in between the two monsters. Both Duelists then watched as the wormhole proceeded to suck in Red-Eyes' attack and send it to an entirely different dimension. Takuto was slightly annoyed by this and clinch the handles of his Duel Runner so hard that small dent appeared on them. He soon calmed himself down however and simply turned himself back around so that he could focus his attention back on the track.

"Luckily move McQueen," He said to his opponent. "However, that will be the last lucky break you'll have! I now end my turn."

"It's my turn," Alex said calmly as he placed his hand back on his deck. "Draw!"

**Alex: SPC – 4**

**Takuto: SPC – 4**

Once he drew the top card that was on his deck and placed it into his hand, Alex thought about what his next move should be. On his field was his Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana, a Synchro Monster with only 1900 Attack Points. On his opponent's field was a Red-Eyes Wyvern, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and a Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, all which had Attack Points of 1800, 2400, and 2800 respectively. With things as they are now, Alex could only destroy one the dragons with Vajrayana and that simply wasn't enough. He needed to get rid of all three of them if he wanted to make some significant progress and he needed to do it before his turn was over. Luckily for Alex, he already had all the pieces to make such a move happen.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana!" He said as he pulled Dragunity Phalanx's card from his Spell/Trap Zone. "By sending a card that's equipped to it to the Graveyard, Vajrayana's Attack Points are doubled until the End Phase of this turn!"

**Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana: ATK 3800**

As Dragunity Phalanx's armor began to disappear from Vajrayana's body, the remnants of energy that it left behind were absorbed by the Synchro Monster. This action allowed Vajrayana to gain its fellow monster's power, increasing its strength significantly. Once the absorption was complete, Vajrayana turned towards Takuto's field and waited patiently as Alex pointed his finger towards Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.

"Go Vajrayana and attack his Darkness Dragon…Dragon Drill Strike!"

The Synchro Monster complied and once again started spinning its body around like a giant drill. Once it reached a certain speed, Vajrayana sped towards Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and immediately ran through its body.

**Takuto: 2200 LP**

Alex smiled a little when he watched his monster take down Takuto's Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. For him, the sight of such a scene indicated that this Duel was almost over and that he was going to retain his title. He soon decided to keep the momentum going by activating the other card that he set face-down on his last turn.

"I'm not done yet! I activate the Trap Card; Surge of the Dragon Knight! With this card, since a Dragunity Knight Monster successfully destroyed another monster through battle, I can now destroy up to 2 monsters that are on my opponent's side of field. The monsters I choose are your Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Red-Eyes Wyvern!"

Takuto's eyes widen a little as he heard Alex explain the effect of his Trap Card. He then watched as Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana fired a powerful laser beam through it eyes. The beams struck both Red-Eyes Wyvern and Red-Eyes Black Dragon, killing them both and causing a giant explosion to cover Takuto completely. When the spectators saw this, all of them dropped the happy façade that they held for the former king and started rooting for Alex at the top of their lungs. Hearing them cheer and praise Alex made Sona shake her head in disapproval as she knew that when the next Alex competes about half cheers she's hearing will be boos and jeers.

"Hypocrites," She thought quietly to herself. "They're only happy because they're relieved."

If Sona heated anything in this world, it's hypocrites. She disliked people who say one thing yet do something entirely different. Usually, people in the underground have mixed feelings about Alex. They like that he's strong, but they hate that he's trying to make their sport more like something from an official Dueling League. Because of that, whenever Alex goes to defend his title he's usually greeted by cheers and jeers. But since he's defending his title against Takuto, someone everyone despises, he was being cheered by everyone present. That annoyed Sona to no end as she preferred people to stick to what they truly believed, whether she agreed with them or not.

Meanwhile, as he continued hearing the crowd root for him, Alex made his way towards the smoke cloud that completely enveloped Takuto. In truth, the young man could have passed him by not, but decided to keep his distance since he wasn't sure what was going to happen next. Eventually, the young man's caution was validated as he began to feel an extremely powerful Reiatsu coming from the cloud. He then watched as Takuto emerged, his body being completely covered by a black aura.

"…Thank you McQueen," Takuto said in a low tone of voice.

"Thanks for what?" Alex questioned as he continued to examine his opponent's body.

"Thank you…for being so predictable!"

The black aura that was covering Takuto's body rapidly began to expand over the entire area and almost everyone present was frightened by what was going on. Those people then started fleeing for their lives, but only some of them managed to escape. For others that didn't, they fell unconscious due to Takuto's aura being too dark and powerful to withstand. The only ones who were unaffected by it were Alex and Sona, as they were able to comprehend the power that they were feeling.

"I forgot…" Sona said as she continued to observe the Duel. "Takuto Kurugi is a Psychic Duelist."

The Reiatsu of a Psychic Duelist is significantly different from the Reiatsu of another person because of the way it feels. The Reiatsu is rougher and, in some cases, hard to move around in. People who can feel it generally find themselves feeling extremely tired and fall unconscious due to the amount of strain that their bodies are taking. This is especially true when the Psychic who's creating the Reiatsu has a heart filled with hatred and malice as the pressure they're creating becomes even more dark and hard to withstand. That's the reason why most of the crowd passed out as their bodies couldn't take the sheer force of Takuto's power.

As the former king continued to produce this tremendous power, Alex's Dragunity Knight Mark started to glow a bright green color. This caused a bright aura of the same color to appear around the young man and protect him for his Takuto's power. As for Sona, the young woman was also a Psychic Duelist and she was able to create an invisible shield from just her Reiatsu alone. She then went on to increase the power of her shield as Sona noticed that Takuto just activated a face-down card, one that increased his own power as a result.

"I activate the Trap; Dragon Spiral Dance!" Takuto declared. "Now, since I have at least 5 Dragon-Type monsters in my Graveyard, I can banish them all from the Duel in order to summon a Dragon-Type Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, ignoring its summoning conditions!"

Alex watched as the spirits of 5 dragons shot from Takuto's Duel Runner and began combining into one powerful creature. He then clinched the handles of his Duel Runner as his opponent proceeded to grab a card from his Extra Deck and place it onto his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Behold, a dragon so fierce some that it even Hell couldn't contain its incredible might. When it appears those who witness it can do nothing shiver in fear. Take witness at the almighty power of the…Five-Headed Dragon!"

**Five-Headed Dragon: ATK 5000 DEF 5000 LVL 12**

When the spirits of the 5 Dragon's finished combining, a powerful a dragon appeared and took their place. It was a gigantic beast that had 5 heads, each of them representing a different type of element. Those elements were; Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Darkness. Each of the dragon heads roared as loud as they could, creating a powerful shockwave that shook up the entire area.

As he observed the monster, Alex wondered how Takuto managed to obtain such a powerful creature. Even though he heard rumors about the powerful Five-Headed Dragon, he's never actually seen it before. This made the young man wonder what kind of powers does it have and how can he stop it. Eventually, Alex decided that he'll have to worry about that later as he had no other moves to make this turn.

"I end my turn,"

"Good," Takuto replied. "And now it's time for the end your life! I Draw!"

**Alex: SPC – 5**

**Takuto: SPC – 5**

Once he drew another card from his deck and inserted it into his hand, Takuto turned his Duel Runner back around and proceeded to face Alex. When the Dragunity Knight looked at him, he saw that the aura surrounding his opponent's body was becoming thicker and thicker. Seeing that made Alex realize that Takuto's negative emotions were enhancing his powers, while his soul at the same time. He was going to reach out to him, but Takuto wasn't in the mood and proceeded to begin his Battle Phase.

"This is it McQueen! You stole everything that was dear to me and for that…IT'S PAYBACK TIME! Five-Headed Dragon, attack his Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana with Destructive Storm!"

Five-Headed Dragon complied with their master and started combining the power of each of the elements. Once it finished that it fired a blast of pure power at Alex, incinerating his monster and consuming him in a fiery explosion.

**Alex: 900 LP**

"I'm not done yet!" Takuto pointed out. "I now activate the effect of Speed World 2! By giving up 4 Speed Counters, I can deal you 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand. I have 1 Speed Spell in my hand right now, which means you're being dealt a solid 800 points punishment!"

**Takuto: SPC – 1**

A powerful laser beam shot from Takuto's massive Duel Runner made its way towards the smoke cloud that consumed Alex. When it reached it, the laser created another explosion that not only consumed Alex again, but also caused him to lose another chunk of his Life Points as well.

**Alex: 100**

As the explosion continued to consume Alex, Takuto started laughing like a madman. In his quest to regain the title he was willing to give up everything, even his humanity in order get back what he believed to be his. Now, with his opponent only having 100 Life Points left, it seemed all but certain that he would win this Duel. Because of that, Takuto started laughing even harder than ever as he began relishing his accomplishment.

While he continued to do that, Sona simply stared at the smoke cloud that covered Alex's body. She then began tapping her foot repeatedly, showing that she was becoming more and more impatient with what she's seeing. Eventually, the young woman couldn't take it anymore and stood up from where she was sitting. She then went on to yell something at the top of her lungs.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! HURRY UP AND DEFEAT THIS MORON ALREADY!"

When she finished her rant, Sona sat herself back down and began tapping her foot again. Takuto took notice of this and began to question her choice of words as he believed that Alex was taken care of. As he was about to go over to Sona and set her straight, Takuto suddenly heard a loud explosion from behind him. When he turned himself around, he saw that the grey smoke cloud was slowly turning a bright green color.

"I know," A voice from within the smoke replied. "I was just busy thinking about what I should do."

Takuto recognized the voice and knew right away that it was Alex's. However, he simply couldn't believe that it was him. He attacked him with not only all the Psychic power that he had, but with his most powerful Sense as well. There was simply no way that he could have survived such an onslaught. However, just as he was about to deny it, Alex emerged from the cloud, only his appearance was different. A good portion of his hear was green, with only about 3 of the main strains being yellow. His body was also covered in a bright green armor and his Duel Runner gained a new, sharper, design to it. When Takuto saw his new appearance, his eyes widen from shock as he had no idea what was going on.

"What…what the hell…are you?" He asked.

"Why do you ask questions that you already know the answer too," Alex replied with a small, but confident smile on his face. "My name is Alex McQueen…and I'm the man who's going to defeat you!"

With his power radiating throughout the entire underground stadium, the green aura that was coving Alex's body completely dissipated the smoke cloud from Takuto's attack. He then proceeded to place his hand upon his deck as his opponent was taking way too long to end his turn.

"It's my turn! Draw!"

**Alex: SPC – 6**

**Takuto: SPC – 2**

As Alex drew a card from his deck, the card started glowing green for a short moment. When he examined the card, the color faded away and it was revealed that this was exactly the card that he needed. He then looked towards his necklace for a moment before grabbing another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Speed Spell; Summon Speeder! With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from hand! In exchange, the monster summoned by this effect can't attack this turn."

Alex quickly grabbed the monster that he wanted to summon and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, the monster appeared in a green flash of light instead of the usually white one.

"I Special Summon; Dragunity Militum!"

**Dragunity Militum: ATK 1700 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

Once the light from the summoning started to fade away, Alex's Dragunity Militum appeared and started flying next to him. As soon as he saw that, the Dragunity Knight then proceeded to take the card that he drew at the beginning of the turn and also place it upon his Monster Card Zone. Like with Militum, the monster that Alex was summoning was materializing in a bright green color instead of the white color.

"Next, I Normal Summon; Shinji, Knight of the Gusting Winds!"

**Shinji, Knight of the Gusting Winds: ATK 1400 DEF 900 LVL 4**

When Shinji, Knight of the Gusting Winds finally materialized onto the field, everyone saw that the monster had the appearance of young boy that was around the ages 15 to 19. He had bright blue hair and was wearing armor very similar to the ones that old English knights would wear during the medieval period.

"I activate Shinji's Special Ability!" Alex stated as he pulled a card from his Graveyard. "When it's successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Wind Attribute monster from my Graveyard. In exchange however, both Shinji and the summoned monster can't attack during this turn! Return to the field, Dragunity Dux!"

Shinji firmly grasped a sword that was placed on his hip and removed it from its scabbard. When he did that, a small tornado appeared next him that started to slow down with every passing second. When the tornado finally stopped, it was revealed that Dragunity Dux was inside of it and the creature soon started flying next to its fellow monsters. As he watched this, Takuto was trying to figure what Alex was up too.

"What…what are you doing McQueen," He said, trying to hide the fear his was experiencing. "Your monsters don't even come close to the sheer power of my Five-Headed Dragon. And even if they did, my Dragon's Special Ability prevents it from being destroyed through battle against monsters of Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Darkness! The only monsters that can touch it are beings of Light and I know for a fact that you don't have any Light Attribute monsters!"

"…You assume too much,"

Takuto's eyes widen again as he watched Alex take the 3 cards that were on his Duel Disk and stacked them on top of one another. When he did that, his monsters each transformed themselves into bright green orbs of light that began flying around the entire area.

"I Overlay my Level 4 Dragunity Dux, Dragunity Militum, and Shinji, Knight of the Gusting Winds!" He declared. "With these 3 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

Right on cue, the portal to the Overlay Network just in front of Alex and the 3 orbs of light proceeded to make their way towards it. When they jumped inside, a powerful explosion occurred and a huge array of sparks began to shower down on both Alex at Takuto. It was here that the Underground Duel King pulled a card from his Extra Deck and placed it on top of the other stacked cards.

"Xyz Summon! Illuminate, Number 91: Thunder Spark Dragon!"

**Number 91 – Thunder Spark Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

As the sparks continued to shine down on everyone, a monster started to emerge from the depths of the Overlay Network. When it finally appeared, it was revealed to be a large dragon that looked very similar to that of an electric eel. The only differences between it and the actual animal are that Thunder Spark's body was blue, indicating that its body was made out of pure electrical energy, and that there were yellow markings all over its body. Also, like with all Number Xyz Monsters, Thunder Spark had a tattoo with its number on its fin and its body was being surrounded by 3 golden Overlay Units.

The sight of the amazing creature left Takuto awestruck as he never seen such a monster before in his life. He didn't expect Alex to have one of the legendary 100 Number Cards and he sure as hell didn't expect him to have a Light Attribute Monster, which Thunder Spark was. A small, unconscious, part of him wanted to back away, but he quickly drove he that impulse from his mind. Even with a Number, Alex's monster still paled in comparison to his. With Thunder Spark Dragon only having 2400 Attack Points, it was still way too weak to deal with the 5000 Attack Point power of Five-Headed Dragon and Takuto knew that. However, what he forgot to remember is that battling isn't the only way to destroy a monster.

"I activate Thunder Spark Dragon's Special Ability!" Alex declared. "By using all 3 of its Overlay Units, Thunder Spark can destroy all other face-up monsters on the field!"

Thunder Spark released as powerful cry as all three of its golden Overlay Units entered themselves into its body. When that happened, the Number Monster fired a powerful blast of electrical energy that surrounded the entire field. Because the electricity was made by it, Thunder Spark wasn't affect by it…but the same couldn't be said for Takuto's Five-Headed Dragon. The powerful beast was instantly shocked and killed by electricity that Thunder Spark Dragon gave off and started falling towards the ground before eventually exploding.

When it disappeared from the field, Takuto's shock and surprise reached an all time high as he couldn't believe what he just witnessed. He had this Duel won, but somehow Alex changed all that. He was the one who was about to win and Takuto was the one who was about to lose. He soon found himself searching frantically for something that could help turn the tide, but he couldn't find anything. Even when he saw no way out, Takuto still kept searching as he just couldn't accept this outcome. However, whether he liked it or not, he would have to accept it as Alex prepared to launch the finishing blow.

"Thunder Spark Dragon," He called. "Attack Takuto's Life Points directly…Thunderstorm Blast!"

Upon hearing its final command, Thunder Spark Dragon released another blast of electricity from its body. However, unlike when it destroyed Five-Headed Dragon, this power was more concentrated as it was in the form of a laser beam. When it struck Takuto, the young man started screaming in pain as he fell off his Duel Runner and fell towards the ground. Also, as his Life Points began to drop, the former king's Runner exploded due to the overload of electrical power that Thunder Spark introduced to it.

**Takuto: 0 LP**

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><p>As he was stirring from the final attack of the Duel, Takuto was still trying to figure out what went wrong for him. He had Alex beat. None of his moves were flawed and he carefully planned everything out. So it just didn't make sense to him. How…how could he lose to Alex for a second time?<p>

When he finally regained consciousness, Takuto looked up and saw that his Duel Runner was on fire. Seeing that made him even more upset and he was going to go up to Alex and kill him for what he did. However, before he could a single step, Alex was already in front of Takuto. The Underground King looked at his defeated opponent and saw the anger that radiating from his face. He felt a little bit of sympathy for him, but he quickly got over that when he remembered that Takuto's Psychic powers knocked out a large number of people inside the underground stadium. Realizing that this man was simply too much of a danger, even for the people here, Alex did the only thing he felt he could do.

The Dragunity Knight pulled a card from his deck and made glow a bright green color. As Takuto looked on he watched as his rival's power transformed the card into a Japanese long sword that he preceded to place by his neck. Having that weapon so his throat made Takuto shiver with fear and he found himself unable to move. This was a good thing as Alex had something to say and he wanted the former king to listen very closely.

"Takuto Kurugi," He started off. "All you've done is hurt people and caused them suffering. As Duel King, I won't tolerate it anymore. I hear by banish you from Underground Dueling…for the rest of your life!"

Hearing those words instantly made Takuto extremely livid as Underground Dueling was everything to him. Having been banned by all the official leagues, this was the only place where he could show that he was the best Duelist. However, now that he's be banned, he couldn't he even do that anymore. Every fiber of his being wanted Takuto to take the sword that Alex was pointing at his throat and stab the man, whom he hated so much, right in the heart. But, since he was injured and unable to compete with Alex's strange and unique powers, Takuto relented. He then moved away from his rival and slowly began leaving the arena, but not before turning back around at Alex. When he did, his black aura surrounded his entire body again.

"I'll leave," He said. "But don't think you'll see the last of me McQueen. I will destroy you…and everything that you hold dear!"

Once he finished saying what he had to say, Takuto left and disappeared into the darkness. When that happened, Alex closed his eyes and deactivated his powers. This caused the armor that was covering his body to disappear and his hair returned to its normal color. Also, his Duel Runner returned to its former shape and size as well. As soon as he finished doing that, Alex reopened his eyes and saw that Sona was by his side.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you do that," She commented. "I didn't think that you needed to use it."

"I didn't really need too," Alex pointed out. "I only used it because I wanted to prove a point...and I felt that I did that."

"I see. Well…what now. Do you think Takuto is going to go through with what he said?"

Alex looked at Sona for a few seconds before thinking about what Takuto said about destroying him and everything he holds dear. Once he finished doing that, the young man simply smiled at his childhood friend.

"I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure that if Takuto causes anymore trouble…Takashi will be there to stop him."

"Takashi Nakamura?" Sona questioned. "You know, ever since you told me that he arrived in New Domino City, you've been really interested in him. In fact, whenever his name is mentioned, you tend to act like he's your little brother. Just what is he, because the way your acting is making me think he's something more than just the leader of the Signers?"

"Like he's my little brother? You're not far off, but here's the real reason why I'm so confident in him."

Alex walked over to Sona's left ear and started whispering something to her. As she listened in, the young woman's eyes slowly started to widen as she couldn't believe what she's hearing. When Alex finished speaking, he proceeded to walk away as Sona could only look on in mixed state of surprise and disbelief.

As Alex continued to walk away, a lot of the people in the stadium started to regain consciousness and began wondering what was going on. However, once they saw that Alex was the only in the stadium, they all started cheering for him. Those cheers made the Dragunity Knight smile a little, but he mostly tuned them out and kept walking. He soon stopped when he saw a window that led to the surface and noticed that the sun was beginning to set. Just looking at it reminded Alex of something from his past and he started clinching his necklace as a result.

"Amara…I promise you that this battle will come to an end soon. Once Takashi and I, along with the rest of the Signers and Dragunity Knights, settle things with Goodwin, I'll come back for you. And hopefully…we can be together again."

Once he finished saying that, Alex continued on his way back to his hideout. The young man has been through some stuff times in his life and there were some cases where he wanted to give up. However, he would always go back to his time with Amara Flyheart and that would give him the strength to keep going. Love has powerful effect on people, especially if the love is genuine. It could make people do things that they probably wouldn't even think about doing. But Alex was aware of what he doing and was okay with that. As long as he could be with Amara again he was really to dive straight into Netherworld, even further if need be.

Meanwhile, at entrance to New Domino, and beautiful young woman was busy looking at city from a far. She had bright pink and wavy hair with emerald green eyes. Her attire consisted of a white dress with pink highlights and she pans with leggings of the same two colors. Her figure was somewhat curvy and her breast size was similar to that of Lilly's, give or take a few centimeters. Also, like Alex, this young woman was wearing a necklace that had an image of bird on it. The only difference was that the necklace was silver and that the bird was an eagle instead of a hawk.

She continued to look at the city, the girl looked down at her necklace for a quick moment and held it tight. She then looked back up and turned herself towards her Duel Runner. The design had a majestic feel to it as the colors were about the same as her dress. Also, at the back of it, the Duel Runner had a pair of ends that looked very similar to wings. When she got on her ride, she proceeded to place a pink helmet on and covered her eyes with a transcendent visor. Once she did that, the girl started her Duel Runner and drove towards New Domino City.

"I'll find you," She said quietly to herself. "I'll find you Alex."

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_On the eve of the Fortune Cup Finals, Sector Security is throwing a huge party for the 8 Qualifying Duelists in one of New Domino's fanciest buildings. Almost everyone who's anyone is planning on showing up and that includes Takashi and his friends. However, there's more to this party that meets the eye and it only gets more complicated when someone decides to crash the event._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 73: Party Crashers_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, it's Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_To begin, I want to thank Serpentdragon for both Takuto Kurugi and Amara Flyheart. Thank you my friend. I promise to use your characters to the best of my ability._

_Next, I want to touch upon a matter that I've discussed with one of my readers. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus is a story that contains a lot of action and adventure. It's the suspense that you guys feel when Takashi and others are trying to overcome a challenge is what makes this story truly great. However, despite all the Dueling and fighting, Over the Nexus is also a love story. The romance between Takashi and Akiza, as well as some other important characters, is another important factor to this story. Please keep that in mind while you're reading as this story is more than just action and adventure. It's much deeper than that. _

_Lastly, I want to thank all of you who have supported Over the Nexus throughout all this time. It's because of you guys that I strive to make this story the best that it can be and for that I'm truly grateful. Please continue to read and review the latest chapters and let me know how you feel about them. I would really like to hear from each and every one of you guys and listen to your feedback. If I'm being perfectly honest with myself, it's you guys that helped build Over the Nexus to where it is today and not me. Maybe I'm just being modest, but that's truly how I feel. I couldn't have done this without you. So, once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. _

_Well, that's it for now. Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_

_P.S_

_If you guys have some free time, please take a look at my other story; Trails to Becoming a Master. I'm working really hard on it and I already have 5 chapters up. I would really like to hear what you think about it so please leave a review at each chapter you read. Remember, it's your input that really builds the story._


	73. Chapter 73

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 73: **_Party Crashers_

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><p>Many people assume that New Domino City is a perfect haven just because it's separated from the despair that the Satellite Sector brings. However…it's just an assumption. New Domino is also divided, but in an unseen type of way. The rich usually reside in a section of the city that's known as the Tops, which is generally cut off from the general public. In that section, people tend to live the easy life without having to work very hard. Their easy lives have caused some resentment to surface in more common areas of New Domino, especially when some people work just to make the Tops even better. In a lot of ways, it's similar to how people in the Satellite have to work hard in order to make the city better, only less noticeable. It sucks that the more privilege tend to have it easy, but a lot of the people believe that it's better to be poor in the city instead being poor in the Satellite.<p>

In the Tops, there are many large buildings that are known to host many fancy parties. However, out of all those buildings, there is one that stands out. That building is called the Seiryu, or the Blue Dragon. Only the best of the best can have an event over there and usually something important has to be happening in order to get a reservation, like a fancy wedding or a coronation. As it would happen, something big is happening over at the Seiryu; a party in celebration of the Fortune Cup Finals.

It's been nearly a week since the 8 qualifying Duelists have earned their place in the Finals and the Fortune Cup Committee decided to throw a party in celebration for all of them. It seemed appropriate as this was the biggest tournament to ever hit New Domino City in a very long time. If a party wasn't thrown for the competitors, then something was obviously wrong. So, when the event was announced to the public, everyone who's anyone attempted to get an invitation. This was especially true for Takashi and his fellow Signers as they, along with the other qualifying Duelists, were the first people to be invited.

On the night of the event, Takashi and Crow were the first of their friends to arrive at the Seiryu and the two of them were impressed by the sight of the building. Having grown up in tough environments, the Satellite and Crash Town respectively, the both of them always wanted to know what it would be like to go to a fancy party and now they can. Though, if they had one compliant about the party it would be the dress code. Since the party was a social event, it was required that the guests dress formally for the occasion. This was a problem for the two Signers as they never worn anything like that before in their lives. So, when the both of them first put on their suits and dress shoes, they immediately felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Oh my god…this is pissing me off!"

As the two of them waited for Akiza and Lilly to show up, Takashi and Crow were busy trying to make sure their attire was in order. Crow was wearing a simple grey and black suit with a clip on tie. He also had on a pair of black dress shoes which matched his outfit really well. However, despite looking good in the suit, Crow found it very hard to move around in as the long sleeves and cramped footwear was restricting his movements. Still, in comparison to Takashi, the Blackwing Duelist felt he had it better off.

Takashi's attire was a bit fancier as Toru, who's still injured and couldn't make it, picked it out for him. It was a suit that consisted of his favorite colors; blue, white, and black, that had a bit of a British feel to it. Some of the collars were pointed and had gold ends to it, while the leggings were firm and tough. Also, because of the way the suit looked, Takashi's sword matched really well with it, especially since he placed it by his side. However, that's not to say that he didn't have his problems with it. Like with Crow, Takashi found his attire hard to move around it and there were too many buttons on it. But, the biggest problem he was facing was the tie that went along with the suit. Having never put one on before, the young man had no idea what the hell he was doing and usually ended up doing more harm than good. Even now, Takashi couldn't put his tie on and that was really frustrating to him.

"Swear to god," He mumbled as he messed up another attempt to put his tie on. "If I have to do this one more time…"

"So…," Crow said as he watched his friend struggle. "Tell me why we're here again. I mean, it isn't required for us to be here…right?"

"Yes it is Crow. Don't you remember what we learned when we first received or invitations?"

Crow attempted to recall what Takashi was talking about when he said that, but he was coming up empty. Eventually, after seeing that he was still not getting it, Takashi stopped messing around with his tie and made his way over to his Duel Runner. Once he reached it, he pulled up the seat that contain its trunk and pulled out a letter from it. As soon as he made sure that it was the letter, Takashi tossed it over to Crow before closing his Runner's trunk and going back to fixing his tie. When he looked at the letter, Crow instantly remembered when he first got it and why it was so important for he and his friends to attend this party.

_4 days ago_

"Utopia, attack Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant…Rising Sun Slash!"

It was a bright and sunny day in New Domino City as Takashi Nakamura and Crow Hogan were having a friendly Duel on the roof of Poppo Time. In order to prepare for the Fortune Cup Finals, the both of them knew that they needed to train as much as they could, especially since they had less than a week remaining. They contemplated on what should they do for their training and they eventually came to the decision to just have a simple Duel. After all, no was no better way to see how much they've grown as Duelists than with a good old-fashion match.

Their battle consisted of them using all the new tricks that they've learned during their 3 months of training. Crow was using his new instant Synchro strategy that involved some of his new Blackwings while Takashi was using his new Xyz strategy that combined aspects of his old Synchro strategy. The Duel was intense, with both of them giving it everything they had. Eventually, it came down to Crow's Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant going up against Takashi's second Ace Monster, Number 39: Utopia. Despite the fact that Silverwind had more Attack Points, Takashi was able to make the most out of Utopia's Special Abilities and use them to take down Crow's monster. As a result, Takashi won the Duel and was able to achieve his second victory over the Blackwing Duelist.

When the Duel came to an end, Crow was busy lying on the roof of the apartment. Although he content with his defeat, it still frustrated him a little that he lost. He had thought he had improved to the point where he could Duel Takashi on equal terms and defeat him. However, it simply wasn't the case as Takashi was still the stronger Duelist. That realization bothered Crow, but he was able to get over it fairly quickly. After all, if he had won the Duel then the victory might've gone to his head and he couldn't have that.

Takashi Nakamura was an extremely talented Duelist and Crow knew that his skills will improve far beyond than what they are now. It's because of his skill that Crow secretly considered Takashi his rival and that a victory over him wouldn't be easy. However, it's that same challenge that made facing him so fun. Crow knew that with each Duel he has against Takashi, his own skills will have improved significantly as a result. He would keep getting stronger and stronger until the day finally came that he finally defeated his rival. It was Crow's dream, like the dream of mostly every Duelist, to become the best in the world and he honestly believed that defeating Takashi was a step in that direction.

As he began to pick himself up from off the ground, the Blackwing Duelist proceeded to deactivate his Duel Disk and make his way over to his friend. Once he was there, he extended his hand out to him and offered a friendly handshake. When he saw Crow's hand, Takashi smiled and accepted his offering. Despite the fact that one of them won the match and the other lost, both of them learned a lot from the experience. They would apply everything that they learned from their match in future battles and then one day, after the both of them become stronger, they would Duel again.

"Takashi…Crow!" Someone yelled from downstairs. "Get your asses down here now!"

The two boys jumped up a little as they instantly recognized who was calling for them. It's their roommate, Lilly, and from the tone of her voice, she didn't seem to be in a good mood. For as long as they've known her, both Takashi and Crow knew that Lilly has anger issues and that she would beat them up if they annoyed her in any way. Not wanting that to happen, the both of them immediately ran downstairs and searched for Lilly. Eventually, they found her in the kitchen where she was with the rest of their friends. The expressions that were on all of their faces were mixed at best, as they didn't know what to make of what they just learned.

"Guys…," Takashi said to all of them. "What's the matter?"

"This,"

Lilly presented Takashi a letter that was not only addressed to him, but to Akiza, Crow, and herself. When he examined the letter, he saw that it was from the Fortune Cup Committee and that it probably contained something important. It was here that Takashi realized why Lilly called for him and Crow as she wanted everyone to be here when the letter was opened. With that realized now, then young Signer decided that now was the time see what the item contained and proceeded to open it. Once he did, Takashi read the letter out loud.

_Congratulations competitors…In celebration for qualifying for the Fortune Cup Finals, we hereby invite you to participate in our social event. There will be food, drinks, as well as a variety of other things for your enjoyment._

"What kind of crap is that?!"

Takashi stopped talking for a moment and turned his attention to Toru, as he was the one who interrupted him. The Scrap Duelist had recovered enough from his injuries that he could move around the apartment, but his body was still pretty sore from the experience. Still, despite how he was feeling physically, it was how he was feeling emotionally that bothered Toru the most. He didn't like what he just heard and he was making it open for everybody to see. So, while he turned and continued to read the letter silently, Takashi listened to what his older brother had to say.

"This has to be a trap!" Toru continued. "They probably want to bring you guys over this party so that they can capture you!"

"What makes you say that Toru?" Lilly asked him.

"What else could it be? It's obvious that Goodwin wants to get all of you in the same place and I believe it's because he wants to capture you. He's had enough of this tournament and wants to put his plan into motion."

"…That doesn't make sense Toru," Misaki said as she leaned against the wall with her arms folded. "…If that was the case, then he would've captured them from the start."

"I have to agree with Misaki," Crow said. "After all, isn't it Goodwin's plan to bring out that Crimson Dragon thing we saw a few months back? Takashi told us that in order for him to do that, we needed to get strong enough to summon it…and that can only happen if we compete in the Fortune Cup."

Despite Crow and Misaki making very good points, Toru still didn't think the party was everything that the invitation was making it out to be. He believed that some deeper meaning was behind it as the entire Fortune Cup has been shady. They've been blackmailed into entering it and they've been forced to keep secrets from some of their friends. Even though he wasn't truly involved in this affair, Toru didn't like that his friends had to practically risk their lives for something like this. It was really frustrating for him so suspicions weren't misplaced. This was especially true once Takashi finished reading the rest of the letter.

"Toru," He said. "The party isn't a trap, but it does have more meaning for the competitors."

Toru looked at Takashi with a confused expression on his face as he didn't understand what his little brother meant. In order to clarify his meaning, Takashi tossed the letter over to Toru and let him read it. Once the Scrap Duelist had it in his hand started reading, the other followed suit and started reading it as well. As soon as they finished rereading the first part of the invitation, all of them noticed that there was a second part.

_During the celebration, there will be an announcement that involves the first round of the Finals. New rules will be put into place that will make the entire competition even more exciting than before. The event will take place at the Seiryu, which is located at the Tops. We hope to see you all there._

Once they finished reading the letter, everyone looked towards Takashi as he was busy looking outside. After he finished looking, he turned his attention back towards his friends and looked at them with a somewhat serious expression on his face.

"I don't know what type of rules their going to throw at us and I don't really care. However, during this party, there could be a chance that Goodwin might show up and we have to be there. If there's a chance that we can disrupt his plans, even if it's a slight one, then we have to go for it. So much has happened already and I don't want anyone to get hurt because of it."

Takashi continued to look at all his friends and they all saw that there was a lot of emotion in his eyes. His older brother was almost killed because of the Fortune Cup and he's been forced to keep so many secrets that it damaged his friendships with some of the people he trusts. He doesn't want deal with it anymore and wants this battle to be over with. Just seeing his expression made the others realize that they feel exactly the same way and they want the battle to be over with too. So, after resolving their hearts, all of them started to plan on what they should do for the party.

_Present Day_

"Now I see," Crow said as he finished looking at the letter. "So…what's our plan again?"

"We're going to observe," Takashi replied as he still worked on his tie. "When we hear about the new rules, we're going to listen it very closely and try and find any hidden details. By doing that, we can possibly find out what's really going on and prepare countermeasures."

"Okay then…One more question. Where's the hell are the girls?"

Takashi didn't answer Crow's question because he didn't have an answer for it. Lilly and Akiza have been busy for the last couple days, trying on different dresses and have told the boys not to interfere. In Akiza's defense, she didn't have a problem with Takashi helping her out, but Lilly was insistent that he stay out of it. Takashi had several theories on why she didn't want him involved, but he eventually decided to stop thinking about it. For him, women were complicated creatures and more he tried to understand them, the more confused he would get. Dealing with that now would only make him feel awkward and Takashi didn't want that, especially now of all times.

Eventually, after waiting another 30 minutes for them to arrive, Crow noticed Lilly's Duel Runner from the distance and saw that she and Akiza were making their way over to him. He alerted Takashi of this and the both of proceeded to wave their hands in order to show that they were right here. Once Lilly got their message, the young woman parked her Duel Runner beside theirs and both she and Akiza proceeded to get off it. When they did, the boys saw just how amazing the both of them were looking and were left awestruck as a result.

Lilly's attire was very queen-like as she wearing a purple dress with diamond trimming and lace to it. She was wearing an expensive set of high heels, diamond earrings, and had her head braided so that her usual ponytail had a more majestic feel to it. Lilly also had on make-up as she was wearing bright ruby lip stuck and eye shadow. When Crow saw her, the Blackwing Duelist was at a loss for words as he's never seen Lilly dress up like that before. He soon found himself blushing very deeply, which Lilly found very amusing.

As for Akiza, her attire was very similar to Lilly's as it had a royal feel to it too. She was wearing a burgundy colored dress with purple trimming and that she was wearing an expensive set of high heels too. Also, like Lilly, Akiza's hair was formed into a ponytail as well. The only exception was that it was that big, only reaching down to the top of her shoulders. Lastly, she was also wearing the gold and emerald necklace that Takashi gave to her months ago, as it was something that she would wear no matter what.

Just like how Crow was at a loss for words when he saw Lilly, Takashi felt the exact same way he saw Akiza. The young man always considered her to be very beautiful, even when she wore her usual clothes, but this took the cake. Just looking at her once made him accidently mistake her for angel and for Takashi, he wasn't that far off. When Akiza saw him look at her the way he did, the Psychic Duelist turned her head slightly as she began to blush. She wanted to make an impression on him, but now that she had, the young woman felt somewhat embarrassed. However, Lilly didn't feel the same and believed that Akiza's attire suited her really well.

"So," Lilly said as turned towards the boys. "Sorry we're late. I just wanted us to look our best for the occasion."

"…It's…no problem," Crow replied.

"Yeah…," Takashi agreed. "It's…cool."

Lilly smiled slightly as she watched her friends continue to look at her and Akiza as it indicated that her plan was working. She wanted to make a good impression on the both of them and for the most part, it was working. This was especially true when she observed the way Takashi and Akiza were looking at one another as she was mostly doing this for them. Like with most of the residents in Poppo Time, Lilly was fully aware of the way Takashi and Akiza felt about each other and was trying her best to push them together. She believed that having Akiza dress up fancy was good way to do that as it might give Takashi the incentive to tell her how he felt.

Eventually, now that everyone was here, the Signers decided that now was good time to enter the Seiryu and the join the party. However, before they began to make their way over there, Akiza noticed that Takashi was still having problems with his tie and proceeded to help him out. As the others observed this, Akiza wasted no time at all making sure that the tie was nice and straight before finally finishing. Once she was done, the young woman looked up towards Takashi and smiled at him gently.

"There you go,"

"Um…thank you Akiza," Takashi said in a somewhat astonished tone. "But…how did you learn how to do that?"

"When I was younger, I used to help my father with this all the time. I never told you this, but my father used to be a senator and I would go to functions very similar to this one."

The others were slightly shocked upon hearing that as they never knew that Akiza's dad used to be so high up on the political ladder. For as long as they've known her, Akiza has never gone into great detail about her parents, besides the fact that she was responsible for their deaths. So the fact that she was telling them this was a little bit surprising as they know that the subject about her parents has always been a very touchy subject for her. However, on the other hand, a part of them were happy to hear her say that as it meant that Akiza trusted them with everything about her, even her past.

"I see," Lilly said as she looked at her. "That's very cool."

"Yeah," Crow said in agreement. "I've never portrayed you to be a senator's daughter. But I guess there's more to people than meets the eye."

Akiza smiled after listening to Lilly and Crow as they once again showed the Psychic Duelist that they would accept her, no matter who or what she was. She then looked over towards Takashi again and smiled some more when she saw him smiling. He then went on to gently touch her face, which caused the blush that was on her face to deepen. Once the two of them finished having that tender moment, Takashi looked back towards the Seiryu and the others soon followed suit.

"Well guys…let's go."

* * *

><p>On the 20th floor of the Seiryu, there resides a secret room that no one, not even the people who run the place, goes into too. That room belongs to the Director of Sector Security; Rex Goodwin and he's ordered all those who run the Seiryu to never enter that room. The reason for that is that the Director has a secret computer placed inside of there that contains secret information that involves not only Sector Security, but the Fortune Cup as well. He couldn't afford to have just anyone show up as there could be a chance they could find out what's really going on. Although he's plan was already passed the point of no return, Goodwin still couldn't afford to let it get out to the general public. He was the face of New Domino City and for as long as he's able, he planned on keeping it that way.<p>

As he proceeded to type some information onto the computer, a secret chamber opened inside the room and Lazar came out of it. In the Vice-Director's hand was a box filled with a set of mysterious items. When he presented them to Goodwin, the Director examined the contents that were inside the box and seemed visibly pleased by what he saw. Once he finished looking at the box, Goodwin presented it back to Lazar and looked at his Vice-Director.

"Thank you Lazar. With them now complete, and the AR Vision System now in working order, everything is ready for the battles tomorrow."

"You have no idea how pleased I am to hear you say that Director," Lazar said as he slightly bowed towards his boss. "By the way sir, we just received word that most of the competitors have arrived, including the Signers. The only one who has not appeared is Kuromu Nesara."

"I see…no matter then. The individuals who we want to be here are present and that all that matters. Now Lazar, I want you to head back to the party and prepare to announce the rules for the Fortune Cup Quarter Finals."

Lazar once again nodded his head at Goodwin before turning around and making his way back towards the secret entrance. Once he left the room, the Director turned his attention back towards his computer and continued typing. As he did that, the image of Takashi, Akiza, and the rest of the Fortune Cup Finalists appeared on the display screen. When he looked at all of their faces, another small smile appeared on Goodwin's face.

"With the powers of these Duelists, it won't be too much longer."

Meanwhile, on the Seiryu's 10th floor, the Signers eventually made their way to the room where the party is the supposed to be at and proceeded to go inside. When they did, all of them were amazed by what they were seeing. The room they were in was a ballroom and it looked very similar to the ones that you happen to hear in fairy tales. There were several guests, all of whom were dressed very formally, and there was plenty of fancy and expensive food too. It seemed like something from out of a dream, but all of them knew that it was very real and that they were there to experience it.

As all of them looked around the ballroom, one the guests who arrived earlier at the party noticed all of them and seemed really pleased that they were here. That person then went on to make their way over to all of them, calling out Akiza's name in the process. When Akiza heard her name being called, the young woman recognized the voice the person and immediately turned her attention towards her.

"Akari…Kamiya?" She said in a slightly confused tone.

"That's right Akiza," Akari replied. "It's been a while."

When Takashi and the other Signers turned around and faced Akari, all of them were confused by how she and Akiza knew each other. It was hear that Akiza explained that Akari was the older sister of her friend, Mei Kamiya, and that she works as a reporter for one of New Domino's biggest newspapers. She also told him that one of Akari's jobs was to interview all the competitors that are currently in the Fortune Cup and that she promised to have an interview with her. The others were surprised when they heard that Akiza agreed to an interview, but they seem supportive of it since Akari seemed like a good person.

"I'm glad that you've showed up Akiza," Akari continued as she made her way up to her. "And I'm also glad to see that you brought your friends, who also qualified for the Finals."

"Um…yeah," Akiza agreed. "So Akari, I'm guessing you're here to report about the party."

"That's right. My boss was able to get an invitation to this event and I decided to do a small write up on it. Also, I had a feeling that you might be here so I decided that now would be the perfect place to have our interview."

"…Right,"

Even though she had agreed to have an interview with Akari, it was clear that Akiza was still reluctant to go along with it. It was understandable as there was a lot about her that she didn't want the public to know. Like how she's a Psychic Duelist or that she used to be the Black Rose. There were plenty of things that Akiza wanted to keep hidden as she believed that people would reject her again if they ever found out. Even so, Takashi and the others believed that such an interview would be good for her. By having one, people could possibly get know about the Akiza Izinski that their used to seeing. So, in order to have her through with it, Takashi gently touched Akiza's back and pushed her towards Akari.

"Go ahead Akiza. It'll be fine."

Akiza looked back towards Takashi for a moment and saw him smiling at her. Seeing him do that made feel a little bit better, but she was still a bit apprehensive. However, after seeing both Lilly and Crow encourage her too, Akiza was able to get over her fear. She soon looked over towards Akari and gently nodded her head at her.

"Alright," She said. "Let's do it."

Akari nodded her head in compliance and proceeded to take Akiza somewhere quiet so that they could have their interview without any interruptions. Once they were gone, the others looked at one another for a moment before splitting up. Lilly and Crow decided to look around the entire ballroom for a moment while Takashi immediately made his way over to the food stand. All of them knew that they had a couple of minutes before the time came for the announcements to be heard and they wanted to make the most of it. After all, despite the fact they were here to see if they could stop Goodwin, it was still a party and they should enjoy themselves for a while.

As they looked around the ballroom, Lilly and Crow were a little bit amazed by the number of people that were present. Some of them were big time officials while others were reporters like Akari. Seeing all these people here made the two Signers realize that the Fortune Cup was getting more attention than they thought. However, despite number of reporters and officials, there was one individual that caught their attention; Aiku Gato. Like them, the young man was also here to learn about the rules that will take place at the Quarter Finals as it could determine how he decides to Duel. They tried calling out to him, but quickly ignored them once he knew they were the ones calling for him. As a result, Lilly and Crow followed the young man until they finally stopped him.

"Hey Aiku," Crow said as he grabbed him hand. "What's wrong with you? All we're trying to do is say hi."

"…I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Aiku replied in a cold tone of voice.

"C'mon Aiku, it wasn't that big of a deal. Friends keep secrets from each other all the time. This is nothing special."

Aiku didn't listen to Crow's reasoning as he didn't really care about what he had to say. For him, he believed that they betrayed his trust and that was unforgivable in his eyes. Friends are supposed to trust each other, but Aiku couldn't trust them after what they did. As a result, he broke free from Crow's grip and continued on his way. However, he soon found himself stopped again with Lilly grabbed his hand.

"Aiku…I know you're upset with us and I know that you don't consider us friends anymore. However, despite how you may feel, I want you to know that we didn't keep this from you because we wanted too. We kept it from you because we had too. Also, despite everything that's happen between us, I still consider you to be my friend."

"…Well I don't feel the same," Aiku replied. "I'm going to crush all of you during the Finals and that's all there is too it! Now…let me go, you b***h!"

Lilly glared at Aiku a little as the young woman wanted to punch Aiku for what he just called her. However, after remembering what Takashi said about him possibly being a Dragunity Knight and how risked his life to save the Satellite, she simply couldn't bring herself to do it. Aiku has done so much for her and all she's and friends have done has lie. His anger wasn't misplaced and Lilly knew that very well. As a result, the Signer let him go and watched as he continued on his way.

As that was happening, Takashi was busy fixing his plate full of delicious looking food. Having not eaten anything for lunch, Takashi's stomach was craving for some substance and he was happy to give it some. He proceeded to put a piece of everything on his plate as he wanted to try everything that they were serving this evening. Eventually, the only thing that was left was a biscuit and Takashi saw that there was one more left. He tried to reach before anyone else and it looked like he would get it. However, it wasn't too be as someone snatched up the biscuit just as he was about to grab it. Seeing that frustrated him and he was about confront the person about it. But, just as he saw the face of the person who stole his food, Takashi stopped and a little bit surprised on who it was.

"Kagura…Toyoshima,"

Indeed, it was the Twilight Duelist; Kagura Toyoshima. Like with the other competitors, she was here to learn about the new rules and that she wanted to get something to eat before that happens. As Takashi looked at her, he saw that she was wearing a beautiful black and white kimono and that her hair was placed in a bun by her white ribbon. She also, just like Takashi, was carrying her sword by the side of her dress. The young man believed her attire suited her as Kagura's black and white dress matched the black and white cards that Duels with.

"Sorry about that," Kagura said in calm tone of voice. "I didn't know that you wanted it."

"…Um, it's fine," Takashi replied. "I mean, I'll just get one later."

As the two Duelists looked at one another, Takashi felt somewhat flustered as he didn't know what to make of this. Although he wasn't attracted to Kagura, the Signer felt something familiar about the Twilight Duelist that he wasn't able to describe. He initially thought that it was because he believed she was a Dragunity Knight, but it was something else entirely. Just what was this feeling that he was having and why was he experiencing it now? In the end, Takashi didn't know.

Soon, as he continued to think about this, Takashi saw that Kagura was beginning to walk away and somehow found himself following her. For some reason, he felt that he had to talk to her some more and that he couldn't let her leave yet. He tried coming up with a good conversation starter, but nothing came to mind. Eventually, after thinking about it for a moment, the young man decided to stop thinking and just go for it.

"So…where did you get that sword? It looks really cool."

"It was given to me by my cousin," Kagura answered. "However, I heard that it used to belong to my father."

"I…I see. That's cool. I just…happened to buy my sword from a shop around town. It isn't very fancy, but I think that it gets the job done."

Kagura instantly knew that what Takashi just said was a lie, but she didn't really care. The Twilight Duelist didn't know why he was trying to socialize with her as it was clear he wasn't really sure why he was doing it either. However, for some reason that was completely unknown to her, Kagura didn't try to stop him. She just continued to listen on as Takashi continued to come up with a conversation topic. This continued for a good 7 minutes until both of them realized that their food is getting cold. After seeing that, Kagura decided to head off somewhere before her meal got any colder than it was. However, just before she could leave, Takashi stopped her one last time.

"Hey Kagura," He said. "…I don't know why exactly, but….you seem really familiar too me."

"…Is that so," Kagura replied as she kept her head away from Takashi. "I don't why either, but you seem familiar too."

As Kagura walked away from him, Takashi simply looked on as the Twilight Duelist left. He still didn't know why she seemed familiar to him as it wasn't that long ago that two of them first met. His confusion soon made Takashi scratch the back of his head as he simply doesn't know why he's having such thoughts. Soon, the young man decided that he drop it for now as such thoughts he make him think about things that might end up confusing him even more.

While Takashi walked around the ballroom, Akiza just finished her interview with Akari and the two of them were making their way back towards the others. Unlike what she initially thought it would be, Akiza found the interview to fairly enjoyable. No awkward questions were asked as Akari only mentioned things about Akiza's Dueling Career and what driving her to enter the Fortune Cup. The Psychic Duelist answered those questions, as well as several others, as truthfully as she could and was glad that Akari didn't ask anything out of the ordinary. Once they were done, the both of them thank the other for their time before splitting up.

As soon as she watched her leave, Akiza looked around for friends in order to tell them what she experienced. Eventually, she found Takashi sitting down and eating his food. Seeing him do that made Akiza smile as she knew how much Takashi loved to eat and decided to sit down and join him. However, before she could get far, someone gently tapped down on Akiza's shoulder and proceeded to turn around. When she saw the person who tapped her, the smile that was on her face quickly faded and it soon turned into a small frown.

"What do you want…Enoch?"

"Hey now," Enoch said with a small smile on his face. "I just wanted to say hi to my old friend. Is that so wrong?"

"…No, but you're keeping me from doing something."

The two Psychics looked at one another for a few moments and both of them could feel an awkward presence in the air. It's only been about a week since the two of them first met each other for the first time in almost 5 years and it was clear that their relationship hadn't improved in the slightest. Enoch was trying his best to remedy that situation, but Akiza was having none of it. In fact, a small part of her wanted to beat him up again, but she ultimately decided against it. She then attempted to head over to where Takashi was, but Enoch stopped her. When he did that, Akiza glared at him slightly.

"What are you doing?!" She asked him. "Let me go."

"Akiza…listen, I just want to talk," Enoch replied. "I know things have been off between us, but I want to show you that things are different now."

"I don't care about what you have to show me! After what you did, how could you expect me to believe anything that comes out of your mouth?"

"…I can't," Enoch silently answered. "But I want to try anyway. I want to make up for what I did and I want to prove to you that I'm not the man that you think I am."

Akiza looked into Enoch's eyes and saw that he meant everything that he just said to her. He was truly sorry for what he had to put her through all those years ago and wanted to start making it up to her now. Because of that, Akiza's anger slowly began to fade away and her eyes began to soften as a result. However, despite the fact that her anger was gone, the young woman was still reluctant to trust Enoch so she simply turned her head back over to Takashi, the one she trusted the most.

"Enoch," She said. "You once asked me what I thought about Takashi and I answered. So now it's your turn. What do you think of Takashi Nakamura?"

"…There's not much to think about," He replied as he looked towards him. "I don't really see much out him, besides the fact he saved you from Sayer."

"Is that so? Then you need to learn more about him. If you just give him a chance, like I've had, then you'll see that there's more to Takashi that meets the eye."

Once she finished saying that, Akiza made Enoch let go of her before making her way over to Takashi. As she watched her leave, Enoch turned his attention back towards Takashi and started to recall what Akiza said about him back during the second Qualifying Round. He then started to recall his own feelings about the young man and Psychic Duelist realized that he couldn't do what Akiza suggested.

"I'm sorry Akiza," He said silently. "But I have my own way to determine whether or not Takashi Nakamura is more than what he seems."

Soon, after the party continued for about another hour, the lights started to dim down a little and music started playing. No one knew what was going on, but the Finalists all believed that the time for the announcement had arrived. Eventually, their belief was validated as all of them saw Lazar enter the ballroom and he called each of them over to him. All of them were reluctant to do so, but they complied anyway and proceeded to make their way over to the Vice-Director. Once they were all present, Lazar grabbed a microphone and started speaking.

"_Welcome Duelists," _He started off. _"The fact that you're here today proves that you're best Duelists that Japan has to offer. No one can deny your place here and for that, you should be very proud. However, now that you've made it this far, the real battle is about to begin. During tomorrow's Quarter Finals, each of you will be Dueling with a unique Field Spell in play. Those Field Spells will give each of you an advantage during your respective matches, but it will be up to you to figure them out. This will also affect Turbo Duels as one is going to take place during the Quarter Finals."_

As Takashi continued to listen to Lazar explain the rules, the young man tried to figure out why the Committee would want to use Field Spells during the Quarter Finals. Most Duelists already had a Field Spells in their decks that would give them an advantage during a match, so didn't seem to make much sense. Also, the fact that Turbo Duels already have a constant Field Spell activate during the match made things even more confusing. He was about to ask what the purpose of all this was, but Lazar simply continued on with his speech.

"_Lastly, we would like to present each of you with a little gift. They'll make all of your Duels even more realistic than before."_

Someone soon entered the ballroom and handed each of the Finalists the item that Lazar presented to Goodwin earlier. It was a small device that looked like colorful eyepiece. Each of the Finalists examined the object and wondered what it was and how it would relate to their Duels during the Quarter Finals. They then looked back towards Lazar and watched him place one the devices over his left eye.

"_These are called Duel Gazers and they will allow you to experience the new type of Dueling that's been created solely for the Fortune Cup. It's called, Augmented Reality Duels."_

"…Augmented Reality Duels?" Takashi silently questioned. "Just what the hell is that?"

Lazar continued talking to the Finalists, explaining more about Augmented Reality and the Duel Gazers. As he did that, someone from outside the Seiryu was observing all of them and proceeded to make a hand signal. Upon seeing that signal, several other people nodded their heads in agreement and went on to throw a line over towards the building before swing over to it. Once they did that, all of them broke the window and surprised everyone that present, including the Finalists.

As most of the guest were shocked and started screaming, one the people who busted through the window walked up towards Lazar and went on to grab the microphone from his hand. After he did that, he went on to take the mask that was covering his face and revealed himself to everyone. It was Takuto Kurugi, former Underground Dueling King.

"_So these are the Finalists for that so called Fortune Cup tournament," _He said to everyone. _"I'm not very impressed by any of them. If you guys truly want to determine who should the one who challenges for the Duel King title, I propose we have a competition."_

"And…what would that be?" Lazar questioned as he looked at Takuto.

"_Simple…the last Duelist standing…wins."_

Takuto pulled out a black Duel Disk and proceeded to place he deck into it. Once he did that, the former Underground King placed a card onto the device, causing a fireball appear and shoot across the ballroom. When the attack it the wall, a small explosion occurred, showing everyone present that Takuto was a Psychic Duelist. He then started firing more fireballs around the ballroom while his underlings started attacking everyone with physical force. This caused a panic occur and almost everyone ran for the lives, trying to get to safety. The only people who stayed were The Finalists, who attempted to fight Takuto and his crew off.

Lilly, Crow, and Aiku managed to defeat some of Takuto's gang by using their street fight skills, taking them out from behind and causing them to attack their people. Although the three of them weren't all on the same terms, they were able to work together well enough as they all had the same goal of taking care these people. As for Takashi, Akiza, and Kagura, they managed to fight them off by using their martial art skills. This was especially true for Takashi and Kagura as both of them managed to knock some of their attackers out with the sheaths of their swords. The only one who didn't do any active fighting was Enoch, who managed to slip out unnoticed while the others were busy.

As the fighting continued to rage, Enoch continued shooting fireballs all around the room, causing massive damage everywhere. Realizing that he could potentially cause bring the entire building down if not stopped, Akiza looked around the area in order to see no one she didn't know was watching. Once she was able to determine that, the young woman pulled out her Duel Disk and proceeded to summon her Splendid Rose Synchro Monster. As soon as it was materialized, Akiza commanded it to attack Takuto and the monster complied with her wishes. However, just before Splendid Rose's vines could strike him, Takuto simply grabbed them and destroy the monster with another fireball.

"Interesting," Takuto said as he turned his attention towards Akiza. "I didn't pick you to be a Psychic Duelist like myself."

Taking a good look at her, Takuto was able to sense a tremendous amount of Psychic energy coming from Akiza, an energy that surpassed even his own. Never his life has he sensed such power in one person before, it seemed almost god-like. Takuto knew that if he had that power in his possession then nothing could stop him, not even Alex McQueen. As a result, Takuto slowly made his way over to Akiza.

As Takuto walked over towards her, Takashi was still busying fighting some of his henchmen and was able to take down a good number of them. This was good as it gave him the opening he needed to go and take down their boss. So, he quickly looked around the ballroom for Takuto and eventually found him heading towards Akiza. Once he saw that, the young man raced over to their location and immediately cut in between the both of them. He then pulled out his sword point it at his foe.

"You take one more step towards her and it will be the last thing you'll ever do!"

"Is that so?" Takuto took one step forward. "So what happens next?"

Takashi snapped and began swinging his sword towards Takuto. However, the Psychic Duelist simply caught the sword with his hand and attempted to snap it in two. Seeing that, Takashi realized that he needed to put more power into his attack and immediately summoned his blue aura. The strength that power gave him allowed the Signer to get Takuto to release his blade and look at him with a somewhat annoyed expression. Takashi's aura looked too much like the aura Alex had and that was making Takuto angry.

"You," He said. "You have the same power as him. Now…you must die."

The former king looked at Takashi with a fierce some expression his dark aura covered his body. The power that his aura was giving off caused some of the people who were fleeing the building to fall unconscious due to the strain. The only reason why everyone didn't pass out was that Takashi's aura was producing positive energy that happen to counterbalance Takuto's negative energy.

"Takashi…," Akiza said in a somewhat worried tone of voice.

"It'll be fine Akiza," He said as he pulled his Duel Disk and placed it on his arm. "It'll be over soon."

As both Takashi and Takuto activated their Duel Disks and prepared to begin their match, Akiza was feeling very worried about the former. There was something about Takuto that was bothering her greatly, but she didn't know what it was. Because of that feeling, Akiza stayed close to Takashi and made sure that she was ready to help him out if things got too rough.

* * *

><p><em>DUEL<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Takuto: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Takashi said as he placed his hand on his deck. "I draw!"

Swiftly drawing his first card of the Duel, Takashi took a quick glance at it before looking over towards his opponent. He saw that black aura that was covering his body was slowly becoming darker and darker with each passing minute. As a result, Takashi knew that he needed to end this Duel as fast he could and decided to play one of his favorite cards in order to accomplish that.

"I activate the Spell Card: Reincarnation of Hope! By sending two cards from my hand to the Graveyard, I can then add a Monster Card to my hand on my Standby Phase two turns from now."

Takashi quickly two cards from his hand and placed them into his Graveyard before pulling out another card and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Junk Synchron!"

**Junk Synchron: ATK 1300 DEF 500 LVL 3**

A small flash of light appeared on Takashi's side of the field for a moment as his Junk Synchron materialized onto the field.

"When Junk Synchron is successfully summoned onto the field, I can then Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard. I choose my Tuningware!"

**Tuningware: ATK 100 DEF 300 LVL 1**

Junk Synchron pressed a couple buttons that were on its body pulling on the lever that was on its chest. When it did that, Tuningware appeared onto the field and proceeded to stand right next to it.

"Now, I'll activate the effect of my Quillbolt Hedgehog! When there's a Tuner Monster on my field, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard!"

**Quillbolt Hedgehog: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

Another bright flash of light shined across Takashi's field for a few seconds as his Quillbolt Hedgehog appeared before him and his fellow monsters. Once it was materialized onto the field, the Signer proceeded to put the first stage of his plan into motion.

"I Tune my Level 1 Tuningware and Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog with my Level 3 Junk Synchron!"

The three monsters complied with their master's orders and proceeded to jump high into the air. As soon as they reached the roof the ballroom, all of them quickly performed the process for a Synchro Summoning. When the ritual was beginning to reach its climax, Takashi pulled out a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Duel Disk.

"When the wishes of steel gather round the message of gale, that wish will become an invincible shield! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Now come, Junk Gardna!"

**Junk Gardna: ATK 1400 DEF 2600 LVL 6**

When the Synchro ritual finally reached its end, a bright flash of light consumed the entire ballroom for a few seconds. As it began to fade, Junk Gardna appeared and took a defensive position right in front of Takashi.

"When Tuningware is used to Synchro Summon, I can then draw one card from my deck. Next, I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."

When Takashi drew a card from his deck, due to effect of his Tuningware, the young man then quickly took another card and inserted it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as a Solid Vision version of the card he set appeared face-down, right behind of his Junk Gardna. Once that happened, Takashi looked towards Takuto and watched as he made his move.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

The Psychic Duelist took a small glance the card that he just drew and saw that wasn't anything useful to him. As a result, he placed it into the back of his hand before pulling out a card that was placed in the middle of it.

"I activate the Spell: Painful Choice. With the power of this card, I can now show you the top 5 cards of my deck. You then get to pick one of them and that card gets sent to my hand. However, the other 4 cards that you didn't pick get sent to my Graveyard."

As Takuto picked up the top 5 cards of his deck, Takashi seemed slightly confused by his move as he didn't quite understand it. Why would he want him to pick on card to send to his hand while the others get sent to the Graveyard? He didn't really know what would cause him to come up with such a plan and so he decided to brace himself just in case. Once he picked the card that he wanted him to have and watched him send the rest of the Graveyard, Takashi looked on as Takuto continued on with his turn.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Masked Dragon!"

**Masked Dragon: ATK 1400 DEF 1100 LVL 3**

When Takuto took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Duel Disk, the Psychic Duelist watched as his Masked Dragon materialized onto the field. However, it would be around for long as Takuto soon removed its card and replaced it with another one.

"However, I'll banish my dragon from Duel in order to Special Summon an even bigger one. Appear now, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"

**Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2400 LVL 10**

As Masked Dragon vanished from the Duel, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon appeared and took its place. When the monster materialized, it released a large roar that erupted throughout the entire building.

"I activate my Red-Eyes' Special Ability," Takuto continued. "I can now Special Summon a Dragon-Type monster from either my hand or Graveyard and the one I choose is my Dark Horus!"

**Dark Horus: ATK 3000 DEF 1800 LVL 8**

Takuto quickly placed another card onto his Monster Card Zone and watched as his Red-Eyes roared one more time. When it did, another black dragon materialized onto his side of the field and started roaring as well.

"Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, destroy his pathetic Junk Garda…Black Fire Bullet!"

"I don't think so," Takashi countered. "I activate Junk Gardna's Special Ability! Once, during either's players turn, I can switch the battle position of one my opponent's monsters! The monster I choose is your Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!"

As Red-Eyes prepared to launch its attack towards Takashi's monster, Junk Gardna started banging its shield-like arms together. This caused a mysterious yellow aura to appear around Red-Eyes as it was forcibly set into Defense Mode.

"It doesn't matter!" Takuto commented. "I'll simply have my Dark Horus attack your monster instead…Dark Fire Purge!"

Dark Horus complied with Takuto's order and proceeded to fire a massive black flame at Junk Gardna. Since it couldn't use its Special Ability again, the Synchro Monster had no choice but to take the attack and was destroyed as a result. However, Takashi was too worried as he expected such a thing to happen.

"I activate my Gardna's second Special Ability," He said. "When it's destroyed, I can change the Battle Position of one monster on the field! The monster I choose is your Dark Horus!"

After it finished launching its attack, a bright yellow aura surrounded Dark Horus' body as it was forced into Defense Mode too. Once that happened, Takashi proceeded to activate the face-down card that he set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Miracle's Wake! With it, I Special Summon my Junk Gardna back to the field since it was destroyed through battle since turn!"

In a bright flash of light, Junk Gardna returned to Takashi's side of the field and once again assumed a defensive position in front of him. When Takuto saw that, the Psychic Duelist wasn't too bothered by its appearance and simply grabbed 2 cards from his hand. As he inserted them into his Duel Disk, Takuto watched as the two cards materialized face-down on his field, right behind his Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and Dark Horus.

"I set two cards face-down," He said. "It's your move, boy."

"Very well," Takashi replied as he placed his hand back on his deck. "Draw!"

When he drew his next card, Takashi examined it for a second and saw that it was precisely the card he needed to take down both of his opponent's monsters. However, with the ways thing are now, he couldn't put his plan into action. In order to do that, Takashi grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell: Minus Star 123! With it, I can lower the level of a Level 7 or lower monster by up to 3. I choose to lower my Junk Gardna's Level by 1, making it a Level 5 monster!"

**Junk Gardna: LVL 5**

As the level of his Synchro Monster was lowered by 1, Takashi continued his turn by taking the card he drew and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Nitro Synchron!"

**Nitro Synchron: ATK 300 DEF 100 LVL 2**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, a bright flash of light shined across Takashi's field again as his Nitro Synchron appeared before him. Once it was out, the young man proceeded to put the next phase of his plan into motion.

"I Tune my Level 5 Junk Gardna with my Level 2 Nitro Synchron!"

The two monsters jumped high into the sky and once again, another Synchro ritual was being performed. As it was about to reached its climax, Takashi once again pulled out another card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Duel Disk.

"Gathering feelings will now become a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Blaze on, Nitro Warrior!"

**Nitro Warrior: ATK 2800 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the ritual was complete, Takashi watched as his Nitro Warrior appeared before him and face-down both of Takuto's dragons. He then proceeded to draw another card from his deck, due to the effect of his Nitro Synchron, which allows him to do so when it used to Synchro Summon a Nitro Monster.

"Nitro Warrior, attack his Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon…Dynamite Crunch!"

Nitro nodded its head in compliance and proceeded to make its way over to Takuto's Red-Eyes. Once it got close enough, the Synchro Monster placed both its arms together and started gathering energy into them. It was with this power that Nitro was able to tear through Red-Eyes like it was cardboard.

"Next, I activate my Nitro's Special Ability! When it successfully destroys a monster through battle, it can then switch one of your monsters that's in Defense Mode into Attack Mode. Once that happens, Nitro Warrior can attack once more!"

"But Takashi," Akiza called as she continued to observe the Duel. "Nitro Warrior's Attack Points are less than Dark Horus'!"

"I know Akiza…and that's why I'm activating the Quick-Play Spell: Nitro Surge! With it, since Nitro Warrior switched a monster into Attack Mode with its effect, that monster loses Attack Points equal to its level, multiplied by 100 points! Dark Horus is Level 8, which means it loses 800 Attack Points!"

**Dark Horus: ATK 2200**

"That's not all! Since I activated a Spell Card, Nitro Warrior's second ability activates. It now gains 1000 Attack Points during its next battle!"

**Nitro Warrior: ATK 3800**

As the Attack Points of Takashi's monster increased and the Attack Points of his own monster decreased, Takuto still didn't seem too worried. In his eyes, Takashi's plans didn't anything to him as he already lost this Duel. He just didn't realize it yet.

"Your strategy is too simple, you fool!" He pointed out as his dark aura increased in power. "I activate the Trap Card: Defense Draw! With it, I can reduce the damage of your attack to 0 and draw one card from my deck."

A small barrier surrounded Takuto's body as he watched his Dark Horus be destroyed by Nitro Warrior. He then looked at his opponent with a sinister smile on his face as he not only watched Nitro's Attack Points return to normal, but also drew another card as well.

**Nitro Warrior: ATK 2800**

When he saw the smile that his opponent was wearing, Takashi grunted in frustration as he upset that his plan didn't work out the way he wanted too. However, the young man quickly got over his anger and returned his focus back towards the Duel. He proceeded to conclude his turn by taking one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card then went on to materialize face-down, just behind his Nitro Warrior.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "I end my turn."

"Good," Takuto said. "Now, I draw!"

Swiftly placing his hand upon his deck and drawing another card, Takuto took a quick look at it before placing it into his hand. He then went on to grab another card from that hand and place it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Red-Eyes Black Chick!"

**Red-Eyes B. Chick: ATK 800 DEF 500 LVL 1**

Another small flash of light shined across Takuto's side of the field as his Red-Eyes Black Chick appeared and stared down Takashi's Nitro Warrior. However, the tiny monster wouldn't be around for long as Takuto removed its card from his Duel Disk and replaced it with another one.

"Next, I activate my Chick's Special Ability! I release it from the field in order to Special Summon: Red-Eyes Black Dragon, in Defense Mode!"

**Red-Eyes B. Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

As Red-Eyes Black Chick disappeared from the field, a large fireball suddenly emerge in its place and started taking shape in front of Takuto. When it finished changing shape, the fireball transformed into the classic Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which proceeded to take a defensive position in front of Takuto.

Once his monster was out on the field, Takuto looked over towards Takashi and saw that the young man was becoming more confused by his moves. This made the evil smile that was on his face to grow even bigger as he knew that he was getting into his head. It would only be a matter of time before he finally broke Takashi and when that happens, Takuto would make him experience real pain.

"I end my turn,"

"It's my turn," Takashi said as he glared at his opponent. "Draw!"

Upon drawing his next card, Takashi took a moment to recall everything that's happened throughout the Duel so far. In the match, all he's really saw Takuto do was send cards to his Graveyard, whether it be through battle or card effects. This made Takashi believed that his foe was planning to do something that involved his Graveyard. If that was the case, then it would only be a matter of time before Takuto put his plan into action. Takashi couldn't let that happen. He needed to end this Duel now, so proceeded to take his deck from out of his Duel Disk and began looking through it.

"It's been two turns, so the effect of my Reincarnation of Hope activates. With it, I'll bring my Kagetokage to my hand!"

After finding the card he was looking for, Takashi grabbed it and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he put his deck back into his Duel Disk and watched as the device started shuffling all of his cards. As that was happening, Takashi then went on to take another card from his hand and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Queen's Knight!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

When Takashi placed its card onto his Duel Disk, a bright flash of light covered his field as Queen's Knight emerged. Once the knight was out, Takashi then grabbed his Kagetokage card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone as well.

"Now, since I summoned a Level 4 monster, I can now Special Summon: Kagetokage, from my hand!"

**Kagetokage: ATK 1100 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

Another flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field for a moment as a completely black lizard with bright red eyes emerged and stood by Queen's Knight. When Takuto saw the monster appear, he seemed a little bit shocked as Kagetokage's second effect prevents it from being used for Synchro Summonings, which Takashi has been doing so far. It wasn't until Takashi stacked his Kagetokage card on top of his Queen's Knight card that Takuto finally figured out his plan.

"I Overlay my Level 4 Queen's Knight and Kagetokage!" Takashi declared.

The two chosen monster nodded their heads and transformed into two orbs of light energy. They then started flying around the entire ballroom, as the rest of Takuto's henchmen continued fighting the other Fortune Cup finalists. As they did that, the ground just in front of Takashi started to light up.

"With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

Then, right on cue, the Overlay Network emerged in front of Takashi and both of the energy orbs dive straight into it. When they did, a giant explosion occurred as Takashi pulled a card from his Extra Deck and stacked it on top of his other two cards.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the power of hope, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

As the eruption from the Overlay Network continued, Utopia emerged and began standing next to Nitro Warrior as its body radiated with a golden light. Upon seeing the Number, Takuto instantly recalled his Duel with Alex. During that Duel, Alex also summoned a Number Card too and he used it to defeat Takuto and retain his title as Underground King. It was because of that monster that not only Takuto loss, but he was also banished from Underground Dueling as well. He would never forgive Alex for that and now, he will forgive Takashi for using the same type of Monster.

While Takuto started seething with anger, Takashi continued on with his turn. Having successfully summoned Utopia, the young man now needed to make the most of his Number and get at his opponent's Life Points. However, before he could have his Ace attack Takuto, he needed to get rid of his Red-Eyes Black Dragon and that was a job for his Nitro Warrior.

"Nitro Warrior," He called. "Attack his Red-Eyes Black Dragon…Dynamite Crunch!"

Nitro complied with Takashi's order and prepared to strike down Red-Eyes with another Dynamite Crunch attack. But, before the attack could go through, Takuto responded by activating a face-down card.

"Not so fast!" He responded. "I activate the Trap: Mirage of Dragons! With it, since a Dragon-Type monster is targeted for an attack, I can negate your Nitro Warrior's move and end the Battle Phase!"

As Nitro Warrior continued its attack, the Synchro Monster was able strike down what it thought to Takuto's Red-Eyes. However, that wasn't the case. When the smoke from the attack faded away, Nitro noticed that Red-Eyes was right next to it. What it attacked was a mirage that Takuto's Trap Card created. Because its attack failed, the monster returned to Takashi's side of the field.

Once Nitro Warrior returned to him, Takashi looked back towards his hand and saw that he only had 3 cards left. 2 of the cards couldn't be activated at the moment and Takashi was wondering whether or not to set the third one. With Utopia's Special Ability, there was a pretty good chance that he could protect his monsters from being destroyed. However, he also knew that it was better to be safe than sorry. As a result, he took that third card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, the card appeared face-down on his field, right behind his Utopia.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

"And now…," Takuto replied as his dark aura reached dangerous levels. "It's about time I ended…your life!"

As Takuto drew his next card, Takashi watched as Takuto's body started to blacken because of his powers. Seeing that made him increase the output of his own aura so that he could protect himself and Akiza from what was too come.

"I sacrifice my Red-Eyes Black Dragon in order to Special Summon a monster whose very existence shrouded in darkness," Takuto spoke as he removed his dragon's card from his Duel Disk. "Appear now and consume his soul, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!"

**Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000 LVL 9**

Red-Eyes Black Dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs as the darkness from Takuto's aura started surrounding its body. The darkness stained the beast, causing it to transform into an even darker and more vicious creature.

"As long as Darkness Dragon remains on the field, it gains 300 Attack Points for every Dragon-Type monster in my Graveyard," Takuto explained. "As of right now, I have 8 dragons currently at rest. That means Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gains 2400 Attack Points!"

**Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon: ATK 4800**

More darkness continued to enter Red-Eyes' body as the souls of the 8 dragons that Takuto had in his Graveyard increased the monster's power. Takashi was confused how it was able to gain so much strength, especially since he only saw 4 dragons be sent to the Graveyard. However, he soon remembered that Takuto activated the Painful Choice Spell Card. Using that card's power, he made Takashi choose 1 card of 5 and the cards that he didn't choose were sent to the Graveyard. Those 4 cards were Dragon-Type monsters, which explain the additional 1200 Attack Points that Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon received.

"Damn it," He silently cursed. "I can't believe I fell for that."

"Well you did," Takuto told him. "And now you're going to pay the price for you mistake! Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack Nitro Warrior…Dark Fire Bullet!"

Red-Eyes complied with Takuto's command and started gathering energy within its body. Once it gathered enough, the dragon fired a black fireball towards Nitro Warrior.

"I activate Utopia's Special Ability!" Takashi declared. "By using one Overlay Unit, I can negate your dragon's attack!"

"I don't think so!" Takuto countered. "I activate the Trap: Overlay Banish! With this card, I can negate your Number's effect since it used an Overlay Unit to activate it!"

Takashi's eyes widen as he watched one of Utopia's Overlay Units disappear just before it entered its chest plate. This prevented the Number from activating its Special Ability and resulted in Nitro Warrior's destruction.

**Takashi: 2000 LP**

When Nitro Warrior was destroyed, the shockwave that resulted sent Takashi flying backwards towards the wall. As he struck it, the young man coughed up some blood as he fell back towards the ground. Seeing that caused Akiza to run up to him in order to see if he was okay. It was at that moment that Takuto continued on with his turn.

"Don't think I'm done yet! I'm now activating the Quick-Play Spell: Dragon's Barrage! With it, since a Dragon-Type monster I control successfully destroyed one of your monsters, I can discard a Dragon-Type monster from my hand in order to give Red-Eyes the ability to attack again! And since, I'm discarding a Dragon-Type monster to the grave, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gains another 300 extra Attack Points!"

**Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon: ATK 5100**

More dark energy transferred into Red-Eyes body as it absorbed the power from the dragon that Takuto discarded. It then started gathering energy to launch another attack and Takashi knew that he didn't have enough Life Points to endure it. Also, because of Overlay Banish, he couldn't use Utopia's ability until his next turn. He needed to act quickly or else it would be all over for him.

"Akiza," He said as he looked towards the wall. "Get behind me and no matter what, don't move from that spot!"

Akiza seemed confused by what Takashi wanted her to do as it didn't make much sense. However, she trusted him so nodded her head in compliance and walked behind him. Once she was there, Takashi promptly activated a face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Half Unbreak! With it, Utopia isn't destroyed through battle and the damage I take is cut in half!"

Upon activating his Trap Card, Takashi watched as Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon launched another Dark Fire Bullet attack. When it struck Utopia, the Number was able to withstand it and remain on the field. However, the fire from the blast made its way past the monster and headed towards Takashi and Akiza. It was here that the former grabbed the latter's hand just before the flames struck them both.

**Takashi: 700 LP**

As the flames covered Takashi and Akiza, Takuto simply looked on with a disappointed look on his face. He had intended on capturing Akiza once he finished off Takashi, but now he couldn't do that. He had fueled a large amount of his Psychic energy into Red-Eyes' last attack, enough to incinerate anyone who came into contact with it. Takuto believed that there was no way that they could have survived it and prepared to make his leave. However…

"Are you okay…Akiza?"

"I'm fine…Thank you, Takashi."

Takuto's eyes widen from disbelief as he recognized the voices that he just heard. He soon turned his attention back towards the flames and watched as they slowly began to change color. They transformed from cold and black flames into warm blue flames. He then continued watched as the fire parted, revealing Takashi and Akiza. Both of them were okay as Takashi released the full extent of his powers just before the flames struck him and Akiza. As a result of his actions, not only were they both okay, but Takashi's appearance changed a little too. All of his hair turned into a bright blue color and the aura that was covering his body was more vibrant and fierce.

"That was close," The young man thought as he picked himself up from the ground. "I got to remind myself to thank Alex for teaching me how to do this. And of course, I have to thank Sona too."

Akiza observed Takashi's new appearance very closely and found herself extremely mesmerized by it. She had heard from Lilly that he could change his appearance like this, but the transformation give him a golden appearance instead of a blue one. However, despite the fact that it wasn't the form that her friends talked about, she still found it very amazing. For Akiza, it felt like Takashi's warmth was radiating throughout the entire ballroom. It gave her a sense of strength and peace that felt several times more powerful than what she usually feels. She soon found herself smiling at him, as she believed that there was no doubt that Takashi was going win.

Meanwhile, Takuto didn't feel the same way. Seeing Takashi's transformation only fueled his anger as it caused him to remember Alex's. It was like he was facing a mirror image of his rival and that made him sick to his stomach. Takuto hated everything about Alex McQueen and that hatred was now being fully directed towards Takashi Nakamura.

"You may have somehow survived that attack, but you're only delaying your inevitable death! I, Takuto Kurugi, am going to destroy you! You're not even going to be judged after you die, because you will cease to exist."

Takuto raised the power of his black aura, causing his skin to become even darker than before. However, despite how much power his was emitting, it still paled in comparison to Takashi's power. The Psychic saw that, but he was simply too stubborn to realize it. He then went on to take one card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card materialized face-down on his field, it was placed right behind his Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn. Now make your move…because it will be the last thing you ever do!"

Takashi didn't respond to his opponent's words and simply turned his attention back towards his deck. His victory depended on his next draw and a small part of him wasn't sure that he could get the card he needed. However, that doubt was quickly extinguished as he turned his head over to Akiza and saw her smiling at him. Seeing that smile made him feel reassured and soon found himself placing his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn!" He shouted. "Draw!"

As he drew the top card of his deck, a small portion of Takashi's powers was transferred into it. This caused the card to transform into the one that he needed and Takashi soon found himself picturing a flow chart inside his head. The chart displayed all the cards he currently had and revealed to him what his next move should be. Once he was able to memorize the details of what he saw, Takashi proceeded to begin his turn.

"Utopia, attack his Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia complied with Takashi's command and quickly pulled out one of its twin blades. Once it had the weapon in hand, it began channeling a powerful light energy into it before making its way towards Takuto's monster.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He questioned. "Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

"No," Takashi answered. "Because I'm activating the Quick-Play Spell: Number's Impact! With it, since my Number is about to battle a monster that has 1000 or more Attack Points than it, Utopia now gains Attack Points equal to that of your Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 7600**

Takuto watched as Utopia started absorbing power from his Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, causing its body to glow brightly as a result. It was an impressive move and it seemed like Utopia was about to crush Red-Eyes. However, Takuto had other plans.

"How naïve," He said. "I activate the Trap: Dark Bribe! With this card, I can negate the activation of your Spell and destroy! In exchange though, you get to draw a card from your deck."

As the power of Takuto's Trap took effect, Takashi remained calmed as he drew a card from his deck. He then looked on as the power his Utopia was receiving started to fade away, causing its Attack Points to return to their original value.

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500**

Once that was done, Takuto looked on gleefully as Utopia continued on with its attack and was about to strike Red-Eyes. He knew that once the number connected with its attack, Red-Eyes would promptly counter it and blast the Number into oblivion. When that happens, Takashi would take damage equal to the difference in their monster's Attack Points and he would lose the Duel. Unfortunately for Takuto though, the Signer knew what his plan was and proceeded to continue on with his own strategy.

"I activate Utopia's Special Ability!" He shouted. "By using its final Overlay Unit, I negate its attack!"

Utopia was getting closer and closer to Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon and it seemed like it was about to strike it with its sword. Fortunately, the Number's final Overlay Unit flew into its chest plate, causing its weapon to disappear back into holster. With its sword gone, Utopia flew back to Takashi's side of the field and waited for his next command. That command came right away, Takashi inserted another card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Double or Nothing! With it, since Utopia's initial attack was negated, it can attack again with double the power!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 5000**

When Takashi finished his explanation, he watched as Utopia grab not one, but both of its swords from its holsters and began heading back towards Red-Eyes. Takuto was confused by this as the Number Card was still weaker than his own monster. If the attack went through, then Utopia would be the one to be destroyed. Luckily for Takashi though, he still had one more card left and he wasted no time in activating it.

"Lastly, I activate one more Quick-Play Spell: Double Tension! Since Utopia is conducting a second attack this turn, its Attack Points are doubled once more!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 10000**

Takuto's jaw dropped from shock as he watched Utopia's Attack Points increase all the way up to 10000. Never in his life has he's seen a monster's power increase that much and yet it was happening right now. He also saw that because of the power it gained, the color of Utopia's body changed from yellow to red. The change also caused both of its swords to change color as well, resulting in them extending about 4 times their normal length. Once this transformation was complete, the Number headed back towards Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon.

"Utopia, attack Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" Takashi yelled. "Go….Rising Sun Mars Slash!"

Utopia nodded its head and slashed through Red-Eyes' body with two powerful strikes. The force of the attack was so intense that it not only caused Takuto to lose all 4000 of his Life Points, but the shockwave from the attack also sent him crashing into a glass wall as well.

**Takuto: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>When the Duel between Takashi and Takuto finally came to an end, Lilly and the other Fortune Cup Finalist finished their respective battles as well. It was long, but they managed to take down all of Takuto's underlings and left them lying on the floor. The only person who was still conscious was Takuto himself. The Psychic was struggling to his feet as the force of Takashi's last attack knocked for one hell of loop. When he finally did get back up, Takuto saw that Takashi was glaring at him as his aura began to diminish.<p>

"It's over Takuto," He said as his hair returned to normal. "Leave now and take your friends with you. If you do, I swear we'll let you go."

Takuto didn't respond to Takashi's request and simply glared at him with an intense amount of hatred in his eyes. He already suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Alex and now he's suffered another by Takashi. Not only that, but Takashi's style of play reminded him so much of his rival that it was almost too much to stand. It was here that Takuto finally realized why Takashi reminded him so much of Alex. It was because he was trained under him.

It made perfect sense to him. Takashi's moves were the same as his and both of them have that mysterious power. This child had trained under his rival and that realization quickly drove Takuto over the edge. He soon found himself off of the floor and started making his way towards Takashi, his dark aura waning in and out.

"I…won't lose to…the likes of you!" He struggled. He soon used Psychic powers to create a sword from one of his cards. "I'm…going to kill…you. I'm going to kill you….and then kill…Alex…"

"Alex?" Takashi questioned. "You know Alex McQueen?"

Takuto didn't answer Takashi's question and continued making his way over to him. Every step he took made him feel like his entire body was being stabbed repeatedly. However, he didn't let the pain stop him. All he cared about was killing Takashi, the one who humiliated him, and then Alex, the one who stole everything for him. That's all that mattered to him.

"Kill…Kill…You…," He stuttered. "I'm…going to…KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

As he screamed his desire to kill Takashi, Takuto used all the strength that he had left and rushed towards him as fast as he could. Realizing that there's no other way, Takashi reluctantly brought his aura back out. He then closed his eyes for a moment and placed his hands upon his sword. Once he was able to determine that Takuto was close enough to him, the Signer drew his weapon and struck his foe. The force of his swing not only destroyed Takuto own sword, but also caused a giant scar to appear on his chest as well.

Takuto was sent reeling by Takashi's blow and found himself wobbling towards the edge of the glass window. As he touched it, the Psychic looked back towards his enemy and watched as his blue aura began to disappear again. He then gritted his teeth in frustration as blood poured from his mouth.

"You…You haven't…won," He said to Takashi. "I'm going to…take away everything you…care about. And then…as you beg me to end your…pathetic…existence…I'll grant your…wish. Mark my words…you've haven't seen…the last…of me."

Once those words came out of his mouth, Takuto fell on the glass window and busted through it. Takashi was shocked to see him fall from the building and he wanted to rush over in order to see if he was okay. However, because of the strain that his powers brought, Takashi couldn't get very far and soon found himself lying on one knee. His friends immediately rushed over towards him and asked Takashi if he was okay. The young man didn't answer their question and simply balled up his right hand. He then punched the ground beneath him, causing a crater hole to appear as a result of the impact.

"Damn it,"

As Takashi continued to loath about what he was forced to do, several Sector Security officers entered the destroyed ballroom and began making arrests left and right. All of them were led by Lazar, who suddenly appeared once the battle was over. After he made sure that each and every one of Takuto's henchmen was in handcuffs, the Vice-Director promptly told his officers to send each of them to the Facility. Once he did that, he turned his attention back towards the Finalists and smiled at them with a somewhat devilish expression.

"That was quite a battle you went through, my friends. I'm glad all of you are all right."

None of the Finalists believed a word that came out of Lazar's mouth as they simple viewed him as a coward who ran away while they fought. Some of them wanted to walk up to the clown-face Director and punch him right in the face. However, with all the Security officers presents, none of them ever went through with their thoughts.

"Now…I'm sure that all of you would like to go home and have a nice rest, especially after what you've just experienced," Lazar continued. "However, before you do, there are a few people that I would like all of you to meet."

Takashi's eyes widen a little as he had no idea on who Lazar wanted them to meet. However, upon sensing 2 extremely powerful Reiatsu coming from the door behind him, the young man knew who they were. He then slowly turned his head towards the direction in which they were coming from and took a good look at their faces.

"Congratulations Finalists," One of the individuals said. "It pleases me greatly that you were able to help out with this incident."

"Humph," The other individual scoffed. "If you asked me, they took way to long in handling it. A true Duelist would've taken care of it with their closed. But then again…they're not true Duelists."

The individuals who spoke those words were Rex Goodwin and Alistair Miles, the Director of New Domino City and the Duel King of Japan respectively. Both of them wanted to greet of the Finalists and _thank _them for making it this far. However, the Signers knew that they were just here to observe what just transpired and nothing else. That made Takashi grunt with frustration as he struggled to get himself off of the floor.

He then looked at the both of them, but only Alistair responded by turning his head towards him. The two of them then glared at one another and started comparing the other's power. Unfortunately for Takashi, he could tell that Alistair's power surpassed his own. That realization made even more frustrated and soon started clinching his fist as a result. While he did that, Goodwin started speaking again.

"Finalists…as my way of saying thank you for making it this far, I'm giving all of you a present. Tomorrow, before the Finals begin, an Exhibition Duel will take place in which Alistair will compete in. This will be a perfect opportunity to observe the King's skills, so please pay close attention."

As Goodwin was making that announcement, Enoch was busying making his way towards the Director's secret room on the 20th floor. Having determined that the others could handle Takuto and his goons, the Psychic Duelist managed to slip out during the confusion and began working on the real reason why came to the party.

Once he reached the room and found the computer, Enoch wasted no time and began hacking the system. He encountered several detection codes and firewalls, but he was able to handle each of them effortlessly. Eventually, he came across the final security code and began working on it as well. As he did that, the young sensed something familiar coming from one of the walls. After he determined what it was, Enoch spoke up while keeping his eyes on the computer.

"What do you want…Sona?"

Upon saying her name, Sona emerged from the shadows and began looking towards Enoch. Having told to come to the party in order to observe what was going on, she decided to take on a side mission and check to see what Enoch was up too. As she thought, he was trying to hack into the Fortune Cup Database.

"I came to see if you're really planning on doing this," She said to him.

"Well…I am," Enoch answered. "Now, if that's all that you wanted to know, can you please leave. I'm kind of busy here."

Sona continued to watch Enoch work and saw that he had a somewhat determined look on his face. She he had learned from Alex that Enoch wanted to put a small change into their plan and that he agreed to let him do it. Sona knew why her fellow Psychic wanted to make this change, but he had to hear it from his own lips.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" She asked. "Even if you do this…it won't change anything."

"…I know it won't," Enoch answered after taking a moment to pause. "But I'm doing it anyway. I have to see what Akiza sees in him…in my own way."

After giving his answer, Enoch continued on with his work and eventually got through the last security code. He then found himself looking at the current match-ups that are going to take place during the Finals. After looking at all of them, Enoch got back to work and proceeded to make changes to it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_It's the day of the Fortune Cup Finals and everyone is ready for some actions. Before things get officially underway, the Fortune Cup Committee has set up an Exhibition Duel in which Alistair will compete. Just how much has Alistair grown since his training under Goodwin and how will it affect the other 8 competitors?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 74: Shark Attack_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First, I want to thank all of you for staying with me up until now. I know it's been a long ride, but we've managed to get through it and reach the Fortune Cup Finals. It's been almost a year since I started this arc and it has been tiring on some occasions, but it's all been worth it. Now that we're here, get ready to fasten your seat belts as the intensity is about to go through roof._

_Second, I want to talk about something that I saw in one of my reviews. In it, the reviewer gave me a suggestion about having the Fortune Cup Finalists come out with entrance music. To that reviewer, I want to say thank you for the suggestion. However, I'm going to have to respectively say no. Having entrance music will make the Fortune Cup seem like something from the WWE and I don't want that. This is a serious tournament and I want to keep it that way. If you want to have the characters come out with music, you'll have to imagine it. That's what I do whenever I write up a Duel. Whenever Takashi comes up with a winning play, I tend to imagine hearing the songs "Passionate Duelist and Yusei Theme" respectively. Take a listen to them on YouTube, they're really good._

_Lastly, I want to once again promote my other story; Trials to Becoming a Master. It's a Pokémon Fanfiction and it's really starting to get good. If you have the chance, take a look and leave a review at the end of each chapter. _

_Okay guys, that's it for now. Please review this chapter of Over the Nexus, as it's one the best ways to support the story. Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	74. Chapter 74

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 74: **_Shark Attack_

* * *

><p>If one word could describe the vibe that was in the air it would be, finally. It's only a seven letter word, but it holds a lot of merit, especially in this circumstance. The word finally was felt all throughout New Domino City as today, after 4 months of waiting and 2 Qualifying Rounds, the day of the Fortune Cup Finals had arrived. Everyone in the city has been waiting this moment because finally, a new number 1 contender for Alistair Miles' Duel King title will be named. 8 of Japan's best Duelists made it through the preliminaries and have gathered together in one place in order to determine which will be the one to challenge the King. It's been a long ride but finally, the time has come for things to really get started.<p>

As thousands and thousands of spectators all make their way to the Kaiba Dome, the site of the Finals, in order to observe the action, Toru and Misaki were busy looking surveying the entire stadium. Thanks to Lilly's powers, Toru's has almost fully recovered from his injuries and is now able to leave their apartment. However, in order to make sure that he doesn't accidently reinjure himself, the Signer has forbidden her friend from riding around on his Duel Runner, no matter what. Because of that restriction, Toru had to ride on Misaki's Duel Runner as she drove around the city, much to her charging. When they reached the Kaiba Dome, the two of them decided to observe things for a while before eventually making their way inside the stadium.

"We're finally here," Toru commented.

"…Yeah," Misaki agreed.

Despite the fact that both of them were eliminated during the second Qualifying Round, Toru and Misaki were just as anxious for the start of the Finals. After all, the two of them knew that everything they've not only witnessed, but also experienced has been leading up to this moment. Their friends, the Signers have all qualified for the final tournament and sooner or later, Rex Goodwin will initiate his plans for them and for the Crimson Dragon. Even though they weren't Signers themselves and the chances were pretty good that couldn't do anything significant, Toru and Misaki still wanted to help their friends. It's because of that resolve that the two of them were looking around the Kaiba Dome, trying to see if anything out of the ordinary was going on.

"So," Toru said as he looked around the area. "What do you think the first round match-ups are going to be?"

"…I couldn't tell you," Misaki answered.

"What? Don't you even have the slightest guess on who's going to face who?"

"No," Misaki turned her head toward Toru. "I don't."

Misaki stared at Toru with a somewhat annoyed expression on her face. It was clear that Toru's questions were starting to irritate her as she believed that they were pointless. Everyone will soon find out what the first round match-ups were going to be and Misaki believed guessing about them was stupid. All she wanted to do right now was survey the stadium until the time finally came for her to go inside of it. Toru was able to see that with just one glace, but he still liked her opinion about the matter. However, when it became apparent that Misaki wasn't going to say anything, Toru decided to drop the subject.

Eventually, as he returned to looking around the outside of the Kaiba Dome, Toru and Misaki determined that there was nothing going on and decided to head inside the stadium. However, just as they were about to do so, both of them heard their names being called. When they turned around they saw their friends Madas, Tem, and Jay all making their way over to them. Seeing all of them here put a smile on Toru's face while Misaki remained mostly emotionless. Once all of them were together, the entire group started talking.

"Today's the day," Madas said with a smile on his face. "The Finals are about to start."

"That's right," Tem said in agreement. "So, where are the others?"

"…They're already inside the stadium," Misaki answered. "…We should be able to see them once the opening ceremony ends."

Madas and Tem nodded their heads when they heard Misaki explain where their friends were as they both knew that they probably needed to do some things before the Finals actually started. They then decided that it would be best for everyone here to go inside as well so that they could get some good seats. When the others agreed to do so, all of them proceeded to make their way into the Kaiba Dome.

"I can't wait for things to start," Jay said as he walked. "I admit that it sucks that I'm not competing here, but it's still pretty awesome that the Finals are about to begin. Takashi did tell me to observe all the Duels so that I can learn from the others Duelists and now I have the chance to do so."

Misaki glanced at Jay as he continued to talk about how great it was that the Fortune Cup Finals were about to begin. A part of her wanted to explain to him what the tournament was really about, so that he could understand how serious everything is. However, after remembering Takashi say that he didn't want Jay, or any of the other suspected Dragunity Knights, to know what's going on yet, Misaki decided against it.

"…Takashi," She thought quietly to herself. "…I don't know when you're going to explain things to him and the rest those Knights, but you need figure it out really soon. Something tells me that we're going to need them in the future."

Once all of them made their way inside the stadium, they quickly walked over to the concession stands in order to get some snacks. As soon as they all got what they wanted, they looked around the area for some good seats. When they found the seats that they wanted, all 5 of them quickly made their way too them and sat down. They then went on to eat their snacks as they waited for the Finals to finally get started.

Soon, after about 30 minutes of waiting, everyone started to notice that fireworks were starting to go off around the stadium. Despite the fact that it was still bright outside, the display was still very visible and everyone enjoyed them. When the fireworks display eventually ended, the main MC appeared and was standing on top of a large platform. Most of the spectators recognized him as the same MC who spoke commentary during Alistair's Exhibition Duel a couple a months ago and wondered if he was going to perform commentary during the tournament. Eventually, after making sure that his microphone was working properly, MC gave them their answer.

"_Everybody Listen! Thank you all for coming as the first round of the Fortune Cup Finals is about to begin! As you may know, 32 amazing Duelists were chosen from all over Japan in order to compete in the tournament. However, despite their incredible skills, only 8 were able to make it through the Qualifiers and into the main competition!"_

Everyone in stadium started cheering at the top of their lungs as most of them heard rumors about how incredible the Qualifying Rounds were. They then noticed that a giant display screen appeared in the middle of stadium and it revealed all the action that the first 2 rounds had. Seeing highlights of all the previous Duels only fueled the excitement that they were feeling as it showed them that Finals were going to be even better than they imagined.

"_The 8 Duelists who made it this far deserve your praise. However, their battles are only just beginning. In our 4 Duels today, each of them will competing in unique Field Spells that have their set of advantages and disadvantages. It will be up to the Duelists to determine what they are and how they can use them to the fullest. At the end of today, only the top 4 Duelists will make it to the Semi-Final Round."_

As the crows continued to cheer over this recently discovered twist, Toru and the others were thinking about what type of Field Spells were going to be used in the Duels today. It was obvious that the Fortune Cup Committee had some deeper meaning for putting them into play, especially since most Duelists usually have Field Spells cards. This made them wonder what that deeper meaning was and how important it really is. While they continued to think about that, the MC proceeded to conclude his opening speech.

"_Many Duelists have risen through the ranks and their hard work has always culminated with them becoming the Duel King. Many legendary individuals have held this honor, including Sakura Nakamura, Jaden Yuki, and the first ever Duel King, Yugi Muto. By the end of this tournament, we could see name enter that historic list. Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, join me as we welcome our 8 Finalists!"_

Once the MC made his announcement, more fireworks started going off around the stadium as the main Dueling Field began to split apart. As it did that, the spectators started to notice that something was coming out of the hole that the field made. When it reached a certain length, it was revealed that the Finalists were standing on a rising platform, which soon took the place of the Dueling Field. The sight of seeing the 8 Duelists brought the crowd to a fever pitch, as most of them knew that each of them was deserving of being here. They then continued on cheering for the Finalists, as the MC proceeded to introduce all of them.

"_First, we have Takashi Nakamura; a complete unknown who's taken the Dueling World by storm. Next, we have Akiza Izinski; Queen of Queens of New Domino's very own Duel Academy. We then have Enoch Wylie; master of the mysterious Psychic-Type monsters. After him, we have Kagura Toyoshima; a talented Duelists who's known for her cold attitude and strategic style of play. Following her, our next Finalist is Aiku Gato; son of the famous Cecil Gato. The 6__th__ Finalist is Lilly Muto; a beautiful, yet powerful Duelist who's abilities shines like the sun. Our 7__th__ Finalists is Crow Hogan; who's known to be the master of the skies. And finally, our 8__th__ and final Duelist is Kuromu Nesara; a person who's shrouded in mystery."_

When the MC finished his introductions, all 8 of the Finalists looked on and listened as the people in the stadium continued cheering for all of them. Seeing them express their praise and admiration made some of them feel happy, as they wanted to put on a good show for each of them today. However, others didn't feel anything in particular, as they were focused only on their respective Duels and nothing else. In the end, the overall feeling that all the Finalists were experiencing was mixed, at best.

As the crowd continued on with their applause, someone suddenly appeared and began making their way towards the MC. When the he saw the person, the Master of Ceremonies promptly bowed his head slightly at him before handing over the microphone. The person then went on to take a couple of steps forward, so that everyone in the stadium, and those who are watching on TV, could get a good look at his face. When Takashi saw him, he instantly recognized the individual as the person who's been giving him and his friends all the trouble they've been experiencing; Rex Goodwin.

"_Welcome to the Finals, Duelists!" _The Director stated. _"All of you have proven that you're the very best that Japan has to offer and that each of you has a fair and equal chance of winning. It now all comes down to how well you've chosen your cards and how you play."_

Takashi listen closely to what Goodwin was telling him and the rest of the Finalists and sensed that he wasn't being entirely truthful. Although he didn't know what Goodwin was lying about, the young man simply felt that something was off. He soon decided to keep listening to what Goodwin had to say, hoping to feel out any more lies in his words.

"_As our MC said previously, many legendary Duelists have won the title of Japan's Duel King and some of them have even went on to become the prestigious World King. I've seen many Duelists who have that potential and I can tell that each of you has it as well. It's because of that very potential that I'm giving the winner one more prize. Not only will the winner of the Fortune Cup receive 1 million dollars and the right to face Alistair Miles for the title of Japan's Duel King, but any wish that they desire will granted as well! They can have the prize money be doubled its amount or they can live in luxury in the Tops for the rest of their lives. There's simply no limit, because I will do everything within my power to make their wish come! So Duelists, please battle with all of your heart and soul because a lot is riding on your victory."_

Once Goodwin finished his speech, he was rewarded with a huge round of applause as he handed the microphone back to the MC. He then went on to leave, but not before taking one last glance at the Signers. He saw that all of them were looking at him with mixed expressions on their faces, as they knew that this was more than just a tournament for them. Goodwin also saw that out of the 4 of them that were looking at him, Takashi was the one who seemed the angriest. Just seeing his fierce some expression brought a small smile on the Director's face as it reminded him of someone he knew.

"Takashi Nakamura," He thought quietly. "You look just like your mother…oh, and your father as well."

When Goodwin finally left the Kaiba Dome, the MC directed his attention back towards the Finalists. He already said everything that he needed to say to them and now he needed to prepare for the Exhibition Duel that was going to take place later on today. As a result, the Master of Ceremonies decided that the time has come for the Finalists to make their leave for now.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen," _He started off _"In celebration for the start of the Finals, a special Exhibition Duel, featuring our current Duel King, is about to begin. Please stay in your seats as the action is about to get underway! As for the Finalists, please make your way back to the common area and wait patiently until it's your turn to Duel!"_

Each of the Finalists nodded their head in compliance to what the MC wanted them to do and proceeded to walk off the platform they were on. As they made their way inside the Kaiba Dome, they were once again greeted with a large round of applause by the crowd. Like before, about half of them were pleased to hear it while the other half remained indifferent. Even when they finally left, the positive reception that they were receiving continued on for a while before finally settling down.

As he began to make his way towards the common area, Takashi continued thinking about everything that Goodwin had to say to everyone. He still believed that something wasn't right and was trying his best to figure out the hidden meaning behind his words. When Akiza, Lilly, and Crow all noticed the focused expression that was on his face, each of them slowly figured out what was on his mind and decided to talk to him about it. So, after making sure that Aiku, Enoch, Kagura, and Kuromu were a good enough distance away, the Signers soon got to together and talked about what they learned.

While they did that, Takashi started feeling a strong, yet familiar Reiatsu coming from the distance. At first, the young man thought it was only a figment of his imagination and simply returned to talking to his friends. However, after sensing the Reiatsu for the second time, Takashi realized that it wasn't an illusion. He then started looking around the common area, trying to determine the source of the Reiatsu that he was sensing. After a few minutes of searching, Takashi and his friends soon found a young woman, who was leaning back against the wall and looking at all of them with a sly smile on her face. Upon seeing her, Takashi let out a small sigh.

"What are you doing here…Sona?"

"What?" She questioned as she got off the wall. "I can't be here?"

Akiza and the others were confused on how Takashi knew this mysterious woman and why he didn't tell them who she was. When Sona saw the looks on their faces, she instantly knew what was on her mind and shook her head in disapproval. The Psychic Duelist then proceeded to pull out a Duel Monsters card from her pocket and transformed her powers into it. By doing that, the card transformed itself into a bat which Sona used to hit Takashi upside the head. As he held his head in agony, Sona then went on to greet Takashi's friends.

"You guys must be Takashi's friends," She continued. "It's very nice to meet all of you. My name is Sona Shitori."

Sona smiled Akiza, Lilly, and Crow respectively, as the three of them were still trying to figure out what was going on. Not only did this mysterious woman just came out of nowhere, but she also created a bat from only just a card and used it to strike Takashi. They wondered if she was a Psychic Duelist, just like Akiza, but that didn't seem possible as she didn't use a Duel Disk as a focus. It was only when Takashi recovered from his attack that things were properly explained.

"Takashi," Akiza called as she looked down at him. "Who's this woman…and how was she able to do that?"

"Sona Shitori is a friend of Alex," Takashi answered. "She helped me out with my training and, like you, she's a Psychic Duelist. The only difference is that she's more experienced, which gives her the ability of materialization."

"What the hell is materialization?" Crow asked.

"As you may know, Psychic Duelists have the ability to materialize the cards that they use in a Duel and make them real," Sona explained. "They're able to do this because they're blessed with an extraordinary high amount of Reiyoku, or Spiritual Energy. Normally, this energy cycles through the body and is extremely hard to control. It's for that reason why so many Psychic Duelists, just like you Akiza Izinski, are regarded as monsters. However, when they're able to control their powers and make it truly theirs, they're able to materialize anything they desire with just a thought. They're even able to do this without the help of a Duel Disk."

As Sona continued her explanation about the true powers of a Psychic Duelist, Akiza's eyes widen slightly from the shock. She then began looking at her hands and started wondering about the powers she's been using all this time. She initially believed that bringing cards to life was the only thing a Psychic could truly do, but she now knows that it extends far more than that. Akiza now wanted to know more about her powers and listened closely as Sona kept talking.

"Materialization is normally an ability that only Psychics can achieve," She said as grabbed Takashi's sword from his hip. "However, there are a few exceptions. Take Takashi for example. I'm sure all of you know that he created this weapon during his battle against Sasuke, otherwise known as Amon. During that conflict, he instinctively used his high Reiyoku to manipulate his energy into a solid object, in this case; into a sword."

"Amazing…," Akiza said in a slightly astonished tone. "That's simply amazing."

"Not really," Takashi pointed out. "Since I'm not a Psychic Duelist, it takes a lot more effort for me to do something like that. Also, I'm not able to materialize Monsters or Spells. The best that I can do is create weapons, like swords or shields and most of them disappear shortly after their made. The only reason why my sword hasn't disappeared is because I transferred a large portion of my power into the pipe that I used to create it. It will only vanish when I die, since I'm the original source of its power."

"Look," Lilly interjected. "I'm sure this is very fascinating, but we're not here to learn about Reiatsu or Reiyoku, or whatever the hell it's called. What I want to know is why you're here?"

Sona looked at Lilly for a moment and saw that she was becoming impatient with her explanation and wanted to get straight to the point. She then started smiling, since Lilly reminded her a lot about herself. Both of them didn't like to drag things on and Sona realized that was precisely what she's doing now. As a result, she handed Takashi back his sword before explaining the real reason why she's here today.

"Listen closely," She said to all of them. "Alex McQueen sent me here in order to observe the Finals. He was originally planning on coming himself, but he's unable to leave his underground hideout due Sector Security. He also wanted me to tell you that you guys need to take each of your Duels very seriously and fight with all of your strength."

"We already know that," Crow said to her. "Goodwin just told us a few minutes ago."

"I know," Sona replied. "But when I say fight with all of your strength, I mean fight with all of your strength. You must give it everything you got, even it means using your Signer Powers."

Each of the 4 Signers were shocked when they heard this news, as none of them intended to use their abilities during the tournament. They originally wanted to keep their powers a secret, due to the fact that everyone New Domino City, and possibly Japan, would be watching. However, it was clear from Sona's explanation that Alex didn't want that. He wanted all of them to fight with all of their heart and souls, even if it meant possibly revealing themselves to the general public. All of them then looked at one another for a moment and Takashi, Lilly, and Crow nodded their heads in agreement.

The only Signer who was reluctant to go along with this plan was Akiza, as didn't want people to know about her powers. Sona knew why she felt that way, since Takashi usually talked about her during his training. Akiza's been called a freak and a monster because of her unique abilities and her inability to properly control them. So the fact that Alex wanted her to go all out, even if it meant using her powers, made her feel really uneasy. In order to ensure Akiza that everything would be fine, Sona walked over to her and placed her hand upon her fellow Psychic's shoulder.

"Don't worry Akiza," She said with a small smile. "Alex wouldn't do this if he didn't have a plan. Do you remember the item that Lazar gave to you last night?"

Akiza looked at Sona for a moment before trying to recall what Lazar gave to her during the party last night. When she remembered, she proceeded to put her hand into her pocket and searched for the item. Once she had it in hand, Akiza pulled it out and examined it closely.

"You mean this?" She asked.

"That's right," Sona answered. "It's called a Duel Gazer, a high-tech item that allows the wearer to observe a Duel in the Augmented Reality setting. Since all the Duels in the Finals will be fought in that setting, you shouldn't worry about revealing your powers, since no one will be able to tell what you're doing."

"What do you mean?" Lilly asked.

"Just watch the upcoming Exhibition Duel. You'll know exactly what I mean then."

The Signers looked at Sona for a moment, wondering if they could trust what she just said to all of them. However, after comparing what she said to what to what Goodwin said, all of them felt that Sona was the more truthful of the two. Also, the fact that she helped Takashi with his training a couple of months ago works in her favor, since she helped him gain the strength that he has now. Because of that, each of them agreed that they would trust what Sona had to say and what she and Alex wanted them to do.

Once that was settled, announcement was heard over the loudspeaker that the Exhibition Duel was about to begin. When Sona heard that, she knew that she had to leave and do her job. Before she left the Signers though, she gave them one last message.

"I know that this has been a long ride for each of you," She started off. "And I also know that this battle is far from being over. However, despite all of that, there's one last thing you need to remember. Dueling, at its core, is all about having fun. No matter what may happen, never forget that."

After saying what she had to say, Sona nodded her head towards all the Signers and left them to think about what they learned. As she left the common area, the young woman noticed that Enoch had eavesdropped on their entire conversation. When the two Psychics looked at one another, no words were spoken between them. They already knew that things have gone too far to be stopped and talking about it would be a waste of time. All they could do was hope and pray that things turned out the way they wanted them too.

Meanwhile, as Sona left the area, Takashi and the others were busy talking about what they just discovered from her. Now granted with a better understanding with what's on the line, each of them resolved to get through his tournament and stopped Goodwin. It's going to be tough and all of them knew that more hardships were on the way, but truly believed that they could overcome it. Their teamwork allowed them to defeat both Sayer and Sasuke, and they believed it will be their teamwork that will allow them to defeat Goodwin as well. So, after reaffirming their resolve to fight, the Signers continued on their way to the common area.

Back in the main stadium of the Kaiba Dome, everyone continued to wait for start for the Exhibition Duel. Alistair's opponent in the match, Ren Shirahama, was already present on the main Dueling Field and was waiting for her opponent. Ren is a young woman in her early 20s who has short purple high and blue eyes. She was wearing nice dress that had a little bit of sporty feel to it and her Duel Disk matched the same color as her hair. Also, Ren was wearing a white Duel Gazer with a yellow lens, over her left eye.

When Ren was first revealed to be Alistair's opponent today, she was greeted with a good round of applause from the audience, due to her amazing skills as a Duelist. She was able to enter the Pro League at the age of 17 and recently won the National Championship in Hokkaido. Many people believed that she would be one the 8 Duelists who qualified for the Finals, but she was quickly eliminated by Kagura during the first Qualifying Round. Despite her early exit though, the Fortune Cup Committee decided to give Ren a shot at the Duel King, as a reward for her effort.

Eventually, after waiting for another 10 minutes, another display of fireworks started going off around the stadium as rock music could be heard from all around. As the music gradually got louder and louder, the sound of an engine could be heard in the background. When he heard it, the MC knew right away what was going on and started feeling extremely pumped up as a result. This was the moment that he's been waiting for and he wanted everyone in the stadium to experience the same feeling of excitement that he was feeling.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen…He's finally here!" _He exclaimed. _"He's been gone for the last 3 months, but he's back and ready to take the Dueling World by storm again! Please welcome Japan's Dueling King…Alistair Miles!"_

One more display of fireworks shot through the Kaiba Dome as Alistair suddenly appeared on his Duel Runner and started riding on the race the crowd saw their king, they started cheering for him at the top of their lungs. In fact, some of the girls were so excited that they took off their shirts and revealed their breasts to Alistair. Although those girls were promptly removed from the stadium as a result of their actions, Alistair was still able to get a good look at them and smiled promptly as a result.

Once he finished he ride across the track, the Duel King got off of his Runner and began to make his way towards his opponent. As he did that, Ren noticed the cocky look that was on Alistair's face and realized that he was overlooking her. Having defeated many powerful opponents during his time as King, Alistair's confidence was at an all-time high. Ren believed that he didn't see her as a worthy opponent, either because she wasn't as well-known as some of Duelists he beat or that she didn't qualify for the Finals of the Fortune Cup. No matter what the case may be, the young woman didn't like that and it motivated her to defeat the King and earn his respect.

When Alistair finally reached the Dueling Field, the confident King raised his right fist into the air and listened as the crowd continued their praise. He then proceeded to attach his Duel Disk on his arm before placing a black Duel Gazer with a red lens over his right eye. As soon as he did that Lazar, who was busy observing everything from a control room, nodded his and started pressing some buttons on a central computer. When he finished typing, the Vice-Director looked on as a holographic copy of everything around the Kaiba Dome was created.

_Augmented Reality Vision Link Established _

"Good," Lazar said after he finished listening to his computer. "Now Alistair…show them what you're made of."

As Lazar started laughing evilly, Alistair and Ren were about to begin their Duel. The crowd was at the edge of their seats as they knew that an epic match was about to begin. However, the Duel King didn't feel the same way. He felt that Ren Shirahama wasn't even a challenge for him, especially after going through Goodwin's special training. There was only one reason why Alistair decided to participate in this match in the first place. That reason…was to show a certain someone just how much stronger he's become.

"I think it's time I show you," Alistair said.

"Show me what?" Ren asked.

"Show you…how weak and foolish you really are!"

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Alistair: 4000 LP**

**Ren: 4000 LP**

"As the King, I'll make the first move," Alistair declared. "Draw!"

Swiftly drawing his first card of the Duel, Alistair took a quickly glance at it and saw that it was a pretty good card. With it out, there was a pretty good chance that he could end this Duel right now. However, the Duel King didn't want that yet. He wanted to gradually show everyone his improved strength. He felt that if he did that, it would make his statement all the more impactful.

So, after the placing the card into his hand, Alistair started off his turn by taking another card and placing it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone. By doing that, a card materialized face-down on his side of the field. He then went on to take 2 more cards from his hand and inserted them both into his Spell/Trap Zone. This action caused 2 more cards to appear face-down on his field, just behind his first face-down card.

"To begin, I set a monster face-down in Defense Mode before setting 2 more cards face-down on field. With that Shirahama, I end my turn."

"Is that all you have?" Ren questioned. "If so, then this Duel isn't going to last very long. I Draw!"

Upon making that declaration, Ren swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. She then examined all of her cards before taking a look at the cards that her opponent placed on the field. Alistair had 3 cards out, 2 of which were in his Spell/Trap Zone. Ren believed that Alistair's face-down cards were Traps that boosted the Attack Points of his monsters. If they were to be activated, then that would give the Hokkaido Champion a lot of trouble. Ren didn't want that, and decided to prepare some countermeasures in order to protect herself.

However, before she put the counter measures into play, Ren started off her turn by taking a card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, a bright flash of light shined across her side of the field for a few seconds.

"I'll start things off by Summoning: Genex Ally Duradark, in Attack Mode!"

**Genex Ally Duradark: ATK 1800 DEF 200 LVL 4**

When the flash of light finally started to die down, a strange and highly unique monster appeared on Ren's side of the field and stood right next to her. Its appearance was similar to that of a robot and it had a red helmet, which acted as its head. Also, Duradark had an energy blaster that was placed on the palm of both of its hands.

"Duradark," Ren called. "Attack his face-down monster now…Dark Wave!"

Duradark complied with Ren's request and proceeded to extend its palm towards Alistair's face-down monster. It then fired a concentrated blast of negative energy at the card. When the attack connected with its target, everyone watched as the face-down card was flipped face-up, revealing that his hidden monster was a Mother Grizzly.

**Mother Grizzly: ATK 1400 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

"Thanks for doing that Shirahama," Alistair said with a cocky smile on his face. "Because you've destroyed my Mother Grizzly, its Special Ability now activates. I can now Special Summon a Water Attribute Monster from my deck that has 1500 or fewer Attack Points!"

The Duel King promptly pulled his deck from his Duel Disk and began searching for the card that he wanted to Special Summon. When he found it, Alistair put the card to the side before inserting his deck back into his Duel Disk. He then watched as the device shuffled his cards before placing the monster that he chose onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Take to the field, Spined Gillman!"

**Spined Gillman: ATK 1300 DEF 0 LVL 3**

As soon as Alistair placed the card onto his Duel Disk, a small whirlpool began to manifest in front of him. Inside that whirlpool was his Spined Gillman, who seemed prep and ready for battle. Once the water was gone and his Gillman was on the field, Alistair continued on with his countermove by taking a card from his hand and also placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I activate the effect of my Shark Stickers! When a Fish, Sea-Serpent, or Aqua-Type monster is either Normal Summoned or Special Summoned onto my field, I can Special Summon this card from my hand!"

**Shark Stickers: ATK 200 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

Once Alistair finished his explanation, the Duel King watched as another whirlpool of water appeared before him and Spined Gillman. When the water eventually began to die down, a purple shark with a set of stick-like suction cups revealed itself to everyone in the Kaiba Dome and those watching at home.

As Alistair looked at both of his Water monsters with a cocky expression on his face, Ren examined them both closely and grimaced for falling into Alistair's Trap. His face-down cards weren't the real problem; it was his face-down monster. Because of her actions, she's now given Alistair the opportunity to either sacrifice both of his creatures in order summon an even powerful one, or use them both for an Xyz Summoning. In order to make up for what she did, Ren proceeded to take a card from her hand and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, the card materialized face-down, right behind her Genex Ally Duradark.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "I end my turn."

"Good," Alistair commented. "Now...the fun can really begin. I Draw!"

Drawing his second card of the Duel, Alistair looked at it for a moment and smiled. Once again, he's obtained another valuable card that could allow him to achieve victory at this very moment. However, like just like his previous turn, the Duel King refused to play the card. He wanted to make a powerful statement in this Duel and he couldn't do that if he ended it right away. In order to accomplish his goal, Alistair decided to bring Ren to the brink. If she could survive his next move, it would give her the impression that she's winning and Alistair believed that it would make it even more satisfying when she falls in defeat.

So, after deciding what he was going to do, Alistair went on to take the card that he drew and place it into his hand. As soon as he did that, the Duel King then went on to activate one of his 2 face-down cards.

"First, I activate the Trap: Call of the Haunted!" He declared. "With this card, I Special Summon my Mother Grizzly back from the Graveyard."

When Alistair's face-down card flipped face-up, a bright flash of light emerged from the image on it. It was this light that brought his Mother Grizzly back on the field, standing next to his Spined Gillman and Shark Stickers. Once that took place, Alistair then proceeded to take one card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Underwater Mirror! This card allows me to choose one Water Attribute monster that's on my field and treat it as 2 monsters until the end of my turn. I choose my Mother Grizzly!"

Upon finishing his explanation, Alistair watched as a mirror, made completely out of water, appeared in front of his Mother Grizzly. As the monster looked at its own reflection, the mirror soon transformed itself into Mother Grizzly, albeit one made out of water. Once that happened, and the two Grizzlies were standing next to each other, Alistair then took another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I now sacrifice both of my Mother Grizzlies in order to Advance Summon: Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon!"

**Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon: ATK 2900 DEF 1300 LVL 8**

Alistair's two Mother Grizzlies disappeared from his field as a giant geyser of water erupted from the ground in front of him. The people in the stadium were shocked upon seeing this as the geyser actually left a small crater on the ground. As they began to wonder what's going on, a giant shark appeared and promptly stood in front of Alistair. When that happened, the Duel King continued on with his momentum by placing Spined Gillman's and Shark Sticker's cards on top of one another.

"I'm not done yet Shirahama!" He exclaimed. "I Overlay my Level 3 Shark Stickers and Spined Gillman! With these 2 monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

Both Shark Stickers and Spined Gillman nodded their heads as both of them into 2 orbs of blue light. The both of them then started flying around the entire stadium for a few moments as the portal to the Overlay Network opened up beneath them. When they saw it, the orbs didn't waste any time and immediately dived inside the portal. Once they were inside of it, the portal exploded and released a powerful array of colorful sparks.

"With the power of these Overlay Units, a vicious beast appears to devour anything in its path! Xyz Summon! Lunge towards your foe, Number 47: Nightmare Shark!"

**Number 47 – Nightmare Shark: ATK 2000 DEF 2000 Rank 3**

Once he finished his chant and called out the name of his monster, Alistair swiftly grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it on top of his two Level 3 monster cards. This action caused a powerful shark to shoot right out of the Overlay Network and stand right next to Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon. This shark was blue in color and was equipped with a set of razor sharp blades for fins. Also, Nightmare Shark had a set of demon-like wings on its back as well as a red tattoo of the number 47 on its dorsal fin.

When Takashi examined the monster from the common room, the young instantly felt a powerful Reiatsu coming from it. A part of him expected that Alistair would obtain a Number Card, but didn't expect it to be this powerful. He soon began to wonder what other skills Alistair obtained since the last time they've met, since he wasn't this strong before.

Back at the Duel, Ren was awestruck at the sight of Nightmare Shark. She's heard various rumors about the Number Cards, but she's hadn't seen any of them in person in order to validate those claims. Now that she's staring one straight in the face, the young woman realized that all of those rumors were right. Ren felt that Nightmare Shark's power could possibly end her, so she quickly activated her face-down card in order to defend herself.

"I activate the Continuous Trap: Electrical Barrier!" She declared. "Now, as long as this card remains on the field, Machine-Type monsters on my field cannot be targeted for attacks unless their battling other Machine-Type monsters or Thunder-Type monsters!"

Once Ren finished explaining the effect of her Trap Card, a powerful electric barrier appeared before her. With the power of this barrier, she felt that she was surely protected from anything that Alistair had to offer, even from his Number Card. However, that was simply arrogance on her part. Alistair saw that she was underestimating the power of his Nightmare Shark and that was a mistake that he was going to make her realize.

"I activate Nightmare Shark's Special Ability!" He stated. "Once per turn, by using 1 Overlay Unit, Nightmare Shark can grant one Water Attribute monster on my side of the field the ability to launch a direct attack this turn! In exchange, all my other monsters can't attack this turn. The monster I choose to attack you directly…is my Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon!"

Ren's eyes widen from disbelief as she watched Nightmare Shark devour one of the 2 Overlay Units that were surrounding its body. With the power of that unit, the Number Card looked over towards Megalodon, causing its body to glow a bright blue color. This act granted Megalodon an immense amount of strength, becoming powerful enough to go through Ren's Electrical Barrier. Once it did that, the monster fired a powerful stream of water at her, the impact of which not only sent her flying, but also destroyed a section of the ground beneath her.

**Ren: 1100 LP**

"_Amazing," _The MC screamed over the loudspeaker. _"Alistair was not only able to summon 2 powerful monsters this turn, but was also able to get past Ren's powerful defense as well! Not mention, the effect of our new Augmented Reality Vision is something to behold, as it really seems that the monsters are destroying the stadium! I have to tell you ladies and gentlemen, if you're not getting chills down your spine after seeing this display, then something is very wrong with you!"_

The MC was right in his description of the Augmented Reality Vision, as it really did seem that Alistair's monsters were destroying the stadium. This concept has given the game of Duel Monster an even more realistic view to it, perhaps even on equal terms to the creation of Solid Vision. Though the crowd was initially shocked by this, since they've never seen anything like it before in their lives, they got extremely into it. All of them soon felt the blood pumping through their veins and all of pleaded for more action. This new style of Dueling was very interesting and the people wanted to continue the experience.

Meanwhile, as they continued to watch the Duel from the common room, Takashi and his friends were simply astonished at what they just saw. Seeing Nightmare Shark interact with the environment made them all realize what Sona meant when she told Akiza not to worry. The Augmented Reality Vision displayed a virtual copy of everything, allowing the monsters to destroying everything without them actually doing anything. It was a brilliant idea and a smart way to for someone with special powers to use their abilities without being discovered.

Meanwhile, back at the Duel, Alistair was busy looking at Ren, as she struggled off of the ground. He noticed that the force of his Megalodon's attack caused her to have some scrapes on her body and some portions of her clothes were ripped up. Though this site gives the impression that he did actual harm to Ren, it wasn't the case. The Augmented field created a virtual copy of everything within the Kaiba Dome, which includes the clothes that the Duelists wear. So, even though it seems that Ren was roughed up by her opponent's move, she was actually very much okay.

Once Ren got up from the floor, Alistair decided to continue on with his turn. The Duel King already demonstrated that her tactics are useless against the abilities of his Nightmare Shark. Now, he wanted to see how she would react to his power. If she did exactly what he wanted her to do, then Alistair decided that he would pull out the big guns against her. However, before he could allow Ren to make her next move, Alistair still had a couple things to do and decided to do them now.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Hyper Megalodon!" He stated. "When it inflicts Battle Damage onto my opponent, then I can destroy one monster that they control! So, say goodbye to your Genex Ally Duradark!"

Ren looked over towards Alistair's monster and watched as Megalodon fired a rapid barrage of rockets from the cannon on its back. When they struck Duradark, another huge explosion occurred and the shockwave sent her flying again. As she was lying on the ground, struggling to get up, Alistair then went on to take one card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. This caused another face-down card to materialize on his side of the field, just behind his Nightmare Shark.

"I set one card face-down and my turn. Now Shirahama, what will you do? You could try and attack me, but do you have monster strong enough to get past mine? And even if you do have one, do you think it's wise to strike me when I have a face-down on the field? You could be walking towards your demise."

The Hokkaido Champion heard what Alistair had to say to her and was contemplating those very thoughts. With only 1100 Life Points left, she really needed to make her next move count. She had to get rid of Nightmare Shark and Hyper Megalodon on her next turn, otherwise she'll lose the Duel. Ren didn't want that to happen. It was one thing to lose a match to the Duel King, but it's an entirely different thing to lose to him while he's mocking you. That's the one thing Ren didn't want to happen. She wanted to prove her strength to Alistair and show him that she was just as strong, if not more powerful than him.

Soon, her strong desire to win gave Ren a sudden boost of strength. She found herself getting off the ground and glaring at the opponent that she wanted to defeat. When Alistair looked back at her, he saw that Ren's eyes had a lot more power in them than before.

"There's no point in worry about things like that," She said as she placed her hand upon her deck. "A true Duelist moves forward and doesn't look back. So it doesn't matter to me how strong your monsters are and what cards you're hiding, it's all the same! No matter what, I'm going to defeat you Alistair Miles! I Draw!"

With all the passion in her heart and with all the strength within her soul, Ren firmly drew the top card from deck. Upon doing so, the young woman looked at it and saw that it was exactly what she needed to turn the tide. With it, along with the other cards that were in her hand, Ren believed that she could get pass Alistair's monsters and get to his Life Points. So, without wavering even once, she proceeded to take one of her cards and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell: Monster Reborn, to revive my Genex Ally Duradark from my Graveyard!"

A bright flash of light shined across Ren's side of the field as her Genex Ally Duradark materialized back onto the field. Once it was standing by her side again, Ren then went on to take another card from her hand and also insert it into her Duel Disk.

"Next, I activate another Spell Card: Double Summon! With it, I can now Normal Summon 2 monsters this turn!"

Ren grabbed 2 more cards from her hand, one of which was the card that drew at the beginning of the turn, and proceeded to place them onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, two more flashes of light shined across her field.

"Appear now, Genex Ally Changer and the Tuner Monster, Genex Recycled!"

**Genex Ally Changer: ATK 1200 DEF 1800 LVL 3**

**Genex Recycled: ATK 200 DEF 400 LVL 1**

When the flashes of light that covered Ren's field finally started to fade away, 2 more Genex monsters stood before her. The first one, Genex Ally Changer, had the appearance of a green and yellow robot with buttons on the middle of its chest. The other one, Genex Recycled, had the appearance of a small and broken down robot. Both monsters stood next to Ren's third Genex monster; Genex Ally Duradark, and together they formed a powerful wall of Machine-Type monsters.

As Alistair examined all of them, the Duel King believed that Ren would use her monsters in order to perform a Synchro Summoning. That strategy, though clever, wasn't very impressive in the eyes of the Duel. He had hoped that Ren would impress him enough so that he could fight for real, but that didn't seem to be the case. Alistair now intended to end this Duel with his Nightmare Shark, but he quickly discovered that things don't always go the way you want them too.

"I activate Genex Ally Changer's Special Ability!" Ren declared. "Once per turn, I can choose one monster on the field and change its Attribute until the End Phase of this turn. I choose to change your Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon from a Water Attribute monster to a Dark Attribute monster!"

Upon hearing its master say that, Genex Ally Changer started pressing some of the buttons that were stationed on its chest. When it finished, it raised its hand towards Hyper Megalodon and fired a stream of energy at it. This energy effectively change Alistair's monster from a Water monster to a Dark monster.

"Next, I activate my Genex Ally Duradark's Special Ability! Once per turn, I can choose one monster on your side of the field that has the same Attribute as Duradark and destroy it! Your Hyper Megalodon and my Duradark are both Dark monsters, which means your shark is about to go belly up!"

Duradark fired a blast of negative energy at Alistair's Hyper Megalodon, causing it to gradually become darker and darker as a result. However, as it continued to absorb the power that it was receiving, Megalodon was quickly being consumed by that very darkness. Eventually, it couldn't handle any more negative energy and exploded in front of Alistair. Once Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon was gone, Ren continued on with her play.

"I Tune my Level 3 Genex Ally Changer and Level 4 Genex Ally Duradark with my Level 1 Genex Recycled!"

All three of Ren's monsters jumped high into the air once they heard her order to perform a Synchro Summoning. As they got ready to begin the process, Ren quickly grabbed a card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, the Synchro ritual between her 3 monsters ended and a bright flash of light completely covered the entire field.

"Our hearts beat together as one, accelerating towards a brighter future! The world is ours to seize as we charge forward! Synchro Summon! Now rev your egines, Genex Ally Axel!"

**Genex Ally Axel: ATK 2600 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

When the light from the Synchro Summoning finally faded away, a powerful white and yellow Machine-Type monster appeared on Ren's side of the field. Many people who were watching the Duel, either from the stands or from their homes, believed that Genex Ally Axel was some sort of being from the distance future. Its attire was made from technology that doesn't even exist in this timeline and was wielding weapons that no one has ever seen before. It was truly an incredible creature.

"I activate Genex Ally Axel's Special Ability!" Ren said, as she took a card from her hand and placed it into her Graveyard. "Once per turn, by discarding a card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Machine-Type monster from my Graveyard and double its Attack Points! However, the monster summoned by this effect can't attack directly and is removed from play at the End Phase of the turn."

Once she finished her explanation about her monster's powers, Ren then went on to grab a card from her Graveyard. As soon as she had the card that she wanted to Special Summon, she quickly placed it back onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Return to field, Genex Ally Changer!"

Another small flash of light shined across Ren's side of the field for a moment as her Genex Ally Changer returned to her side of the field. However, unlike when it was first summoned, Changer's body was radiating with a powerful white aura. This aura, given to it by Genex Ally Axel, doubled Changer's Attack Points, thus making it stronger than Alistair's Nightmare Shark.

**Genex Ally Changer: ATK 2400**

"Go Changer," Ren called. "Attack his Nightmare Shark…Elemental Blast!"

Changer complied and proceeded to fire a rainbow like blast from its chest. When the blast struck Nightmare Shark, the Number was infused with a wide variety of elements which consisted if Light, Darkness, Water, and etc. It was due to all these combining energies that Nightmare Shark exploded from the strain of trying to contain them.

**Alistair: 3600 LP**

Once his monster disappeared from the field, Alistair looked on as Ren and her Genex Ally Axel was staring him down. As he looked at the both of them, all the Duel King could do was smile. He achieved his goal and allowed his opponent to believe that she's gained an advantage over him. Now, as Ren was about to attack his Life Points directly with Axel, Alistair decided that the time had finally come.

"Genex Ally Axel, attack his Life Points directly!" Ren ordered.

"Not so fast Shirahama!" Alistair interjected. "I activate the Trap Card: Water Wall! This card activates when a Water Attribute monster on my field is destroyed by battle. I can now Special Summon a Water monster from my Graveyard and end the Battle Phase. In exchange, the Attack and Defense Points of the summoned monster becomes 0. Return to battle, Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon!"

**Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon: ATK 0 DEF 0**

Just as Axel launched a blast of concentrated energy from one its blasters, a giant geyser of water shot up from the ground and intercepted the attack. Once the action ceased, Hyper Megalodon emerged from the water and once again stood by Alistair, albeit much weaker than usual. When Ren saw this, the young woman gritted her teeth in frustration. She believed that she had Alistair on the ropes, but that simply wasn't the case. Still, despite having to deal with Megalodon again, Ren believed that she could still win. Her opponent's monster had 0 Attack Points and Alistair couldn't attack her as long as Electrical Barrier was still in play. Ren still had the advantage in this Duel and she believed that it could be maintained.

"I end my turn," She said in a mixed tone of voice. "And now, due to the effect of my Genex Ally Axel, Genex Ally Changer is removed from the Duel."

As the aura that was surrounding Changer's body slowly began to fade away, a portal to another dimension suddenly appeared behind it. The portal was like a black hole and the Genex Ally monster was finding it extremely difficult to escape from its pull. Eventually, the vortex was simply too much for the monster to overcome and promptly sucked it inside, never to be seen again. Once it was gone, Alistair proceeded to begin, what he believed to be, the final turn of this Duel.

"It's my turn," He declared. "Draw!"

Upon drawing his next card, Alistair's Signer Mark started glowing slightly. This resulted in his red aura creating an outline around his body. Though most people believed that this was simply another feature of the Augmented Reality, the Signers knew that wasn't the case. The Duel King was beginning to use his powers and was about to reveal what truly learned during his training with Rex Goodwin.

"I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity! With it, I can now draw 3 cards from my deck at the cost of discarding 2 cards from my hand to my Graveyard."

Following the instructions of his Spell, Alistair quickly drew 3 more cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. After that, he then picked 2 cards from his hand, one of them being a card that he believed would have won him the match already, and placed them into his Graveyard. Once that was settling, Alistair took the other card that he believed in and placed it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Double-Fin Shark!"

**Double-Fin Shark: ATK 1000 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

Another geyser of water shot from the ground as new Shark monster appeared in front of Alistair. Double-Fin Shark was a creature that was about half the size of his Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon. It had extremely sharp teeth and jagged fins were covering its body. Also, the Shark's eyes were a bright red color, similar to that of a demon.

"When Double-Fin Shark is successfully summoned onto the field, I can then Special Summon a Level 4 Fish-Type from my Graveyard in Defense Mode! In exchange, I can't Special Summon any more monsters onto my field unless their Water monsters."

Double-Fin Shark started roaring at the top of its lungs as Alistair grabbed on the cards that he discarded via the effect of Graceful Charity. He then took that card and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Take to the field, Silent Angler!"

**Silent Angler: ATK 800 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

Once Alistair's shark stopped roaring, a giant angler fish materialized onto his side of the field and stood next to its fellow Water Attribute monsters. As soon as that happened, the Duel King then took one more card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, it's time for things to really get started!" He stated. "I activate the Spell: Resonance Device! With it, I can choose 2 monsters I control that have the same Type and Attribute. I can then change the level of one of those monsters so that it equals the other. I choose my Level 8 Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon and my Level 4 Double-Fin Shark, both of which are Water Attribute Fish monsters. I then change my Hyper Megalodon's Level so that it becomes a Level 4 monster like Double-Fin Shark!"

**Hyper-Ancient Shark Megalodon: LVL 4**

With the power of his Spell Card, Alistair watched as the level of his Megalodon matches that of his Double-Fin Shark and his Silent Angler. Once that happened, he then took all three of his monster cards and stacked them on top of each other.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Hyper-Ancient Shark, Double-Fin Shark, and Silent Angler! With these 3 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

The 3 Water monsters nodded their heads in compliance and transformed themselves into colorful orbs of light. As they began flying around the stadium, the Overlay Network once again materialized in front of Alistair and orbs quickly made their way inside of it. When they did that, another eruption of light shot out of the portal and began raining down sparks onto the crowd. It was at this moment that Alistair grabbed another card from his Extra Deck and stacked it on top of his other monster cards.

"With the power of these Overlay Units, I bring forth the most vicious predator in the seas! Xyz Summon! Roar, Number 32: Shark Drake!"

**Number 32 – Shark Drake: ATK 2800 DEF 2100 Rank 4**

When the Xyz Summoning was completed, a powerful shark that resembled a dragon came out of the Overlay Network and stood next to Alistair. Everyone was astonished by the appearance of this creature, including the ever talkative MC. The never expected that Alistair had a second Number Card, especially since they're so card to find. So, the fact that they're seeing it right now was sight to behold.

"I'm not done yet Shirahama!" Alistair said. "I haven't forgot about that Trap Card of yours and I already have a countermeasure for it! I activate the Trap Card: Trap Stun! With this card, I can negate the effect of your Electrical Barrier until the End Phase of this turn!"

A small beam of light shot out of Alistair's Trap Card as soon as it flipped itself face-up. That light soon shot towards Ren's barrier and struck it, causing it to disappear for this turn. Now, with that defense out of the way, Alistair was free to launch an attack with his second Number.

"Shark Drake," He called. "It's time to show this woman just foolish it was to challenge me. Attack her Genex Ally Axel…Deep Sea Destruction!"

Shark Drake nodded its head and fired a powerful blast of water at Genex Ally Axel. As the attack made its way towards her monster, Ren saw the water begin to transform into a dragon-like creature. When the water struck her monster, she saw that the attack ran right though Axel, giving it the impression that powerful creature came up and bit right through its armor.

**Ren: 900 LP**

"Oh…that was amazing," The Duel King complimented. "In fact, it was so amazing that I want to see it again! I activate Shark Drake's Special Ability! When it successfully destroys a monster through battle, I can use one Overlay Unit in order to Special Summon your monster back onto your side of the field. However, it loses 1000 Attack Points and Shark Drake is then allowed to attack again!"

**Genex Ally Axel: ATK 1600**

Ren looked on in disbelief as she watched Shark Drake devour one its Overlay Units and use its power to bring her Genex Ally Axel back onto her side of the field. She then continued to look on as her monster's body was glowing with a dark blue aura, causing it to lose 1000 of its Attack Points. Once that happened, Shark Drake once again turned its attention towards the Genex Ally monster and prepared itself strike.

"You battled well Shirahama. Maybe we can battle again…after you train for 1000 years! Shark Drake, attack her monster again…Deep Sea Destruction!"

The Number Card once again complied with its master's order and fired another powerful stream of water at its target. Like before, the water quickly transformed itself into a dragon-like creature that bit through Genex Ally Axel's body. The force of the blow caused the monster to explode and the resulting impact not only caused Ren to be sent flying backwards, but lose the reaming of her Life Points as well.

**Ren: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>It's Over!" <em>The MC screamed. _"The winner of the match is our Duel King…Alistair Miles!"_

As the MC shouted that announcement as loud as he could, all the holograms started to disappear and the Augmented Reality Vision faded away as well. This also included all the damage that Alistair's and Ren's monsters did to both the Kaiba Dome and to themselves. The last hologram that disappeared was Shark Drake, who let out one last roar before eventually disappearing from the stadium. When it did that, everyone present started cheering at the top of their lungs as they just witnessed the most exciting that they've seen and the one who lead that display was their Duel King.

Alistair absorbed the praise that the crowd was giving him and smiled as a result. Hearing the people cheer for him and show their admiration was something that he always enjoyed because he knew that everything that said about was right. He was the best Duelist in Japan and that skills rival, if not surpass, previous Duelists who also held the title of the Duel King. A lot of people in the world can't even come close to him in Duel and Alistair proved that belief was right. So, the fact that he was being cheered for felt justified in his eyes.

Eventually, as he continued to absorb all the praise that he was receiving, Alistair was soon confronted by a large crowd of reporters and fans. Each of them surrounded the King, either wanting an interview or an autograph. Like with the cheering, this sight brought another smile on Alistair's face as the one thing he loved more than being cheered for was being popular. He soon found himself taking one the microphones that one the reporters had and increased its volume so that everyone in the stadium could hear his voice.

"_I hope this display once again informs all of you," _He started off. _"That no one in this tournament, no in the world, can touch me! It doesn't matter if they're famous, talented, or a complete nobody. I'll crush them all and make them wish that they never picked up a deck! By the time this tournament ends, no one will ever doubt the ever growing legacy of Alistair Miles. You hear me, No One!"_

As soon as he finished his speech, Alistair tossed the microphone back towards the reporter that he took it from and returned to listening to the crowd's praise. The young man was standing on top of the Promise Land and he had no intention of getting off of it. This was his time, his moment, and no one was going to get in the way of that. Eventually, after having his fill of the crowd's admiration, Alistair made his way over to his Duel Runner.

Once he was there, the young man took off his Duel Gazer, got on his ride, and drove away. As he did, Alistair started thinking about all the Finalists that were about to compete today. Out of all 8 of them, only Takashi Nakamura caught his interest. During their Duel a couple of months ago, the Duel King was completely dominating him and it looked like victory was his. However, by some strange miracle, the Duel turned in Takashi's favor and it seemed that he would be the one that came out victorious. If it wasn't for the arrival of the imperfect Crimson Dragon, that outcome would have occurred and that was making Alistair sick to his stomach. He was the best, the King, and the fact that he was about to lose was a humiliation that he couldn't stand. It was that humiliation that drove Alistair to accept Goodwin's training, so that such an event would never happen again.

While he continued to make his way out of the Kaiba Dome, Alistair started gritting his teeth in frustration. He felt a burning sensation coming from his right arm and saw that it was from the glow of his Signer Mark. The angrier he became, the worse the burn became as well. However, he didn't care about the pain that he was feeling on his arm. The only thing that he was caring about was getting his revenge on Takashi, the one who fueled the anger that was residing within him.

"It doesn't matter who wins this tournament," Alistair thought once again. "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, Nakamura. You will pay for what you did. This, I swear!"

Back in the common area, Takashi was busy looking at the video screen as he watched Alistair leave the Kaiba Dome. As he did, the Signer was gripping the arm that held his Signer Mark. Ever since he first met Alistair, Takashi knew that he was an extremely powerful Duelist. His tactics rival his own and he was much better at utilizing power moves. In fact, Takashi first started using Synchron monsters when he saw Alistair use his Resonator monsters. In a lot of ways, the two of them were a lot alike. However, even though the two of them are a lot alike, the both of them are also very different as well.

They were like opposite sides of the same coin. Takashi obtained his strength by believing in his friends and wanting to fight for and protect them. Alistair obtained his strength by abandoning his friends, his lust for power, and his desire for vengeance. They also had Numbers and Signer Dragons that were opposites of each other. While Takashi's Stardust Dragon and Number 39: Utopia focuses on defending, Alistair's Red Dragon Archfiend and Number 32: Shark Drake focuses on attacking. Takashi Nakamura and Alistair Miles were truly a lot alike, but their contrasting styles and personalities makes many people believe that they're so different from each other, it hurts.

While he continued to ponder the similarities and differences that he has with Alistair, Takashi two cards from his Extra Deck and looked at them very closely. The cards that he was observing were his Aces, Number 39: Utopia and Stardust Dragon. Both monsters have gotten him out of a lot of jams, especially since he first came to New Domino City, and Takashi felt that they were a part of him. The monsters reflect his belief about protecting the ones that are important to him and that really made him happy. However, Takashi was wondering if that belief was good enough to defeat Alistair in the Final Duel. The strength of the King was immense and that worried Takashi a little.

"Alistair is a much stronger opponent than he was last time," He thought quietly to himself. "Can I defeat him…as I am now?"

"Are you okay Takashi?"

Akiza gently placed her hand upon Takashi's shoulder, effectively snapping him out of his conflicted state of mind. He then turned his head over to her and saw her smiling, which caused him to smile as well. Just seeing that smile nearly erased all the doubts that were surfacing within his head and that gave Takashi a great sense of relief. The young man then went on to gently take Akiza's hand and held it very close.

"I'm okay Akiza," He said to her.

The smile that was on Akiza face grew more passionate upon hearing those words and she gently nodded her head in response. Upon seeing her do that, Takashi nodded his head as well before turning his attention back towards his cards. As he looked at them, the smile that was on his face grew bigger as well.

"I shouldn't be worrying about stuff like that," He thought. "I know I can beat Alistair. As long as I you two, my friends, and Akiza…I can do anything I set my mind too."

While Takashi was busy looking at his 2 Ace Monsters, Enoch was busy observing him from across the common room. The Psychic Duelist saw how close Takashi and Akiza were and that was bothering him a little. He soon found himself taking a deep breath and began tapping his foot on the floor, impatiently waiting for something to happen.

Meanwhile, back in the computer room, Lazar was busy looking through the match-ups for the first round of the Finals. Having been the one who chose who would go against one another, the Vice-Director seemed very confused by what he was seeing. Apparently, the match-ups were different from what he originally set. Who could have changed the match-ups and why? In the end, Lazar didn't care. He was going to change things back to the way it was before so that the Finals could get underway.

However, just as he was about to do that, Goodwin made his way into the computer room and stopped his Vice-Director from making his move. When Lazar saw him, he was visibly surprised by his appearance and wondered what he was doing here. But, before he could ask his boss that question, Lazar watched as Goodwin examined the current match-ups. Once he finished, he turned his attention towards him.

"It's fine Lazar. Go ahead and announce the first match."

"But sir," Lazar said, "This isn't what I put."

"I know and I think it's better that way. This match will give me an accurate estimation on how much he's grown and how much he will grow. Besides, I think this match-up will be very interesting. So ahead, post it."

Lazar was reluctant to go along with the Director's request as it didn't make much sense to him. However, after witnessing an intimidating glare on Goodwin's face, Lazar complied and proceeded to post the match-up. Once he did that, the MC got a message from the Vice-Director and it contained information about the first Duel. After he finished reading it, the MC got extremely pumped up and picked up his microphone.

"_Everybody Listen!" _He exclaimed. _"Hope you enjoyed that display from our Duel King, but the time has finally come for the Finals to begin!"_

The stadium erupted with excitement as everyone was waiting for this moment. The crowd was on their feet and the Finalists were waiting with anticipation as all of them wanted to know who was going to Duel first. Eventually, a giant holographic display appeared in the middle of the Kaiba Dome and it revealed the faces of 2 Duelists who would fight first. When it was shown all the Finalists, with the exception of Enoch, Kagura, and Kuromu, were shocked at what they were seeing. In fact, out of those 3, Enoch was smiling.

"_The Duelists who will face each other in the first Duel are…Takashi Nakamura and Enoch Wylie!"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Takashi has been suspicious of Enoch, ever since the two of them first met each other. So, the fact that they're facing each other in the first Duel of the Finals is very surprising to him. As he ponders about this, Enoch is, in fact, very pleased with this turn of events. Now, he has the opportunity to determine Takashi's worth and see for himself why Akiza supports him so much. _

_Also, Enoch's past, and his rocky relationship with Akiza, is revealed._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 75: Proving one's worth – Part 1_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, it's Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to thank PokeRescue18 for supplying me with the chants for the Synchro and Xyz Monsters that were used in this chapter. He's an extremely talented author and the one Beta reads my stories for me. Please take a look at his work when you have the chance, it's really good._

_Second, I want to discuss Summoning Chants with all of you. When you send me your OCs and tell me what your Ace Monster is, please create a Summon Chant for it. It doesn't matter if it's a Synchro, Xyz, or Fusion Monster, I would still like a chant for them. _

_And lastly, I want to thank all of you for reading Over the Nexus. Please continue to look forward to the new chapters and leave reviews for them as well. I'm always happy to see what you guys have to say about my story as your input really helps. Also, your reviews are the best way to support Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus._

_Well, that's it for now. Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	75. Chapter 75

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 75: **_Proving one's worth – Part 1_

* * *

><p>"What the hell is this?"<p>

When he first qualified for the Fortune Cup Finals, the first thing that was on Takashi Nakamura's mind was who he was going to face first. He developed several theories on the matter as he believed that Goodwin would probably want him to face someone who was exceptionally strong. Because of that, Takashi believed that he might face either Aiku or Kagura during his first Duel. He even put Kuromu into consideration, especially since he was a Duelist who possessed 2 Number Cards. Takashi pictured a lot of scenarios, but he never expected the match-up that he just learned from the MC.

It was declared that Takashi would be facing Akiza's old acquaintance, Enoch Wylie, in the first Duel of the Finals. Ever since he first met the guy during the second day of the Qualifiers, Takashi has been getting a familiar, yet bad, vibe from this mysterious Psychic Duelist. The reason behind this vibe is because whenever Takashi is near him, the Reiatsu he senses from Enoch makes it feel like he's with Sayer. It's because of that feeling, as well as the fact that he thinks Enoch doesn't really see him, that Takashi has become very apprehensive of him. So, the fact that he's facing him first surprised Takashi a lot.

As he started to ponder this development, Takashi took a moment to look over towards Enoch. The two Duelists silently stared at one another, trying to get a feel of the other's intentions just before their match. Like with all the other times, Takashi sensed Sayer's Reiatsu coming from his opponent and that was making him uncomfortable. He soon found himself looking down towards the ground, hoping that avoiding eye contact with Enoch would make the feeling go away. Unfortunately, that plan didn't work and it only made Takashi look weak. Because of that, Enoch shook his head in disappointment and proceeded to leave the common area. Once he was gone, Takashi lifted his head and went on to place his hand upon his face.

"Hey…," Lilly said in a concerned tone of voice. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

Takashi didn't answer Lilly right away as he was still trying to shake the feeling that he was having about Enoch. With the exception of the passing of his friend Hikari, Takashi usually doesn't let things get to him for long periods of time. Most of the time, he would get over it rather quickly and simply look forward towards the future. However, that wasn't the case with Enoch. Since his power felt like Sayer's, it was making Takashi think that he was talking to the one Psychic Duelist that he hated the most. That was very distracting to him and he wished that he could get over this feeling, but he's unable to for some reason.

As Takashi tried to rid himself of these emotions, Akiza was looking at him with a very concerned look on her face. Having learned from Takashi why he's feeling the way he is, the young woman felt for him and wondered what she could do. She tried talking to him and that seemed to work for a while, but it probably wasn't enough. Akiza didn't want to see Takashi this way. She wanted him to be the happy and confident person that she's always known as it was that person that freed her from the darkness that dwelled within her heart. Eventually, Akiza decided to step up and ask Takashi to reveal what was going on so that she, as well as Lilly and Crow, can help him. However, before she could, Lilly made the first move by snapping her fingers repeatedly in front of Takashi.

"Hey! Wake up Takashi!"

It took about 10 repeated snaps by Lilly for Takashi to finally break free from his self-loathing and direct his attention towards all his friends. When he did, he saw that all of them were very worried about him. Simply seeing their faces, especially Akiza's, made Takashi berate himself a little as he being extremely stupid. Despite the fact that he believes that he isn't qualified for the job, it doesn't change the fact that Takashi was the leader of the Signers.

As a leader, it was his duty to make sure that his team aren't upset and are in a happy and enthusiastic mood. It's only when they're like that will they be able to bring out the full extent of their Dueling powers. So in order to get him out of his state of depression, Takashi slapped himself repeatedly in the face, which shocked his friends a little. Once he did that, looked at all of them and gave him a smile that was more befitting of him.

"Sorry about that, guys," He said. "I was busy thinking about something, but I feel better now."

"Are you sure?" Crow asked him.

"Yeah," Takashi confirmed. "I mean, I was a little shocked when I learned that I was going to face Enoch in the first Duel of the Finals, but I'm all right now. So please, don't worry about me."

Akiza, Lilly, and Crow all looked at Takashi as he said those words and, on the surface, it seemed like he was indeed all right. However, it was just on the surface. Though they couldn't quite explain it, the three of them felt that Takashi was trying to convince himself, rather than them, that he was okay. They were about to question him again, but stopped when they saw Takashi stretch his arms out before turning his attention towards the exit.

"Well…I better get going. I have a tough Duel ahead of me and I need to be ready."

With that said, Takashi proceeded to leave the common area and left his friends behind. As he did that, the smile that was on his face slowly began to disappear and was soon replaced with a look of uncertainty. He had no idea what to expect from his upcoming match, but did know that it was going to be difficult, both physically and mentally. So, in order to prepare for such a match, Takashi needed to time to himself so that he can sort everything out.

Once he was gone, Lilly and the others looked at one another for about a moment. After seeing him act the way that he did, it was clear to all of them that Takashi wasn't as fine as he made himself to be. There was clearly more going on here, but he chose to keep that to himself instead of sharing that information with everyone else. That annoyed them, especially Akiza, because they never liked it when he did something like that. If all of them are truly a team, then they shouldn't keep each other's problems away from each other. Instead, they should try and help one another get over those problems. By doing that, each of them can carry a portion of the load that those problems weigh so that not one person has to handle it all by themselves.

Each of them felt that way and they all wanted to go after Takashi so that they can find out what's really bothering him. At first, it seemed like Crow was about to take the initiative and go after him. However, before he could get too far, Akiza stopped Crow by gently grabbing his arm. When the Blackwing Duelist looked back at her, he saw that Akiza had a mixed expression on her face. She was silent and it looked like she was on the verge of crying. Upon seeing that, Crow loosened up and Akiza promptly let go of him as a result.

"Akiza…," Lilly said as she looked at her. "You know what's bothering Takashi, don't you?"

"…Yes," Akiza confirmed. "He told me on the night we all qualified for the Finals."

"If that's the case, why didn't you tell us?" Crow asked.

Lilly elbowed Crow in the gut, causing the Blackwing Duelist to fall to one knee and gasp for air. She could tell that this has been bothering Akiza just as much as it has been bothering Takashi. It was hard for her to keep it from them for so long since, in all honesty, she wanted to tell them about it as soon as Takashi told her. However, Akiza kept that information to herself as she believed, like Takashi believed, that it would cause the others to worry. But, she now realized that it was wrong for her to do so.

Keeping that information for her friends as only caused them to worry about Takashi even more and it was causing her to feel bad about it all. Akiza needed to reveal what she knew to both Lilly and Crow. By doing so she could not only release herself from the burden of keeping the secret, but she could also find a way to help Takashi with the help of her friends. So, after gently wiping the tears that were forming around her eyes, the Psychic Duelist lifted her head and looked toward Lilly and Crow.

"Apparently," She started off. "Alex McQueen, the person who trained Takashi for the Fortune Cup, sent Enoch to the competition as a spy of some sort."

"Is that so?" Lilly said as she started thinking about what she just discovered. "If that's the case, then why is Takashi so bothered about facing him?"

"It's because he can sense Enoch's power and, according to him, it feels a lot like Sayer's power."

"I see…That explains it then," Lilly silently recalled the time when she and Takashi were captured by the Arcadia Movement almost a year ago and how Sayer tortured the both of them. "Takashi despised Sayer with every fiber of his being and if he can sense his power coming from Enoch, then naturally he's going to be wary of him."

The two girls looked at one another as both of them thought about their time during the final days of the Arcadia Movement. Not only was it the time when the two became friends, but it was through their, and Takashi's, combine efforts that that they were able to kill Sayer and put an end to his crazy ambitions. So, the fact that Sayer's power somehow lives within Enoch was very troubling to the both of them because, in a way, it would be like he came back to life and was about to battle Takashi.

As they thought about that prospect, Crow finally recovered from Lilly's attack and slowly got up from the ground. Although he never met Sayer before, the young man heard stories about him from the others and he had a pretty faint idea on what type of guy he was. In a lot of ways, Sayer reminded him a lot about Sasuke; a person who uses other people for their personal gain. Just thinking about that made Crow very angry and so, in a sense, he felt the same pain that the girls were feeling. However, there was still one thing that was on his mind.

"Akiza," He said. "What's Enoch like? I mean, if he has Sayer's power does that mean he's just like him or is he different?"

Akiza kept to herself for a moment when she thought about what Crow just asked her. Since it's been nearly 5 years since she's last saw him, Akiza couldn't give Crow a full explanation on what Enoch is like. She could only tell him what she knew during their short time together in the Arcadia Movement.

"Enoch Wylie was…the very first friend that I ever had," She explained. "He was there for me when I was lonely and I was there for him when Sayer's experiments were too much for him to handle. Nothing special happened between us though. We were just friends."

"…You're saying were and was," Lilly pointed out. "Those are in the past tense. So, does that mean what I think it does?"

"Yeah," Akiza placed her head down for a moment before pulling out a picture from her purse. The picture had tape in the middle, showing that it was previously ripped up. "Enoch and I were friends…until one fateful day."

"And what day was that?" Lilly asked.

"My…13th birthday,"

* * *

><p><em>Almost 5 years ago<em>

_Akiza: Age 12_

"AHHHHHHH! MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!"

The Arcadia Movement, a supposedly safe haven for Psychic Duelists who have been rejected by society because of their powers. On the outside, it seemed like an ideal place. Psychics could be around people who are just like them, have a place to live without the fear of abandonment, and gradually learn how to control the powers that many ordinary people consider a curse. That, in a nutshell, is what a lot people considered the Arcadia Movement to be. However, those same people were completely ignorant to the real truth.

The Movement wasn't a haven. It was hell. Psychic Duelists who were persuaded to join were subjected to the most heinous experiments that man could ever come up with. The purpose of this was to forcibly bring out their full potential so that they could become weapons directed towards the rest of humanity. While those who had sufficient power were able to survive and live a somewhat _comfortable _life, those who did not died and were casted away like garbage. The Arcadia Movement was hell and the devil who ruled over that hell was none other than Sayer.

Like other Psychic before him, Sayer was treated badly because of his gifts that were given him. However, unlike most Psychics who did nothing about that, Sayer decided that enough was enough. If society was going to reject him of any happiness then he was going to do the same thing to them. To accomplish that, he formed the Arcadia Movement and gathered the most powerful Psychics that he could find. After persuading them to join his causes, Sayer slowly, but secretly put his plan into motion. He began absorbing the power of every Psychic that was under his care and began grafting it into his own strength. By doing that, Sayer would soon gain the power necessary to get his revenge on society and create a world for only Psychic Duelists. It was a long process and, at times, it seemed like his plan would fail. However, that all changed when he encountered 2 particularly strong Psychics; Akiza Izinski and Enoch Wylie.

Akiza was a special individual, even among Psychic Duelists. At the age of 5, the young girl first awakened her powers and they were so great that it even surpassed Sayer's. Also, the fact that she was a Signer only augmented her abilities, making her one the strongest individuals on the planet. In a lot of ways, Akiza was the closest thing in this world to a God. Sayer realized this and he knew right away that needed to have her. To that end, he manipulated Akiza and increased the already burning hatred that she had for humanity. This all culminated on her 12th birthday, when Sayer made her kill her parents; Hideo and Setsuko Izinski. Once she did that, Sayer knew that she was his.

Since that fateful day almost one year ago, Akiza has been by Sayer's side. She would follow his orders without question and would not disappoint him. In fact, a part of her even liked doing it. However, that wasn't entirely all her fault. Being alone and rejected for practically all her life, was something that no one should ever have to bear. In Akiza's eyes, Sayer was the only person in the world who treated her with kindness and compassion. If it wasn't for him, she most likely would have killed herself in order to escape the loneliness. Akiza owed everything to Sayer and it was only appropriate that she returned the favor to him, no matter what she told him to do.

The other Psychic that Sayer had a particular interest in was Enoch Wylie. Unlike Akiza, Enoch wasn't blessed with Psychic Powers that were on a god-like level. At best, Enoch's powers were at Sayer's level and only when he's truly motivated to use them. However, that wasn't what caught Sayer's eye. What he found interesting was that Enoch had the unique ability to absorb Psychic Energy. Whenever he battled another Psychic, or a Duelist with unique powers, a fraction of their Reiatsu would be transferred into his. This would give Enoch the ability to use the power of his opponents, albeit to a much lesser extent.

Enoch's ability was precisely the thing that Enoch was looking for. If he could transfer his powers into him, it would prove the theory that Psychics can transmit their powers into others. Doing that would allow him to fulfill his plan and get his revenge. To that end, Sayer captured Enoch and began subjecting him to his most gruesome experiments. He didn't care how much pain the young man was in and he surely didn't care how much of his sanity he could lose. All Sayer cared about was getting his revenge and he spared no expense in order to achieve it.

One day, on the night before Akiza's 13th birthday, Sayer was subjecting Enoch to his most horrific experiments. Placing him into a capsule-like chamber and putting a transmitter on his head, Sayer forcibly transferred the power of about 10 of his most powerful Psychic's into Enoch. Some of those Psychics included his assistants Bianca, Recuk, and even himself. The only person that Sayer chose not to include was Akiza as he believed that with her powers in him, Enoch would gain the strength to resist and rebel against him. The mastermind couldn't have that and he simply did what he felt was best for him and his plan. However, things weren't turning out the way that he had hoped.

From the very beginning, Enoch has tried his best to resist the transfer as the pain was becoming simply too much for him to take. Angered by this, Sayer would increase the power of the transfer which only caused Enoch even more suffering. Still, despite how much pain that he was experiencing, Enoch refused to give in. He knew what Sayer's plan was and how much a threat he could be if it succeeded. He had to stop him. Even if it cost him his body and soul, Enoch had to stop Sayer. The evil mastermind took everything from Enoch, including his family and all the people that he ever cared about. In order to avenge them, Enoch had to do everything within his power to stop Sayer and put an end to his scheme. It was a battle of wills and for the most part, it was a draw.

As the experiment was reaching its climax, Sayer was busy watching Enoch scream from his control room. With him was Recuk, who was monitoring the increase of power that Enoch was receiving. Unfortunately, much to his disappointment, the data came back and it read that the subject's power only increased by less than 1%. When he presented his findings to Sayer, Recuk watched as his master smashed his controls with his fist, unintentionally ended the experiment.

"Damn him," Sayer silently let out. "How is he doing this? How is this boy resisting me this much? It wasn't like this until 6 months ago. During that time, Enoch had no trouble at all in taking in the power of my other Psychics. However, now it seems that he's found a way to block the transfer. How…how is this possible?"

"Master," Recuk said. "Maybe you should try another one of our Psychics. It's clear from our data that Enoch will soon be able to completely resist our tests. When that happens, he'll be completely useless to us."

"I'm well of aware of that. The boy's been trouble since day 1 and he's starting to run the limits of my patience."

Sayer looked through the one way window and watched as a few of his guards walked into the room that Enoch was in and dragged him away. As he looked at the boy, the powerful Psychic closed his eyes for a moment and started thinking about all the things that he should do. Eventually, every idea that he came up with led back to the very same conclusion. It may backfire on him, but he was running out of options.

"Recuk," He said.

"Yes master," Recuk answered.

"Tomorrow, we're going to transfer Akiza's powers into Enoch. If nothing happens, we'll keep the test going until it eventually kills him."

As the 2 Psychics were discussing this plan, the guards eventually dragged Enoch back into his room and left him lying on the floor. When they left, the young man was trying his best not to lose consciousness as he knew that he could die if he did. As he was fighting that losing battle, there were only 2 things that were on Enoch's mind. The first thing was Sayer, the one person that Enoch hated the most. His pain and suffering were all caused by him and Enoch would never forgive him for that, no matter how much time has passed.

The second thing was something a bit more personal to Enoch. Ever since he first came to the Arcadia Movement almost 10 years ago, the thought of suicide has been running through his head. For Enoch, the thought of dying seemed far more pleasing than staying alive and having to deal with Sayer. However, that all change almost one year ago. During that time, young boy man met someone who profoundly improved his will to live. If it wasn't for her, Enoch knew that he probably would have killed himself. So, as he tried to keep himself awake, the image of the girl began appearing inside of Enoch's mind.

"I…can't…die…here," He stuttered to himself. "At least…not until…I tell…her how I…feel,"

"Tell who how you feel?"

Enoch's eyes widen as he recognized the voice of the person who just spoke to him just now. He soon rolled over on his back and lifted his head slightly. When he did that, he saw a young girl with hazel brown eyes and burgundy brown hair. She had a pair of antennae-like bangs and a strange metal hair-clip with sharp ends on the top of her head. Upon seeing her, Enoch soon felt a huge surge of strength enter his body as a small blush appeared on his face.

"A…Akiza…,"

"Yeah," She replied in a nonchalant tone of voice. "You look like hell Enoch."

Before her fated meeting with Takashi Nakamura almost 5 years later, Akiza's personality was rather blunt. The reason for this is because her time with Sayer, and the fact that she awakened her powers at such an early age, has caused her to develop a split personality. Her normal personality was the one Enoch was seeing right now, someone who saw things the way they were on the outside and not on the inside. Her other personality, the Black Rose, was someone who represented all of Akiza's anger and would killed anyone who she believed was in her way.

When he met her for the very first time, Enoch could tell right away that there was a lot of pain and resentment that dwelled within Akiza's heart. Because of that, the young man was initially wary of Akiza and tried his best to stay away from her. However, as time went by, that mind-set quickly began to change. After nearly dying at the hand of one of Sayer's test, Enoch watched as Akiza helped him up and gave him a talk about the situation. Although she mostly talked about how good a person Sayer was and that everything he was doing was for the well-being of all Psychic Duelists, Enoch could tell that she cared about his well being too.

It was through her act of kindness that caused Enoch have a different opinion about Akiza Izinski and started warming up to her. Eventually, the two of them became friends and would usually hang out with each other. As time went by though, Enoch's feelings toward Akiza slowly began to change from just simple friendship into something more. He couldn't quite explain it at first, but he soon came to realize that he had fallen in love with her. That realization put a smile on his face as Enoch saw that he now had a new reason to live. He had to live for Akiza and even though he had a feeling that she didn't reciprocate how he felt, Enoch was content with that. As long as she was happy, that's all that mattered.

As Enoch picked himself off the floor and sat on his bed, Akiza simply placed herself by the wall and leaned against it. The two of them then talked about what transpired today, especially when it came to Enoch's test today. Apparently, Akiza was able to hear his screams from the other room and it was annoying her to no extent. Enoch promptly apologized for his actions, but Akiza didn't care. All she wanted him to do was to stop whining.

"You know," She said as she was trying to get one of her ears to pop. "This is getting really old. I've been here for almost a year now and the one thing that I've always heard is you crying and complaining. Enoch, why don't you be a man and finally grow a set."

"I'm sorry Akiza," Enoch said in apologetic tone of voice. "But I just can't help it. It really hurts."

"And that's another thing you always do. You always make excuses Enoch. Stop making excuses!"

Akiza glared at Enoch a little as she watched him place his head down a little. Though young girl was highly critical of him, usually getting on his case whenever he did something that she deemed stupid, Akiza did care about Enoch a lot. He was always there for her whenever she felt sad about something and even though she wouldn't really return the favor, Akiza was very appreciative of that. Upon remembering that, Akiza sighed quietly to herself before walking over and sitting on his bed.

"Look," She said. "I know I'm being hard, but that's only because I know you can get through this. You're very strong Enoch. You just have to convince yourself of that."

Enoch lifted his head a little as he listened to Akiza's words. Even though the manner that she spoke then in was rather stern, he knew that she honestly meant them. That made Enoch very happy and he was soon able to get over his depression. As he looked towards her, he slowly began to close the distance between himself and Akiza. However, before he could get any closer, Akiza took her right index and middle fingers and placed them on top of Enoch's head. She then pushed him so that he would fall on his bed.

"You know that I don't like it when you invade my personal space."

"…I know," Enoch replied. "…I'm sorry about that."

For a moment, the two Psychic Duelists stayed quiet for a moment as they were trying to come up with another topic of discussion. After about 5 minutes however, Akiza was starting to get bored and decided to leave. Not wanting that to happen, Enoch attempted to come up with something that they could talk about. After thinking really hard, he soon came up with a topic and proceeded to blurt it out.

"Hey Akiza," He said. "Isn't tomorrow your birthday?"

"…Yeah," Akiza answered hesitantly. "Why do you ask?"

"Well…I was just wondering what you're going to do to celebrate it. I mean, you are turning 13-years-old and that's kind of a big deal."

"Enoch…the last time I tried celebrating my birthday, I killed my parents!" She said to him, her anger rising a little. "Nothing good ever happens on the day of my birth and nothing ever will! So please, drop it before I get angry!"

As her anger started to build, Akiza's Signer Mark started to glow faintly and a small purple aura was beginning to surround her body. When Enoch saw this, he didn't know what was going on and simply believed that his friend was beginning to lose control of her powers. If that were to happen, he knew that her other personality, the Black Rose, would surface and cause problems for everyone here. Enoch didn't want that to happen. He needed to come up with something that would calm Akiza down. Eventually, after thinking rather quickly, Enoch figured out what to do.

Pulling out one of his Duel Monster cards from his deck, Enoch closed his eyes and started channeling his Psychic Power into the card. Though he didn't quite know it at the time, the young man was in fact using the power of Materialization in order to create something new from the card. After he finishing materializing the card, Enoch watched as it turned into a small picture. He soon presented it to Akiza who proceeded to take the picture from him. When she looked at it, she saw that it had an image of Enoch and herself, only slightly younger.

"What's this?" She asked.

"It's a picture of us on the day we first became friends," Enoch answered. "I wanted to give it to you earlier, but I forgot. I'm sorry."

As she continued to examine the picture, Akiza's anger was beginning to subside. This caused her Signer Mark to stop glowing, which also caused the aura that was surrounding her body to disappear. When Enoch saw that, a small smile appeared on his face as he knew that his plan was working. He soon came up with another idea and decided to tell Akiza about it.

"Akiza…I know that you're birthday isn't anything special to you, but it is to me. After all, if you weren't born then we wouldn't be the friends that we are today. You mean a lot to me Akiza and I want to prove that to you."

"What do you mean?" She asked him.

"Tomorrow…I'm going to give you the best birthday gift you ever had. It's going to be so great that you'll be blown away."

"Really..?" Akiza asked.

"Yup," Enoch said with a smile. "Trust me Akiza. You're going to love it."

After speaking those words, Enoch waited patiently for Akiza to respond. He truly wanted to make her 13th birthday the best one that she ever had, especially after all the crap that she had to go through in her life. Also, he felt that during that time he could finally tell Akiza how he truly feels about her. Making her happy was all he really wanted and he felt that he could do that if this plan of his worked.

Soon, after waiting for about a minute, Enoch watched as Akiza gently put the picture that she got from him away. After that, she turned her attention towards Enoch and looked at him with a mixed expression on her face.

"Alright Enoch," She said. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. However, if I find out you're lying to me…I will never forgive you."

"Don't worry Akiza," Enoch said to her. "Nothing will go wrong."

Upon hearing Enoch say that, Akiza nodded her head slightly before turning herself around and leaving his room. Once she closed the door behind him, the young girl started walking down the hall as she began making her way back to her own room. However, after about 4 minutes of walking, Akiza was suddenly confronted by Recuk.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"…I need you to come with me for a moment,"

* * *

><p><em>The next morning<em>

_Akiza: Age 13_

It was bright morning in New Domino City as the sun glowing rays began pepping through Enoch's window and landed on his face. Upon feeling the sun's warms embrace, Enoch opened his eyes and sat himself up on his bed. Although he was still sore from his treatment yesterday, Enoch couldn't just sit in bed. Today was Akiza's 13th birthday and he couldn't just sit by and rest. He promised her that today was going to be a special day and he wasn't going to break his word. So, after stretching his arms and legs, Enoch got out of bed and got dressed.

Once he was finished, the young Psychic immediately got on the laptop that he had in his room and began hacking into the Arcadia Movement database. Though hacking into it was normally impossible, Enoch was able to steal the encryption keys by sneaking into Sayer's computer room. He was able to do this by secretly asking Akiza for the information, since she was the only other person within the moment aside from Sayer and Recuk who knew the encryption. Enoch didn't really want to use her like that, but he felt that it would be worth it in the long run. Sayer has been using her for so long and Enoch believed that the only way for Akiza to be truly happy was to hamper his plans and put an end to him.

When Enoch finally reached one of Sayer's secret files, the young man quickly examined through it and saw something really shocking. He saw Sayer's plan for him today and how he wanted Enoch to absorb Akiza's powers. Ever since he discovered his power, Enoch has tried his best to resist the transfer of other Psychic Duelists into him. The reason why he was able to do it so well is because he was stronger than those Psychics and thus, strong enough to resist their powers. However, he knew he couldn't that with Akiza's unique abilities.

Her strength was simply to strong and Enoch knew that if he tried to resist them he would most likely die from the strain. He also believed that even if he succeed in taking a portion of her powers, they would most likely reject him and he would die as a result. It was a no win situation and Sayer must've known that. With this realization in mind, Enoch now had to figure out what to do. If he didn't, then only death awaited him.

"What should I do?" He thought. "What should do, damn it!"

As Enoch tried to think of something, the only thing that was appearing inside of his head was Akiza. She's helped him so much in the short time that they've known each other and he didn't want her to have to go through any more of Sayer's plans. As a result, Enoch decided that there only one option for him. He had to take Akiza with him and escape from the Arcadia Movement. He knew that Sayer needed the both of them, especially Akiza, and if he didn't have them then his plans would be pushed back by several years. Hopefully, by that time, Enoch could also convince Akiza on how evil their captor really was and she could convince her to stop him. So, with that plan now in mind, Enoch gathered all the courage that he could muster and went for it.

After grabbing his deck from his desk, he quickly dashed out of his room and began making his way to the upper floors. When a couple of Sayer's guards realized that he was gone and on the move, they proceeded to put the entire building on high alert. No one was allowed to go in or out now of the Arcadia Movement now and meant things were only going to get tougher for Enoch. However, despite that truth, he kept on moving forward. It didn't matter how many Psychics he had to go through, he was going get Akiza out of here and both of them were going to escape.

While he continued to search for her, Enoch noticed something very interesting. On the building's 7th floor, he saw a battle between several Movement guards and a young man with black hair. The battle seemed very one-sided, but Enoch saw that it was the guards who at a disadvantage and not the young individual who was fighting them. He couldn't quite explain it, but the powers of this person seemed very familiar to Enoch. This was especially true when he a green dragon mark on the person's back. It reminded him a lot of Akiza's on mark and wondered if they were related.

Eventually, once the battle was over and all the guards were defeated, the individual looked around the area and saw Enoch in the distance. Believing that he was a threat to him and his mission, he proceeded to pull out a card and materialized it into a kunai knife. Once he had the weapon firmly in his hand, he dashed toward Enoch and prepared to cut him down.

"Wait!" The young man yelled. "I'm not you enemy! You have to believe me!"

The individual didn't trust Enoch's plea and immediately placed him by the wall. He was about to run through him with his knife, but suddenly stopped just before he did so. What stopped him was the boy's eyes. The individual noticed that Enoch's eyes were not the eyes of a liar. That made him believe that he was telling the truth and as a result, he spared his life.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Who am I?" Enoch questioned. "Who are you? That's what I would like to know."

"My name is Alex McQueen. I can't give you the full details on why I'm here, but I can tell you that I'm looking for someone. Her name is Akiza Izinski."

"You know Akiza?" Enoch said, shocked by this information.

Alex examined Enoch closely as he watched the shock and the surprise continue to appear on his face. He could tell just from looking at him that Enoch cared about Akiza a lot. This made him wonder if it was possible to get Enoch to help him find her. It was a worth a shot and Alex knew that he had nothing to lose from asking.

"Hey," He said. "I know we just met, but it's really important that I find Akiza and get her out of here. If you help me then, if you want too, I'll get you out of here too."

"…You can get Akiza out of here? Are you serious?"

"Yes," Alex confirmed. "I know what they do here and it would be really bad if she stays. So please…will you help me?"

It didn't take Enoch very long to agree with Alex's suggestion. He wanted to get Akiza out of here no matter what and a part of him felt that he could do that with Alex's help. Also, even though he couldn't quite explain it, he felt that Alex was a good person. He wouldn't try and launch this rescue mission without having any good intentions. It's for that reason, as well as several others, that Enoch decided to help him with his plan.

"Okay. Since you know the layout of this building better than me, I want you to go and find Akiza."

"Alright," Enoch agreed. "But wait…What are you going to do?"

"I need to head into the main computer room and do some things. Hopefully, by the time you get Akiza, I should be finished. Once that happens, I'll get us all out of here."

Enoch nodded his head in compliance and watched as Alex did the same thing. After bumping fists, the two of them split up into different directions. Enoch proceeded to continue his way up the Arcadia Movement, taking down any Psychic that got in his way, while Enoch made his way to the computer room. Both of them knew what their jobs were and had every intention of carrying them out. All that they really needed to do was hope that things would go smoothly so that this plan of theirs ends successfully.

Soon, after running up 10 more floors, Enoch finally made up to Akiza's room and was standing just behind her door. As he looked at it, he wondered what he would say to her. It was pretty obvious by now that today wasn't going the way that he wanted it to go and that she would be probably be angry at him. Even so, he wanted to tell Akiza that everything was going to be fine and that her birthday was still going to be her best one she ever had. So, after taking a deep breath, Enoch opened the door and slowly walked inside.

"Akiza…" He called. "Are you there?"

"No…But I'm here Enoch,"

Upon recognizing the voice of the person who just said that, Enoch eyes widen as he turned himself around. When he did that however, a powerful fireball struck him right in the chest, causing him to slam straight into the wall. As he fell to the ground, beginning to cough up blood, Enoch lifted his head up and saw that the person who attacked him was Sayer.

"You…bastard…"

"I'm a bastard?" Sayer questioned. "No Enoch. If anyone's a bastard, it's you! Since the beginning, you've been impeding my plans, but that's all over with now! You're to die here…and you're never going to see Akiza again!"

Sayer pulled out another card and inserted it into the Spell/Trap Zone of his Duel Disk. When he did that, another fireball materialized in front of him and struck Enoch. He then continued to repeat this process over and over again, not wanting to stop until the person who was getting in the way of plan was dead and out of the way. Enoch tried his best to block the attacks, but his endurance was extremely low. After going through Sayer's test yesterday, defeating several Psychic Duelists in order to get here, and having to deal with Sayer himself, it was only natural that he was extremely fatigue.

Eventually, Enoch's injuries finally caught up with him and he soon found himself falling face-first on the ground. As he lied there, Sayer walked over towards him, smiling evilly as he did so. He then used his Psychic powers to create a spear from his cards and pointed its tip right at Enoch's head.

"Well Enoch…it's been fun. We you get to hell, say hi to you parents for me."

"You…can say hi to them…yourself. You…SON OF A B***H!"

Just as Sayer was about to lunge the spear right at his head, all the power that Enoch absorbed over the years came to the surface, giving him the strength to avoid the attack. He then went on a mad spree and began pummeling his tormentor with a barrage of punches and kicks. Sayer tried his best to avoid the attacks, but Enoch's strength was simply too much for him to overcome. Eventually, it was him bleeding on the floor as Enoch grabbed the spear and used it to pierce through Sayer's abdomen.

As he watched Sayer bleed to death, Enoch looked at the spear for a moment before throwing it out the window. For him, he didn't want to use Sayer's own weapon against him. He wanted to kill him with his own power. By doing that, it would truly indicate that Enoch was the one who put an end to Sayer and avenge all the lives that he took in his stupid quest for revenge. To that end, the young man took 2 cards and materialized a set of twin blades from them. He then placed the edge of each blade by Sayer's neck, ready to decapitate him at a moment's notice.

"Any last words before you die?"

Sayer looked at Enoch as he felt more blood coming out from his chest. Even though he was feeling woozy and was beginning to lose consciousness, he wasn't worried. He had an ace in the hole, one that he kept just in case this happened.

"Just one," He replied with a smile. "…Akiza."

Enoch eyes widen upon hearing the name of the girl that he loved, causing him to drop his blades. He soon felt an enormous blast of Psychic energy coming from the side of him and turned to see where it was coming from. When he did, Enoch saw that it was coming from Akiza, who seemed very upset by what she was seeing.

"So," She said as she took her Psychic hairclip off, causing a large portion of her hair to fall in front of her face. "This is what you had planned for my birthday, huh Enoch? Sayer told me everything, how you used me to get information. And now, after seeing you about to kill him, it only confirms what I have to do."

As her hatred toward Enoch began to intensify, Akiza's Signer Mark started glowing again. This caused the purple aura that surrounded her body earlier to reappear, only much more powerful than it was before. She went on to pull a card from her deck and point it towards Enoch.

"I told you," She continued. "I would never forgive you if lied to Enoch. And now…YOU'RE ABOUT TO PAY THE PRICE FOR YOUR MISTAKE!"

Gathering all the power that she could muster, Akiza materialized her Lord Poison monster and had it attack Enoch. The he tried valiantly to repel the beast, Enoch simply wasn't strong enough and quickly found himself being overpowered. Also, because of the poison that covered Lord Poison's claws, Enoch's body was quickly starting to become numb, making it hard for him to move.

Eventually, the poison finally took full effect and Enoch found himself falling on the floor. When that occurred Akiza, although she wasn't fully aware of it, made Lord Poison disappear and proceeded to pull out another card. When Enoch got a good look at it, he saw that it was her Black Rose Dragon.

"You told me that I'd be blown away today. Well Enoch, the only one who will blown away…is you!"

As she watched her prepare to summon her Black Rose Dragon, all Enoch could was close his eyes. He longer had the strength to move and even he did, he probably would stayed still anyway. Despite his good intention, it didn't change the fact that Enoch did betray Akiza to some extent. If his death was the only thing that would satisfy her hunger for vengeance, then he accepted his fate. However, fate had other plans for him.

In the instant that Akiza was about to summon her dragon, Alex suddenly appeared and picked up Enoch. He then used his powers as a Dragunity Knight to create a massive stream of Reiatsu that managed to cancel out Akiza's summoning. This gave him opportunity that he needed to bust through the window and escape with Enoch. Although he wanted to take Akiza too, the young man had the awareness to realize taking her now could cost Enoch his life. It was a difficult choice, but Alex had to choose and he chose to save the life of the person who needed him the most.

Once they were gone, a couple of the guards came into the room and tended to Sayer's injuries. As they did that, Akiza took out the picture that Enoch gave to her yesterday and stared at it intently. Once Sayer was fully healed, he proceeded to walk up to her.

"Do you finally realize it now Akiza?" He asked. "You can't trust anyone besides me. I'm the only one that you can trust. You're true friend."

"…Yeah. I know."

Akiza looked at the picture for a few more seconds before finally splitting it down the middle. As she did that, she watched the picture fall to the ground as Sayer was smiling deviously.

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

"Back then, I was so stupid. I believed so much in Sayer that I didn't give Enoch the chance to explain himself. But then, how could I? When I learned that he used me in order to get information, it was almost like he betrayed me. How can you trust a guy who does that?"

As Akiza continued to examine the picture that Enoch gave her almost 5 years ago, Lilly and Crow looked at her and saw how conflicted she was about the whole situation. Although she felt that Enoch betrayed her trust it was still apparent that Akiza couldn't completely hate Enoch. It was the same thing once she learned that Sayer was using her. Despite everything that he's done, the young woman couldn't fully hate him and even stated that she was glad, regardless of what she discovered. Though that would upset a lot of people, Akiza's friends understood how she felt and were glad when she said that. It was just another testament of how kind and gentle she really was.

Soon, Lilly walked over to Akiza and gently placed her hand upon her shoulder. When she looked up, the Psychic Duelist saw a very kind smile appear upon the face of her friend. Just seeing her smile made Akiza feel better because, as she began to know her, she started to see Lilly as an older sister that she never had.

"It's never easy talking about your past," Lilly said to her. "But even so, thank you for telling us Akiza. It really means a lot."

"…It's no problem," Akiza replied. "I just felt…that you guys deserved to know. I have no idea what Enoch is like now after all these years, but I hope that my story could help, even in the slightest way."

"Believe me Akiza, it did more than you know."

Once the two of them finished having their small conversation they, along with Crow and the rest of the Finalists, heard that the Duel between Takashi and Enoch was about to begin. Wanting to get a good view of the match, the three friends decided to make their way outside. As they did that, Crow let Akiza walk in front of him and Lilly so that he could talk to the latter in private.

"What did you mean when you said, it did more than you know?" He asked.

"…I'll tell you after the Duel," She replied. "If things go the way I think they might, then the both of us are going to find out what really drove Enoch to compete here."

Meanwhile, in the middle of the Kaiba Dome, Takashi and Enoch were busy preparing for their Duel. As the spectators cheered for the both of them, Takashi was trying to figure out what was on his opponent's mind. He felt, somewhere deep within his heart, that this Duel had far more meaning than just moving on to the Semi-Finals. It felt more personal, like this Duel would permanently affect the lives of both Duelists. Takashi didn't quite know what was causing this feeling and hoped that this Duel would help him figure it out.

Eventually, after both Duelists finished preparing their decks and placed them into their respective Duel Disks, Takashi and Enoch put them and their Duel Gazers on. Once they did that, both of them noticed that the Augmented Reality Vision was activated, creating a holographic copy of their surroundings.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen!" _The MC called over the microphone. _"In this Duel, the Field Spell that our competitors will be fighting in is called…Astral World!"_

Upon making his declaration the MC, as well as everyone else in the Kaiba Dome, watched as the entire stadium started to transform. A cosmic space started to surround everyone, giving them the impression that they've been transported to another world. Also, due to the effect of the Augmented Reality Vision, the seats and railings that were in the stadium transformed in order to match the new surroundings. That sight impressed a lot of people, giving the new AR Vision even more praise than before. Once the transformation was complete, the MC continued on with his explanation.

"_In the Astral World, whenever a Duelist successfully summons a monster from their Extra Deck, they can proceed to draw 1 card from their deck. Though this may not seem like an interesting effect, it will test our Duelists by having them come up strategies on the fly due to the number of cards they might have. This Duel will them to the limit and prove which of them deserves to move on to the next round!"_

When the MC finished his explanation about the Field Spell, a large roar erupted throughout the entire stadium. However, Takashi simply tuned out the cheers of the spectators. The only thing that was on his mind was Enoch, the person that was causing him to have all this uncertainty. It was making him sick to his stomach and he wanted it to end. So, looked toward his opponent, Takashi glared at him as he asked Enoch a question.

"Hey," He started off. "What's your deal? When I first met you, I've been getting the feeling that you view with discontent. We're supposed to be on the same side, yet you see me as an enemy. What exactly did I do to you that made you feel that way?!"

"…It's not what you did," Enoch replied after a short pause. "It's what you might do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Takashi questioned.

"Telling you now would be somewhat meaningless. You'll learn what I mean during our Duel."

Takashi was somewhat irritated upon hearing Enoch say that, as he didn't like it when people beat around the bush with him. However, he put irritation into his back pocket and decided to focus on the Duel at hand. If Enoch said that he would find out what he meant during the Duel, Takashi had no choice but to trust him. He had to figure out this Psychic's true intentions, even if it meant swallowing his pride and doing what Enoch wanted him to do.

Once he did that, Takashi proceeded to activate his Duel Disk and soon watched as his Duel Gazer activated as well. He then watched as Enoch activated his own Duel Disk and Duel Gazer, all the while making sure that he didn't take his eyes off his young opponent. As soon as both of them were ready, Lilly and the others made it to the outer part of the Kaiba Dome and went on to place their Duel Gazers over their eyes as well. When they did that, the three of them then went on to observe the Duel very closely.

_Everybody, the first match of the Fortune Cup Finals…is about to begin!"_

* * *

><p><em>Duel!<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Enoch: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Enoch said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "I draw!"

Swiftly pulling a card from his deck and putting it into his hand, Enoch took a moment to examine all of his cards before looking back over towards Takashi. After observing both of his Qualifying Duels, as well as the Duels that he participating in since coming to New Domino City, the Psychic had a pretty good idea on what his opponent's strategy might be. As a result, Enoch formulated a plan and quickly put it into motion. He started off by taking one of his cards and placing it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon my Psychic Snail, in Attack Mode!"

**Psychic Snail: ATK 1900 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

From the stars that made up the Astral World Field Spell, a small portal appeared in front of Enoch. Inside of it, a large and grotesque snail appeared, making its way before him. Whenever in the stadium got a good look at the creature, they saw that Psychic Snail had gold and blue skin with a protruding shell on its back. Once it was out and standing by its master's side, Enoch then went on to take another card and insert it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Emergency Teleport! With it, I can Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Psychic-Type monster directly from my hand."

Enoch grabbed one more card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. Once he did that, he watched as the stars created another portal that brought for another one of his monsters.

"I Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Esper Girl!"

**Esper Girl: ATK 500 DEF 300 LVL 2**

As the monster started to emerge from the portal, Enoch watched as a young girl with light brown hair appeared before him. Her attire looked like something from a science fiction movie and she wielding highly technological staff. As soon as Esper Girl was out, Enoch continued on with his turn by taking the 2 monster cards that were on his Duel Disk and place them into his Graveyard.

"I Tune my Level 4 Psychic Snail with my Level 2 Esper Girl!"

Psychic Snail and Esper Girl nodded their heads as both of them jumped high into the sky and prepared to begin the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Enoch grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it upon his Duel Disk.

"My innermost nightmare dwelled within the abyss of my heart, become the ultimate force to decimate my opponents! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Psychic Nightmare!"

**Psychic Nightmare: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 6**

When the ritual finally came to an end, a bright flash of light consumed the entire field for a few moments. When the light faded away, Psychic Nightmare appeared onto the field and stared down Takashi with a ferocious glare. Enoch then proceeded to draw another card from his deck, via the effect of the Astral World Field Spell.

"I activate Psychic Nightmare's Special Ability!" He declared as he placed the card that he drew into his hand. "I can select one card from your hand and guess what type it is. If I'm right, my monster gains 1000 Attack Points until the end of your next turn! I guess that the card on the far right of your hand is…a Spell Card!"

Takashi examined all the cards that were his hand before looking over at the card that was on the far right of it. When he saw what it was, a small look of disdain appeared upon his face as he picked up the card and presented to Enoch. It was Double or Nothing, a Quick-Play Spell.

"I was right," Enoch said. "That means my Psychic Nightmare's Attack Points increase by 1000!"

**Psychic Nightmare: ATK 3400**

As Takashi placed his Spell Card back into his hand he watched as a purple aura surrounded Psychic Nightmare's body, effectively increasing its attack power. Once that happened, Enoch continued on with his turn by taking 2 cards from his hand and placing them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on field, right behind Psychic Nightmare's dragon-like tail.

"I then set 2 cards face-down and end my turn,"

"_Amazing!" _The MC declared just as Enoch finished up his turn. _"Enoch Wylie managed to bring forth a powerful monster with over 3000 Attack Points on just his first turn! Clearly, this Duelist means business today! So, how will Takashi Nakamura handle this predicament?"_

Takashi didn't pay attention to the MC's words and simply pictured a flow chart within his mind. The chart was filled with all the cards that were in his hand and all the cards that were on Enoch's side of the field. He then proceeded to predict every possible move that he and his opponent could make during this turn and what countermoves that he could respond with. Once he finished contemplating his strategy, Takashi then went on to place his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Upon drawing his first card of the match, Takashi took a quick glance at what he picked up and immediately pictured it into his flow chart. After imagining all the moves he could make with that card, he soon placed it into his hand before pulling out another card and placing it into his Graveyard.

"By discarding a monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this Tuner Monster directly to the field. Appear now, Quickdraw Synchron!"

**Quickdraw Synchron: ATK 700 DEF 1400 LVL 5**

The stars that were on Takashi's side of the field quickly formed a portal, allowing his Quickdraw Synchron to appear from the other side. Once it was out, Takashi then pulled another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone, right beside Quickdraw's card.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Winged Kuriboh!"

**Winged Kuriboh: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

Another cluster of stars formed a second portal and Takashi's Winged Kuriboh promptly emerged from it and stood by his Quickdraw Synchron. As soon as both monsters were out, Takashi then took both of their respective cards and placed them into his Graveyard.

"I Tune my Level 1 Winged Kuriboh with my Level 5 Quickdraw Synchron!"

The two monsters nodded their heads in compliance and made their way high into the air. Once they reached a certain height, they began to conduct the ritual for a Synchron Summoning. It was here that Takashi pulled out one card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"The bond comes together to call a new power. Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Come, Turbo Warrior!"

**Turbo Warrior: ATK 2500 DEF 1500 LVL 6**

When the ritual came to another eruption of light consumed the entire field for a few moments. As it began to fade, Takashi's Turbo Warrior appeared and promptly stood by his side. He then proceeded to draw 1 card from his deck, via the effect of Astral World, before continuing on with his turn.

"Turbo Warrior, attack his Psychic Nightmare!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Enoch questioned. "In case you're bad at math, my Psychic Nightmare is more powerful than your Turbo Warrior!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Takashi countered. "I activate Turbo's Special Ability! When it attacks a Level 6 or higher Synchro Monster, that monster loses half of its Attack Points!"

**Psychic Nightmare: ATK 1700**

Enoch's eyes widen from disbelief as he watch a red aura begin to overtake the purple aura that was surrounding his Synchro Monster. Due to this new aura's power, Psychic Nightmare lost half of its strength, making it an easy target for Takashi's Turbo Warrior.

"Go…Accel Slash!"

Turbo nodded its head and quickly formed its hand into a powerful spear. It then proceeded to gather energy into it before piercing right through Psychic Nightmare's body. When that happened, Enoch's monster exploded and he was blown away slightly due to the force of the impact.

**Enoch: 3200 LP**

"_Incredible!" _The MC shouted. _"It seemed like Enoch had the advantage due to his powerful monster, but Takashi was able to use that strength to his advantage and take down Psychic Nightmare! It was truly an incredible display of skill!"_

"…Perhaps," Enoch said, agreeing somewhat with the MC. "However, it's going to take more than a lucky break to defeat me. I activate the Trap Card: Miracle's Wake! With it, I can revive my Psychic Nightmare since it was destroyed in battle this turn."

A bright flash of light shined across Enoch's side of the field, as his Psychic Nightmare returned to his side. However, because it was just brought back from the Graveyard, the extra 1000 Attack Points that it received on Enoch's previous turn were now gone.

**Psychic Nightmare: ATK 2400**

Once Takashi saw that, the young man continued on with his turn by taking the card that he drew at the beginning of his turn and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, the card appeared face-down on the field, right behind his Turbo Warrior.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "It's your move!"

"I know," Enoch acknowledged. "Draw!"

Drawing another card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Enoch began his next turn by pulling out a card and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. Upon doing that, he watched as another cluster of stars began to form another portal.

"I Normal Summon: Silent Psychic Wizard!"

**Silent Psychic Wizard: ATK 1900 DEF 0 LVL 4**

When the portal created from the stars was stabilized, Enoch's Silent Psychic Wizard appeared and stood by his Psychic Nightmare. As soon as he saw that both of his monsters were out on the field, Enoch then proceeded to grab one card from his Graveyard.

"I activate my Silent Wizard's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned, I can select 1 Psychic-Type monster that's in my Graveyard and banish it! I choose my Esper Girl!"

A holographic image of Enoch's selected monster appeared on the field for a few seconds before eventually disappeared. Once it left the field, and Enoch put its card away, the Psychic Duelist continued on with his turn by activating one of his face-down cards.

"Next, I activate the Continuous Trap: Brain Hazard! With it, I can Special Summon 1 banished Psychic-Type monster. Return to battle, Esper Girl!"

Once Enoch finished explaining the effect of his Trap, Takashi watched as a bolt of lightning shot from his opponent's Trap Card and struck the field. Inside the lightning bolt was Enoch's Esper Girl, who proceeded to stand by its fellow Psychic-Type monsters once the lightning that was covering its body disappeared. As soon as that happened, Takashi had a pretty good idea on what was coming next.

"I Tune my Level 6 Psychic Nightmare with my Level 2 Esper Girl!" Enoch declared.

The two monsters nodded their heads in response and quickly jumped high into the air. Once they were high enough, they acted quickly and began to conduct the ritual for a Synchro Summoning.

"Synchronized minds can do absolutely anything! Go forth and unleash your full potential! Synchro Summon! Awaken, Thought Ruler Archfiend!"

**Thought Ruler Archfiend: ATK 2700 DEF 2300 LVL 8**

When the ritual finally came to an end, another flash of light completely enveloped the field for a few seconds. As it began to fade, a loud roar began to echo throughout the entire stadium. It was from Enoch's Thought Ruler Archfiend, a powerful Psychic-Type Synchro Monster that resembled a green and grey demon. When it landed on the field, right beside Silent Psychic Wizard, Archfiend released an even more powerful roar than before. It was so loud, that it made the ground underneath it to crack. Enoch would then draw another card from his deck, due to Astral World's effect, before conducting his Battle Phase.

"Archfiend," Enoch called. "Go and attack Turbo Warrior!"

"I don't think so," Takashi countered. "I activate the Trap: Half Unbreak! With it, my Warrior can't be destroyed through battle and the Battle Damage that I would take is cut in half!"

Thought Ruler Archfiend gathered a large amount of power into its sharp and yellow claws before firing a blast of electrical energy toward Turbo Warrior. Fortunately though, due to Takashi's Trap, Turbo was able to withstand the attack and the 200 Points of damage that Takashi took was now cut half.

**Takashi: 3900 LP**

Enoch kept his cool upon seeing Takashi keep Turbo Warrior on the field as he expected that much from the young Duelist. He knew that this Duel was going to be a long one and that it wouldn't worth his effort to test Takashi if he couldn't do this much. So, after pretending to sigh out of frustration, Enoch took the card that he just drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The then materialized onto his field, right behind his Archfiend.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

Once saw Enoch end his turn, Takashi looked on at his opponent and wondered what was on his mind. Having been gifted with the unique ability to read his opponent's intentions, Takashi has been trying to figure out Enoch's motives. However, for some strange reason, he's been unable to do that. At first he wondered if it was because of his Psychic Powers, but Takashi soon realized that wasn't the case. If it were, he would have sensed Enoch's Reiatsu spike. Eventually, he decided not to worry about it and simply end the Duel, right here and right now.

"It's my turn," He declared. "Draw!"

Quickly drawing his next card, Takashi took a quick glance at it before placing it into his hand. He proceeded to grab the second card from the left and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Goblindbergh!"

**Goblindbergh: ATK 1400 DEF 0 LVL 4**

Upon playing his card, Takashi watched as the stars around him once again formed into another portal. From it, his Goblindbergh appeared and it was carrying a very large canister just below its fighter plane.

"When this card is successfully summoned, I can then Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster directly from my hand. Appear now, Gagaga Magician!"

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Goblindbergh dropped the canister that it was carrying and let it fall to the field. When it landed, it opened up and let out Takashi's Gagaga Magician. Once both monsters were out, Takashi then went on to stack both of their respective cards on top of one another.

"It's time to end this! I Overlay my Level 4 Goblindbergh and Gagaga Magician! With these 2 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

The two selected monsters nodded their heads before transforming into colorful orbs of light. They then began flying around the entire Kaiba Dome, much to amazement of all the spectators who were watching the Duel. After a while the portal to the Overlay Network appeared before Takashi and the two orbs of light soon dived right for it.

"Xyz Summon!"

When the two orbs entered the Overlay Network, a large eruption of colorful sparks emerged and began falling down on everyone. It was at this moment that Takashi pulled out a card from his Extra Deck and stacked it on top of his other 2 monster cards.

"Appear now, a warrior who represents the unyielding power of hope, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

From the Overlay Network, Utopia emerged and released a powerful of glow of golden light that shined across the entire stadium. When that happened, everyone watching the Duel looked on in awe as most of them were amazed by what they were seeing. Even the MC, who usually had a lot on his mind, was at a loss for words when he saw Utopia. It was truly, an amazing creature to behold.

While everyone else was looking on at Takashi's Ace, the young proceeded to continue on with his turn. He started off by looking at the remaining cards in his hand, making sure that he everything ready to begin his winning move. Once he was able to confirm that he did, he then went on to touch the top of his deck.

"Due to Astral World's effect, I can draw one more card from my deck!" He said as he drew a card. He then grabbed another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "Next, I activate the Spell Card: Utopia Buster!"

"Utopia Buster…?" Enoch questioned. "What's that?"

As the glow that covered Utopia's body began to fade, the Number lifted its arms as the stars around it began to materialize into a large golden cannon. When it started falling towards it, Utopia caught the cannon and directed it towards Enoch's side of the field.

"Utopia Buster is a Spell that can only be activated when Utopia is on the field," Takashi explained. "With it, I can destroy one monster on your field that has the least Attack Points and deal you damage equal to its power! Your weakest monster is Silent Psychic Wizard, so get ready to take 1900 Points of damage!"

Enoch's eyes widen as he watched Utopia fire a golden missile from its cannon. When it struck Silent Psychic Wizard, the monster exploded on contact and Enoch was sent flying from the force of the shockwave.

**Enoch: 1300 LP**

"I'm not done yet!" Takashi shouted. "Next I'm having Turbo Warrior attack Thought Ruler Archfiend and since its Level is greater than 6, Turbo's Special Ability cuts your monster's Attack Points in half!"

**Thought Ruler Archfiend: ATK 1350**

Upon recovering from the explosion that Utopia caused, Enoch looked up as Turbo Warrior began to make its way towards his Thought Ruler Archfiend. He then observed as red aura surrounding his monster, causing it to grow weaker.

"Go…Accel Slash!"

Turbo Warrior complied and ran through Thought Ruler's chest with its powerful claws. This caused the Psychic-Type monster to explode and once again, Enoch was blown back by the shockwave.

**Enoch: 150 LP**

Once the crowd saw that Enoch was about to lose all of his Life Points, they all started cheering for Takashi in unison. It was nothing short but incredible that he was able to do this in just one turn. Not only was he showing that he deserved to be here, but his skills made a lot people believe that he deserved to be the one to face Alistair in the end. Takashi Nakamura, without a shadow of a doubt, was an incredible Duelist.

As his friends watched him from a far, all of them were happy for Takashi as well. Toru, Madas, and Tem were all cheering as loud as they could while Misaki simply cheered in her own unique way. Crow was getting pumped up, as the sight of Takashi's skills was making him eager to Duel himself while Lilly just smiled in acknowledgement. The only person who wasn't smiling or cheering for Takashi was Akiza.

Although she was happy for him, the young woman felt that something wasn't right. Things seemed to be going too well for Takashi and that was making her extremely nervous. She soon placed her hands together, praying that what she was thinking wasn't the case.

"…Takashi,"

Back at the Duel, Takashi watched as Enoch was busy getting up from the floor. He had no monsters out and he was primed to receive a direct attack from Utopia. However, despite that fact, Takashi was hesitating. Like Akiza, he also suspected that something was off, but he couldn't quite figure it out. Eventually, he soon decided to shake those thoughts from out of his head. He's been feeling out of it all day and he's sick and tired of it.

"Utopia," He called. "Attack his Life Points directly…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia complied and proceeded to grab one of its swords from its side. The Number then began to make its way towards Enoch, prepared to strike the finishing blow and end this Duel. However…

"I activate my Rainbow Kuriboh's Special Ability!"

Takashi's eyes widen from shock as he watched a rainbow colored Kuriboh materialize in front of Enoch and begin to make its way towards Utopia. Once it got close enough, the monster inserted itself into the Number's chest plate, causing its body to become multi-colored. Utopia then stopped moving, like it was completely frozen.

"…What the," Takashi stuttered. "What the hell…happened?"

"It's like I told you," Enoch answered. "It's the effect of my Rainbow Kuriboh."

**Rainbow Kuriboh: ATK 100 DEF 100 LVL 1**

"I drew this card via Astral World's effect. With it, since a Xyz Monster you control declared an attack, I can equip my little friend onto your Utopia. Now, as long as Kuriboh stays inside Utopia, you can no longer attack with it."

"_Oh…My…God!" _The MC stuttered. _"Did you hear that ladies and gentlemen? It seemed like Takashi had the Duel well within his grasp, but Enoch suddenly called upon the power of his Rainbow Kuriboh to stop Utopia attack. Whether you like it or not, this Duel continues!"_

As the crowd continued to look on with shock, Takashi was soon able to overcome his surprise and began gritting his teeth in anger. He thought he had the Duel won, but apparently Enoch had other plans. Now, with Utopia unable to battle or switch its battle mode, Takashi had no choice but to declare something that he didn't want to say.

"I end my turn,"

"Good," Enoch replied. "It's my turn now, Draw!"

Drawing another card from his deck, Enoch took a quick glance at it before looking back over at Takashi. As he examined him, the Psychic Duelist could tell that his opponent was beginning to waver. The fact that he still couldn't figure out his motives as well as the fact that one of his best monsters was now immobile, was bothering Takashi and it was causing him to lose focus. Though he didn't react to this knowledge, this was precisely the outcome Enoch wanted. He proceeded to bring more confusion to Takashi's soul as he pulled a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"First, I activate the Spell: Monster Reborn, in order to bring back my Silent Psychic Wizard!"

A bright flash of light shined across Enoch's field as his Silent Psychic Wizard returned to the field and stood by his side. Once it was out, he then went on to take another card from his hand and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Psychic Meister!"

**Psychic Meister: ATK 1000 DEF 200 LVL 3**

The stars that made of the Astral World once again gathered together in order to create another portal. Once it was completed, a man who looked like a magician from the future came through it and stood by Enoch's Silent Wizard.

"I activate my Meister's Special Ability! When it's successfully summoned, I can target another Psychic-Type monster that's on my field and combine its Level with my Meister. The only other Psychic-Type monster that I have is my Silent Psychic Wizard, which is Level 4. That means it's Level and my Psychic Meister's Level now become 7!"

**Silent Psychic Wizard: LVL 7**

**Psychic Meister: LVL 7**

Psychic Meister pulled out a small staff from its cape and began waving it around. As it did that, the monster brought forth a golden aura that covered its and Silent Psychic Wizard's body, effectively making them both the same level. Once that was over, Enoch then placed both his monster's cards on top of each other.

"I now Overlay my Level 7 Silent Psychic Wizard and Psychic Meister! With these 2 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

Takashi watched as both of Enoch's Psychic-Type monsters transformed into colorful orbs of light that began flying all over the stadium. As they did that, he also observed that the portal of the Overlay Network started to appear, only it was on his opponent's side of the field. Once it was out completely, the orbs soon dove right for it as Enoch pulled a card from his Extra Deck.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, a monster who evades any attack that targets it, Number 74: Master of Blades!"

**Number 74 – Master of Blades: ATK 2700 DEF 2300 Rank 7**

When the two orbs of light made their way into the Overlay Network, Enoch proceeded to place the card that he pulled onto his Duel Disk. It was at that moment that an eruption of light occurred from the portal and began showering everyone with colorful sparks. Takashi covered his eyes for a moment as the lights that were surrounding him were too bright to bear. When he eventually reopened him, he saw a powerful Xyz Monster on Enoch's field. It resembled an Arab as it was wearing Arabian clothing, like a turban, an open jacket, and a cape. Also, on top of the Number's turban, was a marking of the number 74.

As the young man looked on in shock, everyone else in the stadium was staring along with him. No expect Enoch to have a Number Card, especially since there was no record of him using one in the Qualifying Round. Even Akiza, who knew Enoch better than anyone else here, had no idea that he had such a creature. She soon began to wonder what it was, but she would have to wait as Enoch continued his turn.

The Psychic Duelist started off by drawing another card from his deck, due to Astral World's effect. After looking at it for a moment, a small smile appeared on Enoch's face as he took the card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Equip Spell: Knives of Avarice, and place it on Master of Blades!" He declared.

Upon activating the Spell, Enoch watched as 7 glowing Knives appeared before his Number. Using its own Psychic Powers, Master of Blades levitated each of the knives and placed them right in front of it.

"With the power of Knives of Avarice," Enoch continued. "Whenever my Master of Blades destroys a monster, either though battle or an effect, I gain Life Points equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points."

Takashi's eyes widen upon hearing the Spell's effect as it meant that Enoch could practically regain all the Life Points that he lost just by having his Number destroy his monsters. It was a terrifying effect and Takashi knew that it could turn the whole Duel around. Because of that, some sweat started pouring down his face as he watched Enoch conduct his Battle Phase.

"Master of Blades, attack his Turbo Warrior…Avarice Barrage!"

Master of Blades complied and proceeded to launch all 7 of its knives towards Turbo Warrior. However, before any of the blades could connect with their target, Number 39: Utopia got in front of its fellow monster.

"I activate Utopia's Special Ability!" Takashi declared. "By using 1 Overlay Unit, I can stop your monster's attack!"

"Like hell you will!" Enoch countered. "I activate my Master of Blades' Special Ability! When an effect is activated that involves this card, I can use 1 Overlay Unit in order to negate that effect and destroy the card who used it! Also, I can then destroy one more card on the field. So, say bye-bye to both Turbo Warrior and Utopia!"

As an Overlay Unit was about to enter into Utopia's body, Master of Blades used its Psychic Powers to make it disappear. With the Unit gone, Utopia and Turbo Warrior were left wide open and both were struck by Master of Blades' weapons. When they connected, both monsters succumbed to the negative energy that each of the knives carried and suddenly exploded. The force of the explosion sent Takashi back a few feet.

"Due to the effect of my Knives of Avarice, I now gain Life Points equal to both your Utopia's and Turbo Warrior's Attack Points," Enoch explained. "Both of them had 2500 Points, which means my Life Points increase by 5000!"

**Enoch: 5150 LP**

A blue aura surrounded Enoch's body for a moment as the effect of his Knives of Avarice Equip Spell started to take effect. As that was happening, Takashi was slowly getting back up to his feet. It was here that Enoch decided to the young man back down on the floor.

"Since both your monsters are destroyed, a Replay now occurs. So, Number 74: Master of Blades now attacks your Life Directly Takashi! Go…Avarice Barrage!"

The Number complied with Enoch's order and proceeded to throw each of its knives towards Takashi. As he saw them come towards him, the young man managed to avoid each of them. However, the attack still wasn't over. Using its powers, Master of Blades created a stream of lightning that shot from the hilt of each of the knives. The lightning struck Takashi, causing him to scream in pain as his Life Points began to drop.

**Takashi: 1200 LP**

Once the attack came to an end, Takashi fell to the ground as electricity continued to linger around his body. He soon began coughing up blood, but the crowd simply believed that this was only an illusion due to the realistic features of the Augmented Reality Vision. As a result, the crowd simply cheered on, impressed at the way Enoch was able to make a comeback.

The only ones who knew that Takashi was in actual pain were his friends. The other Signers were able to tell right away as their marks started glowing simultaneously, indicating to them that Takashi was in danger. Worried for him, Akiza decided to go out and help Takashi. Even though it would mean his disqualification, she simply couldn't stand by and watch as the love of her life was about to be killed. However, before she could get too far, someone appeared from behind and grabbed Akiza's arm. When she turned to see who it was, the young woman was shocked to see that it was Sona Shitori.

"You will not interfere," She told her.

"Why not?!" Akiza asked. "If I don't something, Takashi could be killed!"

"If that happens…then it happens. Besides this Duel has more meaning than you realize Akiza. After all, the focus of this Duel…is solely centered on you."

Back at the Dueling Field, Takashi was still struggling to get back on his feet. During his training he had felt several Psychic Attacks before, but nothing like this. It was like he was just attacked by 100 Psychics, all at the same time. Because of that, his body was in pain all over and it took almost all of his effort and willpower just to stay awake.

Meanwhile, as he watched Takashi struggle, Enoch was looking on with a disappointed look on his face. He had thought that his opponent would have been prepared for his Number, but he was sadly mistaken. Also, the fact that he wasn't able to recover from his Psychic-induced attack made Enoch even more upset. During his time at the Arcadia Movement, the treatment that he experienced was a 1000 times worse that what Takashi was feeling. Seeing him lie on the floor like that was making him sick as it was proving that Takashi doesn't have what it takes.

"This is sad," He said to him. "As this level of strength, not only are not strong enough to protect her, but you're not worthy of her as well."

"…What…do you…mean," Takashi said, trying his best to lift his head up. "Who am I…not worthy…of?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Enoch questioned. "I'm talking about Akiza. She told me that you were a good Duelist and how you desire to protect others. However, I can see now that her belief is misplaced. You can't protect anyone Takashi Nakamura…and you surely can't protect Akiza!"

Enoch closed his eyes for a moment and remembered all the good times that he had with Akiza before the incident almost 5 years ago. He then recalled how happy Akiza seemed with Takashi and it caused him to ball his fist in frustration. Soon, a silver aura covered his body as he reopened his eyes and looked toward his fallen opponent.

"She told me to give you a chance…and that's exactly what I'm doing. You want to be with Akiza? Then defeat me Takashi Nakamura…and prove your worth!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As the Duel between Takashi and Enoch continues, our hero finds his back up against the wall. Can Takashi overcome this challenge and prove his worth to Enoch or is he simply too weak, as the Psychic Duelist believes him to be? _

_Meanwhile, Akiza discovers how Enoch really feels about her. How will she react to it and how will it affect their rocky relationship?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 76: Proving one's worth – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, it's Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First, I want to discuss the effect of Number 74: Master of Blades. In the official card game, its effect can only be activated when it's Targeted by an effect. So in truth, Utopia could have blocked its attack with its Special Ability. Please keep that mind and please know that I only did that to give the chapter more suspense._

_Next, please let me know how you feel about this chapter with a review. It's the best way to support Over the Nexus. Also, if you have the time, please introduce any of your friends to my story. I would love to hear their opinion about it as well._

_Well guys, that's it for now. Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	76. Chapter 76

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 76: **_Proving one's worth – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em>5 months ago<em>

The life of an international spy is never an easy one. They're constantly on the move from place to place, never having the opportunity to sit down and be with the people they love. They steal top secret information from various military and government bases, despite the fact that doing so could get them killed. And lastly, they have to keep any information that they learn to themselves or they could not only be endangering their own lives, but the lives of the country that they're working for as well. It's a hard job and not a lot of people can handle it. Then again, Enoch Wylie isn't most people.

Upon being rescued from the Arcadia Movement by Alex McQueen, the young Psychic Duelist knew very well that he couldn't stay in New Domino City any longer. How could he? If he did stay, it wouldn't take Sayer very long to find him and send some Psychic assassins down in order take his life. Also, even if he did find a way around the Psychics, there was no way he could mount a rescue mission in order to rescue Akiza. She already hates and will most likely kill him the moment she saw him. With no option left available to him, Enoch reluctantly came to the realization that he had to leave.

Not wanting him to leave without being prepared, Alex requested that Sona train Enoch so that he could master his powers. Despite the fact that she really didn't want to do it, Sona eventually agreed to train Enoch and the young woman saw that he was a natural learner. Because of this, the training went by fairly quickly and soon mastered the basics of his powers. Once that happened, Sona suggested to Alex that they have Enoch work for her cousin, who was a spy for the Japanese government. Knowing that the life of a spy will keep Sayer from locating him, as well as giving him the opportunity to further develop his skills, Alex agreed to it and Enoch was on his way.

Once he became a spy for the Japanese government, Enoch quickly rose through the ranks thanks to Sona's training and his Psychic Powers. He traveled all across the world doing many different jobs, such as infiltrating the United States Senate or stealing intelligence from the Federal Republic of Germany. He did that, as well as many other things and did them very well. However, as he gained more experienced and learned more secrets, the Japanese government soon began seeing Enoch as a liability and planned to have him killed. Luckily for Enoch however, he caught wind of his planned assassination and managed to escape at the last moment.

Since his defection, Enoch used the skills that he acquired to work as a freelancer. Whatever country paid him the most would be the country that he would lend his services too. Though this act caused him to be hated by a lot of people around the world, especially those countries that he worked and then betrayed, Enoch didn't mind at all. In his eyes, he already betrayed the one person that he cared about the most and other betrayals that he experienced afterwards would pale in comparison.

This was Enoch Wylie's life for the past 4 and a half years. It was a life that he did not want, but had grown to accept. The only thing that kept him going was his growing feelings for Akiza Izinski and the hope that he could make amends with her one day. Eventually though, an opportunity came for that moment to happen and Enoch didn't even see it coming.

On that day, Enoch was busy conducting a mission in London England. According to his employers, some big shots at the African Embassy, the Queen of England was secretly conducting some plans for her country and was not revealing it to the rest of the world. Enoch's job was to find out what those plans were and sabotage them if they posed a threat to Africa. Reluctantly, Enoch decided to take the assignment. A part of him felt that he was going for no real reason, but he needed the money so he had no right to complain.

Upon reaching the castle where the Queen of England; Elizabeth II, resided, Enoch was able to get around the security with little to no effort. Once he made it into the throne room, he moved the chair that the queen usually sits in during her meetings, revealing an underground staircase that leads deeper into the castle. When he reached the end of the staircase and entered a small room, he encountered a large document that contained the plans that he was looking for. As he examined them, Enoch sigh quietly to himself as the plans really weren't anything to get excited over.

"Preparations for the birth of the Prince of Cambridge," He read quietly. "What a joke. Everyone and the mothers already know about this."

Enoch shook his head in disapproval as he simply couldn't believe that he traveled halfway across the globe just to discover that the plans he was looking for was already public knowledge. He knew that a lot people were paranoid about a lot things, but sometimes it was simply too much to bear. It's these types of instances that makes Enoch question why he decided to choose this line of work in the first place. However, after remembering everything that happened to him that lead up to this point, Enoch simply let out another sigh as he already knew the answer to that question.

Soon, after putting the document back in its proper place, Enoch sneaked out the castle in the same way that he first sneaked in. Once he was back outside, the young man decided that he needed some down time so that he could clear his head. To that end, Enoch made his way to the great clock tower of London, otherwise known as Big Ben.

Once he was at the top of the tower, Enoch sat down by one of the walls before pulling out a card from his pocket. He then used his powers of materialization to transform the card into a picture, the very same one that he gave to Akiza the day before her 13th birthday. As he looked at it, tears started to form around his eyes as he began to recall those times with Akiza and the events that led to their broken friendship. Enoch then looked high into the night sky, staring at the hundred of millions of stars that resided there.

"Akiza…are you okay?" He questioned. "And if so…are you happy?"

"She's more than happy Enoch,"

Upon hearing a familiar voice next to him, Enoch eyes widen from shock as he began looking around the area. Eventually, as he turned his attention to one of the gargoyle that was placed around him, he saw Alex McQueen sitting on top of one of them. The Underground King of New Domino City was busy looking around all of London while eating a croissant, a delicious pastry that's pretty famous in the European area. When he turned his head and looked at the surprised Enoch, Alex simply presented his friend with one of his extra croissants.

"Want a croissant?" He asked. "They're names are pretty stupid, but they taste good."

"Umm…no thanks," Enoch replied. "What the hell are you doing here Alex? And what do you mean that Akiza is more than happy? Did something happen to her?"

Alex placed his hand in front of Enoch's face, informing him that he's asking too many questions at once. He soon finished the one croissant that he was eating before pulling out a picture from his pocket. Alex then tossed the picture over to Enoch before going back to eating his pastries. The journey from Japan to London was a long one and the young man hardly had anything to eat during that time. Also, since he believed that Enoch would be highly intrigued by the image on the photo, Alex wanted to give his friend some time to think before he answered his questions.

As Alex ate, Enoch examined the picture very carefully and was very shocked by what he saw. The image he was looking at consisted of Akiza, hanging out with Takashi and the rest of their friends. All of them seemed pretty happy, with the exception of Misaki who looked emotionless as always. Enoch couldn't believe by what he seeing, but soon started shedding tears of joy. Not only was Akiza free from Sayer and the Arcadia Movement, but she also had friends as well. Seeing that made him really happy as Akiza's happiness was all that Enoch really wanted and now that was the case.

"About 5 months ago," Alex said as he continued to eat. "Takashi Nakamura, the young man with the black and blue hair, arrived in New Domino City and immediately got into an altercation with Akiza, who was busy attacking one of his friends at the time. When the two of them faced each other in a Duel, Takashi managed to awaken his powers as a Signer and used them to defeat Akiza. It was during this conflict that Sayer caught wind of skills and decided to kidnap him and his friend Lilly Muto, the girl with the crimson hair and another one of the Signers. Unfortunately for Sayer however, he underestimated the full extent of their powers and they managed to escape, along with Akiza."

Enoch listen to Alex's story very carefully as he continued to examine the picture some more. He took particular interest in the images of Takashi and Lilly, the ones who not only liberated Akiza, but also seemed to be the ones closest to her as well.

"Takashi Nakamura is a pretty amazing individual," Alex said as he continued his story. "Not only did he save Akiza from Sayer and even managed to convince her that he was evil, but he also freed her from the darkness that dwelled within her heart. I doubt that anyone, not even you or me, could've done that. So, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that Akiza is starting to fall for him."

Alex took another bite out of one of his croissants before looking over toward Enoch. He saw how the look of happiness that was on his face slowly transformed into a look of confliction. Enoch was in love with Akiza, so it was hard for him to accept that she was in love with someone else. Also, since he didn't know Takashi, he couldn't help but wonder if this young man was simply using Akiza just like Sayer was or did he truly care for her well-being. In the end, Enoch didn't know and that was bothering him.

"Alex," He said, not taking his eyes off the picture. "This Takashi Nakamura….what type of person is he?"

"I can't answer that," Alex said as he finished eating. "If you want to know what type of person Takashi is then you're going to have to figure that out for yourself."

"I see…"

Enoch continued looking at the picture that Alex gave to him before pulling out the one that he made for Akiza. He compared both photos very carefully and saw one major difference between them. In his picture with Akiza, it was clear that she didn't really care about being with Enoch and that she looked very upset. In Takashi's picture with her however, it was clear that Akiza did care and that she was genuinely happy. Just seeing that difference made Enoch somewhat upset as he couldn't understand how Takashi could have changed Akiza so much. He wanted to be the one to bring her back to the light, but now that could never happen. That, along with some other important factors, bothered Enoch.

Eventually, after he continued to watch his friend sulk slightly, Alex sighed quietly to himself before pulling out another item from his pocket. It was a small 4 GB flash drive that contained information that he wanted Enoch to look at it. After tossing it up and down for a few seconds, Alex tossed it to Enoch and watched as he caught it. He then pulled out his last croissant and broke it in half before he continued speaking.

"Enoch," He said. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I need your help with something important. If you do this for me, then I'm pretty confident that you'll be able to find out what type of person Takashi is. So, what do you say?"

Alex presented Enoch with one the halves of the croissant that he just broke and waited for his response. Soon, after about 5 minutes of waiting, the Dragunity Knight watched as Enoch grabbed the pastry from him and took a bite out of it. Upon seeing that, Alex smiled and soon took a bite out the other half of the croissant that he left for himself.

As the both of them ate, Enoch looked back toward the stars and began to recall his time with Akiza again. Once he finished his recollection, the Psychic Duelist stood up from the ground and looked down toward Alex. He then finished eating his pastry before finally answering his proposal.

"Alright," He said to him. "I'll help you. Besides, I can use the opportunity to determine…the worth of this Takashi Nakamura."

* * *

><p><em>Present day<em>

**Takashi: 1200 LP**

**Enoch: 5150 LP **

**Number 74 – Master of Blades: ATK 2700 DEF 2300 Rank 7**

"Get up Takashi Nakamura! Get up…unless you don't want to be with Akiza!"

It was the first Duel of the Fortune Cup Finals and Takashi Nakamura was going head to head with his opponent, Enoch Wylie. In the beginning of the match, it seemed that Takashi had the upper hand as he was completely dominating Enoch and his unique Psychic-Type monsters. His victory seemed guaranteed, especially when he brought out his Ace Monster, Number 39: Utopia. However, just as he was about to launch the finishing blow, Enoch suddenly made a surprising comeback.

Not only was Enoch able to avoid Utopia's direct attack, but he was also able to destroy it with his own Ace, Number 74: Master of Blades. With the power of his Number, as well as the Equip Spell: Knives of Avarice, Enoch was able to regain all the Life Points that he lost and bring Takashi to the brink of defeat. It was an amazing sight to behold and it only signified Enoch's strength as a Duelist.

As Takashi was struggling to get back to his feet, due to the pain of Master of Blades' Psychic induced attack, everyone watching in the Kaiba Dome was cheering as loud as they possibly could. This was probably one the most epic Duels that any of them ever seen before and wanted to see it continue. However, not everyone was at the same level of excitement. Takashi's friends knew that he was in real trouble and that there was good chance he could die during this Duel. Because of that, most of them wanted to step in and stop this Duel from going on any further. However, that couldn't happen as one of Takashi's mentors, Sona Shitori, was trying to stop them.

Akiza, Lilly, and Crow, the ones who the closest to their friend, were wondering why Sona was stopping them from helping Takashi as it didn't make a lot of sense. Since she, along with Alex, were the ones that trained that trained Takashi, then shouldn't they want him to survive this Duel? If he dies, then all their hard work would be for nothing. This was the question that was going through all their minds, especially Akiza's as the Psychic Duelist was the first one that Sona stopped.

"What…do you mean by that?" She asked her. "What do you mean that this Duel…is solely centered on me?"

"It's exactly like I said," Sona told her. "This Duel is solely centered on you Akiza. If it wasn't for you, then Enoch wouldn't even be here."

"What are you talking about?" Akiza questioned. "How do I fit into all of this?"

Akiza's constant questioning was causing Sona to question the intelligence of the young, but powerful, Psychic Duelist. Something this simply shouldn't be hard to figure out, but apparently Akiza still didn't get it. This made Sona sigh out of disbelief for a moment before going on to explain her reasoning.

"The reason why Enoch is here is because of you Akiza and your growing relationship with Takashi," She said. "He wants to determine Takashi's worth and the best way for him to do that is to Duel him here in the Fortune Cup."

"I still don't understand," Akiza told her. "Why would Enoch want to determine Takashi's worth?"

Sona closed her eyes and started shaking her head a little bit. Even after explaining what she meant, Akiza still didn't understand. She soon began to wonder if she would have to spell things out for Akiza in order get her to understand. Luckily, Sona wouldn't have too as Lilly pretty much figured out what she meant and decided to speak up about it.

"Enoch is in love with Akiza…isn't he?"

"That's right," Sona confirmed.

Akiza's eyes widen as she couldn't believe what she just heard from Lilly. She then quickly turned her attention back towards the Duel watched Enoch continued to look down at Takashi. Could what she said possibly be true? Did Enoch really love Akiza? She was about to ask if this was truly the case, but Crow stepped up before she got the chance.

"What do you mean Enoch is in love with her?" He asked. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Well, I wasn't sure at first," Lilly told him. "After listening to Akiza's story about Enoch, I developed a theory, but wasn't able to confirm it. After all, Enoch went to extreme lengths to rescue Akiza from Sayer and even gave her that picture. I don't think he would've done that unless he had some sort of feelings for her."

"That's right," Sona said, deciding to finish up Lilly's explanation. "In the beginning, Alex had no intention of having Enoch participate in Fortune Cup. He simply wanted him to stay behind the scenes and conduct reconnaissance. However, Enoch managed to convince him otherwise. He wanted to see how strong Takashi, the person who rescued Akiza, really was and he was willing to go to any lengths in order to accomplish that. To that end, Enoch changed the match-ups for the first round of the Finals so that he and Takashi would face each other."

"I see," Lilly said. "By doing that, Enoch could determine whether or not Takashi has the strength to always be there for Akiza and protect her from harm, unlike he was able to do."

After she finished talking, Lilly turned her attention toward the Duel for a moment before looking over toward Akiza. She could tell by the conflicted look that was on her face that this revelation was taking a massive toll on her. Akiza was in love with Takashi and a part of her believed that he felt the same way. All she wanted for the both of them to be together and live a very happy life. However, Enoch also loved Akiza and a part of her remembered all the good times that they've spent together as well. Those memories made her realized that she cared for Enoch a lot, despite the fact that their friendship was on rocky ground. Soon, Akiza began to wonder what she should do and how she can handle it all.

Eventually, as she contemplated all of that, Sona walked over towards Akiza and gently placed her hand upon her shoulder. When she looked up at her, Akiza saw that Sona had a somewhat kind expression on her face. She knew what she was going through more than anyone, especially since she was in love with Alex, but knew that he didn't feel the same way. Those who don't know the problems of others can't possibly understand them and Sona understood Akiza's problem completely. However, she also knew that the Signer had a choice to make.

"Akiza," She said. "I know you're going through a lot, but everything is going to be fine. However, by the time this Duel comes to an end, you have to make a choice about who you really want to be with. Takashi and Enoch, each in their own way, care about you deeply. You need to decide who you want to be with while also telling the other that you don't feel the same way. Only by doing that will you, along with Takashi and Enoch, be able to find peace through this ordeal."

After telling her this, Sona looked at Akiza as she started thinking very carefully about what she had to do. There were only 2 roads available to her and she had to pick one, even if it meant breaking the heart of one the boys that she cared about. Eventually, after thinking about for about a minute, Akiza finally reached her decision.

"Thank you guys," She said to her friends. "I know what to do."

Back at the Duel, Takashi was just starting to get back up from off the ground. Even though he trained himself to endure attacks from Psychic Duelists, the pain that he was experiencing was nothing that he ever felt before. To him, it felt like a hundred Psychics were attacking him all at once. This made Takashi wonder just how much power did Enoch have and whether or not this was the full extent of it.

Meanwhile, Enoch was busy watching Takashi struggle and he was very displeased by what he was witnessing. After hearing so many people praise his skills, especially Akiza, Enoch wanted to believe that Takashi was indeed capable of protecting her. However, from what he was seeing, that simply wasn't the case. Not only did Takashi look like he didn't have the strength to protect Akiza, it also seemed like that he didn't have the strength to protect himself. This upset Enoch as all the hype that he's been hearing about Takashi was just that, hype.

He soon decided to focus back on the Duel as it was still his turn. After successfully launching a direct attack with Number 74: Master of Blades, Enoch needed to make a closing move in order to put his opponent into an even deeper hole than the one he's in right now. Eventually, he found a card in his hand that could allow him to do just that. To that end, Enoch inserted the card into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone and watched as it appeared face-down on the field, right behind his Master of Blades.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now Takashi, make your move! Show me the strength that Akiza has so much faith in. That is…unless you're too weak to bring it out."

Takashi glared at Enoch as he spoke those words to him. Since the moment he first met him, the Signer has felt something shady coming his opponent and the way he's been acting only confirmed his suspicions. Not only was Enoch questioning his strength, but he was also questioning whether or not he had the ability to be with Akiza. That annoyed Takashi to no end and he decided that he needed to shut his opponent up once and for all. By doing that, he'll prove to Enoch that everything he believes him to be is wrong.

So, after finally picking himself off the ground, Takashi took a deep breath before placing his hand upon his deck. He then glared at his opponent one more time before getting ready to draw his next card.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Swiftly pulling out the top card of his deck, Takashi took a quick glance at it and saw that it wasn't a card that could help him make a comeback this turn. Because of that, he simply placed it into his hand before examining all his other cards. After looking at all of them, Takashi decided that he should play defensively for now. By doing that, he could stall for time until a proper plan could be put into place.

To that end, Takashi pulled out the card that was on the far right corner of his hand and placed it face-down on his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. By doing that, this caused a face-down card to appear horizontally onto his side of the field. Once that happened, Takashi then took the card that was in the middle of his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. This action caused another face-down card to appear right behind his first one.

"I set a monster face-down in Defense Mode," He said. "Then I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"What…?" Enoch questioned. "That's it? That's all you're going to do? If so, then you've just sunk even lower than you did last turn."

Takashi clinched his fist in frustration upon hearing Enoch say that to him, as the Signer wanted to run up to his opponent and deck him right in the face. However, if he did that, he'd be falling right into Enoch's hands. Takashi had to keep his cool. Despite the fact that he was now playing defense, he had stay focus and hope that an opportunity to strike back would present itself in the future.

"Fine then," Enoch continued. "If that's all you're going to do…then I might as well end this Duel right now! It's my turn, Draw!"

Quickly drawing the top card of his deck and placing it into his hand, Enoch didn't waste any time in activating the face-down card that he set on his last turn. When the card flipped itself up, it started glowing a bright white color as a monster started emerging from it.

"I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I can revive one of the monsters that reside in my Graveyard. So return to battle, Thought Ruler Archfiend!"

**Thought Ruler Archfiend: ATK 2700 DEF 2300 LVL 8**

Just as Enoch called out its name, Thought Ruler Archfiend completely emerged from the Call of the Haunted Trap and started standing next to Master of Blades. The mere sight of the creature made Takashi even more upset than before as he just took it down with his Turbo Warrior. With it now back on the field, and him not having his Turbo Warrior anymore, Takashi's trouble's has just doubled.

"Thought Ruler Archfiend," Enoch called. "Attack his face-down monster!"

Thought Ruler complied with its master's demand and soon started firing a powerful blast of purple energy from its claws. When the blast struck the card, it flipped up and the monster was revealed to be Gogogo Golem.

**Gogogo Golem: ATK 1800 DEF 1500 LVL 4**

"Sorry," Takashi said sarcastically. "But since my Golem is in Defense Mode, its Special Ability prevents it from being destroyed through battle once per turn!"

"That's fine," Enoch pointed out. "Then I'll just have my Master of Blades destroy your Golem instead. Go…Avarice Barrage!"

Master of Blades nodded its head upon hearing Enoch tell it to destroy Takashi's defense position monster. The Number then levitated the knives that were floating around its body and threw them towards Gogogo Golem. When it struck its body, the Rock-Type monster exploded and the shockwave caused Takashi to fly backwards towards the ground.

"Next, I activate the effect of my Knives of Avarice Spell Card! Since Master of Blades destroyed your Gogogo Golem through battle, I now gain Life Points equal to its Attack Points!"

**Enoch: 6950 LP**

A bright blue aura covered Enoch's body for a few moments as the effect of his Equip Spell increased his Life Points even further. Once that happened, he then continued on with his turn by activating one the face-down cards that he set during the beginning of the Duel.

"Now, since a Psychic-Type monster I control successfully destroyed a monster through battle, I can activate the Trap Card: Mental Strain! With it, you now take damage equal to Gogogo Golem's Level, multiplied by 200 points. Your monster was Level 4, which means you now lose 800 Life Points!"

A blast of white energy shot from Enoch's Trap Card and quickly struck Takashi's head. When that happened, the young man started yelling at the top of his lungs as the pain that he was feeling was beyond his ability to comprehend. As Takashi continued to scream louder and louder, his Life Points began to drop significantly.

**Takashi: 400 LP**

"_This is insane Ladies and Gentlemen!" _The MC declared. _"Enoch Wylie, who was struggling at the beginning of the match, has completely turned this Duel around. Not only has he brought his Life Points far beyond their normal setting, but he's also brought Takashi's Nakamura's Life Points all the way down to a measly 400. I know I said this before, but I truly believe that this Duel is about to reach its conclusion!"_

The spectators watching the Duel all started cheering in unison as most of them agreed with the MC. Although Takashi did have the match in hand, Enoch was able to regain control and completely dominate ever since. It wouldn't be too much longer until he defeated Takashi moved on to the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals.

Meanwhile, as the crowd continued to cheer, Takashi's friends all looked on in horror as they continued to watch him fall prey to Enoch's Trap Card. All of them wanted to step in now more than ever, as they simply couldn't take this anymore. They knew that if the situation was reversed, Takashi wouldn't even hesitate and would come and help them. It was that reasoning that made each of them want to help him, but they didn't make a move.

This Duel, despite the fact that it was entirely one-sided, was Takashi's to fight. If they stepped in and interfered while the match was still going on, then Takashi would get an instant disqualification and Enoch would win the Duel. Also, even if that wasn't the case, Takashi would probably never forgive them for it. He's a very prideful person and would rather lose a Duel than win with someone's help. That's just the type of guy Takashi is and because of that, his friends kept their cool and hoped that he could somehow turn this around.

As they waited for that moment, Takashi continued screaming as the power of Enoch's trap continued to take his toll on him. It was like he was experiencing the most painful migraine that he ever felt before in his life. The pain was so unbearable that it soon came to the point that Takashi couldn't take it anymore. As a result, he passed out and fell face first onto the ground.

When Enoch saw this, the Psychic Duelist simply looked on with a look of disdain on his face. This moment proved that Takashi didn't have the strength, nor the ability, to protect Akiza from harm. If it were him, he would have endured any type of punishment and still have the strength to keep going. That's just the type of person Enoch is, an individual who's willing to dive into the depths of Hell if it meant protecting the one that he loved the most. The fact that Takashi couldn't endure his simple Trap Card only proved that he didn't have the right to be with Akiza, even if she wanted to be with him.

"This Duel is over," He said to comatose Takashi. "I've given you plenty of chances to prove your worth Takashi Nakamura, but you simply couldn't do it. You're not worthy of Akiza and you never will be. So, as you lie there you can think about your own weakness and all the people that you've let down!"

_Would you please…SHUT THE HELL UP!_

Enoch's eyes widen suddenly upon hearing a young woman scream at him from inside his mind. He soon began looking around the immediate area, wondering if he was just imagining the voice or if it was really there. As he did so, the voice started screaming at him so more.

_What gives you the right to question Takashi's worth?! All you're really doing is reflecting all your problems onto him. If anyone's worth needs to be questioned…IT'S YOURS!_

The female voice kept screaming louder and louder within Enoch's mind, causing him to have a massive headache. The pain was so unbearable that the Psychic Duelist closed his eyes, fell to both knees, and placed his head onto the ground. All the spectators were highly confused by his actions and wondered what was wrong with him. He didn't seem sick, but it was clear that he was in a lot of pain.

As this continued, Lilly suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from her right arm. When she looked down, the young woman noticed that her Signer Mark was glowing slightly. She wondered what was causing it to glow as it only did so when she was either in danger or seeing a new spirit for the first time. After opening her mind and focusing real hard, Lilly sensed a new presence enter the Kaiba Dome and realized it was the latter. Because of that, she turned her attention back toward the Duel and saw a light yellow aura surround both Takashi and Enoch.

"What the…?" She said in a confused tone of voice. "What kind of spirit is that?"

While Lily continued to figure out what was going on, the female voice that was yelling inside Enoch's thoughts started screaming louder than before. In an attempt to escape the voice, Enoch retreated into his inner most section of his mind. It was a white space, with nothing and no one around. It was here that the Psychic finally stopped hearing the voice that was plaguing his thoughts, relieving him a great deal. However, that relief was only temporary.

Shortly after entering his white inner world, Enoch saw a golden light appear in front of him. As it began to change shape, the light slowly began to transform into a beautiful young woman with blonde hair, bright green eyes, and slightly endowed chest. She seemed around Takashi's age, making her around 18 to 20-years-old.

When the girl finally materialized into her true form, the first thing the young woman did was glare at Enoch with a large amount of anger and intensity. The Psychic Duelist didn't know who this woman was or why she seemed angry at him, but he realized that she was interfering with his Duel with Takashi. Also, the fact that this mysterious girl was questioning his worth annoyed Enoch greatly and he decided to erase her from his mind.

As he proceeded to pull out a card from his deck and got ready to materialize it into a weapon, the woman instantly dashed over to Enoch and grabbed his hand. She then squeezed it tightly, causing Enoch to let go of the card. After she did that, the girl in punched Enoch in the stomach before grabbing him by his collar.

"Takashi's strength is beyond your ability to judge," She told him as her body began to glow. "Allow me to show you…his true strength."

Just as she finished saying that, the girl disappeared from Enoch's mind and the young man suddenly found himself back in the Kaiba Dome. When he got up from the ground, he noticed that not even a minute had passed since he first heard the girl. This made him wonder if what he just experienced was real or just a figment of his imagination. Eventually, Enoch started to believe the latter as he felt a strange Reiatsu swarming around Takashi's body. After that, he then saw that life was beginning to return to his opponent's eyes as well, confusing him even more.

"What the hell?" He questioned. "He was out cold. So how…can he be waking up?"

As Enoch continued to question this, the Reiatsu that was surrounding Takashi soon entered his body, transforming itself into Reiyoku, otherwise known as Spiritual Energy.

_Get up Takashi…You need to get up!_

Hearing an older, but familiar, voice inside of his mind, Takashi's eyes began to widen as more life returned to them. He then began to slowly get back on his feet as the voice continued to talk to him.

_Don't you remember what I told you? If you're afraid of losing, then you just have to get stronger! If you're afraid __you won't be able to protect your friends from harm, you have to get stronger and make a vow that you won't ever let them down! And if you're afraid of losing the one that you love, then you must not only get strong enough to protect her, but pledge to yourself that you will! Even if everyone thinks poorly of you and believes that your weak, stick out your chest and scream your defiance! Remember Takashi…you have to remember!"_

As the voice continued to talk to him, a small smile started to appear on Takashi's face. He then closed his eyes for a moment and imagined the same girl that Enoch just saw within his mind, although she was much younger. After he finished recalling her, Takashi opened his eyes back up and soon covered himself with his blue aura. Once he did that, the Signer got up from the ground and started screaming for a moment, which caused his aura to grow stronger in turn. When he finished screaming, Takashi looked up toward the sky and soon saw the girl, in her older appearance, looking at him.

"I do remember," He said silently. "Thank you…Hikari."

Upon hearing him say her name, Hikari smiled at Takashi before disappearing from his sight. When she left, the young woman wondered if what he saw was truly the spirit of his childhood friend or just his mind playing tricks on him. In the end, it didn't matter. Just seeing her again, and remembering the words that she imparted to him, made Takashi very happy. He then smiled quietly to himself before turning his attention towards Enoch, his aura once again growing stronger.

When the crowd saw the aura, everyone was obviously startled by it and wondered what was going on. However, upon remembering that this Duel was set under the realistic Augmented Reality Vision, they soon came to the conclusion that this form was simply a part of the Duel. As a result, some of the spectators started cheering for Takashi again, even though his was losing by a large margin.

Hearing those cheers of approval from the crowd made Takashi's friends really happy as it showed that some of them still supported him. Also, out of all of his friends, Lilly seemed the most happy as she was the only one who was able to see Hikari. It was clear by her appearance that the young woman was indeed a spirit and that she was watching over Takashi all this time. That realization made her wonder if she was the girl that Takashi lost all those years ago. She wanted to tell the others about it, but soon decided against it. Lilly agreed that she would only bring it up after the Duel was over and not a second beforehand.

Back at the Duel, Enoch was slightly amazed by the aura that was surrounding Takashi's body. Having seen similar auras from both Alex and Akiza respectively, the Psychic Duelist knew right away what the power was and how Takashi was producing it. Even so, Enoch admitted to himself that it was still an amazing sight to behold.

"So this…is Takashi Nakamura's Signer Powers," He thought to himself. "It's stronger than I initially thought."

Enoch continued to watch Takashi immerse himself with his aura for a few moments longer. Once the power faded away and his body returned to normal, the Signer soon pointed his finger towards his opponent and proceeded to glare at him.

"…Enoch," He said. "You told me earlier that I don't have the strength to protect Akiza, which resulted in me becoming unworthy of her. Well, you might be right about that. After all, I already failed to protect the first person that I loved. What's stopping me from failing again?"

"If that the case Takashi," Enoch said as he got himself back together. "Why are you still getting up? The difference in our Life Points should indicate that you never had the strength to properly protect her."

"I'm well aware in the difference in our points," Takashi said. "I'm also aware that I'm not at the level of strength in which I want to be. However…I can't let that stop me from protecting the people that I care about. I love Akiza Izinski. I can say that because she gives me the strength to continue even things look hopeless for me. That's why…even though you say I'm not worthy of her…I'm still going to protect Akiza and love her regardless!"

Enoch gritted his teeth slightly upon hearing Takashi speak those words. How could someone so weak admit his faults, yet still declare that he'll continue to protect the one that he loves? That question made Enoch very mad and his Reiatsu increased in strength as a result of his anger.

"You…You have no right to say such things!" He stated. "You'll still continue to love and protect Akiza? How can you say that when you not only admitted that your weak, but also that you lost the first love of your life?! If I were in your position, I would never let that happen!"

"But you did let that happen Enoch," Takashi countered. "You've shown me through this Duel of ours."

A look of surprise appeared on Enoch's face when he heard Takashi say that to him. For a moment, he was stunned and didn't have anything to say. When he finally snapped out of it, Takashi was already giving the Psychic an explanation behind his reasoning.

"You're in love with Akiza too. However, you probably feel that your feelings for her are one-sided. It's because of those one-sided feelings that you decided to test me during this Duel. By doing so, you could determine if I, unlike you, had the strength necessary to always be there for Akiza and protect her. Well…I'm a right?"

"…You're right…" Enoch admitted. "So what's your point?"

"My point is that Akiza…isn't as weak as you think she is," Takashi told him. "We both want to protect her Enoch and there's nothing wrong with that. However, protecting her and shielding her are two different things. You determining the worth of the people she wants to be with is the same thing as holding her back. She's old enough to make her own choices in life and she's sure as hell strong enough to defend herself if she's in trouble. I love Akiza with all my heart Enoch and I will protect her if she needs me to do so. However, I will not hold her hand and shield her from every single person that I deem unworthy, just like what you're doing now. If I did do that…then I'm no better than Sayer!"

Upon hearing the name of the person he hated the most, something started to snap within Enoch's mind. The main reason why he decided to enter the Fortune Cup in the first place was so that he could determine Takashi's skill and see if he was worthy of Akiza. However, according to Takashi, all Enoch was really doing was holding Akiza back and shielding her from every little thing. Doing that was never his intention, but Takashi begged to differ.

Also, the fact that his was opponent was comparing him to Sayer, albeit discreetly, was pissing Enoch off to no end as well. All his life, the young Psychic has tried his best to avoid ever becoming Sayer. The man was sociopath and the only person that he cared about was himself. Enoch never wanted to become like Sayer, so the fact that Takashi was comparing him to the madman made Enoch very upset.

Eventually, his angry reached a point where it could no longer be contained. As a result, a large amount of his Reiatsu started covering the entire Kaiba Dome. When Takashi sensed it, he could tell right away that Enoch was bringing out the full extent of his powers. However, despite that fact, the Signer stood his ground and didn't waver. Having finally realized why Enoch is fighting him, as well as strengthening his resolve to protect Akiza, Takashi was able to clear the doubts that were plaguing his soul. He soon felt like his usual self and felt completely confident in his ability to win, despite the fact that he was at a huge disadvantage.

"Takashi Nakamura…" Enoch said as he angrily glared at his opponent. "You, out of all people, have the audacity to compare me to Sayer. I will make you pay for that. You are unworthy of Akiza and I never let you be with her!"

"It's not up to you, or me, to determine who's worthy of being with Akiza," Takashi replied as he placed his hand upon his deck. "That's for her to determine. All I can do…is prove to you that you're wrong about me."

Both Duelists looked at each for moment as the tension was rising within the Kaiba Dome. It was now clear that the time for talking was now over. If they truly wanted to settle this matter once and for all, then they needed to let their cards do the talking. To that end, Takashi closed his eyes for a moment and thought about everyone that he ever cared about. When he finally reached Akiza, a small smiled appeared on his face as he finally drew the top card of his deck.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

After he drew his next card, Takashi slowly flipped it around and took a good look at it. When he did, the young man instantly envisioned a flowchart inside of his mind, containing all the cards that were used during the Duel. As an electrical current flow through each of the cards, Takashi saw all the potential moves that he could make this turn. He soon found one play that caught his interest in particular and decided to implement it.

He started off by taking the card that he drew and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he then grabbed another card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Gagagawind!" He declared. "With this card, I can Special Summon one Gagaga monster from my hand as a Level 4!"

Once he finished explaining the effects of his Spell Card, Takashi grabbed the Gagaga monster that he wanted to summon and firmly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Gagaga Girl!"

**Gagaga Girl: ATK 1000 DEF 800 LVL 4**

The stars that made up the Astral World Field Spell that both Takashi and Enoch were Dueling in started forming around the former's side of the field. They soon transformed into a small portal, which allowed Takashi's Gagaga Girl to appear from the other side. Once the Spellcaster-Type monster was out, Takashi continued on with his turn by grabbing another card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone, right next to Gagaga Girl's card.

"Next, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Delta Flyer, in Attack Mode!"

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

Another cluster of started transformed themselves into a small portal, which allowed Takashi's Delta Flyer to appear from the other side.

"I activate Delta Flyer's Special Ability! Once per turn, I can select one face-up monster on my side of the field and increase its Level by 1. I choose my Gagaga Girl, making her into a Level 5 Monster!"

**Gagaga Girl: LVL 5**

Delta Flyer started flying around Gagaga Girl as a colorful dust started powering down from its wings. When the dust hit Gagaga Girl, Takashi watched as a colorful aura surrounded her body for a few moments, effectively changing Level from 4 to 5. As soon as the aura faded, Takashi gently placed his hand upon his Extra Deck.

"I Tune my Level 5 Gagaga Girl with my Level 3 Delta Flyer!"

The two monsters nodded their heads in unison when both of heard their master's declaration and proceeded to fly high into the air. Once they were high enough, they proceeded to begin the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. It was here that Takashi opened his Extra Deck and pulled a card from it.

"Gathering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon!"

Upon saying that part of his Summoning Chant, Takashi's Signer Mark started glowing very brightly. When Enoch that glow, the Psychic Duelist knew what was coming and prepared himself for it. The right of the Signers also knew was coming as each of their respective marks started glowing like Takashi's.

"Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Once he shouted the name of the monster that he wanted to summon, Takashi proceeded to take its card and place it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, instead of a bright flash of light covering the entire field, thousands of the stars that made up Astral World started coming together. After a few seconds of it, the stars completely changed shape and transformed into Takashi's first Ace Monster; Stardust Dragon.

Everyone who watching the Duel, with the exception of those who already seen the monster before, were amazed by the appearance of Stardust. It left them awestruck, leaving the entire stadium silent for about a minute. It was only when Stardust Dragon roared at the top of its lungs that the crowd finally woke up and started screaming their heads off.

"_Amazing…" _The MC said over the loudspeaker. _"I've seen plenty of incredible monsters in my day, but this one takes the cake! Stardust Dragon…I don't know what kind of monster it is, but I can't wait to find out!"_

All of the spectators agreed with the MC and proceeded to watch closely as Takashi continued on with his turn. His next move involved him drawing another card from his deck, since the effect of the Astral World Field Spell allows him to do so since he successfully summoned a monster from his Extra Deck. After he did that, Takashi then grabbed the card that he drew at the beginning of his turn and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, with Stardust on the field, I equip it with the Spell Card: Radiance Wings!" He stated. "With this card, Stardust Dragon can no longer be destroyed through battle."

Stardust Dragon started roaring once more as it began to receive the power from Takashi's Equip Spell. This power caused both of its wings to glow, changing them from a light blue color to a golden yellow color.

"Stardust Dragon, attack Thought Ruler Archfiend…Cosmic Flare!"

Once again, Stardust let out one last roar before proceeding to gather the power that it could muster from inside its body. As soon as it gathered enough, it released a blast of powerful cosmic energy from its mouth and aimed it right for Enoch's Thought Ruler Archfiend. When the Psychic Duelist saw this, he seemed shocked for a moment before eventually calming down and smiling.

"Go ahead and attack me," He said to his opponent. "My monster is stronger than yours and even if Stardust Dragon can no longer be destroyed through battle, you still take damage equal to difference in their points!"

Just as Enoch said, Thought Ruler Archfiend was able to repel the blast that was coming right for it and send it back to Stardust. When it got hit, the Dragon-Type monster was able to survive thanks to the power of its Radiance Wings. However, that didn't change the fact that Takashi still took Battle Damage.

**Takashi: 200 LP**

"I activate the second effect of my Radiance Wings," Takashi said as the smoke from Stardust's attack cleared around him. "When the monster equipped with this card attacks, but fails to destroy a monster through battle, its Attack Points are doubled until the End Phase of the turn and it can attack again!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 5000**

Enoch's eyes widen when he saw a golden aura cover Stardust Dragon's body for a few moments, effectively doubling its Attack Points. Once that happened, the Synchro Monster prepared itself to launch another attack.

"Let's try this again...Stardust Dragon, attack Thought Ruler Archfiend…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust once again complied with Takashi's command and started gathering even more energy from inside of its body. When it released that energy, another blast of cosmic energy shot towards Enoch's Thought Ruler Archfiend. This time, the Psychic-Type monster was able to repel the attack and instantly destroyed by it. Also, when it was destroyed, the force of the explosion caused Enoch to fly back several feet.

**Enoch: 4650 LP**

Once the attack ended, Takashi looked down at his fallen opponent for a moment before continuing on with his turn. He proceeded to grab 2 out of the 3 cards that were left in his hand and insert them into his Spell/Trap Zone. This caused 2 more face-down cards to appear on his side of the field, right behind Stardust Dragon.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn. With that, the effect of Radiance Wings ends and Stardust's Attack Points return to normal."

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500**

As the glow that was surrounding Stardust faded away, Enoch got up from the ground and started glaring at Takashi. Not only did he destroy one of his most powerful monsters, by he also caused him to lose over 2000 of his Life Points. Even though Enoch still had more Life Points than usual, he knew that could change if things weren't settled right now. He had to defeat Takashi Nakamura right here…and right now.

"It's my turn," He said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

Quickly pulling the next card from his deck, Enoch took a glance at it before turning his attention towards Takashi's side of the field. He then proceeded to put the card into his hand before beginning his Battle Phase,

"Like I told you before," He said. "Although your Stardust Dragon can't be destroyed through battle, you still take Battle Damage. And since you only have 200 Life Points left, I can end this Duel right now! Number 74: Master of Blades, attack Stardust Dragon….Avarice Barrage!"

Master of Blades nodded its head upon hearing Enoch's order and proceeded to throw all of its Knives of Avarice towards Stardust Dragon. However, before any of the knives connected with their intended target, Takashi activated one of his face-down cards.

"Not so fast," He said. "I activate the Trap: Xyz Reborn! With it, I can Special Summon 1 Xyz Monster from my Graveyard and use this card as an Overlay Unit! Return to battle, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39: Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

A bright flash of light covered Takashi's side of the field for a second, as Utopia emerged from Takashi's Trap Card and started standing right next to him and Stardust Dragon. Once it was out, the Xyz Reborn Trap transformed itself into an Overlay Unit that started flying around the Number's body. However…it wouldn't be around for long.

"I activate Utopia's Special Ability! By using 1 Overlay Unit, I can negate your Master of Blades' attack!"

The Overlay Unit responded to Takashi's words and quickly inserted itself into Utopia's emerald chest plate. Once that happened, Utopia summoned one of its Moon Barrier shields and got ready to protect Stardust Dragon from Master of Blades' attack.

"How foolish," Enoch pointed out. "Did you forget about the Special Ability of my Number? By using 1 Overlay Unit, I can not only negate Utopia's ability, but I can also destroy it and one card on your field! So…say adios to both of your Ace Monsters!"

Once of the Overlay Units that surrounded Master of Blades entered its body, granted the Number immense power. With that power, Master of Blades prepared itself to negate the effect of Utopia and destroy it along with Stardust Dragon.

Everyone in the stadium were on the edge of their seats when they saw this, as it was this play that allowed Enoch to destroy Utopia earlier. However, after already witnessing the destruction of his Number once already, Takashi had no intention of going through that again. To that end, a small smile appeared on the young man's face as he proceeded to make his play.

"I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability!" He shouted. "When an effect that destroys another card is activated, I can release Stardust in order negate that effect and destroy it! Go…Victim Sanctuary!"

Stardust roared once again as Master of Blades' knives got ready to pierce through Utopia's defense. The force of the roar created a shockwave that knocked the knives off course, causing them to fall to the ground instead. As soon as that happened, Stardust then flew towards Master of Blades and grabbed it firmly with its claws. Once it made sure that the Number couldn't escape its grip, Stardust proceed to disappear from the field, taking Master of Blades with it.

Upon seeing Master of Blades and Stardust Dragon disappear, everyone watching the Duel was on their feet. Takashi Nakamura, using the effects of both of his monsters to his advantage, was to clear Enoch's field and leave him with no monsters. Even if he did have more Life Points than him, it was clear that Takashi had regained control of this Duel and had no intention of giving it up again.

As they continued to cheer, the realization of what just happened finally struck Enoch. He had hoped to use Master of Blades effect to clear Takashi's field and attack him directly, allowing him to win the Duel. However, now that Master of Blades was gone, that could no longer happen. That fact hit the young man very hard and soon, even more anger started to appear on his face.

"I've had just about enough of you," He said in an intense tone of voice. "It's time to put you down…like the dog that you are!"

Going through with his resolve, Enoch grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, he then proceeded to grab both Master of Blades and Thought Ruler Archfiend's cards from his Graveyard.

"I activate the Spell: Miracle Synchro Fusion! With this, I banish monsters from either my field or Graveyard in order to Fusion Summon. I banish Thought Ruler Archfiend and Number 74: Master of Blades!"

The spirits of Enoch's chosen monsters appeared before him as the Psychic placed his hand upon his Extra Deck. Once he opened it and pulled out a card, Master of Blades and Thought Ruler Archfiend fused together, becoming an entirely new creature.

"As two telepathic minds mend together as one, this will open the door to infinite psychic potential. Fusion Summon! Descend, Ultimate Axon Kicker!"

**Ultimate Axon Kicker: ATK 2900 DEF 1700 LVL 10**

Once the Fusion Summoning was reaching its climax, Enoch took the card that he was holding and placed it onto his Duel Disk. When he did that, a bright flash covered the stadium for a few moments as Ultimate Axon Kicker appeared on the field. Once the light faded and everyone saw the powerful Psychic-Type monster, Enoch then went on to place his hand back on his deck.

"Due to Astral World's effect, I can now draw 1 card since I successfully summoned a monster from my Extra Deck."

Upon drawing his next card, Enoch took a glance at it and saw that it was exactly the card that he was looking for. With it, even if Takashi had a countermeasure against his Ultimate Axon Kicker, he could deal with it and win the Duel. Because of that thought, Enoch smiled quietly to himself before taking the card and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the card appeared face-down on his field, right behind Axon Kicker.

"I now set one card face-down…and end my turn."

Takashi nodded his head slightly upon hearing Enoch say that. He then looked down towards the ground and watched as the portal to the card Graveyard appeared before him. From it, Stardust Dragon emerged and started standing next to Utopia, much to the shock of almost everybody in the stadium.

"On the End Phase that Stardust Dragon successfully uses its Special Ability," Takashi explained. "It can be Special Summoned back onto the field!"

Stardust Dragon roared once more as it, along with Utopia, prepared itself to do battle against Enoch's Ultimate Axon Kicker. When the crowd saw that, they started cheering even louder than before. Even though it was only the first round of the Finals, it was clear that this Duel had everyone excited. Both Duelists were giving it everything they had, pulling out one complicated strategy after the other. Everyone knew that they deserved to be here, but they also knew that whoever won this epic Duel deserved to move on to the Semi-Finals.

As the cheering grew louder, Takashi prepared himself to begin his next turn by gently placing his hand upon his deck. He then closed his eyes and thought about what Enoch's next move would be. Having seen Ultimate Axon Kicker in action during the Qualifying Round, the young man already had a plan to handle it. However, because he knows that fact, Takashi came to the realization that Enoch was well aware of it too. To that end, Takashi needed to re-evaluate things and make sure that his next move would be the correct one. A lot was on the line and he couldn't afford to slip up, not even once.

Eventually, as he continued to think, Takashi started hear Hikari's voice again. It was faint, but he could definitely tell that it was her. So, after focusing real hard and closing his mind, Takashi was able to make out the words that Hikari was trying to tell him.

_Remember…your friends, me, and especially Akiza will always believe in you Takashi. Just believe in yourself._

After hearing those words of encouragement, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face as reopened his eyes. He then looked at Enoch very confidently, showing that he had no fear and that he was ready for what was to come. Once he did that, Takashi didn't waste any more time and swiftly drew his next card.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Once he drew his card, Takashi looked at it for a moment before placing it into his hand. After that, he then proceeded to pull a card from his Graveyard.

"From my Graveyard, I activate the effect of my Xyz Agent! Since a Xyz Monster with Utopia in its name is on my field, I can attach Xyz Agent to it as an Overlay Unit!"

Enoch watch as a small secret agent popped out the Graveyard and opened the briefcase that it was carrying. From it, an Overlay Unit appeared that started flying around Utopia's body. The Psychic Duelist wondered how Takashi put Xyz Agent into his Graveyard, but soon remembered a play that he made during the Signer's first turn.

_By discarding 1 monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this Tuner Monster directly from my hand. Appear now, Quickdraw Synchron!_

It was Quickdraw Synchron's summoning requirement. Enoch believed that Takashi most likely sent Xyz Agent to the Graveyard via his Tuner's effect, just in case something like this happened. Enoch admitted to himself that was indeed a smart play, but it wouldn't help in the slightest. After all, now that Utopia has another Overlay Unit, it only confirmed what Takashi intended to do with it. Because of that, Enoch simply stood his ground and waited for that moment to happen.

"Stardust Dragon," Takashi called. "Attack Ultimate Axon Kicker…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust complied and once again started gathering a lot of energy from inside of its body. As soon as it gathered enough power, the Synchro Monster released the blast and aimed it toward Enoch's monster.

"However, I think I'll stop that attack by using Utopia's Special Ability!"

As Stardust Dragon's attack continued to make its way towards its target, the Overlay Unit that flew around Utopia's body entered its chest plate. Once that happened, the Number once again summoned one of its Moon Barrier shields and used it to block Stardust's attack. The crowd was initially shocked by this scene, but they soon understood why Takashi did it when the young man played a card from his hand.

"Now…I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Double or Nothing! With it, since Stardust Dragon's attack was negated, this card doubles my monster's Attack Points and gives it the ability to attack again!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 5000**

Another golden light surrounded Stardust Dragon's body as it received energy from Takashi's Quick-Play Spell. It then turned its attention back toward Ultimate Axon Kicker and prepared to launch its attack again.

"Stardust, attack his Axon Kicker now!"

"That's exactly the move I've been waiting for!" Enoch pointed out. "I activate the Trap Card: Prideful Roar! With it, by taking damage equal to the current difference in our monsters Attack Points, I can increase Ultimate Axon Kicker's Attack Points so that its 300 points higher than your Stardust Dragon!"

**Enoch: 2550 LP**

**Ultimate Axon Kicker: ATK 5300**

A painful red aura covered Enoch's body for a few seconds as his Life Points dropped by 2100. However, the young man felt that it was a small price to pay for what was about to happen. He watched as his Ultimate Axon Kicker absorbed the energy from Stardust Dragon's Cosmic Flare attack. Once it did that, the Psychic-Type monster then released the blast back to its original source, only 300 points stronger.

"It's over Takashi!" He said with a smile on his face. "You lose!"

"…Don't bet on it,"

Enoch eyes widen from disbelief as he didn't understand what Takashi meant by that. However, he soon figured out what he meant when the Psychic Duelist looked up and saw that his opponent had just activated one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Assault Mode Activate!" Takashi declared. "With its power, I transform Stardust Dragon into Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 10**

A bright flash of light enveloped Stardust Dragon body for a few moments, as it began to transform into its Assault Mode. Once the transformation ended, Stardust avoided Ultimate Axon Kicker's counterattack before turning its attention back to it.

"Since I just summoned a new monster during the Battle Phase, a Replay occurs," Takashi explained. "The effect of your Prideful Roar only occurs during the initial battle in which it was activated. However, since that battle is over, the Attack Points of your Ultimate Axon Kicker now returns to normal."

**Ultimate Axon Kicker: ATK 2900**

"Stardust, attack Ultimate Axon Kicker…Assault Sonic Burst!"

Stardust nodded its head as it once again started building up power from within its body. As it did that, the blue plates that made up its Assault Armor started glowing in response to the dragon's growing power. Once it built up enough strength, Stardust fired a blast of cosmic energy at Enoch's Axon Kicker, completely obliterating it.

**Enoch: 2450 LP**

Once his monster was gone, Enoch looked up and watched as Takashi's Utopia prepared itself for a direct attack. With only 2450 Life Points left, the Psychic Duelist knew that this attack would finish him off. As a result, Enoch slowly made his way over to his Graveyard just as Takashi was about to conduct his next attack.

"Let's end this!" He said. "Utopia, attack Enoch's Life Points directly…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia nodded its head before pulling out one of its swords. Once it had it firmly in its hand, the Number dashed toward Enoch and prepared to launch the final blow. It was at that moment that Enoch pulled out a card from his Graveyard and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Rainbow Kuriboh!" He declared. "When I'm the target of a direct attack, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard. However, in exchange, when Rainbow Kuriboh is destroyed it's then banished from the Duel!"

**Rainbow Kuriboh: ATK 100 DEF 100 LVL 1**

The portal to the Graveyard appeared in front of Enoch as his trusty Rainbow Kuriboh appeared from it. When the little monster landed in front of its master, another Replay occurred and Utopia was forced to stop its attack. The Number now had to get through Kuriboh before it could get to Enoch.

"Utopia," Takashi called. "Don't let that stop you! Attack his Rainbow Kuriboh…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia looked towards Takashi for a moment and saw that he was giving it a look of approval. Seeing that expression made Utopia nodded its head again and it soon began to make its way over to Rainbow Kuriboh. Once it got close enough to its target, Utopia took its sword and slashed through Kuriboh's body, creating a small explosion as a result.

Once the colorful Fiend-Type monster was gone, everyone in the crowd started cheering again. Rainbow Kuriboh had now saved Enoch twice from Utopia, allowing this epic match to continue. Even Takashi admitted that this was indeed a very exciting Duel, despite the fact another one of his attack was again foiled.

"Wow…you're strong Enoch," He said with a smile on his face. "You're one of the strongest Duelists that I've ever fought. I'm glad that I was able to have such a fun Duel with you."

Enoch saw how happy Takashi was and wondered why he was acting that way. Even after seeing him experience so much pain due to his Psychic Powers, as well as being told that he was extremely weak, Takashi still smiled. It was like he was absolutely enjoying this Duel, despite all that was on the line.

As he continued to watch him do that, Enoch suddenly found himself smiling as well. It wasn't a smile of cockiness or overconfidence, but an actually genuine one. Like Takashi, he was also having fun during this Duel. He didn't quite know why at first, but soon realized that it was because of Takashi. This young man, in his own unique way, had effectively changed the way how Enoch saw this Duel. Because of that, the Psychic Duelists couldn't help but smile.

"I'm…having fun too Takashi," He said. "I was wrong. You're not as weak as I thought. However, I still have every intention of winning this Duel."

"I know," Takashi agreed. "And I have every intention of winning myself. That's why…I think it's about time I did this."

Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk, activating the final face-down card that he had set on the field. When the card flipped up, the expression that was on Enoch's face changed from happiness to confusion.

"I activate the Trap Card: Assault on GHQ! With it, by destroying one monster on my field, I can send the top 2 cards of your deck and send them to the Graveyard! The monster I choose…is Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode!"

The look of confusion that was one Enoch's face grew even more as he watch Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode explode due to the effect of Takashi's Trap Card. Why would Takashi destroy his strongest monster just to make him discard the top 2 cards from his deck? It didn't feel like a fair tradeoff. In the end, Enoch didn't know and simply placed his 2 cards into his Graveyard. Once he did that, the young man then looked on as a thick cloud of smoke still continued to cover his opponent's side of the field.

After about a minute of waiting, Enoch began to notice that the smoke was clearing. It was here that he, along with everyone else in the Kaiba Dome, heard the cry of a extremely familiar dragon. That cry caused a look of surprise and fear to appear on Enoch's face as he knew who it came from. Eventually, his suspicions were confirmed as he watched the smoke surrounding Takashi's field beginning to clear, revealing Stardust Dragon in its regular form.

"When an Assault Mode monster is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard," The Signer explained. "I can Special Summon its regular form back onto to the field. So…welcome back, Stardust Dragon!"

Stardust roared its absolutely loudest as it made it return to the field. The sound waves from it were so intense that it even created a small earthquake that lasted for about 5 seconds. Once it stopped roaring, Stardust Dragon turned its attention toward Enoch and waited for Takashi to give the order.

Before that happened however, Takashi took the time to look at his opponent once more. Enoch was indeed surprised by the sudden reappearance of Stardust Dragon, as he didn't expect it to return so quickly. However, after giving himself a few seconds to accept what happened, the Psychic Duelist calmed down and soon regained his usual composure. Once that happened, Enoch looked at Takashi for a moment before nodding his head towards him. This act indicated that he had understood what was about to happen and had accepted it. As a result, Takashi nodded his head in return before preparing himself to launch his final attack.

"Stardust Dragon," He called. "Attack Enoch's Life Points directly…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust complied and once again started building up energy from within its body. As it was doing that, Enoch closed his eyes for a moment and started thinking about his time with Akiza. Every moment from the first time they met, to when they separated on bad terms, and when they finally reunited ran through his mind. After he did that, Enoch then recalled what Akiza said to him during the party the other day.

_If you give him a chance, like I had, then you'll see that there's more to Takashi that meets the eye._

Once he finished his recollection, Enoch opened his eyes and saw Stardust Dragon launch its attack towards him. As the force of the cosmic blast was sending him backwards, a small smile appeared on his face. Finally, he had received answer to his question.

"Now I see…why she loves him."

**Enoch: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>Ladies and Gentlemen," <em>The MC spoke over the loudspeaker. _"I have to say…this was a perfect way to start off the Fortune Cup Finals! Both Duelist put it all on the line and put on one hell of a show. However, there could only be one winner. So, it pleases me to say that the first Duelist moving on to the Semi-Finals is…Takashi Nakamura!"_

The crowd started cheering in unison upon hearing the MC declare that Takashi was the winner of the Duel. It was clear from his skills and his ability to keep his cool under pressure that the young man deserved this victory. Takashi managed to win in spectacular fashion and almost everyone present believed that things were just beginning for him.

As the crowd continued to cheer, Rex Goodwin looked down at Takashi from his computer room. Having watched the entire Duel from its beginning, the Director of Sector Security was extremely pleased with what he saw. Takashi Nakamura's growth has increased significantly from not only his training, but through this Duel as well. That fact pleased Goodwin, as it showed him that Takashi was indeed just like his mother and father.

"He has Sakura's skills alright….as well as Minato's intellect and compassion. He's definitely their son."

Back at the stadium floor, all the holograms started fading away and the effect of the Augmented Reality Vision vanished as well. As he watched everything disappear, Takashi noticed that all the damage and debris that he and Enoch created during their Duel vanished too. The only thing that remained was the rips in his clothes and some of the burn marks that were on his skin. The Augmented Reality was truly incredible and it made Takashi wonder what else it could do. Eventually though, he decided to save that thought for another time.

So, after deactivating his Duel Disk and placing his Duel Gazer into his pocket, Takashi looked across the stadium floor and saw that Enoch was still lying on the ground. He soon walked over to him and noticed that Enoch wasn't asleep, but simply reminiscing with eyes closed. Once he opened them, Takashi extended his hand out to the Psychic Duelist and watched as Enoch grabbed his hand and got up from the ground.

"You okay?" He asked.

"…Yeah," Enoch replied. "I'm okay."

Both Duelists looked at one another, not sure what to say to the other. Despite the fact that they started having fun during end of their Duel, it didn't change the fact that they were at odds with each other throughout the most of it. There was a lot of awkward tension in the air and that lasted for a good few minutes. Soon though, Enoch was the first one to speak up.

"Takashi," He started off. "I want to apologize."

"Apologize?" Takashi questioned. "Apologize for what?"

"For the way I've been treating you. I had no right to treat you so coldly. It's just…I was so worried about Akiza. She means a lot to me and I want her to be happy. So…when I found out that you're in love with her…I just had to be sure that you were strong enough to protect her. But not only did you proved your strength to me, you've given me an answer that I've wanted for so long now. Takashi Nakamura…you are indeed worthy of being with Akiza Izinski."

Enoch closed his eyes for a moment as he started to reminisce again. This time, he recalled how Hikari's spirit entered his mind and told him that Takashi's strength was beyond his ability to judge. In the end, even though he didn't want to admit it at first, Enoch knew that she was right. Takashi strength couldn't be judge, no matter how he tried. His determination and will to win far exceeded his expectations. He was truly, the only deserving of Akiza.

"…You're an idiot,"

Enoch opened his eyes suddenly and watched as Takashi hit him in the head with the sheath of his sword. Because of the sheath was made out of metal, it really hurt and Enoch was in a lot of pain. As he held his head with both hands, the Psychic listened as Takashi started talking some more.

"I thought I told you that the only one who's truly worthy of Akiza…is Akiza herself. We can't make that choice because we don't have the right too. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you see me as a perfect fit for her and I would be more than happy if she did want to be with me. However, I would not force her to do so. I want her to be with me because she wants too…not because of someone else."

After saying that, Takashi put his sheath back by his side and waited for Enoch to recover. Once he did, the Psychic Duelist looked down at him for a moment before eventually nodded his head in agreement.

"You're right," He said. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Takashi replied. "I love Akiza and I will always be there for her if she needs my help. However, in regard to the latter, I'm going to need some help. So…how about it?"

Takashi once again extended his hand out to Enoch, hoping he accept his offer that the both of them would work together in order to make sure that Akiza was happy. Soon, after watching Enoch look at his hand for about a minute, Takashi smiled as he watch him take his hand and shake it. This act not only signified their agreement, but also showed that their no longer enemies, but friends.

Once they finished shaking hands, Enoch pulled his deck from his Duel Disk and started looking through all his cards. As soon as he found the one that he was looking for, he pulled it out before looking through his Extra Deck. He then looked through that as well before pulling out another card. As soon as he had both of his chosen cards in hand, Enoch looked at them for a moment before nodded his head. He then presented to Takashi, who was visibly shocked when he saw what they were.

"These…these are,"

"I want you to have them Takashi," Enoch said. "Consider them as my way of saying thank you."

Takashi continued to look at the cards a little while longer before eventually taking them. He then looked up toward Enoch and saw that he was smiling, showing that he truly wanted Takashi to have them. Upon seeing that, Takashi smiled as well and accepted the gift.

"Thank you," He said. "I'll take good care of them and put them to good use."

"I'm sure you will," Enoch replied.

Once that was settled, Takashi and Enoch proceeded to make their way out of the stadium floor. As they did that, everyone in the stadium started cheering for the both of them, showing their respect to the two Duelists. This act of respect would even continue once both of them were out of view, which only further proved that Takashi's and Enoch's match had a major impact on everyone present.

Soon, after walking for a bit, both Duelists made back to the common area and saw Akiza and the others waiting for them. When they walked up towards all of them, both Takashi and Enoch were greeted with looks of happiness and approval.

"That what a great Duel you two," Lilly said.

"Yeah," Crow agreed. "One of the best Duels I've ever seen."

"I have to admit that was pretty impressive," Sona followed.

Takashi thanked his friends for their kind words as they really meant a lot to him. He then looked over towards Akiza and saw that she was busy looking towards the ground. Seeing that made him somewhat concerned, so walked over in order to find out what was wrong. However, before he could get too far, Takashi stopped when he saw Akiza lift her head up and smile at him. She then walked up towards him before taking her hands and embracing him.

"I knew you could do it," She said happily. "I just knew it."

"…Well," Takashi replied as he placed his arms around her."I've couldn't have done it without your encouragement. Thank you Akiza."

As the two of them continued to embrace each other, Sona looked over toward Enoch and saw that he wasn't bothered by it anymore. She was really happy when she saw, even though she didn't display it on her face. Eventually, once Takashi and Akiza finished hugging, the two of them looked at Enoch for a moment before looking back at each other.

Takashi was able to tell what was going through Akiza's mind, even though she didn't say to him. He believed that something like that was going to take place and had already accepted it somewhere deep inside his heart. He smiled at her, showing that it was okay and that he wouldn't be upset. This brought a warm smile on Akiza's face.

Once that was settled, Takashi looked over toward Lilly, Crow, and Sona. He saw that the three of them, each in their own way, figured out what he wanted them to do and had agreed to it. Because of that, they all proceeded to leave the common area along with Takashi. As soon as they were far enough away, Lilly looked toward Takashi and asked him something.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Yeah," He said. "I'm okay with it. Besides, I think they need this moment alone together."

After saying that, Takashi and Lilly made their way outside along with the rest of their friends. This left Akiza and Enoch to themselves and since no one else was in the room with them, they were all alone.

The two of them looked at one another for a moment before turning their heads. Both of them had just came to a realization that just affected the way they'll see each other, so of course they would feel somewhat awkward. However, both of them knew that they had to get over it so that they could talk. Eventually, Akiza was the first one to do so.

"Enoch…" She started off. "Sona told me…why you're really here and how you really feel about me."

"…I…see," Enoch replied, shocked that she knows how he feels. "Well…it's true. I…love you Akiza. I've been in love with you for the longest time now. And…even though you may never forgive me for what happened all those years ago, I will still love you regardless."

Enoch placed his head down, as he didn't want Akiza to see his face right now. After doing that, he then pulled a card from his Extra Deck and handed it to her.

"Here…I want you to have this card. I know it can help you, especially during this tournament."

Akiza looked at Enoch for a second before gently taking the card from him. After examining it, the young woman placed it in her own Extra Deck before looking back up towards her old friend. She could tell that even though he had pretty much accepted the fact that she'll probably never return his feelings, it still hurt him. Eventually, Enoch decided to leave the room, but was stopped when Akiza grabbed his hand.

"Enoch," She said. "How old are you now?"

"Huh?" He questioned. "I'm…I'm 20 right now. What about it?"

"I see…so 20 seconds then. Alright, let's do this."

Akiza took a deep breath before gathering all the courage that dwelled inside of her. Once she gathered enough, she gently lifted Enoch's head and kissed him right on the lips. As she did that, Enoch was instantly shocked by the kiss and found himself not knowing what to do. However, that changed pretty quickly when the passion of the moment finally set in. As a result, Enoch closed his eyes and embraced Akiza closely.

After about 20 seconds, Akiza finally broke the kiss and gently separated herself from Enoch. She saw that there was a huge blush of his face, showing that he liked what she did and a part of her admitted that she like it too. However, she brought herself back to reality and focused herself on what she had to do next. She started off by pulling out the picture that Enoch gave to her years ago, much to his surprise.

"Enoch…I forgive you for what happened," She said. "And I'm very flattered that you love me. You were my very first friend, so it makes me happy that you told me that. However, despite the fact that you have feelings for me and the fact that I cherish our friendship, that's all we can be…friends. Any feelings I may have for you…are surpassed by my feelings for Takashi. I'm sorry…but simply love him more."

Enoch looked at Akiza as she finished saying that and realized that her words were indeed the truth. She loved Takashi Nakamura more than she loved him. It was a hard pill to swallow, but Enoch accepted. All he wanted was Akiza's happiness and if that could be obtained with her bring with Takashi, then Enoch was okay with that.

"I figured as much," He said to her. "Alright…I'm okay with that. But can we…still be friends?"

"What are you talking about?" Akiza asked. "Of course we're friends Enoch and we'll be friends."

Akiza smiled at Enoch and watch as he did the same, albeit with tears in his eyes. The two of them then embraced one another for a moment, happy in the knowledge that their friendship is now restored and is even better than it was before.

Soon, after they finished their embrace, both of them decided to head outside and meet up with their friends. Once they were out, Enoch watched Akiza walk over towards Takashi and began hanging out with him like she usually does. The Psychic couldn't help but smile at the two of them, as all the anger and jealously that filled his soul was gone. All that was left was happiness for Takashi and Akiza…as well as for himself.

"Akiza Izinski…Takashi Nakamura," He thought quietly to himself. "Thank you for everything. Thanks to you…I finally feel at peace."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_The next Duel of the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals is about to begin with Lilly going up against Kagura. Having seen her in action already, Lilly knows that Kagura is a powerful Duelist with an equally powerful Ace Monster. Can she rise to challenge and join Takashi in the Semi-Finals? It isn't going to be easy. Especially since Lilly's time with Team Satisfaction is a motivating force behind Kagura's revenge. _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 77: Lilly vs. Kagura – The Duel of Light and Dark_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_I want give you guys an explanation between the difference between Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure) and Reiryoku (Spiritual Energy). _

_Reiryoku is the energy that dwells inside all things. In other words, it's kind of like their life force. Reiatsu is the pressure that someone with high enough Reiryoku exerts. The difference is much like energy and power. Power being the amount of energy exerted per unit. Remember, Reiryoku is energy and potential while Reiatsu is energy in use._

_Next, I want to tell you guys something about Takashi's Duel Disk. It's a classic Battle City Duel Disk, similar to the one that Yugi uses. It folds up when deactivated and sets when it's in use. Please keep that in mind as it's not like the Duel Disk that Yusei Fudo uses. _

_Lastly, I want to talk about Lilly's last name. It's Muto…not Moto. It's the same thing for Yugi. In this story, he's called Yugi Muto and not Yugi Moto. Please remember that as changing the name of someone, even slightly, can cause confusion for some readers._

_Well, that's it for now. Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	77. Chapter 77

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 77: **_Lilly vs. Kagura – The Duel of Light and Dark_

* * *

><p><em>6 years ago<em>

_Kagura: Age 12_

The feeling of despair can manifest itself in plenty of different people for plenty of different reasons. Sometimes, those reasons may include constant failure on a particular subject or simply because the individual experiencing that despair is self-loathing and prefers to see the negative side of things. Whatever the case, despair is like a poison and it will slowly corrupt the person who's experiencing it if it's not taken care of.

For young Kagura Toyoshima, she'd never let the feeling of despair overwhelm her for very long. She would always look toward the future and see the positive things in life rather than the negative. Many people, especially those who were around her age, consider her very naïve for having such an attitude because the world isn't as nice as she made it out to be. However, Kagura didn't care what those people thought. She preferred to live a happy life of naivety than to live the cruel world of reality.

For 12 years, the young girl lived with that mindset and for the most part, she had a pretty happy life. However, her happiness came crashing down around her shortly after her 12th birthday. And, from her own point of view, Kagura felt that she brought her unhappiness all on herself.

On the day before her birthday, Kagura got into an argument with her cousin Vivi about her not being there to celebrate the occasion. It's not hard to see why that happened as Vivi worked as an officer for Security and was assigned to the Satellite Sector for a couple of days. However, Kagura still took it very hard anyway. Vivi had already missed her previous birthday and she promised that she would have time to celebrate this one. Since that couldn't happen, the young woman simply gave Kagura some heirlooms that belonged to her parents before leaving for the Satellite.

Kagura, in an act of anger and selfishness, simply disregarded the gifts that Vivi gave to her and promptly put them in the trash. After that she declared her hatred for her cousin, despite the fact that she was the one raised her from infancy after her parents died during Zero Reverse. She didn't consider the things that Vivi had to sacrifice and go through just to raise and only thought about herself. As a result, she wanted her cousin to apologize to her and beg for forgiveness when she got back. Unfortunately…that simply wouldn't be the case.

Two weeks passed by since Vivi went to the Satellite and Kagura received no word from her cousin on when she'll return. The fear of being alone was quickly beginning to overwhelm her and she was beginning to worry about Vivi's well being. Although she would play this off in public and still say that she didn't care about her cousin, Kagura was starting to miss her very much and wished that Vivi would return soon.

Eventually, after about a third week of waiting, Kagura finally got an answer to Vivi's current condition when several Sector Security officers came to her house. When she first saw them, she assumed that they were there to tell her that Vivi would be coming home soon. However, after seeing the depressing looks on their faces, the young girl realized that wasn't the case. In actuality, Vivi was never coming back to her and the reason for that is because she was now dead.

Upon hearing that her cousin was no longer a part of this world, Kagura violently denied the claim and started screaming for Vivi to come out. She ran outside and searched every possible place that she could think of, but still couldn't find her. Soon the Security officers couldn't take this anymore and pleaded with Kagura to accept what happen to her cousin. When they made their way up to her however, they saw that Kagura was sitting on her knees as tears ran down her face. She had accept Vivi's fate and soon starting crying even more over the loss of her only family member.

Kagura believed that she drove Vivi to her death, even though she didn't mean to do so. If she wasn't so selfish and appreciated her more, then maybe Vivi would have fought more to survive in the Satellite and eventually return. But, since Kagura was cruel to her, it probably gave Vivi the impression that Kagura didn't want her around and that probably lead her to her eventual death. That's what Kagura believed anyway and she was quickly beginning to regret her actions. She prayed that was only a bad dream that she would eventually wake up from, but it wasn't. Whether she liked it or not, this was reality.

On the day of Vivi's funeral, everyone who was close to her came grieve and give their condolences to Kagura. This was a terrible tragedy, one that many believed should have never have happened. Because of that, all of them wanted to show their respects and some even offered to take care of Kagura until she was old enough to take care of herself. However, Kagura didn't want to be taken in by anyone. She believed that she did, it would be like she was replacing Vivi with someone else and she didn't want that. Also, after everything that took place in recent weeks, Kagura truly believed that she deserved to be alone from now on.

Soon after the funeral, Kagura went to cemetery and watched as they placed her cousin's casket into her grave. Even though there was no body, the casket was used for sentimental reasons as it gave the impression that they were burying Vivi in spirit and not in body. Once the grave was covered up with dirt, everyone gave the last regards to Vivi before saying goodbye to her. As soon as they were gone and she was all alone, Kagura started crying again as all the emotions that she was trying to contain all came out at once.

Soon, as a powerful rainstorm completely enveloped New Domino City, a long black limo appeared in front of the cemetery as Kagura continued to stare at her cousin's grave. Exiting the limo was Rex Goodwin, Vivi's boss and the Director of Sector Security.

When Goodwin heard that Vivi had passed away, he shocked by what happened and wanted to be there to mourn. However, since had to work, he ended up missing the funeral and had to settle with just visiting her grave. Fortunately however, Goodwin noticed that Kagura was still at the cemetery and decided to go talk to her instead. After all, Kagura was Vivi's cousin and if anyone was suffering the most from this tragedy, it was her.

As Goodwin walked over to Kagura with an umbrella in his hand, the Director noticed that the little girl was holding the two items that Vivi gave to her for her birthday. He seemed to take a great interest in the items, especially the sword that belonged to her father, but quickly got over it and continued to make his way up to her. Once he was there, Goodwin proceeded to place the umbrella over Kagura so that she could be protected from the rain.

"You're going to catch a cold if you don't protect yourself,"

Kagura glanced over toward Goodwin for a moment and instantly recognized who he was. In the past, Vivi would sometimes bring her over to the main Sector Security building and she would see the Director from time to time. However, since he was a big-shot who practically ran the city, Kagura couldn't get to close to him.

After looking at him for a quick moment, Kagura turned her attention away from Goodwin and focused back on Vivi's grave. Upon seeing her do that, the Director took a moment to look at her face and saw that not only was Kagura very sad about what happened, but also very angry as well. He could that she solely blamed herself for Vivi's passing, even though she actually wasn't a part of it. As a result, Goodwin wanted to comfort her in any way that possibly could.

"Listen," He started off. "We all loved Vivi very much and I personally believed that a small part of all of us died when she died. However, we can't let ourselves be drowned in despair. I know for a fact that Vivi wouldn't want that for you. She would want you to be happy and live a fulfilling life."

"…Thank you for your words Mr. Goodwin," Kagura said in a low tone of voice. "But…I don't want yours or anybody else's sympathy. I drove Vivi to her death and the despair that I'm feeling is something that I have to deal with. However, if I want anything from this experience, it's to find out who killed Vivi, so that I can make that person pay for taking her from me!"

The anger that was dwelling inside Kagura's heart was quickly beginning to overcome the sorrow that she was feeling. Though she blamed herself for Vivi's death, she still wanted to know what actually killed her. There was no way that Vivi could die by some natural incident. She was a very careful person and would always examine every detail before doing anything. The only way she could have died if something unnatural happened. In others words, Kagura believed that Vivi was murdered. That's what Kagura believed and she was determined to find out who killed Vivi, no matter what the cost.

Upon seeing the anger and determination within her eyes, Goodwin noticed that there was a tremendous fire dwelling inside of Kagura. Though the little girl was upset with what happened, the Director believed that she wouldn't be able to move on from this unless she did something about it. Because of that reason, Goodwin decided that if it would be best to do her a favor.

"...Listen Kagura," He said to her. "If you promise to not tell anyone about this, then I'll tell you what Sector Security has found about your cousin's death."

Kagura's eyes widen from shock upon hearing Goodwin's words and immediately grabbed him by his shirt. She then proceeded to glare at him as more tears continued to fall from her eyes. If Goodwin really did know what happened to Vivi, Kagura was hell-bent on discovering what he knew.

"Calm down Kagura," Goodwin said as he removed her from off of him. "I'm only about to tell you this because I think you deserve to know. However, that doesn't mean that I want you to do anything rash. As Vivi's cousin, you have an obligation to live in her place. That's what everyone wants for Kagura and I know for a fact that what Vivi would want too!"

As Kagura listened to Goodwin's explanation, she started to recall all the good times that she had with Vivi in the past. Reliving all those memories allowed her to calm down and she proceeded to let go of Goodwin as a result. She then looked at him with a somewhat kinder expression on her face. Upon seeing that expression, the Director went to tell her what he knew.

"According to some of the officers that stationed in the Satellite," He started off. "A huge gang battle took place just over 2 weeks ago. During that conflict, Vivi attempted to intervene but got caught in the crossfire as a result. We don't know who or what actually took her life, but we do know that a group of Duelists known as Team Satisfaction was involved."

"Team Satisfaction…?" Kagura questioned.

"Yes…Also, though we haven't found out who all the members of this Team Satisfaction are, we did find one. His name…is Alistair Miles."

Kagura looked down toward the ground for a moment as she thought about the name that Goodwin just gave to her. Finally, she found her first real clue regarding her cousin's death. Now, all that she needed to do was find this Alistair Miles and make him wish that he was never born.

After she finished thinking, Kagura look further down toward her cousin's grave and saw the sword and ribbon that Vivi gave to her placed by it. She intended on leaving them there since, in a way, they belonged to her, but Kagura now decided that she couldn't do that. So, after stepping out of the umbrella's protection, she picked up the two items and held them firmly in each of her hands. She then went on to tie the white ribbon in her hair.

"Mr. Goodwin…" She said, not turning to face him. "Thank you for telling me this."

"It's no problem," Goodwin said as looked at her. "Like I said, I personally believe that you deserved to know what happened. Just remember…don't tell anyone about this. If people manage to find out…things could get dicey. Do you understand?"

Kagura kept to herself as she heard Goodwin tell her to not reveal anything about what she just learned. Although she did was nod her head, indicating to the Director that she understood what he wanted her to do. Upon seeing that nod, Goodwin nodded his own head in return before getting ready to leave. He went on to look back at Kagura one more time before making his way back toward his limousine.

As he did that, Kagura continued looking at Vivi's grave as she pulled her sword, Shusui, from its sheath and proceeded to look at it. While she looked at the black blade, more memories of her and her cousin poured into her mind, causing Kagura to become furious again. She then went on to firmly hold her inherited weapon as she looked up toward the pouring sky.

"Vivi…," She said as thunder sounded throughout the area. "I don't care how long it takes me to do so. I will avenge your death! I'll find this Alistair Miles…as well as the other members of this Team Satisfaction…and kill them all! I swear it! So please…just hold on just a little longer."

Kagura continued gripping Shusui as she proclaimed her desire to avenge Vivi. As she did that, Goodwin happened to overhear her declaration. He learned what Kagura planned on doing, but didn't attempt to convince her otherwise. In fact, as the Director continued to walk toward his limo, he simply smiled.

"Good girl," He said to himself. "That's a good girl."

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

As all the spectators in the Kaiba continued cheering over the exciting Duel between Takashi Nakamura and Enoch Wylie, Kagura Toyoshima was beginning to wake up from a nap she was having in one of the locker rooms. The beautiful Twilight Duelist didn't really cared who won the first match, as she believed that she would be the ultimate victor in the end. Also, despite only seeing him Duel only a couple of times, Kagura had a pretty good idea that Takashi was the one that came out the winner.

His skills were extremely impressive, even before his training a couple of months ago. Kagura knew right away that he would be a difficult opponent, one who would most likely make it to the Final Duel. However, despite his skills, the young woman believed that her own skills were superior. Even if he were to make it to the end, Kagura would defeat him in the Final and earn the right to face Alistair in the Title Duel

This wasn't a matter of overconfidence. Kagura truly believed from the bottom of her heart that she was the best Duelist in this tournament. She worked hard to get to where she is now and she had every intention of winning the Fortune Cup and facing Alistair Miles in the end. However, just defeating Alistair wouldn't be enough for Kagura. Having discovered that he and the rest of Team Satisfaction were involved in the death of her cousin Vivi, Kagura was planning on taking the Duel King's life once her Duel with him was settled.

As the thought of Alistair ran through her mind, Kagura was also beginning to wonder about something that's been bothering her for the longest time.

"Why?" She thought quietly to herself. "Why is Alistair the Duel King?"

That question has been on Kagura's mind ever since Alistair first arrived in New Domino City, almost three years ago. Goodwin told her that Alistair was involved with Vivi's death and she believed that he would do everything in his power to arrest him. However, not only was that not the case, but the Director even allowed Alistair to become the Duel King of all of Japan. This fact bothered Kagura immensely and she proceeded to ask Goodwin just what the hell he was thinking.

Upon getting her answer, Kagura was told that the only reason why Alistair was made Duel King so that Security could keep an eye on him. There was no real proof that Alistair was indeed the one who killed Vivi during that incident 6 years ago. Because of that Sector Security couldn't arrest him due to lack of evidence. In order to compensate for that, Goodwin made sure that Alistair was kept on a short leash and that he couldn't go anywhere without an official. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do given the circumstances.

Despite knowing that, Kagura was still dissatisfied with Goodwin's decision. He promised that he would find Vivi's killers and bring them to justice. However, despite the fact that Alistair was constantly on watch, it still wasn't enough for her. Kagura wanted Alistair dead. More than that, she wanted to be the one to kill him. In her eyes, doing that is the only way to avenge Vivi and bring this tragic nightmare to close.

While she continued to think about killing Alistair, along with the members of Team Satisfaction, Kagura pulled her sword Shusui from its sheath and looked at it. After staring at the black blade for a moment, the young woman put it away, tightened the white ribbon that was in her hair, and began to make her way outside. Once she was out and took in a nice breath of fresh air, Kagura started walking around the stadium as she waited for her turn to Duel.

"Wait a minute…what do you mean you heard the spirit of your late friend, Hikari?"

Kagura stopped upon hearing that question, as she recognized who asked it. She then went on to turn her head and saw Takashi and his group of friends talking about spirits. Their conversation didn't seem to interest her at first and she was about to continue on her way, but changed when a certain topic was mentioned.

"Yeah," Takashi said as he continued on with his conversation. "During my Duel against Enoch, I started hearing Hikari's voice. Ever since I've first arrived in New Domino City, I've been hearing her voice every now and again, especially when I'm struggling during a really tough Duel. Although she would usually berate me for sitting on my ass, her encouragement gives me the strength to keep going. Then again…it can just be my subconscious portraying Hikari in order to get me to keep going. Even so…it's still nice to hear her voice again."

"I don't think it's your subconscious," Lilly replied. "After all, I saw her spirit enter both yours and Enoch's minds."

Takashi and Enoch looked at Lilly as the young woman closed her eyes for a moment and started thinking to herself. After about a minute, she reopened her eyes and looked toward the two.

"Though I'm not really sure how it happened," She continued. "Somehow…Hikari's spirit appeared and entered your bodies. It wasn't for very long, but I could tell that she did something during that moment."

"Maybe that was when Hikari started talking to Takashi," Akiza suggested.

"Maybe…but that never happened to me before," Lilly said. "Ever since I was a little girl, I could always see spirits, whether they are human spirits of Duel Monster spirits. And, by the time Crow and I were members of Team Satisfaction, my ability to see spirits improved to the point that I had a hard time distinguishing them from living people. However, I've never seen one enter the body of a living person before. Usually they just talk face-to-face, but that didn't happen."

"I wonder why that is?" Crow wondered.

"Who knows…"

As the group continued to talk about this subject, the rage that was inside Kagura's heart was quickly started to build up. She never suspected that both Lilly and Crow were members of Team Satisfaction, the Dueling Gang that was responsible for Vivi's death. She even considered the two her friends, even though she didn't interact with them very much. However, now that she knows the truth about who they are and where they came from, that changed and as result, Kagura's anger began to fester even more than before.

Just as she placed her hand on Shusui and prepared to draw it from its sheath, the MC started speaking on the loudspeaker. His sudden announcement caused Kagura to lose her focus for a moment as she proceeded to listen to what he had to say.

"_Everybody listen!" _He declared. _"The second Duel of the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals is about to begin! Will Lilly Muto and Kagura Toyoshima please make their way toward the Dueling Field!"_

Upon hearing the MC say her name, Lilly's eyes lit up for a moment as she couldn't believe that she was going to face Kagura in her first Duel of the Finals. She then started looking around the entire stadium until she found Kagura, looking at her very intently. Lilly started waving at her, but Kagura didn't respond and only kept staring, expression growing fiercer with every passing second. Eventually, Kagura gritted her teeth in anger before making her way over to the Duel Field.

As she watched her leave, Lilly was confused by her opponent's angry expression. Although she has never seen Kagura happy, mostly because she usually wore an emotionless face, Lilly has never seen Kagura mad either. Seeing her angry made the Signer wonder what was bothering Kagura and how she could help her.

While Lilly continued to think about that, Takashi also noticed the serious expression that was on Kagura's face. He felt the anger that was coming off her and realized that this Duel is more personal than just making it to the Semi-Finals. Something could happen…something very painful. As a result, he proceeded to make his way toward Lilly and went on to place his hand upon her shoulder.

"Listen," He said. "I want you to keep your eyes open. This Duel is going to be tougher than you think."

"I know," Lilly replied. "I'm well aware of that fact."

Lilly closed her eyes again and imagined seeing Kagura's angry facial expression again. She then recalled moments in her life in which she had the very same expression. After thinking about for a few seconds, Lilly realized that something was causing Kagura to exhibit and immense amount of hatred. She didn't know what was causing that hatred or why, but she planned on finding out.

After opening her eyes back up, Lilly pulled her deck from her pocket and glanced at it for a moment. She then went on to put on her Duel Disk before placing her deck into the device.

"I'll find out what's bothering her…through this Duel."

With that said, Lilly said goodbye to her friends before making her way over to the Dueling Field. As he watched her walk away, Takashi gently placed his hand upon his Signer Mark as he was feeling a stinging sensation coming from it. Akiza saw this and proceeded to stand next to him.

"Is Lilly going to be alright?" She asked.

"…I don't know," Takashi answered.

Once Lilly and Kagura made their way over to the Dueling Field, both Duelists started glaring at each other as they waited for the MC to announce the start of their Duel. As they did that, Kagura was beginning to sense something else coming from Kagura, besides anger. To her, it felt like something was pushing down on her body, even though nothing was happening. After thinking about it for a few, she realized that it was Kagura's Reiatsu.

Despite not being trained in the art of sensing Reiatsu, Lilly was able to perceive Kagura's strength. It was very strong and fierce, but for some reason she could tell that her opponent wasn't even using half of her full power. That fact made Lilly sweat a little and she began to wonder just how strong Kagura really was. However, just as she continued to think about it some more, Lilly quickly shook her head repeatedly in order to get those thoughts out of her mind.

"Stop it!" She thought. "I need to focus. I can't let my fear get the better of me."

Lilly started clinching her fingers repeatedly in order to focus herself and, for the most part, it seemed to work. However, from Kagura's point of view, it was only a front in order to hide her fear. That seemed to annoy the Twilight Duelist and she swore to her to give Lilly something to really be afraid of.

Eventually, both Duelists proceeded to pull out their Duel Gazer's and place them upon their faces. Lilly's Gazer had a yellow and white design with a green lens while Kagura's Gazer had a white and black design with a blue lens. Once both devices were placed over their left eyes, the MC then went on to explain the type of Field Spell that the both of them would be Dueling in.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen!" _He started off. _"For this Duel, the Field Spell will be…The Realm of Light and Darkness!"_

Lazar, from high in his computer room, went on to activate the Augmented Reality Vision Link while also activating the Field Spell setting for this Duel. Once he did that, everyone in the Kaiba Dome looked on in awe as the entire stadium started changing colors periodically from black to white.

"_Once per turn, both Duelists will be allowed to send either a Light or Dark Monster from their hand to the Graveyard," _The MC explained. _"In exchange, they can add a monster from their deck with the same Level, but opposite Attribute from the monster they discarded. For example, by sending a Level 7 Light monster to the Graveyard, they can then add a Level 7 Dark monster to their hand. Truly…this Field Spell will push both of our combatants to the limit as they try to use it to their advantage!"_

As the crowd started cheering in excitement for this unique Duel, Lilly and Kagura activated their respective Duel Disk. Both of them kept their eyes on the other, with Kagura's expression growing more intimidating with each passing second. Eventually, it came to the point that Lilly finally asked her what her deal was.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked. "I'm sensing a lot of anger and hostility coming from you. Did something happen that I should know about. If so, is there any way that I can help?"

Kagura kept to herself as listen to Lilly's question. As she did, the young woman started having flashbacks of Vivi's funeral and how Goodwin told her who might be responsible for her cousin's death. As she thought about those things, she placed her hand upon her sword and soon found herself shaking the weapon very violently. Soon, with a murderous look in her eyes, Kagura went on to answer Lilly's question.

"Help me?" She questioned. "You can help me…by dying!"

Lilly's eyes widen upon hearing Kagura say that, but she was even more shocked when a giant blast of Reiatsu shot from her body. The force of the Spiritual Pressure made her knees to shake a little, causing to fear that she was experiencing to grow a little bit more. Why did Kagura want her to die? Wasn't the two of them friends? In the end, Lilly had no idea why she would say that. She only hoped that this Duel would give her answers and solve this dilemma once and for all.

Soon, once the referee who was overseeing this Duel confirmed that everything was set, the MC looked over at both Duelists and was able to confirm the same thing. Once he did that, he went on to declare the start of the match.

"_Everyone…let the second match of the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals begin!"_

* * *

><p><em>Duel!<em>

**Lilly: 4000 LP**

**Kagura: 4000 LP**

"I'm making the first move," Kagura declared. "Draw!"

Placing her hand upon the top of her deck and drawing the top card that was on it, Kagura took a quick look at it before placing it into her hand. After she did that, the Twilight Duelist proceeded to examine all of her cards before going on to make use of the Field Spell.

"To start off, I'm activating the effect of the Realm of Light and Darkness!" She said as she took a card from her hand and placed it into her Graveyard. "I send this Level 8 Light monster to the Graveyard in order to add a Level 8 Dark monster to my hand!"

Kagura pulled her deck from her Duel Disk and began searching through it until she found the card that she wanted. Once she saw it, she grabbed it and placed it into her hand before putting her deck back into her Duel Disk. She then activated the function on the device that shuffled her cards before continuing on with her turn.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity!" She said as she inserted a card into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. "With it, I can discard 2 cards from my hand in order draw 3 cards from my deck!"

Following along with her card's effect, Kagura proceeded to discard two more cards to the Graveyard before drawing three cards from her deck. After she finished doing that, she looked over her entire hand again before taking another card and placing it face-down onto her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. The card then materialized onto her side of the field in a horizontal position.

Once she did that, Kagura then took one more card from her hand and looked at it for a moment. She then imagined how things would turn out if she used this card and decided to play it. So, she placed the card into her Spell/Trap Zone and watched as it appeared face-down on the field, right behind her first face-down card.

"I set a monster face-down in Defense Mode and another face-down. With that, I end my turn."

"_A solid opening move by Kagura Toyoshima!" _The MC declared over the loudspeaker. _"She made excellent use of the Field Spell already and has now put her plan into place. So…how will Lilly Muto counter?"_

Lilly stared at the cards that Kagura set on the field and knew right away that even if she destroyed the cards, they would still be of use to her opponent later on. That's just the type of Duelist Kagura is and Lilly knew that she would need to handle this very carefully.

"It's my turn," She said as she placed her hand upon her deck. "Draw!"

Lilly swiftly drew her top card and looked at it for a few seconds before turning her attention back to Kagura's face-down cards. After thinking about it for a moment, she realized that she needed to take advantage early on in this Duel. Kagura was a powerful Duelist, one that couldn't be underestimated or taken lightly. Even if it meant falling into her trap, she had to make a move to would allow her to take the lead, even for just a little while.

To that end, Lilly placed the card that she drew into her hand and went on to grab another one of her cards. After examining it, the young woman then went on to take that card and place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Magician's Valkyria!" She declared.

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across Lilly's side of the field for a few short moments as her trusty Magician's Valkyria appeared before her. Once it was out, Lilly then went on to take the card that she drew at the beginning of her turn and place it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I equip Valkyria with the Spell Card: Fairy Meteor Crush! With it, my magician can now deal piercing damage to your Defense Position monsters!"

As soon as she finished explaining the effect of her Spell Card, Lilly looked on as her Valkyria's body was being illuminated by a bright pink aura. After the aura faded, the Spellcaster turned its attention toward Kagura and proceeded to direct its staff toward her. However, despite the fierce some glare that Valkyria was giving off, Kagura refused to be intimidated. She wasn't afraid of Magician's Valkyria, or any of Lilly's monsters.

Fear was the one enemy that every single human had to face and Kagura knew that if she let it overcome her then it would be the end. Because of that fact, she trained herself mentally to handle almost anything that life had to throw at her. She would turn her fear into motivation and that's exactly what she's doing right now. So, as Valkyria prepared to attack her face-down monster, Kagura remained focused and unmoving.

"Magician's Valkyria," Lilly said, beginning to conduct her Battle Phase. "Attack Kagura's face-down monster…Mystic Scepter Blast!"

Valkyria nodded her head and began building up energy into her staff. Once she built up enough power, the Spellcaster fired a powerful blast of green mystic energy toward Kagura's face-down monster. However, before the blast struck its target, Kagura swiftly pressed a button on her Duel Disk and activated her face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Impenetrable Attack!" She declared. "With it, I can prevent my monster from being destroyed through battle this turn."

"That's fine," Lilly replied. "You still take Battle Damage!"

Magician's Valkyria's attack continued to make its way over to Kagura's face-down monster until it finally struck it. When it did, a small explosion covered her side of the field for a few moments. Once the smoke from that explosion faded, it was revealed that Kagura's face-down monster was a Necro Gardna.

**Necro Gardna: ATK 600 DEF 1300 LVL 3**

**Kagura: 3700 LP**

When Lilly saw what type of monster that Kagura kept hidden from her, the young woman was surprised that it was Necro Gardna. She then began to wonder why Kagura chose to protect her monster from being destroyed since Gardna's effect can only be activated in the Graveyard. If she'd had used the second effect of her Impenetrable Attack Trap Card, she could have kept herself from losing her Life Points. However, Kagura didn't do that and that was bothering Lilly somewhat.

Eventually, the Signer decided to turn her attention back toward the Duel as she believed that she would discovered Kagura's motives in due time. After taking a moment to examine her hand, Lilly decided to take a page from her opponent's book and take advantage of the Field Spell.

"I'm also going to activate the effect of the Realm of Light and Darkness Field Spell!" She said. "I discard a Level 4 Dark monster to my Graveyard in order to add a Level 4 Light monster to my hand!"

Lilly grabbed the card Level 4 monster that she wanted to discard and proceeded to place it into her Graveyard before pulling out her deck. After searching through all her cards, she went on to find the one that she was looking for and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, Lilly placed her deck back into her Duel Disk, shuffled all her cards, and continued on with her turn.

Her next move involved taking two cards from her hand and inserting them into her Spell/Trap Zone. The cards materialized face-down on her side of the field, right behind her Magician's Valkyria.

"I end my turn by setting two cards face-down."

"Then it's my turn again," Kagura pointed out. "Draw!"

Not wasting any time, Kagura swiftly drew her next card and took a look at it before placing it into her hand. Once she did that, the Twilight Duelist then proceeded to take one card from her hand and place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Card Trooper, in Attack Mode!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 400 DEF 400 LVL 3**

Upon placing the card onto her Duel Disk, a bright flash of light shined across Kagura's side of the field for a few seconds as her Card Trooper appeared before her. As soon as it was out on the field, Kagura looked back at her hand for a second before continuing on with her turn.

"I now activate Card Trooper's Special Ability! By discarding up to three cards from my deck, Trooper gains 500 Attack Points for each one until the End Phase of my turn. I'm going to discard three cards, which means Card Trooper gains 1500 Attack Points!"

Kagura pulled the top three cards from her deck and went on to place them into her card Graveyard. After she did that, she then looked on at her Card Trooper and watched as its body was being covered by a brightly colored aura. This aura increased her monster's strength, making it more powerful than Lilly's Magician's Valkyria.

**Card Trooper: ATK 1900**

As Card Trooper continued to gain power through its Special Ability, Takashi observed the Duel with the rest of his friends and remembered that Kagura used a similar play during her second Qualifying Duel. Seeing that similarity made Takashi wonder if Kagura was going for the same move that used against Yusuke. If that was the case, the young man knew that Lilly's was going to have an even tougher time on her hands.

"Now, I Overlay my Level 3 Card Trooper and Necro Gardna!" Kagura declared as she stacked her two monster cards on top of one another. "With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!"

Kagura watched as both her Card Trooper and her Necro Gardna transformed themselves into colorful orbs of light that began flying around the entire stadium for a few moments. As they did that, the portal to the Overlay Network appeared before her. Once it was out, the orbs proceeded to dive into the portal, which resulted in powerful eruption taking place.

When that happened, Kagura opened the case to her Extra Deck and quickly pulled out a Xyz Monster card from it. Once she determined that it was indeed the card that she wanted to play, the young woman then placed the card onto of the other two cards that were already on her Duel Disk.

"Appear now, Black Ray Lancer!"

**Black Ray Lancer: ATK 2100 DEF 600 Rank 3**

After calling out the name of her Xyz Monster, Kagura looked on as her Black Ray Lancer emerged from the Overlay Network and immediately made its presence felt on the Dueling Field. As soon as it was out completely, Black Ray Lancer looked down at Magician's Valkyria as Kagura proceeded to take a card from her hand and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I equip Black Ray Lancer with the Spell Card: Black Ray Spear!" She said. "With it, my monster can no longer be destroyed through battle!"

Once Kagura played her Spell, she watched as Black Ray Lancer extended its arm out and grabbed hold of an energy spear that materialized right in front of it. After twirling the spear around in for a few seconds, Lancer directed his new weapon toward its opponent

"Black Ray Lancer, attack Magician's Valkyria…Black Bright Spear!"

Lancer nodded its head in compliance to Kagura's order and immediately threw its spear toward Valkyria. However, before the weapon could even reach the Spellcaster, Lilly responded accordingly by activating her face-down card.

"Not so fast," She stated. "I activate the Trap: Half Unbreak! With it, Magician's Valkyria isn't destroyed and any Battle Damage I take involving it is cut in half until the End Phase of this turn!"

A magical barrier surrounded Magician's Valkyria, just as Black Ray Lancer's spear was about to hit her. The barrier protected the Spellcaster from the attack and also cut the Battle Damage that her master would've taken in half.

**Lilly: 3750 LP**

As the smoke cleared from the battle that just took place, Takashi was busy gripping the handle bars as he watched the Duel. He saw the move that Lilly just made and although it secured her Valkyria's safety, the young man felt that it wasn't the right one.

"Lilly," He said, thinking quietly to himself. "You messed up…"

"I activate the second effect of my Black Ray Spear Spell!" Kagura declared. "When the monster equipped with it attacks, but fails to destroy a monster through battle, it Attack Points double and it can attack one more time!"

**Black Ray Lancer: ATK 4200**

A powerful purple veil of energy surrounded Black Ray Lancer's body as the effect of Kagura's equip began to take effect. Once the veil faded away, Lancer once again directed its spear toward Lilly's Magician's Valkyria and waited patiently for Kagura to declare her next attack.

"Black Ray Lancer," She called. "Attack her Valkyria once again…Black Bright Spear!"

Lancer nodded its head and once again threw its weapon toward Valkyria. Thanks to the Half Unbreak Trap Card, the Spellcaster was once again spared from being destroyed, but Lilly's Life Points still took a hit. Fortunately, the Trap's second effect prevented her from losing all of her Life Points.

**Lilly: 2450 LP**

Once her Lancer's attack came to an end, Kagura looked over her hand one more time before pulling out two cards. When she inserted them into her Duel Disk, the Twilight Duelist watched two face-down cards appeared just behind her Black Ray Lancer.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn,"

Lilly gently nodded her head before placing her upon her deck. Once she did that, she started pondering what she should do. Unlike when Takashi used his Radiance Wings Equip Spell, the effect of Kagura's Black Ray Spear doesn't end during the End Phase. Black Ray Lancer's 4200 Attack Points will remain and that meant it was now an even tougher opponent than before. Lilly needed to come up with a plan to deal with it and she needed to figure it out before the end of her next turn.

As Lilly continued to think about her situation, her friends continued to look on from the stands. All of them seemed worried, with the exception of both Sona and Enoch since they didn't know Lilly very well. Eventually, as they stood there watching, Crow was beginning to tap the guardrail repeatedly out of frustration.

"Damn it," He said to himself. "What can she do? Lilly doesn't have any monsters in her deck that can destroy a monster with 4200 Attack Points."

"I know," Takashi said in agreement. "However…she does have a monster that can drain Attack Points."

Crow looked toward Takashi and saw him still looking towards the Duel, seemingly waiting for something to happen.

"What do you mean by that?" Crow asked.

"…It's just like he said," Sona replied, joining in the conversation. "Lilly Muto does have a monster in her deck that can drain the Attack Points of Kagura's Black Ray Lancer. I thought you would have known that…given that you've known her the longest."

Crow scoffed at Sona's final comment and started thinking about the monster that she and Takashi were referring too. He thought about all the monsters that she had in her Extra Deck, including her Ace Monster, Ancient Fairy Dragon, but couldn't remember one that fit the description. He even thought about some of the monsters that she had in her main deck, but still couldn't figure out which one his friends were talking about.

Eventually, after watching him think for a few seconds, Akiza made her way toward Crow and started whispering something in his ear. The Psychic Duelist knew which monster that Takashi and Sona were talking about since Lilly used it to win her last Qualifying Duel. After telling him, Akiza watched as Crow's eyes lit up from shock. He then turned his attention towards her.

"You mean that card?" He asked.

"Yes," She replied. "If she uses that card, then there's a chance that she can not only destroy Black Ray Lancer, but win the Duel as well."

Akiza smiled at Crow for a second before turning her head back toward the Duel. When Crow did the same thing, the Blackwing Duelist watched as Lilly was getting ready to begin her next turn. Crow then went on to take a deep breath before smiling too.

"Okay Lil," He thought to himself. "You can do this. Show her who's boss."

Back at the Duel, Lilly closed her eyes for a moment and started thinking about her next move. After coming up with a pretty good strategy, she reopened them and prepared to draw her next card.

"Here we go," She said to herself. "It's my turn…Draw!"

Swiftly drawing the top card from her deck, Lilly took a look at it for a moment before placing it into her hand. After that, the young woman then took another card and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell: Monster Reborn, in order to revive the Gagaga Magician that I discarded via the Field Spell's effect!"

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light covered Lilly's field for a moment as the portal to her Graveyard appeared before her. From it, her Gagaga Magician emerged and proceeded to stand by her side. Once that happened, Lilly then went on to take another card from her hand and place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Gagaga Girl!"

**Gagaga Girl: ATK 1000 DEF 800 LVL 3**

Another bright flash of light covered Lilly's field as her Gagaga Girl materialized onto the field and stood by her Gagaga Magician.

"Now, with both of my Gagaga monsters out on the field, I activate their respective Special Abilities! For Gagaga Magician, I use its effect to make it a Level 7 monster until the End Phase of my turn. Then, for my Gagaga Girl, I use her Special Ability to make its Level equal to that of my Gagaga Magician!"

**Gagaga Magician: LVL 7**

**Gagaga Girl: LVL 7**

A bright aura resonated off Lilly's Gagaga monsters as the young woman watched them both become Level 7 monsters. After that happened, Lilly then took both of monster's cards and stacked them on top of each other.

"Now…I Overlay my Level 7 Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

Both Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl nodded their heads as they began to transform into orbs of light. They then started flying around the entire Kaiba dome for a few seconds as the portal leading to the Overlay Network materialized right in front of Lilly. Once the portal was out completely, the two orbs stopped what they were doing and immediately dove right into it, causing an explosion to occur.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, Hierophant of Prophecy!"

**Hierophant of Prophecy: ATK 2800 DEF 2600 Rank 7**

As the eruption that the Overlay Network was causing continued to take place, everyone in the stadium watched as a powerful Spellcaster with colorful robes appeared. It was wearing a golden crown on top of its head and was also holding a powerful scepter in its left hand. The overall appearance of the Xyz monster gave it a very majestic feel, something that seemed very appropriate for it.

"Now, with my monster out, I activate my Gagaga Girl's second Special Ability!" Lilly said, continuing on with her turn. "Since she and another Gagaga monster was used to Xyz Summon, I can zero-out the Attack Points of your Black Ray Lancer!"

The spirit of Lilly's Gagaga Girl emerged from Hierophant's body and began typing something on her cell phone. When she finished, Gagaga Girl presented the cell phone to Black Ray Lancer and watched as the Xyz Monster was being covered by a powerful array of light. This light quickly drained Black Ray Lancer's Attack Points, making it much weaker than any one of Lilly's monsters.

**Black Ray Lancer: ATK 0**

Once Gagaga Girl's effect fully took hold, Lilly got ready and pulled out another card from her hand. Before placing it into her Spell/Trap Zone, she looked over towards Kagura in order to see what her reaction was. To her surprise, she saw that Kagura wasn't worried about her situation at all. Her eyes still remained cold and focused with a hint of anger mixed in.

Lilly didn't know how Kagura could feel this way, even when she knows that her Black Ray Lancer was about to be destroyed. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that it was because the effect of her Spell, Black Ray Spear, was still in play. To that end, Lilly inserted her card into her Duel Disk so that she could get rid of the card that she believed was holding Kagura's hopes.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon!" She declared. "With it, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card that's on the field. I choose to destroy your Black Ray Spear Equip Spell!"

Upon playing her Spell Card, Lilly looked intently as a powerful typhoon appeared and quickly made its way over to Kagura's side of the field. When it reached her, the Twilight Duelist looked on as her Black Ray Lancer's weapon was taken from it and destroyed by the powerful winds. However, even with her Spell gone, Kagura still didn't look too worried. This sight bothered Lilly and she decided that it was best to end this Duel now and then figure out why Kagura has been acting so strange.

"Hierophant of Prophecy, attack her Black Ray Lancer – Divine Punishment!"

Hierophant nodded her head and began twirling around her staff for a few seconds. As she did that, the staff started glowing a bright purple color, showing that the Spellcaster was transferring her power into the staff. Once she finished twirling her weapon around, Hierophant directed it toward Kagura's Black Ray Lancer and fired a blast of concentrated magical energy towards it.

As the energy struck her monster, Kagura didn't pay any attention toward her Black Ray Lancer and simply kept her eyes firmly on Lilly. Even when she took her hand and activated one of her face-down cards, her eyes didn't even shift. The focus of her attention was solely placed on her opponent. Nothing else matter, not even the condition of her own monster.

"I activate the Trap Card: Defense Draw!" She stated. "With it, the Battle Damage I take from your attack is reduced to 0. Then, I can draw one card from my deck."

Once she said that, a protective barrier surrounded Kagura's body for a few moments as her Black Ray Lancer exploded from the power of Hierophant's attack. As soon as that occurred, the barrier disappeared and Kagura then went on to draw a card.

"Alright then," Lilly said, slightly annoyed that her initial attack failed. "I'll just do this! Magician Valkyria, attack her Life Points directly – Mystic Scepter Blast!"

Valkyria nodded her head and prepared gather energy into her own magic staff. However, just when the Spellcaster gathered enough power, Lilly responded by activating her other face-down card. When she did that, Valkyria stopped and the power that she gathered into her staff quickly faded away.

"However, before I do that, I activate the Trap: Magician's Circle! With it, since a Spellcaster-Type monster has declared an attack, both of us can Special Summon a Spellcaster from our decks with 2000 or less Attack Points!"

Lilly pulled her deck from her Duel Disk and started looking through it until she found the monster that she wanted to Special Summon. However, Kagura didn't do anything as she didn't have any Spellcaster-Type monsters in her deck that met the requirement.

Once Lilly found the monster she was looking for, a small smiled appeared on her face as she went on to place it onto her Monster Card Zone. After she did that, she put her deck back into her Duel Disk and watched as a bright flash of light started shining right next to her Magician's Valkyria and Hierophant of Prophecy.

"I Special Summon: Dark Magician Girl!"

**Dark Magician Girl: ATK 2000 DEF 1700 LVL 6**

As the light continued to shine across Lilly's field, both Duelists watched as Dark Magician Girl appeared and started standing right next to her fellow Spellcaster-Type monsters. The mage then looked toward Lilly and smiled kindly at her before turning her complete attention toward Kagura.

"Now, with my Dark Magician Girl out on the field," Lilly said. "I'll continue on with my Valkyria's direct attack!"

Valkyria nodded her head and once again started channeling energy into her staff. Once she gathered enough power, she fired a blast of powerful mystic energy toward Kagura. However, before the attack struck her, the Twilight Duelist responded by activating another one of her face-down cards.

"It's time to stop playing around," She said in a cold tone of voice. "I activate the Trap Card: Judgment of Light! With it, since I'm the target of a direct attack, I can now draw one card from my deck. If the card is a Light Attribute monster, I can Special Summon onto the field, ignoring its summoning conditions. However, if it's any other type of card, it's goes into the Graveyard and the Battle Damage I take from your attack is doubled!"

Lilly's eyes widen upon hearing Kagura explain her Trap Card as it was a very risky move that she was attempting. Even though she was user of the Twilight Archetype, the chances that she can draw the card that she needed was pretty low. If she drew the wrong card, the damage from Valkyria's attack would double and that would even bring her closer to defeat. Lilly simply didn't see the logic in the move and wondered what Kagura was trying to prove.

Eventually, after she swiftly drew the top card of her deck, Kagura took a glance at it in order to see if she drew the card that she needed. After she looked at the card, the young woman took it and placed it firmly upon her Monster Card Zone.

"Come forward, Judgment Dragon!"

**Judgment Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

A powerful array of light covered the entire field for a few moments as the cry of a powerful dragon could be heard throughout the entire stadium. When the light faded, all the spectators looked on in a state of shock and amazement as Judgment Dragon appeared onto the field and stood by Kagura's side. Once it was the there, the dragon let out another powerful cry, one so strong that it frightened Magician's Valkyria into stopping her attack.

Once her Spellcaster returned to her side of the field, Lilly looked on at Kagura as sweat started pouring down her face. Somehow, her opponent was not only able to bring out the card that she needed, but also bring out a monster than was far stronger than any of her own. That sight not only proved how strong Kagura was a Duelist, but also showed that she was even tougher than Lilly ever thought possible.

"Amazing," She thought quietly to herself. "Even though our Life Points are almost identical, it feels like I'm the one playing catch-up. Hell, she hasn't even brought out that Twilight Dragon of hers. If she does bring it out…what am I going to do?"

Lilly looked over the one card that made up her hand and saw that it wouldn't be useful to her now. She then looked over toward the three Spellcaster-Type monsters that she had on the field. Even though none of them were strong enough to handle Kagura's Judgment Dragon, Magician's Valkyria's Special Ability will at least protect the other two from being targeted for attacks. That thought relieved Lilly somewhat as it meant that she had a chance to turn things around when her next turn comes up.

So, after taking a deep breath, Lilly stood firm as she glared over toward Kagura and her powerful Judgment Dragon. She then balled up her right fist as she prepared to initiate her End Phase.

"I…end my turn," She said. "It's your move."

"I know," Kagura stated. "Draw!"

Kagura swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. After that, she pressed a button on her Duel Disk which displayed a holographic image of all the cards that she currently had in her Graveyard. Upon examining all of those cards, Kagura put away the display screen and went on to take a card from her hand and place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Since I have at least 3 Dark Attribute monsters in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. Appear now, Dark Armed Dragon!"

**Dark Armed Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 1000 LVL 7**

Upon declaring what type of monster she was about to summon, Kagura looked on as a dark vortex of negative energy started coming together around her. The energy then started to change shape, transforming itself into a powerful dark dragon. Once it finished its transformation, the dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs before staring down at Lilly and her three Spellcasters.

After that happened, Kagura continued on with her turn by taking one of cards from out of her Graveyard. When she did that, she watched as a small orb of negative energy began to materialize in front of her Dark Armed Dragon.

"I activate Dark Armed Dragon's Special Ability! By banishing one of the Dark monsters in my Graveyard from play, Dark Armed Dragon can destroy one card on the field! The card I want my dragon to get rid of is your Hierophant of Prophecy!"

Lilly's eyes once again widen from shock as she watched Dark Armed Dragon throw the orb of negative energy toward her Hierophant of Prophecy. When it reached her monster, she noticed the orb quickly expanded until it was about two times the size of Hierophant before eventually consuming the Spellcaster. Once that happened, Lilly could only look on in horror as her monster screamed in anguish before finally dying.

As soon as Hierophant was gone and Lilly was left with only two monster left to protect her, Kagura decided that the time was now for Lilly to experience a small portion of the despair that she's been feeling for the past six years. So, she promptly looked at her Dark Armed Dragon before pointing her finger toward Lilly's Magician's Valkyria.

"Dark Armed Dragon," She called. "Attack her Valkyria now – Darkness Purge!"

Dark Armed complied with its master's demand quickly released a powerful blast of condensed negative energy toward Lilly's Valkyria. When it struck her, the Spellcaster was instantly vaporized and Lilly was sent back a little due to the force of the shockwave.

**Lilly: 1250 LP**

"I'm not done yet!" Kagura said, continuing on with her Battle Phase. "Judgment Dragon, attack her Dark Magician Girl – Light of Retribution!"

Just like with Dark Armed Dragon, Judgment Dragon also complied with Kagura's wishes and fired a blast of condensed light energy toward Dark Magician Girl. When the attack connected, the female Dark Magician tried her best to defend herself, but to no avail. As a result, she died and Lilly's Life Points continued to drop as she was blown back again.

**Lilly: 250 LP**

Once her Battle Phase came to an end, Kagura looked on at Lilly as she attempted to get back up on her feet. As she did that, the Twilight Duelist firmly grabbed the hilt of her sword for a few moments before letting go of it.

"Don't think this will be the end of your torment," She said. "You will pay for your crimes Lilly Muto. You will experience true suffering before this Duel is over. And then, once you're completely and utterly crushed, I will finally have my revenge and end your pathetic existence."

Kagura took one of the cards from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, she watched as a face-down card materialized onto her field, just behind her Judgment Dragon.

"But until that moment, I'll just set one card face-down. With that, I end my turn."

After Kagura concluded her turn, everyone in the Kaiba Dome started cheering at the top of their lungs. They were amazed on how dominant Kagura was during this match and most of them believed that it would only be matter of time before she won. Because of that, almost everyone started cheering even louder for Kagura, requesting her to continue her dominant performance.

Meanwhile, as most of the crowd cheered, Lilly friends were all very concerned about the situation she was in. At first, it seemed like she had the advantage and was about to win. However, Kagura was somehow able to turn it around and was now one attack away from winning the Duel. Things seemed pretty hopeless, but they all continued to have faith that Lilly would somehow pull off a comeback and win.

The only person who having doubts about Lilly's victory was Lilly herself. This was clearly the toughest opponent that she ever faced before and she was beginning to run out of ideas. Also, the fact that Kagura blames her for something that she doesn't even know about was bothering her as well. Lilly had no idea why Kagura was so mad at her as she always remembered being kind to the Twilight Duelist. She never did anything to wrong her, so the fact that Kagura wanted revenge was very confusing.

In the end however, Lilly decided that she couldn't worry about that now. If her resolve wavers then her chances of victory will become even slimmer than they are now. She had to focus on the task at hand and worry about Kagura's revenge later. So, after getting back up from off the ground, Lilly took a deep breath and placed her hand upon her deck.

"It's my turn," She declared. "Draw!"

Putting her hopes on her next card, Lilly drew it from the top of her deck and took a quick look at it. After examining it, she nodded to herself before inserting the card into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Card of Sanctity! With it, both of us draw until we each have six cards in our hands!"

After playing her Spell, Lilly started drawing cards from her deck until she had 6 cards in her hand. Once she did that, she looked on as Kagura went on to do the same thing. As soon as both Duelists finished, Lilly continued on with her turn by taking one of the cards that she just drew and inserting it onto her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate another Spell: Magical Rejuvenation! This card allows me to banish one Spell Card in my Graveyard in order to activate its effect. I banish my Monster Reborn Spell in order to bring my Dark Magician Girl!"

A bright flash of light surrounded Lilly's side of the field as her Dark Magician Girl returned to her side. Once that happened, she went on to banish her Monster Reborn Spell Card before continuing on with the rest of her turn.

"Now, I activate the effect of the Realm of Light and Darkness! I discard a Level 1 Dark monster to the Graveyard in order to add a Level 1 Light monster to my hand!"

Lilly quickly placed the card that she wanted to discard into her card Graveyard before pulling her deck from her Duel Disk. She then began looking through it until she found the card that she was looking for. Once she had it, Lilly put her deck back into her Duel Disk, shuffled her cards, and then went on to place the card she selected onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Hanewata!"

**Hanewata: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

When Lilly placed her card onto her Duel Disk, a small orb of light appeared in front of her. After about a second, the orb began changing shape until it transformed into her Hanewata.

"I Tune my Level 6 Dark Magician Girl with my Level 1 Hanewata!"

The two monsters nodded their heads upon hearing Lilly say that and quickly jumped high into the air as a result. Once they reached a certain height, the two of them then began to process for a Synchro Summoning. It was hear that Lilly began chanting to herself as she picked up a card from her Extra Deck and it horizontally onto her Monster Card Zone.

"The holy light of protection, shine now and become eternal light! Synchro Summon! A regal rebirth, Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 3000 LVL 7**

When the ritual came to an end, a powerful flash of light covered the entire stadium for a few seconds. Once it faded away, everyone saw Ancient Fairy Dragon appear onto the field and stand right next to Lilly. Though the dragon wasn't as impressive as Takashi's Stardust Dragon, it was still pretty impressive and it hit off with a lot of the female spectators.

"Now," Lilly said as she picked up another card from her hand. "With my dragon out, I think I'll go on and activate its Special Ability! Once per turn, in exchange of not being allowed to attack this turn, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster directly from my hand."

After looking at the card that she just picked up, Lilly went on to place it horizontally onto her Monster Card Zone. Upon doing that, another bright flash of light appeared on her side of the field.

"I Special Summon: Kuribon, in Defense Mode!"

**Kuribon: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

When the light that appeared on Lilly's field started to fade away, everyone watched as it materialized into a small Kuriboh-like monster. The only difference between it and the regular Kuriboh is that it had a mouse-like tail with red ribbon tied to it.

Once Kuribon was out and standing next to Ancient Fairy Dragon, Lilly took two more cards from her hand and inserted them into her Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing that, two face-down cards materialized onto her side of the field, just behind both of her monsters.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Very well," Kagura replied. "Then it's my turn, Draw!"

Not wasting any time, Kagura swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, the young woman then went to take a card from her Graveyard and put it away.

"I activate the effect of my Dark Armed Dragon! I banish another one of my Dark Attribute monsters in order to destroy your Ancient Fairy Dragon!"

"I don't think so!" Lilly replied as she took a card from her hand and put it into her Graveyard. "I activate my Effect Veiler's Special Ability! Once, during your turn, I can discard this monster from my hand in order to negate your Dark Armed Dragon's effect!"

Dark Armed Dragon prepared to summon another orb of negative energy in order to destroy Lilly's Ace Monster. However, just as it was about to do that, the spirit of Lilly's Effect Veiler appeared onto the field and began racing toward Kagura's dragon. It then released several tiny stars from its wings, which effectively negated Armed Dragon's powers until the End Phase of the turn.

As soon as Dark Armed Dragon's effect was gone, Kagura looked on towards Lilly and saw that she was slightly confident by her recent moves. Seeing that brought more anger into her eyes and she now became even more determined to drag her opponent down to the depths of despair. To that end, continued on with her turn by taking a card from her hand and placing it into her card Graveyard.

"I activate the effect of the Realm of Light and Darkness! With it, I discard a Level 1 Dark monster to the Graveyard in order to add a Level 1 Light monster to my hand!"

After pulling out her deck and finding the card that she wanted, Kagura quickly put it into her hand before placing her deck back into her Duel Disk. She then shuffled all of her cards before taking the card that she picked and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"When there's a Light Attribute monster on the field, I can Special Summon this Tuner Monster directly from my hand. Come to the field, Light Sorceress!"

**Light Sorceress: ATK 0 DEF 700 LVL 1**

A bright array of light appeared on Kagura's field a young and beautiful sorceress appeared onto her side of the field. She had long blonde hair with eyes of the same color. She also was wearing a long dress that was very similar to the ones that women used to wear during the Roman Age. As soon as it materialized completely onto the field, Kagura quickly continued on with her turn.

"I Tune my Level 7 Dark Armed Dragon with my Level 1 Light Sorceress!" She declared.

Both of Kagura's selected monsters nodded their heads and quickly jumped high into the air. As soon as they reached a certain height, they began to conduct the process for a Synchro Summoning. It was here that Kagura pulled out another card from her Extra Deck before placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Light from the heavens and Darkness from the shadows, merge together and become the power that upholds justice! Synchro Summon! Show the road to dawn, Twilight Dragon!"

**Twilight Dragon: ATK 2700 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Once the ritual came to an end, everyone watching the Duel looked on in awe as the light and the darkness from the Field Spell began merging together until transformed into Kagura's Twilight Dragon. When the dragon opened its eyes, Kagura's Ace started roaring at the stop of its lungs, releasing a powerful shockwave that caused the entire stadium to shake for a few seconds. After that, it flew down toward her master and prepared itself for battle.

"Now," Kagura said. "Before I have my Twilight Dragon attack, I'll first have my Judgment Dragon attack your Kuribon!"

Judgment Dragon nodded its head and started gathering up power from inside its body. Once it had gathered enough strength, it fired another blast of concentrated light energy toward Lilly's side of the field.

"I won't let that happen!" The Signer shouted. "I activate the Trap Card: Magic Cylinder! With it, I can negate your dragon's attack and deal you damage equal to its Attack Points!"

Upon activating her Trap, Lilly watched as two magical cylinders appeared in front of her Kuribon, prepared to protect it from Judgment Dragon's attack. However, just before anything could happen, the cylinders suddenly started to disappear from the field. That sight confused Lilly greatly and it wasn't until she looked toward Kagura's side of the field that she figured out what was going on.

"Don't think your face-down cards can save you," The Twilight Duelist said. "I activate the effect of my Twilight Dragon. Once, during either Duelists turn, Twilight Dragon can negate the activation of my opponent's Spell and Trap Cards and destroy it. All I have to do is banish one of my Dark Attribute monsters from my Graveyard."

As Kagura removed another one of her Dark monsters from her Graveyard, Lilly looked on utter shock as her Magic Cylinders complied faded away. As soon as they were gone, there was nothing stopping Judgment Dragon from continuing on with its attack and destroying Kuribon.

With Kuribon gone, the only monster that Lilly had on field was her Ancient Fairy Dragon. However, even with its 3000 Defense Points, the young woman still felt very worried about her current situation. Kagura has proven over and over that she can come up with strategies that completely neutralize her own. Even with Ancient Fairy's power, Lilly was beginning to lose faith in her ability to win. Eventually, that feeling would be proven right as Kagura continued on with her turn.

"Twilight Dragon," She called. "Go and attack her Ancient Fairy Dragon…Twilight Surge!"

Twilight Dragon complied with Kagura's order and prepared to launch its attack toward Lilly's Ancient Fairy Dragon. However, before the attack could take place, Kagura proceeded to activate one of her face-down cards.

"At that moment, I activate the Trap Card: Reinforcements! With it, my dragon gains 500 Attack Points until the End Phase of the turn!"

**Twilight Dragon: ATK 3200 **

After activating her Trap Card, Kagura watched as her Twilight Dragon fired a combination of both positive and negative energy toward Ancient Fairy Dragon. When the attack struck it, Lilly's Ace was quickly being overwhelmed by the power of the attack.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon!" Lilly yelled.

"Worry about yourself, Lilly Muto," Kagura pointed out. "Because I activate the effect of my Light Sorceress. Since it was used to summon a Light Attribute Synchro Monster, my Twilight Dragon now gains the piercing ability. That means you now lose 200 of your Life Points!"

**Lilly: 50 LP**

When Lilly's Life Points dropped to 50, the young woman was sent flying from the force of Twilight Dragon's attack. Upon landing on the ground, she started coughing up some blood as the crowd started cheering for Kagura in unison.

"_Amazing!" _The MC declared. _"Kagura Toyoshima has Lilly Muto right in the palm of her hand. I feel it won't be too much longer until we have our second Semi-Finalist!"_

As the crowd went on with the MC, Kagura was waiting as Lilly struggled to get back up on her feet. As she did that, the memories of her time with Vivi flooded back into her mind. All those happy moments with her cousin caused Kagura to hate Lilly even more as she and the rest of Team Satisfaction were the ones that took Vivi away from her. Because of that, more anger began to fill her heart and her desire to kill Lilly was growing stronger with every passing second. Eventually, it was quickly reaching the point that Kagura couldn't wait anymore.

"Get up Lilly Muto," She said as she continued to watch her opponent struggle. "Your suffering hasn't ended yet. You will pay for your crimes with your life and you will do so now!"

Kagura continued staring at Lilly furiously as she watched her opponent slowly get up from the ground. However, upon getting at good look at her face, Kagura noticed that Lilly's eyes were filled with confusion.

"What…are you talking about…what have I ever done to you?" Lilly asked.

"It's not what you've done to me," Kagura explained. "It's what you did to my cousin, Vivi! It was 6 years ago when you and the rest of Team Satisfaction got her killed! Did you honestly believe that I wouldn't find out about it? Well, you were wrong! I've learned the truth and I won't stop until every single member of Team Satisfaction is dead…and that includes you!"

Lilly's eyes widen upon hearing Kagura say that and tried her best to recall the incident that she was talking about. Eventually, she came to remember a time when a female Sector Security officer got killed during a battle between Team Satisfaction and the Crashing Sharks. Was that person the one Kagura was talking about? In the end, it didn't really matter. Just thinking about that time brought up terrible memories from Lilly's past, causing to lose her will to fight.

As a result of crumbling resolve, Lilly slowly got on both knees and began looking down toward the ground. After that, she then placed both of her hands down, showing that she was considering giving up.

"I…didn't know," She said silently. "I…didn't mean for her to die. It was…an accident."

"It doesn't matter if it was an accident!" Kagura shouted. "You and your friends cost my cousin her life! I will never forgive you for that and you will pay for crimes with your own life!"

Kagura's words hit Lilly hard and the Signer was almost considering giving to her request. After all, even though she tried to make a difference with her work in Team Satisfaction, her actions did more harm than good. She soon started to believe that it would be probably best to let Kagura kill her. At least by doing that, maybe Kagura could rediscover a portion of the happiness that she lost.

"I…I…give-"

_Don't you dare say those words!_

Shocked by the words that were just spoken to her, Lilly looked up and saw the spirit of her Dark Magician Girl appear before her. The Spellcaster had an angry expression on her face as well as having both of her arms folded.

_Don't you dare give up Lilly! You have too many people counting on you right now!_

"But…it was my fault that…her cousin got killed."

_It doesn't matter! What happened in the past can't be changed. Besides, what would it accomplish if you let Kagura kill you? Even if you die, she still plans on killing the other members of Team Satisfaction. That means Crow is the next one she'll come after! Are you willing to let him die…just because you feel guilty?!_

Lilly thought about what Dark Magician Girl said to her for a moment before turning her attention toward the stands and seeing Crow and the rest of her friends continue cheering for her. She then thought about what would happen if she lost this Duel. Kagura would kill her and then go after Crow. Even though she felt guilty about what happened to Vivi, Lilly couldn't let Kagura kill Crow. He was like a little brother to her and she had promised Martha that she would always look out for him. Lilly didn't want to break that promise and she knew that meant not giving up on this Duel.

Because, Lilly slowly got back on her feet and started facing her opponent once more. As she did that, Dark Magician Girl noticed that there was a lot of confidence in her partner's eyes. Seeing that made her very happy and she felt confident that Lilly would continue on with the Duel. As a result, the Spellcaster disappeared and let Lilly finish her match.

"So…it seems you still want to suffer," Kagura said.

"No," Lilly replied. "I've spent my whole life suffering. Ever since I was a little girl, I've been making mistakes that caused suffering for both my friends and myself. I always felt bad afterwards…and I have no doubt that I'll continue feeling bad about them. However, despite everything I've done, I have to keep moving forward. I have to keep fighting to protect my friends…because they've always been the ones protecting me!"

"You don't have the right to protect anyone Lilly Muto," Kagura said in a firm tone of voice. "Vivi died because of you and your friends! The despair I felt from her loss is something I'll never forget nor will forgive! You will feel the same pain I've felt…no matter what!"

As Kagura's anger started reaching its boiling point, Lilly could feel her Reiatsu increase as a result. However, despite the power that she was sensing, the young woman stood firm. Even though she was afraid, she knew that she had to keep going. She wanted to protect Crow, as well as the rest of her friends, and she was willing to do anything in order to make that happen. So, after Kagura ended her turn, Lilly placed all of her hopes on her final draw.

As she placed her hand upon her deck, Lilly closed her eyes for a moment and started recalling everything that happened during the Duel. After thinking, she reached a realization about the effect of Kagura's Twilight Dragon. She realized that if she just drew the card that she needed, then she could possibly turn this Duel around. Because of that, Lilly reopened her eyes and prepared herself to draw.

"Everything rides on this card," She said to herself. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Not wasting a single moment, Lilly used all of her strength to draw the card that she was holing. Upon taking a look at it, her eyes lit up with excitement as it was precisely the card that she was hoping for. Because of that, a small smile appeared onto her face as she proceeded to place the card into her hand before activating the face-down card that was on her field!

"I activate the Trap Card: Ancient Revival!" She declared. "With it, by discarding a card from my hand, I can Special Summon my Ancient Fairy Dragon from my Graveyard! In exchange though, its effects are negated."

Upon taking one of her cards and placing them into her card Graveyard, Lilly pulled out her Ancient Fairy Dragon's card and returned it to her Monster Card Zone. Once that happened, the dragon began to materialize back onto the field.

"I won't let that happen!" Kagura yelled. "I activate my Twilight Dragon's Special Ability! I banish the final Dark monster in my Graveyard in order to negate your Trap Card!"

Twilight Dragon nodded its head and prepared to use its effect to destroy Lilly's Trap and prevent Ancient Fairy Dragon's revival. However, just before that could happen, Lilly inserted the card that she just drew into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Not so fast!" She said. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Protective Barrier! With this card, my Spell and Trap Cards are unaffected my opponent's card effects! That means my Ancient Revival's effect still stands!"

Kagura's eyes widen as she watched a magical barrier appear on Lilly's side of the field and protect her Spells and Traps from harm. Once saw her Twilight Dragon's effect fail to do anything, Kagura watched as Ancient Fairy Dragon returned to the field to be by Lilly's side. It was here that the Signer continued on with her turn by taking another card and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I activate the second effect of Ancient Revival!" She stated. "When I successfully use the first effect, I can then Special Summon one monster from my hand that has 1000 or less Attack Points! So…come to the field, Junk Collector!"

**Junk Collector: ATK 1000 DEF 2200 LVL 5**

Upon saying the name of her chosen monster, Lilly watched as Junk Collector appeared onto her side of the field. However, the monster wouldn't be around for long as Lilly quickly took its card, along with another from her Graveyard, and put them away.

"I activate Junk Collector's Special Ability! By banishing it and a Trap Card from my Graveyard, I can activate the banished Trap!"

Lilly looked at the two cards that she chose for a moment before putting Junk Collector's card into her pocket. Once she did that, the young woman presented the Trap Card that she was about to activate to Kagura.

"I activate the Trap: Assault Mode Activate, in order to evolve my Ancient Fairy Dragon into Ancient Fairy Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 2600 DEF 3500 LVL 9**

As the effect of her Trap Card began to take hold, Lilly watched as Ancient Fairy Dragon's body was beginning to glow. From that glow, beautiful golden armor began to materialize around her Ace Monster. Once that transformation was complete, Ancient Fairy started roaring as it completely absorbed the strength that its new armor presented it.

"When my Ancient Fairy is successfully summoned in its Assault Mode, I can destroy one monster on my opponent's field who's Attack Points are equal to or less than my dragon's Defense Points! You then take damage equal to half of the destroyed monster's Attack Points! The monster I choose…is your Judgment Dragon!"

Ancient Fairy Dragon started roaring once more as a powerful array of light started to consume Judgment Dragon. Once it covered the dragon completely, a large explosion occurred, destroying to beast and sending Kagura flying backwards.

**Kagura: 1200 LP**

Once Ancient Fairy Dragon's new effect ended, Kagura slowly got up from the ground and watched Lilly hold the final card in her hand. She then started waving it around for a few seconds before turning her attention toward Kagura.

"I'm sorry," She said. "I understand that you want revenge for your cousin. I understand so much that it hurts. However, there are things that I have to do and I can't afford to lose this Duel. You may despise me Kagura, but I won't let your hatred affect my friends!"

With that said, Lilly proceeded to insert the card into her Graveyard before going on to conduct her Battle Phase.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon/Assault Mode, attack her Twilight Dragon!"

Ancient Fairy complied with Lilly's order and prepared to conduct its attack. However, at that exact moment, Ancient Fairy's armor started glowing like the sun as its second effect started to activate.

"At this time, I activate my Dragon's other ability!" Lilly declared. "When it attacks, I can discard Level 4 or lower monster from my hand in order to increase my Dragon's Attack Points by the discarded monster's Attack. I chose Breaker the Magical Warrior, increasing Ancient Fairy Dragon's Attack Points by 1600!"

**Ancient Fairy Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 4200**

"It's over Kagura Toyoshima…You Lose!"

Lilly, with a powerful fire in her eyes, looked on as Ancient Fairy Dragon prepared to destroy Kagura's Twilight Dragon and win the Duel for her. Although she felt bad for her opponent, especially it was Team Satisfaction's fault that her cousin died, she knew that she had to put that in her back pocket. She had to win this Duel for her friends and she was glad knowing that she was able to do that. To that end, she had no regrets as to what was about to happen.

Meanwhile, Kagura wasn't feeling the same way. As she watched Ancient Fairy Dragon close in on her monster, the Twilight Duelist was extremely upset at what she was seeing. She had Lilly at the palm of her hand. However, it was seemed like an instant, she was able to turn the tables and was now on the verge of winning. Just seeing that irritated Kagura to no end and it seemed like everything she ever worked for was about to come crumbling down around her.

"No…this can't happen," She said to herself. "I can't lose here. I swore that I would avenge Vivi. I swore on her grave that I would destroy the ones that took her from me. I can't afford to lose until I do that. I can't lose…I can't lose….I CAN'T LOSE THIS BATTLE!"

Kagura started screaming at the top of lungs, refusing to accept the reality of her defeat. As she did that, an extremely powerful Reiatsu burst from her body. The force of it was so strong that everyone who was aware of it suddenly felt a powerful pressure placed upon their bodies. Lilly was the one most affected by it, as she suddenly got down on both of her knees.

As she struggled to lift her head, she watched as a faint white aura was surrounding Kagura's body. Due to the vision of the Field Spell, most of the spectators believed that it was only a trick. However, Lilly realized that what she was seeing was no trick. Something was about to happen…something she wasn't about to like.

"I activate Twilight Dragon's second Special Ability!" Kagura yelled. "Once, during either Duelists turn, I can negate the activation of a monster effect and destroy that particular monster! All I have to do is banish a Light Attribute Monster from my Graveyard!"

Twilight Dragon started roaring as a powerful flash of light shined from off its body. This light was able to counteract the powers of Lilly's Ancient Fairy Dragon/Assault Mode, leaving the monster powerless. After that, the light proceeded to consume the opposing dragon until nothing was left of it. It was gone and it left Lilly, along with everyone else in Kaiba Dome, speechless.

Once that was settled, Kagura started breathing heavily as she saw that Lilly had no more cards left to play. Her field was empty and had no other cards in her hand. Because of that, the Twilight Duelist decided to start her turn, despite the fact that Lilly hadn't officially ended her own. So, after drawing her final card, Kagura proceeded to make the true final move of the Duel.

"Twilight Dragon, it's time to end this farce!" She said. "Go and attack her Life Points directly…Twilight Surge!"

Twilight Dragon nodded its head and started gathering energy from inside of its body. Once it had enough, it fired a powerful energy blast toward Lilly. The Signer tried her best to avoid the attack, but the pressure from Kagura's Reiatsu was simply too much for her. As a result, Lilly was consumed by Twilight Dragon's attack and sent flying back as her remaining Life Points dropped.

**Lilly: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>After the Duel came to an end, everyone in the stadium was left awestruck by what just happened. For about two minutes, no one said anything and a dead silence filled the entire area. It wasn't until a little boy started clapping and other started clapping as well. Eventually, the entire stadium started cheering in unison as Kagura stood victorious in her Duel against Lilly.<p>

"_Ladies and Gentlemen," _The MC said over the louder speaker. _"In what possibly was one the greatest Duels I ever had the honor of seeing, Kagura Toyoshima managed to rip victory from the jaws of defeat and defeat Lilly Muto. With that, Kagura Toyoshima will join Takashi Nakamura as one of our 4 Semi-Final contestants!"_

Once the MC said those words, the crowd started cheering even louder as Kagura has now advance to the next round of the Fortune Cup Finals. With her victory, she has gotten even closer to the title match with Alistair and coveted title of Japan's Duel King. Almost everyone in the stadium was happy for her as they truly believed that she deserved this victory.

As they continued to cheer for her, Kagura was still breathing pretty hard after what she just experience. She was so close from defeat, but she managed to pull it off and win. However, even though she made it the Semi-Finals, the young woman wasn't satisfied yet. There was still something that she needed to do before this was over and she had every intention of doing it.

So, as she took off her Duel Gazer and deactivated her Duel Disk, Kagura pulled her sword from its sheath and began making her way toward Lilly. When she reached her, Kagura looked as the Signer struggled to get back up.

"I don't break my promises," The Twilight Duelist said. "It's time for you to go to Hell, Lilly Muto!"

Lilly looked on as Kagura was about to use her sword in order to kill her. The Signer tried her best to move, but was simply too exhausted from her Duel to do anything. Even motivation from the spirit of her Dark Magician Girl wasn't enough. All she could do was sit there, waiting for the final blow to be struck against her.

However, just as Kagura's sword was about to hit Lilly's head, someone from the crowd suddenly appeared and stopped the attack. When the other spectators saw who that particular someone, all of them were in disbelief. Even Lilly was shocked by the person who was protecting her as she couldn't believe that he was able to get to her so fast.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The person asked.

Kagura looked at the individual who stopped her attack and watched as he used his own sword to block her own. As the two struggled to overpower the other, Kagura simply glared at the person for a moment before finally speaking to him.

"That's my question," She told him. "What the hell do you think you're doing…Takashi Nakamura?!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_After a short, but fierce, swordfight between Takashi and Kagura, Lilly reveals what really happen during the event 6 years ago. Did Kagura's cousin, Vivi, really die by Team Satisfactions hand or did something else happen?_

_Also, the 3__rd__ Duel of the Quarter-Finals is about to begin. Which of the four remaining Quarter-Finalists will face each other and move on to join Takashi and Kagura in the Semi-Finals?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 78 – Strength of the Heart_


	78. Chapter 78

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 78: **_Strength of the Heart_

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><p>"I'm only going to ask this one more time. What the hell do you think you're doing…Takashi Nakamura?"<p>

When someone does something, whether it be good or bad, a number of factors are usually in place in the ultimate outcome of that choice. Sometimes those reasons are noble while other times their selfish. In the end, the matter of doing something is fueled by a lot of different reasons. However, if Takashi Nakamura had an ultimate source behind why he does the things that he does, it's because of his heart.

Ever since he was a little boy, Takashi has been taught to trust himself and follow his heart. The reason for this is because not everyone in the world has good intentions for him. He had to learn to trust his own instincts and do what he felt was right, even if it wasn't the most popular choice. This became even more prominent once he discovered that he was not only one of the mysterious Signers, but their chosen leader as well. After all, who can follow a leader that doubts himself and his motives?

It's for this reason why Takashi decided to intervene during the conclusion of the Duel between Lilly and Kagura. When the latter achieved victory, she started releasing a powerful Reiatsu that caused Lilly to fall to her knees. Unable to move due to the strain that she was feeling, Lilly was left helpless as Kagura was about to deliver the finishing blow against her. Luckily for her though, Takashi managed to overcome Kagura's power and proceeded to block her sword strike before it reached his friend.

As Takashi attempted to keep Kagura from killing Lilly, the young man tried to determine what was going on insider of her head. Even before her Duel against Lilly, Kagura has seemed off in Takashi eyes. She seemed to be acting out of anger, like Lilly wronged her for something reason. He soon started to wonder if that really was the case and that Lilly did something that made Kagura the person she is now. In the end, that didn't matter right now. All that did matter was protecting Lilly from Kagura. Everything else would come later.

While he continued to hold her off, Crow and the others quickly raced down from the crowd and made their way to the stadium floor. When they did, all of them felt the overwhelming Reiatsu that Kagura was unconsciously giving off. This pressure made it very hard for most of them to move, due to their inexperience in resisting Reiatsu. Fortunately for them though, Sona and Enoch were there with them. Due to their ability to resist and give off Reiatsu, the two Psychic Duelists were able to get Lilly and bring her over to the others.

Once she was out of harm's way, Takashi parried Kagura's sword, Shusui, with his own before jumping back away from her. After that, he glanced over toward his friend before turning his attention back toward Kagura.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked in an angry tone of voice. "Why are you attacking my friend? What did she ever do to you?"

Takashi placed his hand upon the hilt of his sword, prepared to draw it from its sheath the moment Kagura did something that he didn't like. As he waited, he noticed that the anger in the Twilight Duelist's eyes was increasing. Although her facial expression pretty much remained the same, Takashi could tell that Kagura was very irritated with him. This only put him on more alert as he felt that she would attack him the moment he let his guard down.

"That woman…," Kagura said firmly. "No, not just her, but also her teammate Crow Hogan…took the most important person in my life away from me. It's their fault that she's dead!"

Upon hearing that explanation, Takashi's eyes widen slightly as he was shocked by what he just learned. He then took a quick moment to glance over at Lilly and Crow in order to see if what Kagura just said was true. While Crow was confused by it all and didn't have an answer, Lilly kept to herself before looking down towards the ground. When he saw her do that, Takashi took that as her way of saying that what Kagura just said was indeed the truth. That left him even more confused and started wondering happened. However, before he could do that, Kagura started talking again.

"For six long years, I have patiently for the day where I could find my cousin's murderers and make them pay for their crime. Now, that day has finally come to pass. I will kill all the members of Team Satisfaction; Lilly Muto, Crow Hogan and Alistair Miles! Not a single one of them will leave this tournament with their lives!"

Kagura gripped her sword tightly as she spoke those words to Takashi. In fact, her grip was so tight that it caused her hand to bleed. However, despite the pain that she was feeling in her hand, the pain in her heart was far greater. She loved her cousin Vivi with all of her heart and was utterly devastated when she discovered that she died in the Satellite. Because of that devastation, Kagura devoted herself completely to her goal of getting revenge. In her eyes, nothing was going to stop her. Not Team Satisfaction, not Sector Security, and surely not Takashi.

Eventually, Kagura pointed her sword at Takashi's head and looked at him with a serious expression on her face. When he saw that, Takashi noticed that Kagura was about to do something, but only after she said one last thing to him. As a result, the young man let go of his own sword for a moment and stood patiently as he waited for Kagura to speak.

Although his friends wanted him to get back on guard, Takashi assured them that everything would be alright for the moment. Despite her anger, Kagura wanted to speak Takashi before making her move. She was honorable that way, as she was not the type of person who would attack someone without them noticing.

"Takashi Nakamura," She said, keeping her blade pointed at him. "I'm going to give you one chance. Give up Lilly Muto and Crow Hogan. If you do that, I give you my word that you and the rest of your friends will be left unharmed."

"…Even if I agree to your terms," Takashi replied. "That doesn't guarantee the safety of Lilly and Crow."

"Of course it doesn't," Kagura said. "Both of them will die for their actions. All I'm saying is that you can lower the number of people who will die. I don't want to kill you Takashi, but I will if you force me too."

After Kagura spoke her demands, the Twilight Duelist waited patiently as Takashi thought it over. She could that he was a person who values the bond he shares with his friends and she respected him for that. However, despite that respect, her vengeance for Vivi's death needed to come first. She's waited too long to achieve her goal and she was not about to let it go now. She would willingly kill Takashi if it meant killing both Crow and Lilly. That just proved how much Kagura loved Vivi and how she desperately wanted to avenge her death.

As Kagura waited, Takashi thought about what she wanted very carefully. If he gave Lilly and Crow to her, there was no doubt that they were going to die. However, if he didn't, then there's a possibility that Kagura would not only attempt to kill him, but the others as well. In the eyes of most people, there seemed to be only two paths available to him. But then again, Takashi isn't most people. He saw a third path, one that Kagura did not see.

"I am not going to hand Lilly and Crow over to you," He said as he drew his sword from its sheath. "And I'm not going to let you kill me or my friends, Kagura. The vengeance that you desire is a disease that will one day end your existence. Even if you achieve it, what will you have left? You're willing to throw away everything just so that you can feel better for about 5 minutes before the despair of having nothing left causes you to kill yourself. Well…I'm not going to let that happen!"

Takashi kept his eyes focused on Kagura as he proceeded to draw his sword from its sheath. After that, he placed both hands upon his weapon and took his stance.

"Kagura Toyoshima…you can take your demand and shove it right up your ass! No one here is going to die…not as long as I'm alive!"

After hearing Takashi speak those words, Lilly's eyes widen a little as she lifted her head in order to face him. As she did that, the young woman remembered all the things that he's done since the both of them first met and realized that he's always been like this. Takashi would always put the lives of others, especially his friends, over his own life. He truly believed that helping others was important and if giving up his own life meant that he could do so, then he would do so without a second thought.

That conviction made Lilly smile a little as it once again proved that Takashi was one of her closest friends. Even though he can get on her nerves and that she physically assaults him, Takashi never took it personally and knew that deep down, Lilly was a good person herself. Even if she made mistakes in the past, he was willing to overlook them. After all, he usually doesn't care about what happened in the past. All he really cares about is how he and his friends move forward into the future.

Meanwhile, as Takashi continued to hold his ground, Kagura looked at him for a moment and saw that there was no doubt in his eyes. Seeing that look made her sigh quietly to herself since it meant that no matter what she said, Takashi wouldn't change his mind. Not only that, but it also showed her that she would have to kill him if she wanted to get to her true targets. That realization annoyed Kagura a little, but she quickly got over it and prepared to do what she had to do.

"Fine then," She said. "Don't say that I didn't warn you."

Coming to terms with what she needed to do first, Kagura quickly dashed toward Takashi and proceeded to strike him with the back end of her blade. Because of the back of the blade is its dull side, the Signer wasn't cut by the strike and was simply stunned for a moment. However, it was at the precise moment that Kagura attempted to make her way to where Lilly and Crow were.

Fortunately, Takashi was aware enough to stop the Twilight Duelist before she made her way completely passed him. Grabbing Kagura back her long black hair, Takashi managed to throw her so that she was away from his friends. Immediately afterwards, he ran towards Kagura and kicked her straight in the stomach, causing her to cough up blood and saliva.

"Wake up Kagura!" He yelled. "Killing Lilly and Crow won't change anything!"

Takashi prepared himself to strike Kagura in such a way that would allow him to defeat her, but not kill her. However, before he could do that, Kagura recovered from her blow and immediately ran her sword through Takashi's shoulder. The pain from such a blow caused Takashi to jump back and instinctively hold his shoulder in order to prevent any blood from coming out.

As he did that, Kagura quickly made her move and started swing her sword very swiftly at Takashi. Though the young man was able to avoid most of the blows, he wasn't able to get away completely and as a result, he received some nasty cuts on his body.

"You don't know anything about me!" She yelled. "You have no idea what it's like to lose someone you love! So, don't judge me Takashi Nakamura because what I'm doing is following the will on my cousin!"

Kagura continued to slice her way through Takashi as the others looked on with worried expressions on their faces. As he attempted to avoid the sword strikes, Takashi was beginning to think about Kagura just said to him and quickly came to the conclusion that she was wrong on both accounts. He knows what it's like to lose someone he loves, having lost Hikari almost 7 years ago. Also, Takashi believed that Kagura wasn't following Vivi's will, but instead just acting out of anger and frustration.

All of those things made Takashi extremely angry with Kagura as he believed she was being really selfish. As a result, the young man proceeded to catch her blade with his left hand. Once he did that, Takashi slammed the sheath of his sword into Kagura's stomach before taking his right hand and punching her repeatedly in the face.

"You…are…wrong!" He yelled as he kept attacking. "What makes you think your cousin would want this?! Can you honestly say, from the bottom of your heart, that she would want you to kill other people…just to fulfill some grudge?!"

"Shut up!" Kagura shouted. "Just shut the hell up!"

Quickly reaching their limit with each other, both Takashi and Kagura let their anger overcome them and began fighting each other with the intent to kill. Both of the bodies became battered and bruised, but they refused to stop fighting. Eventually, it soon came to the point that the entire crowd was starting to become afraid. At the first they found the battle very entertaining, but once Takashi and Kagura started drawing blood against each other, that excitement quickly flew out the window. This was now getting out of hand and it was frightening most the spectators to no end.

Realizing that the crowd was afraid, as welling as needed both Takashi and Kagura for his own reasons, Goodwin decided to take matters into own hands. Calling on his Security Officers, the Director had them separate the Semi-Finalists away from each other. Though the officers had a hard time breaking the two up, and most of them were beaten up trying to do so, they were eventually to get them to stop. Once that happened, Goodwin started talking on the loudspeaker.

"_ENOUGH! This is a Duel Monsters Tournament, not a Swordsmanship Tournament!"_

Upon hearing Goodwin's voice, Takashi and Kagura calmed down for a moment and immediately turned around. When they did, they watched as holographic projection of the Director appeared and he had an angry expression on his face.

"_I don't know what's going on, but this is not the way to settle it! Takashi Nakamura, Kagura Toyoshima…if the both of you continue to fight then you'll leave me no choice but to disqualify the both of you from the Fortune Cup! Do I make myself clear?!"_

Goodwin's words irritated Takashi and Kagura for two different reasons. For Takashi, he simply didn't like having to follow the Director's orders since he was his enemy. As for Kagura, the young woman didn't like the fact that Goodwin was also getting in the way achieving her revenge, especially since he was the one who told her about what happened to Vivi. The two of them didn't want to go along with it and wanted to keep fighting. However, after realizing that both of still needed to be in the tournament, both Takashi and Kagura decided to stop fighting.

Once the both of them put their respective blades back into their sheaths, the holographic display of Goodwin disappeared and the Sector Securities Officers backed off. The two Duelists then stared each other down for a few minutes before Kagura decided to walk away. However, just as she turned her back towards him, the Twilight Duelist started talking.

"All of you better thank Director Goodwin," She said. "Because it's thanks to him that none of you are going to die today. However, don't think this will be the end. Once I win this tournament, I will come back for you…Lilly Muto and Crow Hogan! It doesn't matter you stay here in New Domino or back home to the Satellite. I will find you and then…I'll kill you!"

After saying that, Kagura took a few steps forward and prepared to leave the Kaiba Dome. However, she stopped when she saw some of her dried up blood on the ground in front of her. It was the blood that she first spit up when Takashi kicked her in the stomach. Just seeing that caused the Twilight Duelist to gently hold that area of her body for a moment before gently turning her head and glaring at Takashi.

As she looked at him, Kagura saw that Takashi was glaring at her as well. Even though he was battered, bloodied and in a lot of pain, the Signer kept his eyes solely on her and nothing else. The anger that he was feeling was beginning to subside, but not so much that he wouldn't go back to fighting her if she made a move against him or his friends.

"As for you Takashi Nakamura," She continued. "If you get in my way again, then I will kill you too! Always remember that."

With that said, Kagura turned around and began make her leave. As he watched her walk away, Takashi stood still as his friends made his way to him. All of them then began to examine his condition as the young man started thinking quietly to himself.

"I won't let that happen Kagura. No one will die as long as I'm around…and that includes you."

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><p>After a bit, Takashi was brought into the waiting area where his injuries were being tended to by his friends. Since Lilly was weaken by her Duel against Kagura, she didn't have the strength needed to heal his injuries. Fortunately though, Sona had a plan to rectify that situation. Using her Psychic Powers, she was able to mend most of the gashes that were on Takashi's body, including his deep shoulder wound. It wasn't as efficient as Lilly's treatment, but it got the job done.<p>

Eventually, after about 10 minutes, Sona finished her treatment and most of Takashi's injuries were healed. All that was left was wrapping bandages around the inflicted areas, which Akiza decided to do herself. Once she started doing that, a meeting between everyone began as they waited for the start of the third Quarter-Final Duel. There was only one topic of discussion, trying to figure if Kagura was telling the truth.

According to her, Team Satisfaction was responsible for the death of her cousin, Vivi, and she wanted revenge for that. Takashi, although against the thought of having Kagura go through with her quest of revenge, wanted to hear the truth from both Lilly and Crow. He hoped that what he learned from them would give him a better understanding of the situation and help him figure out what to do.

"So…what exactly happen in the Satellite?" He asked, effectively starting the meeting. "I don't believe that you guys killed Kagura's cousin, but I want to be sure."

Lilly looked down toward the ground as she thought about what Takashi just asked her. As she did that, Crow started thinking to himself too. Having been told what happened during the previous Duel and how it related to his time with Team Satisfaction, the Blackwing Duelist was obviously shocked. However, unlike Lilly, Crow managed to get over it fairly quickly and started explaining what really happened 6 years ago.

"It was around the time our first started patrolling the Satellite," He explained. "In the beginning, we merely helped people out in small ways, like making sure that had enough food to eat or hiding them from Security. It wasn't much, but for most of us back then…it was enough. However…one of us wasn't satisfied with our slow beginnings. That person…was Alistair."

Upon hearing Alistair's name, Takashi started trembling in anger as he had a feeling that the Duel King was involved in this somehow. Kagura did mention that he was also on her hit list and given his attitude, it wasn't all that surprising to Takashi. Still, he could tell that there was more to this story and he decided to continue listening to Crow's explanation.

"Alistair never like the fact that we were only doing small things," Crow continued. "He believed that the only way we were going to make a difference in the Satellite was to do something big. So, after convincing me, Lilly and Kalin to his plan, all of decided to try and take out the Crashing Sharks."

"The Crashing Sharks?" Akiza questioned as she continued wrapping bandages around Takashi's wounds. "You mean the same group that Sasuke was a part of?"

"That's right," Crow confirmed. "This was before we learned that Sasuke was the leader of the Crashing Sharks and back then, he always told us to never interfere with them unless ordered to do so. Now that I think about it, maybe he was right. After all, it was during that first encounter that we learned just how strong the group was. They overwhelmed us completely and it seemed like we were going to be killed. However, before that could happen, she appeared…"

Takashi's and Akiza's eyes widen in slight confusion as they thought about what Crow meant we he said _she_. Eventually, the two of them figured out what he meant as _she _was the topic of their discussion.

"Do you mean Vivi?" Akiza asked.

"…I'm not entirely sure," Crow told her. "But given the information that we learned a little while ago, it could be her. Anyway, during the battle, a female Sector Security Officer appeared with a couple of her followers and attempted to stop the battle between us and the Crashing Sharks. For the most part, things seemed to calming down. However, Alistair didn't want to stop fighting and got into another conflict with the Sharks. This resulted in him and Lilly getting seriously hurt and they were about to be killed. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, that female officer got in the way and protected the two of them from harm. But, by taking the blow that was meant for them, she died instead."

"I see…so that's what happened," Takashi thought quietly to himself. "Alistair's persistence got the better of him and that caused Vivi to get caught in the crossfire. That would explain why Kagura is mad since Team Satisfaction was, albeit indirectly, responsible for her cousin's death. Still…something doesn't add up. Just how did Kagura discover this information and who told her?"

As Takashi continued to ponder that question, the others were busy pondering what they just learned for Crow. Having learned the truth, the group was now wondering what they should do. Akiza, Enoch and Sona don't blame Lilly or Crow for what happened to Vivi as they believed that it wasn't their fault. If anyone was to blame for what happened, it was Alistair. His desire to prove his strength lead to Vivi's death and if Kagura should be mad at anyone, it's him. However, Lilly didn't see it that way.

While the young woman did in fact put some of the blame on Alistair for what happened, she believed that it was also her fault as well. Lilly believed that if she was only stronger during that time, then maybe she could stop Alistair from going along with his plan. That could have prevented Vivi from trying to save them and thus preserve her life. Even after 6 years, Lilly couldn't forget about that possibility and it still causes her to have regrets. Eventually, her regrets reached the point that she began to wonder if Kagura's vengeance was justified.

"Maybe…," She started saying to herself. "Maybe…I should just let her kill me. Perhaps if she does that, Kagura will be able to let go of her hatred."

"…Don't be retarded,"

Lilly's eyes widen as she lifted her head from the ground. She then looked toward Takashi as he was the one he just replied to her statement. However, before she could look at him for long, Lilly was suddenly knocked down towards the ground as Takashi punched her right in the face.

Upon hitting the ground, Lilly held the side of her face as she tried to recover from the attack. Crow, upset by the fact that she just saw his friend get punched, was about to retaliate against Takashi, but was stopped by Enoch. The Psychic Duelist grabbed him by his arm and told him to stay where he was. This issue, whether they liked it or not, was an affair that both Takashi and Lilly needed to settle on their own.

Soon, once Lilly recovered, she looked up and saw Takashi standing in front of her. She could tell right away that he was very upset about what she just said and was about to give her a piece of his mind. He started off by grabbing her by the collar of her dress and lifting her straight off the ground. He then started dangling her around for a few seconds before finally talking.

"What good will it do you if you let Kagura take your life, Lilly?" He asked her. "Do you think you'll finally achieve atonement for your actions?"

"I…I don't know," Lilly said as Takashi continued dangling her by her collar. "I'm just…I'm just tired of feeling this regret! I've been making mistakes all my life and I'm sick and tired of it! All I'm saying…is that if Kagura kills me then maybe I can finally do something right for once and allow her to be at ease!"

"Do you even hear yourself?!" Takashi yelled. "Your death won't accomplish anything! All it will do is cause your friends to feel despair! The atonement that you're looking for Lilly can't be found in death. It can only be found in life! You have to live in order find what you're searching for!"

Lilly's eyes widen when she heard Takashi say that to her, but was even more shocked by what he was doing as he spoke those words. She saw that he was crying. He knew the despair that she was feeling all too well and used to believe the same thing that she did. In fact, a small portion of Takashi still believes it. However, despite that small feeling, the young man knew that letting despair overtake someone wouldn't solve anything. If anything, it would only cause even more despair. There was only one way to beat it and even though he was still trying to do it, Takashi knew what that way was.

"Listen to me Lilly. Even if you die…it doesn't bring the people who have lost their lives come back to life. Instead, I believe that using my power to save every soul that I can is repentance in the truest sense that I know. This is the reason…why I live every day of my life for others. That's why you can't let end here, Lilly…at least, not like this. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

After saying his piece, Takashi placed his head down as his emotions started to get the better of him. As Lilly saw even more tears fall down his face, the young woman realized what he was saying. Even though she wanted to make things up with Kagura, as well as all the other people that she wronged in her life, she couldn't do that by sacrificing her life. If she did then not only would nothing be resolved, but her friends, and all the other people who care about her, would suffer as well.

Lilly didn't want that to happen to them. She wanted all of her friends to live happy lives, ones without the feeling of pain and despair. Also, she wanted to live with them during those happy times since their happiness was also her happiness. Upon coming to that realization, a small smile appeared on the Signer's face as a single tear fell from her right eye.

"…You're right," She said softly. "I get it, Takashi. You can put me down now."

Noticing that she truly meant what she said, but not wanting to lift his own head to face her, Takashi gently put Lilly down and let go of her. He then proceeded to wipe his tears away, using his right arm to do so.

"I'm sorry," He said. "I shouldn't have lost my cool like that."

"It's fine," Lilly replied. "I deserved it."

Once the talk between the two friends was finally settled, both Akiza and Crow made their way over to them in order to give them some comfort. As they did that, both Enoch and Sona looked on at the Signers from afar. Enoch was happy that they were able to settle this issue and move forward, though Sona didn't have such an expression on her face. Something was bothering her and it wasn't because of the talk that Takashi and Lilly had.

"That feeling," She said quietly to herself. "It felt like a powerful…resonance."

"Huh?" Enoch said, hearing his friend. "Did you say something?"

"…No," Sona replied, putting her head down toward the ground. "I didn't say anything."

Sona didn't want to mention the feeling that she felt to Enoch as even she didn't entirely know what it was. She felt it during the swordsmanship clash between Takashi and Kagura. During that fight, the Psychic Duelist noticed something happening with the Reiatsu's of both fighters. Although she couldn't quite describe the feeling, it almost felt like both Takashi's and Kagura's powers were resonating, or synchronizing, with one another. However, Sona didn't want to believe that was the case as it didn't seem possible.

Due to her experience, Sona knows a lot about the Reiatsu and how it functions. One such example is that she knows that most Reiatsus try to repel one another. It's very similar to how two magnets of the same side cannot connect. However, that wasn't the case with Takashi and Kagura. Their Reiatsus were starting to combine during their fight, producing an even greater power.

That feeling didn't make much sense to Sona as she knew that Reiatsus can only resonate with one another if a strong bond between their users exists. After seeing how they were about to kill each other, Sona didn't believe that such a bond existed between the two. But, upon thinking about the specifics of that bond more closely, her eyes widen upon reaching a certain realization. She then remembered what Alex told her a couple of days ago.

"When he told me about his true connection with Takashi, what Alex said made since to me," She thought. "But…does the same thing apply to Takashi and Kagura or does it run even deeper than that?"

Sona didn't know what to think about what she discovered. Though her mind didn't want to comprehend it, Sona's heart told her that what she believed was the truth. As a result of this internal conflict, the young woman decided not to convey her feelings to her friends. She wanted to figure out what was really going on with resonance of Takashi's and Kagura's powers and didn't want to make any claims until she had her answer.

Eventually, after the group spent about 10 minutes hanging out with one another, the MC started talking on the loudspeaker. Due to his arrival, everyone assumed that the Fortune Cup Committee had finished cleaning up the damage that both Takashi and Kagura caused during their fight. This assumption eventually turned out to be true as the MC was about to announce the start of the third Quarter-Final Duel.

"_Ladies and Gentleman!" _He said. _"Sorry for the delay, but I'm glad to say that the start of the third Duel is about to begin! Will the following Duelists please make their way over to the track for the beginning of their Turbo Duel; Crow Hogan and Kuromu Nesara!"_

Once the MC finished his announcement, everyone in the room turned their attention to Crow as he seemed visibly shocked that he would be facing Kuromu during his Quarter-Final Duel. Not only that, the match would be a Turbo Duel and not a regular Ground Duel. However, after thinking about it for a moment, a confident smile soon appeared on the Blackwing Duelist's face.

"Interesting," He said as he punched his left hand with his right hand. "This is perfect. I think it's about time I put that Kuromu-guy in his place for what he did to Toru!"

Still remembering what Kuromu did to Toru during their respective Qualifying Duel, Crow started clinching his fists in a state of both anticipation and anger. Toru's injuries brought a lot of personal pain to him and his friends and he wanted to pay Kuromu back several fold. As a result, Crow didn't waste any time and prepared to leave the common area so that he could get to his Duel Runner.

"Wait Crow," Lilly said. "Don't leave just yet!"

Crow stopped walking when he heard Lilly calling out to him. He then proceeded to turn himself around and watched as his childhood friend walk over towards him. In her hand was a letter that she received earlier this morning.

"Before we left home today, Misaki gave me this letter. She explained that it contains information about Kuromu's Dueling Style, which includes his Ace Monster, Number 53: Heart-Earth. After what happened to Toru, she didn't want to take any chances and made promise that I would give this to any of us who happened to face Kuromu today. Please look it over closely."

Nodding his head at Lilly's explanation, Crow took the letter from her and started looking over the information that Misaki had developed. After glancing it over for a moment, the Blackwing Duelist put the letter down and smiled at his friend.

"Thanks for this Lilly," He said. "With this info, there's no way that I'll lose."

"Just be careful Crow," She replied. "Misaki also told that the information that she gathered is only about Heart-Earth's known abilities. In other words, the monster still has other powers that we still don't know about. You need to be on guard at all times."

"She's right," Enoch agreed. "Out of all the Number Cards that I've seen, Heart-Earth is the most mysterious one. Don't underestimate it…or Kuromu."

Crow nodded his head in compliance as he understood everything that his friends said to him. He then smiled confidently at all of them before making his way out of the common area. Once he was gone, the other soon decided to leave the room as well in order to go outside and get a good look at the match.

After doing so, the group stood amongst themselves for a few minutes as they waited for both Duelists to appear with their Duel Runners. The first to arrive was Crow, who made his way onto the track on his Runner. Like with the other Quarter-Finalists, he was wearing the Duel Gazer that he received at the party the other night. The lens of the device had a golden color to it while everything else was black, matching the markings that made of Crow's Duel Runner.

Shortly after Crow made his appearance onto the track, his opponent Kuromu soon did the same thing. He was driving a black Duel Runner with red markings, which seemed very similar to Crow's own Runner. Also, the Duel Gazer that Kuromu was wearing over his left eye had the same exact colors as his Runner. The lens was red while everything else was black. When the crowd looked at it, most of them believed that Kuromu's Runner was very menacing, just like his Dueling Style.

"_Now then," _The MC said. _"Because this is our only Turbo Duel of the Quarter-Finals, the Field Spell that will be in play will be Speed World 2!"_

Once the announcer said that, both Duelists pressed a button of their respective Runners, activating the effect of Speed World 2. When they did that, a giant veil of purple light covered the entire Kaiba Dome. Also, at that precise moment, Lazar proceeded to once again activate the Augmented Reality Vision. With it, even if both Kuromu and Crow inflicted real damage of each other, the crowd wouldn't be able to notice.

As soon as that was settled, Crow proceeded to conduct final preparations to his Duel Runner as he waited for the MC to start to match. However, while he did that, the Blackwing Duelist noticed that his opponent was glancing at him with a somewhat sinister expression on his face.

"Well…here we go, Crow Hogan," He said. "I hope that you fare better than that friend of yours that I demolished. What was his name again? Oh yeah…it was Toru Ishida."

"…You'll pay for what you did to him," Crow replied as he firmly gripped the handles of his Duel Runner. "I'll make sure of it!"

"Oh really…I'd like to see you try."

With that said between them, both Duelists glared at each other for a moment before turning their heads away from one another. They then prepared themselves as the referee overseeing the Turbo Duel was about to weave his checkered flag. When he did, both Crow and Kuromu sped past the starting line and raced toward the first corner.

For the most part, the race between the two seemed evenly matched as they were about neck-and-neck. However, just when it seemed like Crow was about to take the corner first, Kuromu managed to undercut him and reach it before him. This meant that Kuromu would be allowed to make the opening move of the match, leaving Crow somewhat irritated.

"_What impressive riding skills, Ladies and Gentlemen!" _The MC declared. _"Kuromu Nesara managed to reach the corner first and is now allowed to make the opening move! With that, the third Duel of the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals now begins!"_

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Crow: 4000 LP**

**Kuromu: 4000 LP**

"It's about time we got this party started," Kuromu suggested. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 1**

**Kuromu: SPC – 1**

After drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Kuromu began his first turn of this Quarter-Final match by taking one of his cards and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, a bright flash of light started shining in front of his Duel Runner.

"To begin, I Summon: Kuriboh, in Defense Mode!"

**Kuriboh: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

Once the light in front of him materialized into a small Kuriboh, Kuromu proceeded to continue on with his turn. His next move involved taking two cards from his hand and inserting them both into his Spell/Trap Zone. The selected cards materialized face-down beside Kuromu for a few seconds, but soon disappeared from sight afterwards.

"Next, I set two cards face-down. With that, I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn now," Crow said as he rode across the racetrack. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 2**

**Kuromu: SPC – 2**

Upon drawing his first card of the match and placing it into his hand, Crow took a moment to examine all of his cards before looking over all the cards that Kuromu just played. Right now, he had one monster with 200 Defense Points and two face-down cards. Normally, Crow would take that as a sign that his opponent was simply luring him in for a Trap. However, the Blackwing Duelist decided that he couldn't afford to do that.

Given everything that he learned from Misaki's notes, there was a pretty good chance that Kuromu would use Kuriboh in order to try and summon one of his Number Cards. If that happened, Crow knew that it would be even harder for him to defeat his opponent and move on to the Semi-Finals. If he wanted to win this Duel, he had to play hard and fast. Fortunately, that how Crow loved to play.

Swiftly moving his hand over to his cards, Crow proceeded to grab one and place it onto his Monster Card Zone. Once he did that, the young man watched as a bright array of light started covering his side of the field.

"I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, in Attack Mode!"

**Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North: ATK 1300 DEF 0 LVL 2**

As the light continued to shine across Crow's field, Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North suddenly appeared before its master and started flying next to him. After that happened, Crow then proceeded to take another one of his cards and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder! With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. In exchange however, the summoned monster can't attack this turn!"

Upon explaining the effect of his Speed Spell, Crow placed the card into his Graveyard before grabbing the monster that he wanted to Special Summon. As soon as he did that, the Blackwing Duelists placed the monster's card onto her Monster Card Zone, right next to Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North's card.

"I Special Summon: Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!"

**Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame: ATK 1800 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

Once Crow said the name of his monster, he watched as his Shura the Blue Flame materialized onto the field and started flying next to Blizzard the Far North. Now, with two Blackwing monsters on the field, the young man could finally put his plan into motion.

"I Tune my Level 4 Shura the Blue Flame with my Level 2 Blizzard the Far North!" He declared.

The two Blackwing monsters nodded their heads upon hearing Crow's order and proceeded to fly high into the air. As soon as they reached a certain height, the two began to conduct the process for a Synchro Summoning. It was at this precise moment that Crow started chanting to himself as he brought out a card from his Extra Deck.

"Pitch-dark power, lodge in its great wings and stir up the divine winds! Synchro Summon! Gust fiercely, Blackwing Armed Wing!"

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2300 DEF 1000 LVL 6**

When the Synchro ritual between Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame and Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North came to an end, a large flash of light covered the entire Kaiba for a few seconds. As it began to fade away, Crow's trusty Blackwing Armed Wing appeared and started flying just above his head. The Synchro Monster looked ready for battle and its master was ready to show everything that was exactly the case.

"Alright," He said with a confident smile on his face. "Blackwing Armed Wing, attack his Kuriboh!"

Armed Wing nodded its head in compliance and prepared to run Kuromu's Kuriboh through with its powerful spear. As it did that though, everyone noticed that very same spear was beginning to glow a bright red color.

"At that moment, I activate Blackwing Armed Wing's Special Ability!" Crow said. "When it attacks a monster in Defense Mode, it gains 500 Attack Points! Also, my Armed Wing then obtains the Piercing Ability, which I can deal you damage even when your monster is in Defense Mode!"

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2800**

As the glow that was surrounding Blackwing Armed Wing's weapon continued to glow brighter, the Synchro Monster watched as it began to change shape. Once it finished changing form, Armed Wing was now ready to put an end to Kuriboh and deal a lot of damage to Kuromu. Unfortunately…Kuromu saw the move coming.

"It amazes me that you would do something so predictable," He said. "I activate the Trap Card: Blissful Heart! With it, since a Level 1 monster I control is about to be destroyed, the Battle Damage from your attack is negated and I gain Life Points equal to the same amount of points I would have lost!"

Upon hearing his opponent explain the power of his Trap Card, Crow looked on in shock as he watched Blackwing Armed Wing continue on with its attack. However, just like Kuromu said, no Battle Damage was inflicted. Instead, a bright pink aura surrounded Kuromu and his Duel Runner. This aura protected him from harm and proceeded to increase his Life Points equal to the 2600 points of damage that he originally should have lost.

**Kuromu: 6600 LP**

**Blackwing Armed Wing: ATK 2300**

Once the aura that covered Kuromu's body started fading away, Crow started gritting his teeth in anger. It was only the second turn of the Duel and he was already at a disadvantage. If things don't change for him, and soon, then the Blackwing Duelist is clearly aware at what will happen to him in the end. Because of that, Crow knows that he has to fight harder.

Unfortunately for him though, he didn't have any other moves to make this turn. The initial cards that made up his hand weren't the group of cards that he would have preferred. As a result, his opening move was somewhat limited to what he could usually do. Because of that, this was all Crow could do for now and he had to hope that Blackwing Armed Wing could protect him until his next turn.

"I'm done for now," He said in a slightly disappointed tone of voice.

"Very well," Kuromu replied confidently. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 3**

**Kuromu: SPC – 3**

After drawing another card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Kuromu decided that now was the time for the fun to truly begin. Crow had fallen for his trap so predictably and he wanted to make him realize the error of his mistake. To that end, Kuromu grabbed a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"To begin, I Normal Summon: Winged Kuriboh!"

**Winged Kuriboh: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

A bright flash of light shined across Kuromu's field as he continued to ride around the race track. This light materialized his Winged Kuriboh, who started flying right in front o him. Once the monster was by his side, Kuromu then grabbed another one of his cards. However, this time he inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Speed Spell: One for One! With it, since have at least 1 Speed Counter, I can discard one monster card from my hand in order Special Summon a Level 1 monster from my deck!"

Looking over his hand for a moment, Kuromu decided to take the card that he just drew and place it into his Graveyard. Once he did that, the young man then started pressing the touch screen that was on his Duel Runner, resulting in a card popping out of his deck. As soon as he saw that card, Kuromu grabbed it and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Kuribon!"

**Kuribon: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

When Kuromu placed the card onto his Duel Disk, he watched as a Kuribon appeared and started flying right next to his Winged Kuriboh. However, even with the two Level 1 monsters, his plan wasn't finished. In order to accomplish it, Kuromu made one last move by activating the other face-down card that he set one his previous turn.

"Now, with both of my Kuriboh monsters out, I'll activate the Trap Card: Graceful Revival! Using this card, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard. So, return to my side…Kuriboh!"

Another flash of light shined across Kuromu's field as the original Kuriboh reappeared and stood by its allies. Now, with all three monsters out, Kuromu decided to put his plan into motion. He started this by stacking the cards of his three monsters and watched as each of them started glowing.

"I Overlay my Level 1 Kuriboh, Winged Kuriboh and Kuribon!" He declared. "With these three monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

All three of Kuromu's monsters complied with his wishes and completely transformed themselves into colorful orbs of light. They then started flying across the Kaiba Dome as the portal of the Overlay Network started materializing in front of their master. When it appeared completely, the orbs dove right into it, creating a powerful eruption.

"Xyz Summon!" Kuromu yelled as he grabbed a card from his Extra Deck. "Appear now, a monster whose heart is as fierce and dangerous as the king of all beasts, Number 54: Lion Heart!"

**Number 54 – Lion Heart: ATK 100 DEF 100 Rank 1**

Upon shouting the name of the Number he wanted to bring out, Kuromu looked on gleefully as Lion Heart emerged from the portal and went on to stand by his side. When Crow saw the monster, he grunted a little bit as he forgot that Kuromu had a second Number Card aside from Heart-Earth. Also, he had forgotten what type of abilities Lion Heart had as well. Unfortunately for him, he was about to find out.

"Go Lion Heart, attack his Blackwing Armed Wing!" Kuromu commanded. "However, at this precise moment, I'll activate your Special Ability! Since you're in Attack Mode, you can't be destroyed through battle. Not only that, but by using one of your Overlay Units, I can protect myself from receiving any Battle Damage while all of it is sent to Crow instead!"

Lion Heart nodded its head in compliance as it proceeded to absorb one of the three Overlay Units that surrounded its body. Once it did that, it attempted to strike down Crow's Blackwing Armed Wing. However, the Synchro Monster was too powerful and was able to knock it back. This, however, was fine as Lion Heart used its powers to protect its master from harm. It then transferred all of the damage that he would have taken to Crow, which took the form of a powerful laser beam that struck the Blackwing Duelist.

**Crow: 1800 LP**

As Kuromu received damage from Kuromu's move, he started losing control of his Duel Runner as a result of the laser that struck him. His friends looked on with worried expressions on their faces as he tried to regain himself before he crashed into the nearby wall. Fortunately, he was about to do so, but ended up falling far behind.

While Crow tried to catch up, Kuromu decided that was enough for now. He had showed his opponent the obvious difference in their strength and proved that he was the stronger of the two. However, although he could have ended the Duel here and now, Kuromu decided to keep it going for a little while longer. He wanted to make Crow suffer and the best way for him to do that was to prolong his defeat.

Once he came to this decision, Kuromu looked over the cards that made up his hand and proceeded to grab a card from it. He then went on to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone and watched as a face-down card materialized in front of him. However, the card wouldn't be around for long as it soon disappeared from sight.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "It's your move now…Crow Hogan."

After Kuromu concluded his turn, Crow looked over at his opponent and saw just how far ahead of him he was. Not only was he up by almost 4000 Life Points, but he caused Crow to lose more than half of his. This was truly a desperate predicament as the Blackwing Duelist knew that the fate of this entire Duel was now riding on his next draw. However, despite that, Crow was worried at all. Even in this situation, he still had faith and the reason for that is because of his friends.

Everyone one of them were cheering for him from the bottom of their hearts. They all believed that he had the ability to defeat Kuromu and Crow didn't want to let them down. Because of that, he found the strength to continue to Duel and started revving up his Duel Runner as a result.

"Alright," He said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 4**

**Kuromu: SPC – 4**

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck and taking a good look at it, Crow saw that it wasn't the card that he was hoping for. However, that didn't upset him as the card he just drew had to the ability to possibly give the card that he wanted. As a result, he wasted no time and proceeded to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"It's time to get down to business!" He declared. "I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton! With it, since I have at least 2 Speed Counters, I can now draw two more cards from my deck. However, in exchange for doing that, I then must discard one card to the Graveyard."

Following along with the effect of his Speed Spell, Crow quickly drew two more cards from his deck. After taking a look at them, a confidently smile appeared on his face as he just got the card that he wanted. Also, Crow drew another useful card that could possibly help him turn the tide of the Duel entirely. Although he doesn't like to believe in concepts such as Gods or Fate, a small portion of Crow believed that he was destined to draw these cards. He didn't know why he felt that way, but he did.

Eventually, after placing the cards into his hand and then discarding another card into the Graveyard, Crow continued on with his turn. His next move involved him taking one the cards that he drew and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow!"

**Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow: ATK 600 DEF 500 LVL 1**

A small flash of light materialized upon Crow's field as he placed his Tuner Monster's card onto his Duel Disk. Soon, the light transformed and Jin the Rain Shadow appeared before him. The tiny Blackwing seemed very eager to go and started flying next to Blackwing Armed Wing with a large amount of intensity and eagerness.

Once Jin was out on the field, Crow continued on with his momentum by taking another one of his cards and also placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. Just like before, the card produce a powerful bright light upon being placed on the Duel Disk.

"Now, since I have a Blackwing on the field, I can Special Summon this Tuner Monster directly from my hand. Appear now, Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

**Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind: ATK 1300 DEF 400 LVL 3**

When the light covering Crow's field started fading away, he watched as his trusty Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind was now by his side. Now, with three Blackwings on his field, the true phase of his plan could now be put into motion. Crow started by taking two cards, Blackwing Armed Wing's and Jin the Shadow's, and placing them into his Graveyard.

"I Tune my Level 6 Blackwing Armed Wing with my Level 1 Blackwing – Jin the Rain Shadow!"

The two chosen Blackwing nodded their heads upon hearing Crow say that and quickly flew higher into the air as a result. As Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind watched from afar, the two monsters proceeded to begin the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. It was here that Crow went on to grab another card from his Extra Deck.

"Darkened gales, become the wings which will soar to the heavens! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Blackwing Armor Master!"

**Blackwing Armor Master: ATK 2500 DEF 1500 LVL 7**

As soon as Crow finished chanting those words and placed the card he picked up onto his Monster Card Zone, another flash of light covered the entire field. When it faded away, Blackwing Armor Master appeared and it started flying next to Crow and Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind.

"Okay," Crow said to himself. "Blackwing Armor Master, attack his Lion Heart!"

Armor Master complied with Crow's wish and began making its way over to Number 54: Lion Heart. When the crowd saw this, almost everyone seemed shocked by what Crow was doing.

"Just what are you planning, Crow Hogan?" Kuromu asked as he turned his head around. "Did you forget about my Lion Heart's effect? As long as it remains in Attack Mode, it can't be destroyed through battle. Also, by using another one of its Overlay Units, I can negate the Battle Damage and transfer all of it to you!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Crow replied.

Kuromu's eyes widen when he heard Crow tell him that he was mistaken. He then watched as Blackwing Armor Master started fighting Lion Heart. However, even though Lion Heart used its second Overlay Unit, nothing happened to Crow. This confused the young man greatly and it wasn't until Crow started explaining that he finally figured it out.

"Like with your Lion Heart, Blackwing Armor Master can't be destroyed through battle!" Crow explained. "Also, any damage that I take involving this monster is negated. So, in other words, even if you use Lion Heart's effect, I won't suffer from it!"

Kuromu couldn't believe what Crow said to him at first, but upon seeing that no damage was inflicted upon him, he was forced to accept that it was the truth. He then started gripping his Duel Runner in anger as he attempted to figure how to deal with Blackwing Armor Master with just his Lion Heart. Unfortunately for him though, he wasn't able to figure it out in time.

"I now activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Black Feather Dance!" Crow said as he inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone. "With it, since a Blackwing monster I control failed to destroy a monster through battle, I can remove two of my Speed Counters in order to have Armor Master attack your Lion Heart again. However, this time the Special Abilities of your Number are negated until the end of the Battle Phase!"

**Crow: SPC – 2**

After playing his Spell, Crow watched as a black aura surrounded his Synchro Monster. Armor Master then proceeded to absorb the power from that aura and used it to attack Lion Heart again. However, this time, the battle turned out differently from before. Armor Master's new powers enable to breakthrough Lion Heart's invincibility and finally destroy it.

**Kuromu: 4200 LP**

When Lion Heart was destroyed, a large explosion was beginning to surround Kuromu. Due to his expert riding skills, he was able to escape the blast without any harm to himself. However, just as he did that, Kuromu noticed that Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind was quickly catching up towards him.

"Gale the Whirlwind," Crow called. "Attack his Life Points directly…Hurricane Gale!"

Gale complied with Crow's order and started flapping its wings very swiftly as a result. By doing this, it released a powerful blast of wind that took the form of visible energy. This energy struck Kuromu, causing him to lose control slightly as his Life Points began to drop again.

**Kuromu: 2900 LP**

Once that battle came to end, Crow noticed that Kuromu was slowly down and used the opportunity in order to close the distance between the two of them. For moment, his attempt seemed to work. However, Kuromu was able to once again regain control of his Duel Runner. As a result, Crow was only able to get neck-and-neck with his opponent.

"Alright…I think that's enough for now," Crow said as he inserted a card into his Duel Disk. He then watched as the card materialized face-down on his field for a second before disappearing. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

After Crow concluded his turn, the Blackwing Duelist once again attempted to drive past his opponent. He was finally able to do so by pushing his Duel Runner near its absolute limit. Once his friends saw him do that, all of them started cheering as loud as they could as it showed that Crow was indeed at Kuromu's level. Now, as long as he continued to maintain the momentum that he has now, none of them doubted that he was going to win this Turbo Duel.

Meanwhile, as he watched Crow pass him, Kuromu was left speechless for a moment as he couldn't believe what just happen. But, the young man was quickly able to get over it and evenly started smiling to himself. The fact that he just lost almost all of him momentum seemed bring a sense of satisfaction to Kuromu, much to the confusion of those watching this Duel.

"Good," He said. "This is very good, Crow Hogan. Now…this is where the real fun begins!"

Revving up his Duel Runner, Kuromu quickly closed the distance between him and Crow and soon took the lead once more. As Crow tried his best to catch up, Kuromu got ready to begin his next turn by gently placing his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 3**

**Kuromu: SPC – 5**

Upon drawing the card that he was touching, Kuromu took a quick look at it before placing it into his hand. He then looked over all of his other cards before going on to activate the face-down card that he set on his previous turn.

"To start things off, I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I can the Garbage Lord that I discarded via the effect of my One for One Spell!"

**Garbage Lord: ATK 0 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

After activating his Trap, Kuromu watched as the portal leading to the Graveyard materialized in front of his Duel Runner. From the portal was his Garbage Lord, who looked just as disgusting as when it first appeared during Kuromu's Duel against Toru. Once the monster out, Kuromu then responded by taking a card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Inferno Reckless Summon! With it, since I successfully Special Summoned a monster with less than 1500 Attack Points, I can now Special Summon all copies of that monster from my hand, deck, or Graveyard! All I have to do is give up 3 of my Speed Counters. You can do the same thing with any of your two monsters, given that you have copies of them."

**Kuromu: SPC – 2**

Crow grunted a little as he watched Kuromu Special Summon two more Garbage Lords from his deck. He then looked over at the monsters that he had on the field and realized that he couldn't do the same thing. Blackwing Armor Master came from the Extra Deck and the effect of Kuromu's Speed Spell didn't apply to that section. Also, the current rules of Duel Monsters prevents Crow from having more than one copy of Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind. Because of that, Crow was force to watch as Kuromu continued on with his turn, unable to do anything.

"I now Overlay all three of my Level 5 Garbage Lords!" Kuromu yelled as he stacked the cards of his three monsters on top of one another. "With these three monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

All three of Kuromu's Garbage Lords nodded their heads and transformed themselves into orbs of negative energy. They then started flying around the entire stadium for a few seconds as the portal to the Overlay Network started open. As this happened, each of the three orbs dove right into the portal and caused a powerful eruption to occur.

"Xyz Summon! Come forth, an entity that promises to fill the world with complete and utter chaos, Number 53: Heart-Earth!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 100 DEF 100 Rank 5**

Upon finishing his chant, Kuromu watched as his Ace Monster, Heart-Earth, appeared from out of the Overlay Network and started standing by his side as he rode across the track. For those who haven't seen the monster before, none of knew why he would summon a creature that has only 100 Attack and Defense Points. However, for those who have seen it, every one of them knew what true powers Heart-Earth had, especially Crow.

The Blackwing Duelist has been awaiting this moment ever since he learned that Kuromu was his opponent. He knew that Kuromu would bring out Heart-Earth the very instant he had the opportunity to do so. Now, that opportunity has come and Crow now needed to utilize the strategy that Misaki placed in her notes in order to destroy it. Unfortunately, upon checking his hand, he didn't have any cards that could do that, forcing him to wait.

Meanwhile, back on Kuromu's side of the field, the young carefully thought about his next move. Since Heart-Earth's Special Ability could only be activated during Crow's turn, he couldn't have his Number attack. To that end, he decided to set up some countermeasures. With them in place, he'll able to force Crow to attack, even if he doesn't want too.

"Okay," Kuromu said as he grabbed two cards from his hand. "With my prized monster out, I think I'll just end my turn by setting two cards face-down."

Inserting them into his Spell/Trap Zone, Kuromu watched as the two cards materialized face-down on his side of the field. Once the cards disappeared from sight, he smiled deviously at Crow before turning the Duel back over to him. The sight of that smile made Crow sick to his stomach, but he decided to get over it for now and focus at the task at hand.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 4**

**Kuromu: SPC – 3**

After drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Crow thought about what his next move should be. As of right now, he didn't have the cards needed to implement the strategy that Misaki wanted him to use. Because of that, he knew that he needs to stall for time until he can use that strategy. In order to accomplish that, Crow proceeded to take his Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind's card and change it from a vertical position to a horizontal position.

"To start off, I'm switching my Gale the Whirlwind into Defense-"

"Not so fast!" Kuromu shouted as he activated a face-down card. "I activate the Continuous Trap: Resonating Hearts! With it, since I have Heart-Earth on the field, all monsters you control must remain in Attack Mode. Also, all of them must attack Heart-Earth, starting with the monster that has the highest Attack Points!"

Crow's was in disbelief by what he just heard Kuromu say. He then looked on as his Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind tried its hardest to enter Defense Mode, but was simply unable to do so. After that, he watched as his strongest monster, Blackwing Armor Master, was about to strike down Heart-Earth.

"Next, I activate the effect of Number 53: Heart-Earth!" Kuromu declared. "Once per turn, when this card is targeted for an attack, it gains Attack Points equal to that of the attacking monster until the End Phase of the turn!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 2600**

As Heart-Earth started absorbing the strength from Blackwing Armor Master, Kuromu proceeded to continue on with his strategy by activating his other face-down card.

"Now, I think it's about time I did something about your monster's invincibility! So, I'm activating the Trap Card: Voided Contract! This Trap can negate the effect of one monster you control until the End Phase of the turn and I choose…is Blackwing Armor Master!"

After activating his Trap Card, Kuromu watched as a bright flash of light shot from his card and struck Blackwing Armor Master. This light drained the Synchro Monster of its effects, weakening it considerably and making it vulnerable to Heart-Earth's attack. This was proven when the Number used its Infernal Surge to strike down Armor Master and cause Crow to lose a small portion of his Life Points.

**Crow: 1700 LP**

"I don't think that's the end, Crow Hogan!" Kuromu stated. "Don't forget, my Resonating Hearts affects all of your monsters! So, come to Heart-Earth…Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

Crow watched as his Gale the Whirlwind attempted to fight back from Kuromu's Trap Card, but simply didn't have the strength to do so. As a result, the small Blackwing proceeded to fight a battle in which it could not win. The final outcome of that fight resulted in not only Gale's destruction, but caused Crow to lost 1300 of his Life Points.

**Crow: 400 LP**

Once the battle between Gale the Whirlwind and Heart-Earth came to an end, Crow watched as Kuromu was once again separated himself from him. Just seeing that annoyed Crow to no real end as he felt that he finally caught up with his opponent. However, that didn't turn out to be the case as Kuromu was able to take back the advantage just easily as he lost it. There was no end to his strength and that caused Crow to wonder if he could really defeat him.

But, just as he thought those thoughts, Crow quickly shook his head in denial. He knew that the moment he stopped believing in himself would be the moment he would lose. No matter what the situation he was in, he had to keep fighting. As a result, he continued on with his turn by taking one card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card then materialized to the left of his Duel Runner for a moment before eventually disappearing.

"I…I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 100**

"Very well," Kuromu replied. "Then it's my turn again, Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 5**

**Kuromu: SPC – 4**

When Kuromu drew his next card, he took a quick look at it before turning his head towards Crow. He then smiled deviously at him as the Blackwing Duelist tried his best to not only catch up to him, but also figure out what he was up too.

"Crow Hogan," Kuromu said as held on to the card. "You know, you have 400 Life Points left."

"Yeah…," Crow replied. "What about it?"

"Well," Kuromu continued. "Since you have only 400 Points, that means you passed the safety line. Due to Speed World 2's effect, I can give up four Speed Counters in order to deal you 800 Points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand. As of right now, I do have one Speed Spell in my hand and have four Speed Counters. I could end this Duel right here and now if I wanted too."

Crow stared down at Kuromu as he waved around the Speed Spell that he just drew from his deck. The Blackwing Duelist wondered why his opponent waste his time explaining that and not just activate Speed World 2's effect.

"If you can do all of that," Crow said to him. "Why don't you?"

"Because…I simply don't want too," Kuromu replied. "I want to utterly defeat you Crow Hogan and I can't do that if I win from Speed World 2's effect. Also…I want you to try your best and come up with a strategy to defeat my Heart-Earth. Once you do that and become filled with hope…I can take you down and prove to you just how hopeless your really are. That will make my victory over you…that much more satisfying."

After saying what he had to say, Kuromu smiled at Crow one more time before taking the Speed Spell that he drew and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The Spell materialized face-down behind his Duel Runner before eventually disappearing from sight.

"I'll just set this Spell face-down. With that, I end my turn."

Once Kuromu ended his turn, Crow looked at the cards that were in his hand and thought about what he should do. As of right now, the only cards that he had out on the field was two face-downs. Other than that, nothing else was there. In this situation, this was probably going to be his last turn. If he didn't destroy Heart-Earth now, then Kuromu would most likely defeat him on his next turn.

There was no way that he wasn't scared, but Crow was able to face up to it. Being at the brink, the young man finally realized something about his opponent that he never thought of before. Kuromu tries his best to instill fear into his foes, causing them to doubt themselves and their abilities. Crow was able to realize this because he was feeling the fear that Kuromu placed within him. For most people, they would have already succumbed to that fear and given up. But Crow didn't do that. The Blackwing Duelist had something within him that allowed him to continue the Duel. That something…was bravery."

Bravery is fear's polar opposite and its quality that everybody has. As long as someone has bravery in their hearts, then they'll have the courage to stand up to anything. Also, while it doesn't guarantee victory, bravery does show strength. It gives one the power to fight for what they believe in. Crow knew that and that's the reason why he decided to keep fighting. Even if the odds were stacked against him and even if he was afraid, as long as he held on to his bravery, then he would keep fighting until the very end.

"All right," He said as he gently placed his hand on his deck. "Let's settle this. It's my turn, Draw!"

**Crow: SPC – 6**

**Kuromu: SPC – 5**

After drawing the top card of his deck, Crow took a quick glance at it before looking over the rest of his cards. Once he finished doing that, a small smiled appeared on his face as he proceeded to take the card that he drew and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Okay…I'm activating the Speed Spell: Monster Reborn! With it, by removing 4 of my Speed Counters, I can Special Summon one monster from either of our Graveyards! So, come to my side…Winged Kuriboh!"

**Crow: SPC – 2**

A bright flash of light covered Crow's side of the field for a few seconds as Kuromu's Winged Kuriboh reappeared and started flying by the Blackwing Duelist's side. When Kuromu saw that, the young man was contemplating activating his face-down card, but in the end chose not to. He then watched as Crow went on to activate his own face-down card.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I'm bringing back my Blackwing Armed Wing!"

Another flash of light appeared on Crow's side of the field as his Blackwing Armed Wing once again appeared before him. However, in the moment that happened, Kuromu decided that the time was now to activate his face-down and proceeded to do just that.

"I don't think so!" He countered. "I'm activating the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Anxiety! Now, since I have at least 4 Speed Counters, this card will destroy your Armed Wing since it was Special Summoned!"

Upon activating his Trap, Kuromu watched as a powerful laser beam shot from his card and struck the newly resurrected Armed Wing. In the instant the blast hit the Synchro Monster, it was killed instantly and once again returned to the Graveyard. However, instead of being upset about this development, Crow was smiling. He had expected such a move and had already set up a contingency plan in advance.

"Thanks for that," He said to his opponent. "Now, since you destroyed one of my Blackwing's via an effect, I can Special Summon this special Tuner monster directly from my hand! Appear now, Blackwing – Kogarashi the Wanderer!"

**Blackwing – Kogarashi the Wanderer: ATK 2300 DEF 1600 LVL 6**

When Crow called the name of his monster, he watched as a new Blackwing monster appeared on his side of the field. Blackwing – Kogarashi the Wanderer was a unique Tuner monster that had different colored feather all across its body. Also, Kogarashi was one of the few Tuners in all of Duel Monsters that not only had over 2000 Attack Points, but also had 6 Level Stars.

After his Tuner fully materialized onto the field, Crow then went on to take a card from his hand and place onto his Monster Card Zone, right beside Kogarashi's.

"Now…you heard the saying that birds of a feather, flock together?" Crow asked. "Well, since I have a Blackwing on my field, I can Special Summon this monster from my hand! Come to the field, Blackwing – Bora the Spear!"

**Blackwing – Bora the Spear: ATK 1700 DEF 800 LVL 4**

Bora the Spear arrived in a bright flash on light once its card was placed on Crow's Duel Disk. The Blackwing then started flying right next to its master as he continued to ride along the race track.

"Okay," Crow said as he grabbed one more card from his hand. "I think I could use one more Blackwing. So, I Normal Summon: Jetstream the Blue Sky!"

**Blackwing – Jetrstream the Blue Sky: ATK 100 DEF 800 LVL 1**

One more flash of light illuminated across Crow's side of the field as Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky materialized in front of its master and started flying next to him. Now, with all the monsters that he needed on the field, Crow prepared to conduct the true purpose of his plan.

"I Tune my Level 1 Winged Kuriboh and Jetstream the Blue Sky with my Level 6 Kogarashi the Wanderer!"

The three monsters nodded their heads upon hearing Crow say that and started flying high into the air as a result. As soon as they reached a certain height, all three of them prepared to begin the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. It was at this moment that Crow started chanting to himself one more time as he pulled out one final card from his Extra Deck.

"Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 1600 LVL 8**

Once the Synchro ritual came to an end, another flash of light completely covered the entire field. When it faded, Black-Winged Dragon appeared and started roaring at the top of its lungs. For those individuals who saw the monster before, they were just as impressed with it as they were when they first saw it. However, even with Black-Winged Dragon out, Crow was still at a major disadvantage due to the other cards that Kuromu had out on the field.

Because of the effect of the Resonating Hearts Trap, all of Crow's monsters must remain in Attack Mode while Heart-Earth is on the field. Also, everyone one of them must attack the Number, starting with the strongest one. Black-Winged Dragon is currently the strongest monster that Crow has out and since Heart-Earth's Special Ability grants it Attack Points equal to the monster first monster that attack it, it seemed like Crow's monster was destined to be destroyed. However, what they didn't know is that Crow wanted that outcome to happen.

"Black-Winged Dragon," Crow called. "Attack Number 53: Heart-Earth…Noble Stream!"

"What are you trying to do Crow Hogan?!" Kuromu questioned. "By attacking my Heart-Earth, you're activating its Special Ability! It now gains Attack Points equal to that of your Black-Winged Dragon!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 2900**

As its Special Ability started to take effect, Heart-Earth responded to Black-Winged Dragon's blast by launching its Infernal Surge attack. The two powers then collided with one another, creating a powerful explosion. For a moment, both monsters seemed to evenly matched, but it soon became apparent that Heart-Earth was beginning to win.

"It's over Crow Hogan," Kuromu said. "All that trouble trying to bring out your Ace, but it didn't do you any good in the end."

"Is that so?" Crow replied. "That's not what I'm seeing."

Kuromu's eyes widen when he heard Crow counter his words and soon turned his attention back towards the battle between Heart-Earth and Black-Winged Dragon. His shock then turned to disbelief as he watched Black-Winged Dragon's Noble Stream attack begin to overcome Heart-Earth's Infernal Surge. Kuromu had no idea what was going on, but soon realized what was happening when he noticed that his opponent had activated his final face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Assault Mode Activate!" Crow declared. "With it, I evolve my Black-Winged Dragon into Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3300 DEF 2100 LVL 10**

As Black-Winged Dragon continued to fight back against Heart-Earth, its Assault Armor was beginning to materialize around its body. With the power of its armor, the powerful dragon gained the strength it needed to overpower Kuromu's Number Card and blast it with a powerful attack!

**Kuromu: 2500 LP**

The moment Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode struck Heart-Earth, a large explosion occurred that not only surrounded the Number, but Kuromu as well. During this instant, the crowd was in shock and Crow took the opportunity to finally pass his opponent.

Eventually, after taking a moment to take in what happened, the crowd suddenly started cheering for Crow as loud as they possibly could. Almost everyone present didn't believe that Crow had the ability to take down Kuromu's Ace, but he proved them wrong. Now, the Duel was firmly in his control and they believed that he could win the match with his next move.

Crow's friends were also happy for him as well, especially Misaki. Even though the young woman didn't visibly display her happiness, she was pleased that Crow followed her strategy. Since Heart-Earth's effect activates during its initial battle, she wrote on her letter that the Duelist who happened to face Kuromu needed to power up their monster at the very instant it attacked the Number. Crow did just that and she was happy that she could help him take down the monster that defeated Toru.

Meanwhile, back at the Duel, Crow turned his head around and looked on as Kuromu has not emerged from the smoke cloud that surrounded him. He wondered what was taking him so long, but decided to get over it. Now that he defeated Heart-Earth, Crow needed to get to Kuromu's Life Points. He already had Blackwing – Bora the Spear out, but its 1700 Attack Points wouldn't be enough to win him the Duel. Fortunately, Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode had an effect would allow him to bring back one of his fallen Blackwings.

"Since my Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode successfully dealt you Battle Damage, its Special Ability activates!" Crow explained. "I can now Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Blackwing monster from my Graveyard until the End Phase of this turn! Return to battle, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!"

Crow swiftly grabbed Shura's card from his Graveyard and placed it back on his Duel Disk. When he did that, Winged Beast monster started flying by his side once more and prepared to join Bora the Spear in battle.

"It's time to end this Duel! Go, Shura the Blue Flame! Attack his Life Points dire-"

Just as Crow was about to launch his direct attack, his Signer Mark started glowing very brightly. Upon noticing it, the young man wondered what it was trying to tell him. However, just as he was pondering that, Crow felt a powerful Reiatsu coming from the smoke cloud that was behind him. When he turned his head, he saw Kuromu come from the cloud and with was his Heart-Earth, only with one less Overlay Unit.

When everyone saw the Number Card, they were all at a loss for words. They saw Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode attack it and Kuromu lost Life Points as a result. However, the monster was still there and everyone was wondering just what the hell was going on. Eventually, Kuromu started to explain the situation as he began to close the distance between him and Crow.

"That was impressive move Crow," Kuromu said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "In fact, it was so impressive that I'll reward you by revealing my Heart-Earth's second Special Ability. You see, when it's about to be destroyed, I can use one of its Overlay Units in order to prevent is destruction!"

Crow couldn't believe what he just heard Kuromu say to him. He went through all the trouble of trying to destroy Heart-Earth, only to learn that it has invincibility! Its Overlay Units were like safety nets and as long as Heart-Earth has them, it couldn't be destroyed no matter what he did. Crow then wondered what he should do now, but quickly realized that he couldn't do anything anymore.

Due to the effect of the Resonating Hearts Trap Card, Crow was forced to attack Heart-Earth with all of his monsters. This meant that his Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame made its way over to Heart-Earth, even though it didn't want too. Crow looked over his Duel Disk in order to find a card that could help him stop the attack, but realized that he didn't have one since he used up all the cards he had left. As a result, he was force to watch as Heart-Earth prepared to strike down his monster.

It was at this moment that Kuromu finally caught up with Crow and prepared to pass him. However, before he did, he started gathering a large amount of Reiatsu and had it surround his entire body. Once he gathered enough, Kuromu unleashed a powerful Sense Blast upon Crow just as he had Heart-Earth attack Shura.

"Number 53: Heart-Earth," He called. "Let's show him our true power! Attack his Shura the Blue Flame…Infernal Surge!"

Heart-Earth complied with Kuromu's order and unleashed a powerful blast of energy that completely incinerated Shura and began to overwhelm Crow. That, along with the Sense Blast, not only caused Crow to lose the rest of his Life Points, but also forced him to Crash his Duel Runner too, frightening his friends greatly.

**Crow: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>It's over!" <em>The MC declared as watched the end of the Duel. _"In what was an exciting match the winner and our 3__rd__ Semi-Final Duelist is…Kuromu Nesara!"_

After the MC made his announcement the entire stadium started cheering for Kuromu as the holograms and the Augmented Reality started to disappear. The only thing that remained visible was the smoke coming from Crow's broken Duel Runner.

As Crow lied on the ground, struggling to remain conscious, his friends immediately made their way over to him in order make sure that he was okay. When they reached him, both Lilly and Akiza helped him off of the ground and began taking him back to the common area in order to get him some help. While they did that, Takashi stayed behind and started staring down Kuromu as the Duelist stopped his Duel Runner.

The two of them then started staring each other down for a few minutes, trying to get a feel for each other. Unlike their first confrontation, Kuromu wasn't trying to intimidate Takashi with the power of his Reiatsu. The reason for that is because he felt that doing so would serve no purpose. Takashi wasn't afraid of him and trying to intimidate a person who wasn't scared was like trying to teach a bird with its wings clipped how to fly. Nothing would happen and Kuromu didn't want to do anything that resulted in an action that he didn't like.

Meanwhile, as for Takashi, he also didn't make a move against Kuromu. The Signer knew that his powers weren't at Kuromu's level and that he would need more time until he could face him. Also, even if was strong enough, Takashi couldn't make a move against him anyway. Goodwin informed him that he couldn't make any actions against the other competitors unless it involved a Duel. If he did, then he would be disqualified and he didn't want that. As a result of this situation, Takashi was stuck and left wondering what to do.

Eventually, after thinking for about a minute, Takashi realized that standing around was pointless. Right now, Crow needed his help and wanted to be there for him. To that end, he walked over to his friend's Duel Runner and started dragging what was left of it to the back. As he did that, Kuromu simply looked at him before finally speaking out.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "Are you running away? I thought you were going to crush me until there was nothing left. Did you really mean what you said…or was just simply talking out your ass?"

Takashi stopped for a moment as he thought about what Kuromu just said to him. He then gently placed his hand upon the hilt of his sword before eventually letting go of it.

"If you saw my fight against Kagura," He replied. "Then you should know that my friends mean more to me than some grudge. That's why…I'm not going to fight you now."

"Your friends?" Kuromu questioned. "Hah…friendship is for the weak! It's a superficial word meant to hold other people down! True strength cannot be achieved while holding on to such beliefs. If you truly want to become stronger…then you must commit everything to one single goal and throw everything else away! If you can't do that then you're nothing more than a hatchling…just like your friend, Crow Hogan."

After hearing him say that, Takashi thought about what Kuromu had to say to him. Fortunately for him though, he quickly erased everything he just learned from the depths of mind. He then started gritting his teeth slightly has he turned his head and starting glaring at his enemy.

"You're wrong!" He said. "Friendship isn't a weakness…it's a strength! It comes for the heart! But then again…someone like you couldn't possibly understand that, even with your precious Heart-Earth."

Once he finished saying what he had to say, Takashi turned his head away from Kuromu and began making his way back towards his friends.

"But don't mistake it, Kuromu Nesara. I will crush you for what you did to my friends. That has, and will never, change!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With both Lilly and Crow now out of the tournament, the only person left to join Takashi in the Semi-Finals is Akiza. However, she'll have a tough time getting there as her opponent is Aiku Gato, her former friend. _

_Can Akiza defeat Aiku and reform the bond that she and others had with him? Or, will she be forced to watch Takashi go into the Semi-Finals all by himself?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 79: Trust Issues_


	79. Chapter 79

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 79: **_Trust Issues_

* * *

><p>It's been about an hour since Crow Hogan lost his Duel against Kuromu Nesara in the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals. During the match, Crow was giving it everything he got as he tried to overcome the power of his opponent's Ace Monster, Number 53: Heart-Earth. For a moment, it seemed that he was able to destroy it by taking advantage of Heart-Earth's Special Ability and how it can only be used once per turn. However, Crow soon realized that taking down this mysterious Number Card wouldn't be that simple.<p>

Just as his Black-Winged Dragon/Assault Mode attacked Heart-Earth, it was revealed that the Number wasn't destroyed during the exchange. It turned out that Kuromu's Heart-Earth can prevent its own destruction by using one of its three Overlay Units. This revelation stopped Crow in his tracks and the only thing that he could do was watch as Heart-Earth destroyed one his other monsters and drain the reminder of his Life Points.

With his defeat, Crow was eliminated from the Fortune Cup and was now forced to join Lilly on the sidelines. However, that wasn't bothering Crow much. The Blackwing Duelist is well aware that victory and defeat go hand-in-hand and that no one can go on winning forever. What really bothered him is that Kuromu was the one who defeated him. After everything that did to his friends, especially Toru, Crow wanted to be the one to put him in his place. However, that just didn't happen as he simply became one of Kuromu's many victims.

Now, as he recovers from the injuries that he received during the match-up, the only thing the Blackwing Duelist could do was frown as thought about what transpired. His friends, who watched the Duel from the stands, were all concerned about him, especially since they knew how much this Duel meant to him. However, they didn't say anything to him because they didn't want to hurt him anymore than he already was. They all decided to wait until Crow spoke first before any of them said anything to him.

"Alright," Sona said as she continued treating Crow. "Try lifting your right arm."

Crow nodded his head upon hearing what his new Psychic friend wanted him to do and proceeded to lift his arm into the air. It was difficult, due to the amount of pain that he was feeling, but he was eventually able to do so. Once Sona saw him do that, she began examining his arm before slowly placing it back down beside him. She then tied it up so that it would stay in one place.

"You have a slight strain in your arm, but it should heal up fine. Just don't try and move it for a while."

"…Thanks Sona," Crow replied.

"There's no need to thank me. Just be careful."

As Sona continued to make sure that Crow's arm was in one place, Akiza looked at the both of them and started to notice something. She saw that during the entire treatment, Sona didn't use her Psychic Powers to heal Crow's injuries. Seeing that made Akiza wonder about something and she decided to ask Sona about it, since she's a Psychic Duelist too.

"…Sona," She said.

"What is it Akiza?" Sona replied, turning her attention towards her. "Is something wrong?"

"No. It's just that…I've been wondering about something for a while now. I have a friend named Wendy who, like you, can use her Psychic Powers to heal other people. I can do the same thing too, but in comparison to the two of you, my ability seems pretty mediocre. I was wondering why that is. Am I doing something wrong?"

Sona looked at Akiza for a moment before closing her eyes and thinking about what to say. She knew the reason why Akiza's ability to heal others were very limited in comparison to Wendy's and herself and she wanted to explain it in a way she could understand. After about a minute of thinking, Sona reopened her eyes and gave Akiza her answer.

"Well," She started off. "To put it in the simplest of terms, a Psychic's powers comes from their emotions. If one's happy or calm, then their abilities will reflect that. The same thing applies if their angry or upset, as I'm sure you know. To get to the point, in order for a Psychic to heal someone with their powers, they must truly wish to do so."

"But…I want to heal others," Akiza pointed out. "I wouldn't be asking you this if that wasn't the case."

"I know you do Akiza," Sona said. "However, unlike other Psychic Duelists, you're special. Your powers are about 10 times greater than the average Psychic and that's only augmented by your Signer Powers. Because of that all that strength inside of you, as well as your terrible childhood, you created a split personality; the Black Rose."

Upon hearing the name of her other self, Akiza looked down towards the ground and started reflecting about who she used to be. The pain and despair she inflicted on other people was something that she used to enjoy in the past as it was her way of making society pay for their crimes against her. All she wanted was to be accepted by other people, but they rejected her because of her abilities. As a result, Akiza decided to take away the happiness of anyone she came across, in retaliation for them taking her happiness away.

For over four years, Akiza went about this as the Black Rose; the witch that could make monsters come to life with her powers. However, that all changed meant Takashi. Upon meeting him and seeing that he accepted her for who she was and not what she could do, Akiza was able to break free from the Black Rose's influence and become a kinder person as a result. She soon made friends with Lilly, Crow and so many others as well, which caused the darkness that resided in heart to almost completely disappear.

Akiza was happy that she was able to change her ways, but she still regretted her time as the Black Rose. She caused pain and suffering to befall a lot of people and she wanted to make it up to them, however possible. Sometimes the trial of trying to do that seemed almost impossible. But, whenever she was on the verge of giving up, she would remember something Takashi told her about this particular subject.

_I know how you feel Akiza. The path towards atonement isn't an easy one and is filled with countless challenges. However…the fact that you're attempting this path is atonement in its own right. It shows that you truly wish to change and people the person that we all know you are. _

_Just always remember this; the way to forgiveness always begins with the first step. Believe in yourself Akiza…because I believe in you._

After remembering those words, Akiza took Takashi's hand and gently held on to it. When he noticed her holding his hand, Takashi looked towards Akiza for a moment and soon started smiling to himself. The two of them then proceeded to listen closely as Sona continued on with her explanation behind Akiza's Psychic Powers.

"The Black Rose is the manifestation of your hatred," She said. "As a result, it inhibits your ability to heal because, somewhere deep in your heart, you don't want to take care of anyone."

"I see…" Akiza softly replied. "So…what should I do?"

"For now, you don't need to do anything. Now's not the time to worry about stuff like that. Just focus on being the person you are now. Trust me, you'll be able to do stuff like this in due time."

Sona gave Akiza a small smile, which the Signer to smile herself. Even though she wanted to contribute more to her friends, Akiza knew that she was already doing more than enough. The support that she gives to others helps them out a lot and the fact that she was still in the Fortune Cup was also important. The group needed her to move to the Semi-Finals and they truly believed that she had the ability to do that. It's because of that encouragement that Akiza was able to feel much better and soon got over the depression that she was feeling.

Soon, after this conversation came to an end, Crow got up from his bench that he was sitting on and began walking around the common area. He was still upset that he lost his Duel and was trying his best to shake it off. In his attempt to do that, the Blackwing Duelist used his good arm to punch one of the lockers. After he did that and saw the big dent that he created, Crow turned his attention towards all of his friends.

"Guys," He said to all of them. "I'm sorry. I let you all down."

"Don't beat yourself up Crow," Lilly said as she got up and made her way over to him. "You did the best that you could. No one could ask you to anymore than that."

"I…I know," Crow gently placed his head towards the ground. "But still…"

"No buts!" Lilly gently slapped the back of Crow's head, causing him to lift it up. "Kuromu Nesara is a tough opponent and the fact that he managed to defeat you only proves that. However, you can't let your defeat get the better of you. If it does…then Kuromu really wins."

Crow took a moment to think about what Lilly just said to him and realized that she was right. Even though he was upset about losing, he couldn't let that stop him from moving forward. In fact, this defeat should make him stronger as it showed the Blackwing Duelist where his flaws are and how he could improve on them. Upon realizing that, Crow nodded his head towards Lilly as a small smile appeared on his fac.

After that, he soon made his way towards the others and soon stopped in front of Akiza. As the two looked at one another for a moment, Akiza watched as Crow handed her Duel Disk to her. Once she had it in hand, the Rose Duelist listened as her friend started speaking to her.

"Hey Akiza," He said. "It's almost your turn now and I wanted to tell you to do your best our there. We'll be rooting for you."

Akiza looked at Crow for a moment before looking towards everyone else. They were all smiling at her, truly believing that her skills will allow her to move on to the Semi-Finals. Upon seeing that, another small smile appeared on her face as she proceeded to place her Duel Disk upon her left arm.

"Thanks Crow," She replied. "Don't worry…I won't let you guys down."

"Hah…don't make promises that you can't keep!"

Akiza's eyes suddenly widen when she, along with everyone else, heard a familiar voice reply to her words. They soon all turn around and saw that the person who spoke was Aiku Gato; Akiza's opponent in the last match of the Quarter-Finals. From what everyone noticed, he still seemed very resentful for what happened earlier due to the scowl that was on his face. However, despite such a facial expression, that didn't explain why he was here, interrupting their conversation. Eventually, they got their answer when Aiku continued talking.

"You think you're going to defeat me?" Aiku questioned as he looked towards Akiza. "There's no way your skills come even close to mine. You might as well give up and save yourself from the embarrassment of defeat…just like lying friends had to go through."

Lilly and Crow both glared at Aiku as he continued to mock them for their recent defeats at the hands of both Kagura and Kuromu. Both of them gave it everything they've got in their respective matches and ended up coming up a bit short, but Aiku ended up making fun of them regardless. For a moment, it made the both of them wonder why they were just sitting there and taking his crap. However, it was also in the very exact moment that both Lilly and Crow realized the answer to that question.

Because of the prospect that Aiku could be a potential Dragunity Knight, one of the selected individuals that help support the Signers, Lilly and Crow didn't want to do anything that could him harm. Also, both of them were still indebted to Aiku for his help during the Sasuke incident. If it wasn't for him, their home back in the Satellite wouldn't be around and all their friends living over there would be dead. Because of that, Lilly and Crow simply stood there in silence, trying their best to keep their anger under control.

Eventually, once Aiku finished his rant, he soon turned his attention over towards Takashi. He saw that the Signer had his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep so that he wouldn't have to listen to him. Seeing Takashi do that made Aiku even more upset since it was because of him that he's like this now. If he hadn't kept secrets from him, then Aiku would probably still be friends with all of them and none of this tension would exist. However, that simply wasn't the case and because of that, Aiku held a large amount of resentment towards Takashi and his friends.

Soon, Aiku was completely fed up with Takashi's lack of response and began to make his way towards him. Once he was there, the young man grabbed the Signer by his shirt collar. When the other Signers saw this, all of them wanted to take action, but they were soon stopped by Sona and Enoch. Both of them knew that this affair needed to be settled by Takashi and Aiku and that no else could interfere.

"What's wrong Takashi?" Aiku said in a mocking tone of voice. "Aren't you doing to defend these so-called friends of yours? Or…are you simply frightened at the thought that you could be facing me in the Semi-Finals. I won't blame you if you are…especially since I did defeat you in our last Duel."

Takashi continued to keep silent as he recalled his Turbo Duel against Aiku a couple of months ago. During that match, he mind was conflicted through the growing doubts that Alex instilled into him. Because of those doubts, he wasn't able to Duel as hard as normally would and ended up losing as a result. That defeat stuck with Takashi for a while and it acted as one the motivating factors why he decided to train under Alex in the first place. However…he knew that was all in the past now.

It's been nearly four months since that Turbo Duel and Takashi has grown far more powerful than he was before. Because of that strength, the young man believed that he could defeat Aiku if the two of them were paired in the Semi-Finals. Despite that though, Takashi was aware of one thing that Aiku wasn't and that was one of the other reasons why he remained silent.

"C'mon," Aiku said as he started dangling Takashi around. "Aren't you going to say anything?!"

"…Don't assume that you'll be facing me in the next round," Takashi silently replied. "After all…you're about to face an opponent whose skills far surpasses mine."

Takashi soon reopened his eyes, but didn't direct his gaze towards Aiku. He instead looked towards Akiza, Aiku's opponent in the next Duel. For as long as he's known her, Takashi believed that Akiza's skills as a Duelist far surpassed his own. He also believed that if anyone other than himself was going to win this tournament, it was going to be her. Because of that, Takashi was worried about facing Aiku in the Semi-Finals…since he knew that the Duelist wasn't going to get there.

"Are you serious?" Aiku questioned as he let go of Takashi and turned his attention over to Akiza. "Do you honestly believe that she has the ability to defeat me? In case you've forgotten, I'm the son of Cecil Gato; the rival of your mother, Sakura Nakamura. I've been training all my life for a tournament like this and there's no way I could lose to someone like her."

"Oh really?" Akiza said, becoming slightly irritated by Aiku's words. "Don't underestimate me, Aiku."

"No, Akiza Izinski. It's not that I'm underestimating you. It's that you're overestimating yourself!"

The two Duelists glared at one another and for a moment, it seemed like they were about to come to blows. However, upon remembering who he was dealing with, Aiku decided that this was a waste of time and began to leave his former friends. But, just before he left the common area, Aiku turned his head around and looked at Akiza one last time.

"You know, I remember that during your time as the Black Rose, people would call you a witch. However, I don't think that's true. I think your something else entirely."

"And what would that be?" Akiza asked.

"It's quite simple," Aiku replied. "Just take the word witch and replace the 'W' in front with a 'B'."

With that said, Aiku left the room while everyone else took a moment to figure out the meaning behind his words. Enoch was the first person to get it and became furious that Aiku would call Akiza such a thing. As a result, the Psychic Duelist was about to get up from his seat and teach him not to disrespect that woman that he loved. Lilly and Crow were about to join him as they also figured out what Aiku meant, but they all stopped when Akiza looked at all of them.

All of them noticed that she was smiling with her eyes closed. None of them understood why she was doing that, especially after what Aiku just called her, but they decided to listen closely as she started to talk.

"Well…that was interesting," She said to everyone. "Guys, I'm going to go prepare for my match. I'll see you all later."

Akiza proceeded to leave the common area once she spoke those words to her friends and didn't even take a moment to look back at all of them. Once she was gone, the others remained silent for a few minutes as they tried to ponder what was on her mind. Did she figure out what Aiku meant and was going to confront him about it or was she really going to prepare for her Duel against him? In the end, none of them knew and most of them decided to sit by and give Akiza her space.

The only one who decided to do something was Takashi, who sensed that something was wrong. As a result, the young man got up from his seat, placed his sword by his hip and began making his way out of the common area. Once he was out, he took a moment to look around the area before eventually hearing the faint sound of someone crying. Making his way towards the source of the sound, Takashi soon saw Akiza standing by one of the nearby corners of the hallway with her head directed towards the ground.

When he made his way up to her, he noticed that tears were pouring down from her face and that she was trying her best to keep herself from crying any louder. Seeing Akiza like that made Takashi just as sad as she was and decided to give her some comfort in order to make her feel better. To that end, he began by gently wiping her tears away with his hand. When she saw him do that, Akiza lifted her head from the floor and looked towards him.

"Ta…Takashi…?" She stuttered slightly.

Takashi gently nodded his head upon hearing her say his name and proceeded to hold Akiza close to him. Upon feeling the warmth from his embrace, Akiza let herself go for a moment and started crying a little bit more. It was clear that she knew what Aiku called her and that she was upset about it. However, it was far more than just that. She's been called that word several times before in the past and she was always able to get over it. But, the fact that Aiku, a former friend, called her that caused the word to have more impact. As a result, Akiza was hurt emotionally and needed to time to recover.

As she continued to cry on his shoulder, Takashi held on to Akiza as he started to wonder how everything got to this point. It was never his intention to cause Aiku to turn his back on them, since he was only thinking about his safety. However, Aiku didn't see it that way and took Takashi's secrets as a form of betrayal. Because of that, Aiku turned his back on his former friends and has held them in discontent ever since.

Having such a realization plague his thoughts bothered Takashi greatly. If it was just him who was affected by it, he wouldn't be as upset since he's used to people hating him. But, since it's affecting his friends, Takashi was beginning to regret his actions and wondered what he could to fix the problem.

"I'm sorry Akiza," He said as he continued to hold her. "This all my fault. If I just planned things out better, none of this would be happening."

"…Please don't say that, Takashi,"

Takashi's eyes widen a little as he watched Akiza wipe her tears away and look at him. He could tell that she was still bothered about what happened, but to a much lesser extent. However, he could also tell that she didn't like what he just said to her. Soon, that suspicion was proven true when Akiza continued talking.

"You know I don't like it when you berate yourself like that. None of this is your fault, Takashi. If anything…its Goodwin's since he's the one who put all of this together."

"I know…" Takashi agreed. "But still."

"No buts!" Akiza replied firmly. "Takashi…don't blame yourself about what's going on with Aiku. I mean, we did keep secrets from him, but that's our business. It's his failure to trust us that made him the person he is now. At least…that's why I think."

"And I think you're exactly right,"

Surprised by the voice that just interjected itself into their conversation, both Takashi and Akiza looked around the hallway in order to find the person who just spoke to them. Eventually, the two of them came across a middle-age married couple that looked very familiar to the both of them. After taking a moment to try and remember who they were, Takashi finally figured it out.

"You're…Aiku's parents," He said to the couple. "Cecil and Sharla Gato…right?"

"That's right," Cecil confirmed with a slight nod. "It's good to see you again Takashi. I watched your Duel today and I was very impressed with your improvement."

"Um…thank you, sir,"

Takashi started rubbing the back of his hair as he was flattered by Cecil's words. Because he was a famous Turbo Duelist who used to be one of his late mother's rivals, Takashi took every word that Cecil said to heart. Also, Cecil's praise meant a lot to Takashi as it proved that he's grown significantly since he began his Turbo Dueling career. Because of that, as well as some other things, a small smile started to appear upon the young Duelist's face.

Eventually, after taking a few minutes to get reacquainted with one another, both sides decided that it was time to get their conversation back on track. They were all talking about that it was Aiku's fault that's he's become the person he is now.

"Mr. Gato," Akiza spoke. "You said that you agree with me about what I said about Aiku. Why is that?"

"Well Akiza," Cecil replied. "The reason why I said that is because you're right about my son. It's his fault that he's like this. He just can't find it in his heart to trust other people."

"But why is that?" Akiza asked. "Surely there must be a reason."

Cecil looked at Akiza for a moment and noticed that she really wanted to know the truth behind Aiku's attitude. He could also tell that this desire was due to the fact that the two of them used to be friends and that Akiza didn't want to completely give up on that friendship. Because of that, Cecil smiled a little before going on to give his explanation.

"A couple of years ago, just when Aiku was beginning his training to become a Turbo Duelist, he became friends with a young man named; Mizuki Kiba. The two of them were like brothers and that they would do everything together. Aiku trusted Mizuki completely and, for that moment in time, it felt like the feeling was mutual. However…that soon changed when Aiku obtained his Bursting Soul Dragon card."

"What do you mean?" Takashi asked.

"Well," Cecil continued. "I'm sure you're aware that people will do almost anything if they find something that they really want. That was the case with Mizuki. When he first saw Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon, the only thing that was on his mind was having the monster for himself. Eventually, that greed led him to betray Aiku and forever damaged the trust that the two had for one another."

After he finished explaining that part of his story, Cecil took a moment and reflected on how his son used to be and how he is now. Even though Mizuki's betrayal taught Aiku that he shouldn't blindly people, he took too far and started to have doubts about everyone that he meets. Because of that, it's very hard for anyone to become friends with his son as he can't but his trust in them. This is especially true for people who tend to keep secrets, like what Takashi and the others did.

As Cecil continued his reflection, Sharla decided to continue on with the conversation in place of her husband. Even though she wasn't a Duelist like her husband and son, Sharla was Aiku's mother and had a good idea about what was on his mind. Also, she could also tell that both Akiza and Takashi wanted to restore the bond that they once held with her son and she wanted to help them do that.

"As time passed, Aiku's lack of trust not only began to affect his personal life, but his professional life as well," She said to the both of them. "He's a very good Turbo Duelist and a lot of people wanted to sponsor him in their respective Dueling Leagues. However, Aiku didn't sign with anyone because he felt that they would cheat him in some way. We tried telling him that not all people are mistrusting and that secrets are kept for a reason, but he just wouldn't listen. If this keeps up, I'm worried that Aiku could end up living a very lonely life."

The emotion that was appearing on Sharla's face was apparent and both Takashi and Akiza noticed it right away. The two Signers felt for her, especially Akiza since she knows what she's going through. In the past, she used to be mistrustful of others too and the people she truly had faith in were Sayer and herself. Fortunately, through the help of Takashi and her other friends, Akiza was able to see that she was wrong and that it was okay to trust other people. It's because of this that Akiza hopes that Aiku's realizes this as well, in order to avoid suffering through the loneliness that she went through.

Eventually, after Cecil finished his reflection and looked towards both Takashi and Akiza again, a certain thought entered his brain. This thought reminded him about a similar situation that involved him in the past and he decided to tell the young Duelists about it, especially Takashi.

"Takashi…did I ever tell you that I used to have a crush on your mother?"

"No sir," Takashi answered. "In fact, aside from her Dueling career, you haven't told me much about my mom."

"I see," Cecil said. "Well, back when she was alive, I was head over heels for Sakura Nakamura. However, those feeling unrequited as your mother was in love with your father; Minato. Now, at first, I didn't trust Minato because he seemed like a very shady character who's prone to keeping secrets. But, as time passed and I got to know him better, I realized that I was completely wrong about my assumptions of your father. Minato was indeed a good person and he became one of my closest friends. What I'm trying to say is that even your best friends can have something that they don't want other people to know. It doesn't mean that they're going to betray you, it's just how they are. Friendship is all about trusting other people, even if they have something to hide."

Takashi and Akiza nodded their heads after listening to Cecil's story. He was right that friendship was all about trust and it showed them that what they did was right. Keeping their secret about the truth behind the Fortune Cup wasn't something that they wanted to do, but something they had to do. That didn't mean that they were bad people. It just meant that this was something that they didn't want to mention to others. Both just hope that, in time, Aiku would realize this and once again become friends with them.

Soon, after the conversation between the group was finished, a loud beeping sound started echoing throughout the Kaiba Dome. It was the sign that the MC was about to give an announcement to the people. Because of that, all of them listen closely as the MC started talking.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen…the last match of the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals is about to begin!" _He declared. _"Will the following Duelists please make their way to the stadium floor; Aiku Gato and Akiza Izinski!"_

Once the announcement was finished, Akiza took a moment to catch her breath before going into her pocket and pulling out her Duel Gazer. The design of the device matched that on her Duel Disk as it had a burgundy lens with black coloring on the outside. She then went on to put the Gazer over her left eye before saying good-bye to the others and beginning to make her way towards the stadium floor.

"What a second Akiza," Cecil called. "I want to ask you something?"

Upon hearing Mr. Gato call out to her, Akiza stopped and turned to face him. She saw that he had a somewhat serious expression on her face and that made her a bit nervous. Soon, that nervousness was verified as Cecil asked Akiza his question.

"Back when you were friends with him, Aiku told me that you were a Psychic Duelists," He started. "I was wondering…if you were the Black Rose that was terrorizing New Domino almost a year ago?"

Akiza's eyes widen upon hearing Cecil's question as she was shocked that he figured out her former identity. She soon started sweating a little as she afraid about how he and Sharla would think of her if she told them that was indeed the case. However, upon remembering their conversation about trust, Akiza realized that she needed to follow through with what they talked about. Because of that, she took a deep breath and answered Cecil's question.

"…Yes," She confirmed. "I was the Black Rose. However…that's no longer who I am. I'm Akiza Izinski. That's all I am…and all I choose to be now."

Cecil looked into Akiza's eyes and saw that she was completely serious with what she just said. She was no longer the Black Rose, as that was a portion of her life that she wanted to abandon. All she wanted to be was Akiza Izinski, nothing more and nothing less. Upon seeing that, Cecil started smiling at Akiza and gave her a nod of approval. He believed that she was no longer the person she once was and simply wanted to confirm that was the case.

"Alright then," He said. "Good luck in your match, Akiza. I hope you and Aiku steal the show out there."

Akiza smiled at Cecil as she nodded her head at him. She proceeded to do the same thing with both Sharla and Takashi before making her way out to the stadium. Once she was gone, Cecil then turned his attention towards Takashi.

"That's a good friend you have there," He said to him.

"I know," Takashi agreed. He then remembered all the things that Akiza has done for him in the past. "Akiza is one of the few people in the world…that I trust with my life."

As Takashi and Cecil continued to talk with one another, Akiza finally made it to floor of the Kaiba Dome and started looking around as everyone in the stadium, as well as everyone watching on TV, looked at her. The sight of having some many eyes on her made Akiza somewhat nervous, but she managed to get over it once she saw her friends rooting for her on the sidelines. Once she saw that, all the fear that she was feeling disappeared and she felt more confident in herself. Just as she did that, Akiza watched as Aiku made his way to the stadium floor.

When he finally made it, Akiza noticed that the Duel Gazer that he was wearing matched the very same colors of his Bursting Soul Dragon; orange and red. This sign, though not a very vivid one, gave her the indication that her opponent was definitely going to bring out his Ace Monster during this Duel. Because of that, Akiza realized that she needed to be on guard and be prepared for anything that might happen.

"_Alright Duelists," _The MC spoke over on the loudspeaker. _"Get ready as the Field Spell for this Duel is…the Fire Kingdom!"_

As the Augmented Reality System activated around the Kaiba Dome, everyone present noticed that giant kingdom made up of rock and lava appeared around them. They also noticed that flames were covering the buildings that made up the kingdom and some were even erupting from the ground. The sight of this setting made everyone feel very hot as all the flames were confusing their senses a little.

"_As the name of this Field Spell implies, the Fire Kingdom grants special powers to Fire Attribute Monsters. Now, when they destroy a monster through battle and sends it to the Graveyard, the opposing Player will lose Life Points equal to half of the destroyed monster's Attack Points!"_

Upon hearing the MC's explanation, Akiza recalled that her Black Rose Dragon was a Fire Attribute Monster. Because of that, it applied to the Fire Kingdom's effects. However, she also knew that the same thing applied to Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon, since it was also a Fire Attribute Monster. That meant that the winner of this particular Duel would be the one who could use their respective Fire Monster to the fullest.

Soon, both Duelists proceeded to activate their Duel Disks and drew five cards from their decks. Once they did that, the both of them looked on at one another as they waited for the MC to announce the start of last Quarter-Final Duel.

"Listen Aiku," Akiza said to him. "I know why you don't like it when people keep secrets from you and…I just wanted to say that I know how you feel."

"Don't give me that crap!" Aiku replied with a fierce glare. "You don't know anything about me Akiza and you sure as hell don't know how I feel! So…do me a favor and shut up as I wipe the floor with you!"

Akiza kept to herself as she listened to Aiku's harsh words. She had hope that she could get through to him before their match, but quickly realized that couldn't be done. As a result, Akiza decided to focus on the Duel and hope that her actions would speak louder than her words.

_Ladies and Gentlemen, let the last match of the Quarter-Finals…begin!"_

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Aiku: 4000 LP**

"The first move's mine," Akiza said as she placed her hand on her deck. "Draw!"

Swiftly pulling her top card and placing it into her hand, Akiza took a moment to examine all six of her cards. Since Aiku has been training to be a Professional Duelist ever since he was a little boy, it was clear that his experience far surpassed her own. Because of that, the Rose Duelist decided that she would have to plan things out several moves in advance. Only by doing that would she have a chance to outthink her opponent and possibly win the Duel.

Soon, after figuring out what her opening move should be, Akiza started off her turn by taking a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, she then went on to place her hand back upon her deck.

"To begin, I'm activating the Spell Card: Graceful Charity! It allows me to draw 3 cards from my deck and then discard 2 cards from my hand to the Graveyard."

After she finished explaining the effect of her Spell, Akiza drew three more cards from her deck and added them to her hand. Once she did that, she looked at all eight of her cards before grabbing the two that she didn't need and placing them into her card Graveyard. She then continued on with her turn by taking one of her remaining cards and placing it face-down on her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, a holographic image of the card appeared face-down on her side of the field.

"Next, I set a monster face-down in Defense Mode. With that, I end my turn."

"That's it?" Aiku questioned as he prepared to begin his first turn of the Duel. "If that's your way of opening a Duel...then this match isn't going to last for very long. Here, let me show you how you how a real Duelist makes a move…Draw!"

Aiku quickly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Then, without even taking a moment to look at all of his cards, he grabbed one and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon: Solar Flare Dragon!" He declared.

**Solar Flare Dragon: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

The flames and lava that made up the Fire Kingdom started to form together in front of Aiku until it transformed into his Solar Flare Dragon. Once the monster was materialized, it started roaring at the top of its lungs. However, Akiza wasn't frightened by it and simply stood her ground. Upon seeing such confidence, Aiku decided to rip that façade right from her face.

"Now…Solar Flare Dragon, attack her face-down monster!"

Aiku's dragon complied with his orders and proceeded to fire a powerful stream of flames towards Akiza's face-down creature. When the attack struck it, the card flipped up and it was revealed to be Lord Poison.

**Lord Poison: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

"Next, since my Solar Flare Dragon is a Fire Attribute Monster, the effect of the Fire Kingdom now activates!" Aiku stated as he watched Lord Poison become completely incinerated. "You now take damage equal to half of your destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

Just as Aiku finished saying that, Akiza noticed that the ground beneath her was beginning to shake rather violently. She didn't quite understand what was going on at first, but soon figured it out as the ground shot lava right at her. Because of the Augmented Reality Vision, the lava made it seem like that it burned some of her skin and clothes. Fortunately, Akiza was able to get it to stop before her entire body was revealed to the public.

**Akiza: 3250 LP**

"Nice move," Akiza complemented as she wiped the holographic burn marks from her body. "However, by destroying my Lord Poison, you activated its Special Ability. Now, I can Special Summon a Plant-Type monster from my Graveyard!"

Akiza pulled one of the cards that she discarded via her Graceful Charity's effect and placed it horizontally onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, she watched as small flash of light began shining across her field.

"I Special Summon: Phoenixian Seed!"

**Phoenixian Seed: ATK 800 DEF 0 LVL 2**

When the light finished shining, a small plant creature appeared before Akiza. It had the appearance of a giant seed with bright red leaves coming out of the branch that was on top of it. However, its most distinguishing characteristic was the giant eye that was on the middle of the seed. The sight of that eye surprised many of the people watching the Duel as they usually don't see Plant-Type monster that have such features. However, despite all the people who were shocked, Aiku kept his cool.

The young man didn't find Akiza's Phoenixian Seed very impressive and even considered it to be very weak. Because of that, he didn't pay the monster too much attention and proceeded to continue on with his turn. He did that by taking one card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing that, a face-down materialized right behind his Solar Flare Dragon.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "However, at that precise moment, I activate my Solar Flare Dragon's Special Ability! As long as it remains on the field, you lose 500 Life Points at the end of each of my turns!"

Solar Flare Dragon opened its mouth and proceeded to launch a giant fireball towards Akiza. When it struck her, the Rose Duelist was taken back a little due to how realistic the attack was, but she was able to overcome it. However, the same couldn't be said about her Life Points as they began to drop again.

**Akiza: 2750 LP**

"_An excellent opening move by Aiku Gato!" _The MC pointed out. _"Now…how will Akiza Izinski counterattack?"_

Once she fully recovered from Solar Flare Dragon's attack, Akiza thought about what the MC just said and realized that he was right. That was indeed an excellent move on Aiku's part as his strategy caused her to lose over 1000 of her Life Points. Despite that though, Akiza knew that this Duel was far from over and that real battle was about to begin.

"Here we go," She said to herself. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing another card from her, Akiza took a quick glance at it before looking over the cards that Aiku had on the field. Upon examining them, the Rose Duelist started smiling quietly to herself as she prepared to begin her turn. She started this by taking Phoenixian Seed's card and placing it into her Graveyard before taking the card that she just drew and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I activate my Phoenixian Seed's Special Ability!" She declared. "By sending it to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand. Come forth, Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!"

**Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis: ATK 2200 DEF 0 LVL 8**

When Akiza placed her new monster card onto her Duel Disk, she watched as her Phoenixian Seed spontaneously combusted. From that fiery explosion, a new monster appeared to take its place. It had the appearance of a giant plant that just got picked from the soil. Its leaves were a crimson pink color in the middle of it while the ones on the side were bright yellow.

Once her new Plant monster was out, Akiza continued on with her turn by taking another card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone. Like before, a bright flash of light shined across her field once she did this.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Twilight Rose Knight!"

**Twilight Rose Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

When the flash of light that covered Akiza's field began to slowly fade away, her beloved Twilight Rose Knight appeared quickly stood by her side. After that, Akiza then took one more card from her hand and placed it on her Monster Card Zone as well.

"When Twilight Rose Knight is successfully summoned, its Special Ability allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant-Type monster from my hand. So…appear now, Botanical Girl!"

**Botanical Girl: ATK 1300 DEF 1100 LVL 3**

Just like with Twilight Rose Knight, Akiza watched as another bright flash of light illuminated her side of the field. When it faded, a beautiful plant-like woman appeared stood by her fellow monsters. However, it wouldn't be on the field for long as Akiza proceeded to take Botanical Girl's card and Twilight Rose Knight's card and place them into her Graveyard.

"Now, I think it's time for a tune-up. So…I Tune my Level 3 Botanical Girl with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight!"

Both of Akiza's chosen monsters nodded their heads as they were aware of what their master wanted them to do. To that end, Botanical Girl and Twilight Rose Knight jumped high into the air and prepared to begin the process for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Akiza grabbed a card from her Extra Deck and began chanting to herself as she placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"As the field of flowers begin to blossom, their divine protector arrives in order pass judgment! Synchro Summon! Come now, Queen of Thorns!"

**Queen of Thorns: ATK 2200 DEF 1800 LVL 6**

As both of Akiza's monsters finished the Synchro ritual, a giant flash of light covered the entire Kaiba Dome for a few moments. When it began to fade away, everyone watched as Queen of Thorns majestically appeared onto the field and proceeded to stand next to Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis. As the Synchro Monster did that, Akiza then went on to pull her deck from her Duel Disk.

"When my Botanical is sent from the field to the Graveyard, its Special Ability activates!" She explained. "I can now take one Plant-Type monster with 1000 or less Defense Points from my deck and add it to my hand!"

Quickly going through all of her cards, Akiza soon found the one that she wanted to add to her hand and put it aside. After she did that, the Rose Duelist put her deck back into her Duel Disk and pressed a button on the device so that all of her cards would shuffle. As soon as that was done, Akiza continued on with the rest of her turn.

"Now…Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis, attack his Solar Flare Dragon!"

Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis went along with Akiza's instructions and fired a barrage of powerful seed flares towards Aiku's Solar Flare Dragon. When the attack struck the beast, it wasn't able to withstand it and ended up falling as a result.

**Aiku: 3300 LP**

"Next, I activate the effect of the Fire Kingdom!" Akiza continued. "Since my Amaryllis, a Fire Attribute Monster, destroyed your monster through battle…you now take damage equal to half of Solar Flare Dragon's Attack Points!"

Just like with Akiza earlier, Aiku watched as the ground beneath him started to shake rather violently. Eventually, a large of eruption of fire and lava shot up and began surrounding him. Since the damage he was facing wasn't real, Aiku wasn't actually harmed. However, due to the Augmented Reality Vision, his clothes were rather torn up as a result.

**Aiku: 2550 LP**

"I'm not done yet, Aiku!" Akiza pointed out. "Next, I'm activating the Special Ability of my Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis! Since it attacked, it's destroyed and you take 800 Points of damage!"

Aiku's eyes widen upon hearing Akiza say that and soon looked on as her Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis suddenly exploded. The scattering debris from the monster struck Aiku, causing him to lose even more of his Life Points.

**Aiku: 1750 LP**

Once the explosion ended, Akiza looked on at Aiku's field and saw that he had no other monsters to defend himself with. The only thing that he had left was the face-down card that he set on his previous turn. This was the opening she needed as her Queen of Thorns had more than enough Attack Points to take Aiku down and win the Duel for her. Because of that, she decided to put her hopes on her beautiful Plant-Type Synchro Monster.

"It's time to end this," She said. "Queen of Thorns, attack his Life Points Directly!"

"Don't get too cocky!" Aiku shouted as he took a card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard. "I activate the Special Ability of my Kuriboh! By discarding it to the Graveyard, I can reduce the damage of your attack to 0!"

The crowd in the Kaiba Dome watched as Akiza's Queen of Thorns fired a powerful barrage of razor sharp rose petals at Aiku. However, before a single one of them could hit him, a giant Kuriboh appeared and went on to protect him from the attack. Once that happened, Kuriboh disappeared from the field and Aiku gave Akiza a sly grin, much to her frustration and annoyance.

Eventually, the Rose Duelist decided to calm down as getting angry about what happen wouldn't solve anything. She knew that this Duel would be a long one and that it wouldn't end that easily. As a result, she simply took a deep breath and continued on with her turn by taking a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, Akiza watched as the card materialized face-down on her field, right behind her Queen of Thorns.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "With that, I end my turn."

"Good," Aiku replied. "Now…it's time to turn up the heat! It's my turn, I draw!"

After he quickly drew another card from his deck, Aiku took a moment to examine Akiza's side of the field, more specifically her Queen of Thorns. The young man was well aware of its dangerous Special Ability and how it could affect him since he doesn't have any Plant-Type monsters, but he didn't let that bother him. Just because his didn't have any Plant-Type didn't mean that Aiku didn't have a way to deal with Queen of Thorns. This fact was proven when he took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Alright, I'm activating the Continuous Spell: Aura Shield!" He declared. "With it, as long this card remains on the field, I can't lose Life Points from monster effects! So, in other words, the effect of your Queen of Thorns no longer applies to me!"

Akiza glared at Aiku slightly as she watched a protective barrier surround his side of the field. As long as that barrier remained on the field, none of Akiza's monsters that could deal effect damage could harm Aiku, including Queen of Thorns. That meant that this Duel was going to be even harder for Akiza, since most of her monsters didn't have the attack power to deal with Aiku's.

Soon, after he watched his Aura Shield completely materialize on his side of the field, Aiku proceeded to continue on with his turn. His next move involved him taking another card from his hand and inserting it onto his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With it, I'm bringing back the Kuriboh that I sent to the Graveyard!"

**Kuriboh: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 1**

Upon activating his Spell Card, Aiku watched as a bright flash of light illuminated across his side of the field. When it faded, his Kuriboh appeared and it started standing right in front of him. Once it was there, Aiku then took another card from his hand and went on to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now…I Normal Summon: Goblindbergh!"

**Goblindbergh: ATK 1400 DEF 0 LVL 4**

Another flash of light shined across Aiku's field as his Goblindbergh appeared before him. However, it wasn't alone as the monster was carrying a giant container underneath its small fighter plane.

"When Goblindbergh is successfully summoned, I can then Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster directly from my hand!" Aiku took one more card from his hand placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. "So, I Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Flamvell Archer!"

**Flamvell Archer: ATK 1000 DEF 200 LVL 3**

After shouted the name of the monster that he was Special Summoning, Goblindbergh dropped the container that it was carrying and watched as it hit the ground. Once that happened, the container opened up and released the Flamvell Archer that was trapped inside. Now, with three monsters on his side of the field, Aiku got to ready to bring all his previous to fruition.

"I Tune my Level 1 Kuriboh and Level 4 Goblindbergh with my Level 3 Flamvell Archer!"

All three of Aiku's monsters complied with his orders and quickly made their way high into the air. When all of them reached a certain height, they all proceeded to begin the process for a Synchro Summoning. It was at that moment that Aiku started chanting to himself as he grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Golden Flames of my soul, come together a form a new power! Synchro Summon! Descend, Bursting Soul Dragon!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 2200 LVL 8**

When all of Aiku's monsters finished the Synchro ritual, a giant light covered the entire Dueling Field for a few seconds. As that light began to fade, the roar of an extremely powerful dragon could be heard, frightening a lot of the spectators. Akiza, who managed to stand to her ground, recognized the roar and braced herself as she watched Bursting Soul Dragon descend onto Aiku's side of the field.

As the powerful dragon started roaring once more, all of Akiza's friends looked on with concerned looks on their faces. Bursting Soul Dragon was Aiku's Ace Monster and the second strongest dragon that belonged to one of the suspected Dragunity Knights. All of them, at one point or another, have seen how menacing this creature could be and now that Aiku was able to utilize it in ways that they could only imagine. Because of that, all of them looked on quietly and hoped that Akiza would find a way to take it down.

"Alright," Aiku said as he prepared himself. "Bursting Soul Dragon, attack her Queen of Thorns…Soul Flare!"

Aiku's dragon nodded its head upon hearing his orders and went on to release a powerful stream of orange and red flames towards Akiza's Queen of Thorns. When the attack struck the Plant-Type monster, it couldn't withstand it and was turned to ash in just a couple of seconds.

**Akiza: 2150 LP**

"I'm not done yet Akiza!" Aiku pointed out. "Don't forget that you now take damage equal to half of your Queen of Thorns Attack Points, since my Bursting Soul Dragon is a Fire Attribute Monster!"

Just as Aiku finished saying that, Akiza watched as flames and lava shot from the ground in front of her and began covering her body. The young woman reacted to this scene by falling to one knee, despite the fact that she wasn't in any actual pain. Once the attack finally ended, Akiza slowly got back up as the holographic copy of her clothes, that the Augmented Reality Vision created, started burning up some more.

**Akiza: 1050 LP**

Meanwhile, as that was going on, Aiku looked over his hand for a moment and saw that he had everything he needed to end this Duel on his next turn. All that was left was to set the card that drew at the beginning of his turn, which he proceeded to do. Once he did that, Aiku watched at the card materialized face-down on his side of the field, right behind his Bursting Soul Dragon.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now, Akiza…let's see what you'll do now. That is…if you have anything left."

"Oh…" Akiza replied as Aiku's words were making her more irritated. "I have plenty left! It's my turn now, Draw!"

After drawing a card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Akiza went on to examine all of her cards before glancing over at Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon. As she looked at it, the Rose Duelist realized that playtime was now over. She would have to step her game if she wanted to defeat it and get one step closer to joining Takashi in the Semi-Finals. Because of that, Akiza decided that now was the time to begin taking measures in order to take out Bursting Soul Dragon.

"To begin, I'm activating the Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon!" She said. "With it, I can now destroy one of your two face-down cards!"

Upon playing her Spell, Akiza watched as a powerful cyclone appeared and made its way over to Aiku's side of the field. When it reached him, the cyclone went on to tear of apart one of the face-down cards that he had on the field. Once it was completely destroyed, the cyclone disappeared and Akiza continued on with her turn.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: Descending Lost Star! This Trap allows me to Special Summon my Queen of Thorns back onto the field in Defense Mode. However, its effects are negated, its Level drops by 1, and its Defense Points become 0!"

After explaining the effect of her Trap, Akiza pulled her Queen of Thorns' card from her Graveyard and placed horizontally onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, she watched her monster return to her side once more, although it was much weaker due to the conditions of her Descending Lost Star.

**Queen of Thorns: DEF 0 LVL 5**

"Now, with my monster back on the field, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Nettles!"

**Nettles: ATK 1200 DEF 400 LVL 2**

Once her Queen of Thorns returned, Akiza proceeded to take a card from her hand and place it onto her Monster Card Zone as well. Upon doing that, a bright flash of light covered her side of the field as her Nettles appeared before her. As soon as it was out, Akiza began pulling a card from her Extra Deck.

"I Tune my Level 5 Queen of Thorns with my Level 2 Nettles!" She declared.

The two monsters complied with Akiza's orders and quickly jumped high into the air. Once they were high enough, the both of them began the process for a Synchro Summoning just as Akiza took the card she was holding and placed it on her Monster Card Zone. It was at that moment that the Rose Duelist started chanting to herself again.

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the Synchro ritual came to an end, another bright flash of light illuminated the entire field as Akiza's Black Rose Dragon made its way to the field. Upon reaching it, the powerful Signer Dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs as most of the card looked on in amazement.

"I activate Black Rose Dragon's Special Ability!" Akiza stated. "When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, it can destroy all cards on the field! Go…Black Rose Gale!"

Black Rose Dragon started roaring once more as it released a powerful array of black flower petals from its body. The power of the petals seemed to have a negative effect on everything that it came in contact with, including Bursting Soul Dragon and Black Rose Dragon itself. When Aiku saw that, he instantly figured out what Akiza was trying to do and immediately put into a countermeasure into play.

"Not so fast Akiza!" He said. "I'm activating my Bursting Soul Dragon's Special Ability! Now once, during either players turn, my dragon can negate the activation of one of your monsters effects until the end of my next turn! Not only that, but it also gains Attack Points equal to the Level of your negated monster, multiplied by 100 Points! Your Black Rose Dragon is a Level 7 monster, which means my Bursting Soul Dragon gains 700 extra Attack Points!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon: ATK 3500**

Before the effect of Black Rose Dragon's move could destroy the both of them, Bursting Soul Dragon fired a powerful stream of fire at the beast. When the flames struck it, Black Rose Dragon stopped releasing its dangerous flower petals and started falling to the ground as the flames started to drain some of its strength away. As it did that, Bursting Soul Dragon's soon started glowing like the sun as it gained power from the Level of the weakened Black Rose Dragon.

When Akiza said that, the young woman bit her lip a little as she couldn't believe that she forgot that Aiku's Ace could negate her monsters effects. Now, with an even bigger threat to deal with and only 1050 Life Points remaining, Akiza needed to get on the defensive if she wanted to survive towards her next turn. To that end, she inserted two cards into her Spell/Trap Zone and watched as they materialized right behind her Black Rose Dragon.

"I set two cards face-down," She said. "I then end my turn."

"_What a tough break for Akiza!" _The MC pointed out over the loudspeaker. _"She hoped that her Black Rose Dragon could destroy Aiku's Bursting Soul Dragon, but that simply wasn't the case. Now she has to deal with an even stronger opposition than before. Can she possibly overcome this challenge or will it simply be too much for her to handle?!"_

"There is no overcoming for her," Aiku said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Because this Duel is going to end right now…Draw!"

Aiku drew one card from his deck and placed it into his hand without even looking at it. After that, the young man decided to begin his Battle Phase and put an end to this Duel once and for all.

"Bursting Soul Dragon," He called. "Incinerate Black Rose Dragon…Soul Flare!"

Bursting Soul Dragon nodded its head and began building up power from within its body. Once it gathered enough power, it released a powerful stream of flames from its mouth and directed it towards her Black Rose Dragon. When Akiza saw that, she knew that she would lose the Duel if this attack connected. Because of that, the Rose Duelist acted quickly and proceeded to activate one of her face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap: Half Unbreak!" She declared. "With it, Black Rose Dragon can't be destroyed through battle this turn and any Battle Damage I take that involves it is cut in half!"

Once she finished explaining the effect of her Trap, Akiza watched as Black Rose Dragon put its wings in front of it so that it could shield itself from Bursting Soul Dragon's attack. This plan worked and the Signer Dragon managed to endure the power of Bursting Soul Dragon's flames. Also, because Black Rose Dragon was not only shielding itself, but its master as well, the damage Akiza took was cut in half.

**Akiza: 500 LP**

After the attack ended, Black Rose Dragon stopped protecting itself and waited for Aiku to make his next move. As it did that, Aiku looked over at Akiza and saw how defiant she was being. He saw that she didn't want to lose this Duel and that she was pulling out all the stops just so she could get to her next turn. That persistence annoyed him a little as he didn't like the fact she was avoiding her inevitable defeat. Because of that, Aiku decided to crush Akiza's pitiful belief and show her that there was no way that she could defeat him.

"I'm impressed that you've lasted this long Akiza," He said with a sarcastic smile. "However…this is where it ends. I'm activating the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate!"

Akiza's eyes widen as she watched Aiku's face-down card flip up and reveal itself to be Assault Mode Activate. She then looked on as a bright ray of light shot from the card and struck her opponent's Ace Monster.

"With this card, I can transform my Bursting Soul Dragon into Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3300 DEF 2700 LVL 10**

As the light from Aiku's Trap Card continued to cover his monster, Bursting Soul Dragon was soon granted Assault Armor that not only granted it greater strength, but new powers as well. When the light finished shining on it, the powerful dragon roared as loud as it could, showing everyone present just how much powerful it has become.

"Next, I activate my Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability!" Aiku shouted. "Once per turn, I can banish one monster on the field and increase my dragon's Attack Points equal to the removed monster's Level, multiplied by 100! The monster I choose…is your Black Rose Dragon!"

Bursting Soul Dragon roared one more time as it began producing a magical flame from the tips of its golden wings. When the flames came together, they formed into portal that started to suck Black Rose Dragon into it. The Signer Dragon tried its best to hold on, but it simply wasn't strong enough to resist. As a result, it sucked into the portal and watched as the entrance to it closed right in front of it.

Once that happened, the flames dispersed and returned to Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault. When that happened, the monster absorbed the power from the captured Black Rose Dragon and added it to its own.

**Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 4000**

"Now, it's time to put an end to this farce of a Duel!" Aiku said. "Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode, attack Akiza's Life Points directly…Soul Dragon Burst!"

Upon hearing Aiku give the order, Bursting Soul Dragon nodded its head and fired a powerful stream of orange and white flames towards Akiza. However, before the attack could reach her, the Rose Duelist responded by activating her second face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Iron Resolve!" She declared. "By cutting my Life Points in half, I can reduce the damage of your attack to 0!"

**Akiza: 250 LP**

After she played her Trap, Akiza watched as a magical barrier appeared before her and protected from Bursting Soul Dragon's attack. When Aiku saw this, his frustration towards his opponent was starting to grow even more. With her best monster now gone, Aiku believed that it would dash Akiza's hope. However, that didn't happen and it was beginning to annoy him to no extent.

"You should just give up Akiza," He said. "There's no way that you can defeat me!"

"…You're wrong," Akiza replied. "I will defeat you Aiku…I have too!"

"Hah, don't say things that you're not able to back up," Aiku told her. "I end my turn. At the moment, the effect of my Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode ends and its Attack Points return to normal. However, your Black Rose Dragon will remain banished!"

**Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3300**

As the Attack Points of Aiku's monster returned to normal, Akiza looked over the cards that were in her hand and saw that she was missing a few key pieces. Without those pieces, the young woman knew that there was no way she could win. Her next draw needed to be one of those missing pieces, but the chances of getting was very slim. A small part of Akiza wondered if Aiku was right and that she was wasting her time, but that thought was erased when she heard a certain group of people calling out to her.

"Don't give up Akiza! As long as you still have Life Points, it's over yet!"

Akiza turned her head towards the people who were calling out to her and saw that it was her friends. Not a single one of them doubted her and they all believed that she could turn this situation around. Upon seeing them do that, a small smile appeared on Akiza's face and she soon found herself with a newfound confidence. With this new confidence, Akiza turned her attention back towards Aiku and prepared to face him once more.

"I can't lose here," She said. "My friends are counting on me. It's my turn, Draw!"

Gently placing her hand upon her deck, Akiza unconsciously used her Psychic Ability to predict the card that she was about to draw. When the image of that card appeared into her mind, she silently nodded her head before drawing it from her deck. After that, she placed it into her hand before grabbing another card and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell: Cards of Consonance! With it, by sending a Tuner Monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I then draw 2 more cards from my deck!"

Once she finished explaining her Spell's effect, Akiza took a Tuner Monster that was in her hand and placed it into her Graveyard. After she did that, the Rose Duelist gently placed her hand back on her deck and once again unconsciously used her Foresee Draw to predict her next cards. Like before she, nodded to herself when the images of those cards appeared into her mind and went on to draw them.

After Akiza drew her two cards, she looked at them and saw that they were indeed the ones she saw within her mind. She then put one into her hand before taking the other and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, the card materialized face-down right in front of her.

"I set one card face-down. With that, I end my turn."

Upon seeing Akiza end her turn, Aiku wondered just what exactly was on her mind. Since she didn't summon a monster, it was clear to him that she didn't want it to be banished by Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode's effect. However, since she didn't have a monster out, that also meant that Akiza was vulnerable for a direct attack. That only meant that she was putting her hopes on the card that she just set face-down.

If that was the case and the face-down card is the type he thinks that it is, Aiku realized that it could spell trouble for his Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode. Since the monster isn't protected by Spell or Trap Cards, it could be destroyed if Akiza's face-down had such an effect. To that end, the young Duelist decided to take precautions before launching the finishing move.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

After drawing his next card, Aiku placed it into his hand before grabbing another one and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, he watched as a ring of fire started forming around him.

"I activate the Spell Card: Ring of Golden Flames!" He declared. "Now, for this turn, my monsters are unaffected by your Spell and Trap Cards. In other words, your face-down card is useless against me now!"

Akiza didn't react upon hearing the explanation of Aiku's Spell Card. She kept her cool and maintained a look that made it almost impossible to tell what she was thinking. That was good for her as the most expert Duelists know to never let their emotions get the better of them. They have to trap their true feelings within themselves so that their opponents can't predict their strategies. Akiza learned this from Takashi, a Duelist known to keep his emotions in check while Dueling, and was very grateful to him for that.

Meanwhile, as Akiza continued to maintain her straight face, Aiku was glaring at her as his annoyance was reaching his limit. Despite sealing her face-down card, she wasn't upset at all and that was bothering him greatly. Eventually, Aiku decided to put an end to this now before his tolerance level finally boils over.

"Bursting Soul Dragon," He called. "Attack her Life Points directly…Soul Dragon Burst!"

Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault complied with Aiku's demand and proceeded to fire its flames towards Akiza. However, the Rose Duelist didn't do anything and simply stood there as the flames not only enveloped her, but a good portion of the Fire Kingdom as well. Once the attack ended, Aiku stood there smiling as he watched the flames continue to burn on Akiza's side of the field.

"It's over," He said to himself. "I told her that she wasn't a match for me."

"…From my Graveyard, I activate the effect of my Necro Gardna!"

Aiku's eyes suddenly widen as he recognized the voice that just spoke to be Akiza's. He then looked over towards her field and watched as she emerged from the flames unharmed. At first he couldn't believe it as everything around Akiza was destroyed, with the exception of the spot where she was standing on. However, not only was she still around, but her Life Points remained untouched. It was only when Akiza removed her Necro Gardna card from her Graveyard that Aiku finally understood what happened.

"When I'm under attack by one of my opponent's monsters," Akiza explained. "I can banish Necro Gardna from my Graveyard in order to negate that attack. In other words, your attack failed to even reach me."

Akiza put Necro Gardna's card away and watched as the anger that was on Aiku's face slowly become more and more apparent. He was getting sick and tired of playing around with her, yet she continued to act defiantly. Just seeing that annoyed him even more than before and he wished that she would just give up.

"What's with you?" He asked her. "You know that you can't defeat me! So why…why won't you just give?!"

"The answer is simple," Akiza replied before taking a moment to look at her friends. "My friends are trusting me to win this Duel…I can't let them down."

"Trust?" Aiku questioned. "How can you say that, Akiza? Trust is only a word. Once your so-called friends see you fall, they'll turn your back on you like piece of garbage! How can they trust you when there's no guarantee that you'll win? As a matter of fact, can you say for certainty that you trust them? After all, you did do some bad things in the past. What's stopping them for turning their back on you because of that? Well Akiza…answer me!"

Akiza took a moment to think about what Aiku just asked of her. A lot of the points he made was valid as there was no guarantee that her friends truly trusted her or that she could truly trust them. However, after looking over at them one more time and see how they believed in her, Akiza found her answer.

"I don't know,"

"What do you mean you don't know?" Aiku asked.

"It's just like I said," Akiza said. "I don't know if I can trust them. But, it's that same feeling that say that I can trust them. After all, when you place your trust in someone you'll never know if they'll betray you. You just have to believe that they won't. That's what trust is all about Aiku…believing in one another."

Gently placing her hand over her heart, Akiza closed her eyes for a moment and started reflecting on her past. After she did that, the Rose Duelist then took a moment to reflect upon her future.

"In the past, I had a hard time trusting other people too. I could never truly believe what they told me and I ended up hurting a lot of people because of that. However, when I finally learned to trust others, I discovered that having faith in someone isn't so bad. It's okay to tell them things about yourself…just like it's okay to keep secrets. You just have to have faith that it won't affect you negatively. At least…that's what I think."

"Well…what you think is wrong!" Aiku firmly replied. "You shouldn't trust somebody if you're not completely sure about them! If you do then you're just setting yourself up for fall! That's how I lived my life so far and that's how I'll continue to live until the day I die! Your belief, Akiza Izinski…is that of an ignorant child!"

Akiza didn't waver from Aiku's words as she truly believed in her own. No one could really know if they could trust someone completely, just like it's impossible to read someone's mind. However, it's that same unknowing feeling that requires people to put their faith into others. Only by doing that could one truly understand someone and by extension, be able to understand themselves. That's what Akiza believed and continues to do so even to this day. However, that wasn't the case with Aiku.

Having been betrayed by one of his closest friends, he's been unable to trust anybody completely. It's because of that apprehension that prevents him from having any permanent friends and thus forced him to have a somewhat lonely life. There was no doubt that both he and Akiza were similar, yet very different at the same time.

Eventually, it became obvious that this Duel was more than just determining the last Semi-Finalist. It was about proving which side of the argument was right. That's what both of them believed and they decided to settle this problem with their cards, rather than their words. To that end, Aiku took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing that, he saw the card materialize right behind his Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. Now, make your move Akiza Izinski…because it will be your last."

Akiza gently nodded her head after hearing Aiku end his turn and took a moment to look over her deck. She was still missing the final piece of her strategy and she needed to draw it in order to win. However, because she wanted to prove that having trust wasn't a bad thing, Akiza didn't use her Foresee Draw ability when she touched her deck. She wanted to trust herself that she would draw the card that she needed.

"Here we go," She said in a low tone of voice. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Swiftly drawing the card from her deck, Akiza examined it and saw that it was the final piece that she was searching for. Upon seeing it, a small smile appeared on her face as it showed that she was right to have trust. She believed in herself and her deck responded to that faith. Because of that, she now had all the pieces she needed to defeat Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode and win the Duel.

"Alright," She said as he put the card into her Spell/Trap Zone. "From my hand, I activate the Spell Card: Synchro Return! With it, I can Special Summon one of my Synchro Monsters that's been banished from the Duel!"

After she finished explaining the effect of her Spell, Akiza watched as the sky above her was beginning to crack. As the pieces of the sky started falling on top of her and Aiku, the cry of a familiar dragon could be heard from the distance.

"Return to battle…Black Rose Dragon!"

When the sky finally broke apart, Black Rose Dragon emerged from the hole that it created and returned promptly to Akiza's side of the field. Once that happened, the Rose Duelist continued on with her turn by taking another card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone as well.

"Next, I'm activating another Spell: Soul Release! This card's effect allows me to banish up to 5 cards from either of our Graveyards. However, the only card that I'm choosing to banish…is your Bursting Soul Dragon!"

Aiku's eyes widen upon hearing the name of the card that Akiza wanted to banish. He then reluctantly removed his Bursting Soul Dragon's card from his Graveyard and watched as its spirit was setting hurdling into the hole in the sky that Black Rose Dragon created. Once Akiza saw that, she followed this move by activating the face-down card that she set previously.

"Now…I activate the Trap Card: Limit Reverse! With this card's power, I can Special Summon one monster from my Graveyard that has 1000 or less Attack Points! The monster I choose…is my Nettles!"

A bright flash of light shined across Akiza's side of the field as her Nettles returned to her side. As soon as it was out, Akiza grabbed a third card from her hand and place it onto her Monster Card Zone. Upon doing so, she watched as another bright flash of light cover her side of the field.

"Then, I'm Normal Summoning: Bright Star Dragon!"

**Bright Star Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

When the flash of light that was covering her field started to fade away, Akiza watched as her Bright Star Dragon appeared and started standing next to its fellow monsters. However, as it did that, the aura that Bright Star was giving off was beginning to affect Nettles.

"When Bright Star Dragon is successfully summoned, I can increase the Level of one of my other monsters by 2 until the End Phase of this turn! I choose Nettles, changing it from a Level 2 to a Level 4!"

**Nettles: LVL 4**

Once the effect of Bright Star Dragon came to an end, both it and Nettles were covered in the same golden color. Akiza then went on to take both of their respective cards and stack them on top of one another. It was at that moment that the two monsters started to transform into colorful orbs of light.

"I Overlay my Level 4 Nettles and Bright Star Dragon!" She declared. "With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard Akiza do that and was even more shocked when they notice the portal to the Overlay Network appear in front of her. None of them have ever seen bring out a Xyz Monster before as she usually focused on Synchro Monsters. So, the fact that she was about to bring one out now was a real treat. Now, the real question was, what type of Xyz Monster was Akiza planning on summoning.

As her two monsters dove into the portal, Akiza pulled a card from her Extra Deck and looked at it for a moment. She then took a moment to look at Enoch as he was the one who gave him the card in the first place. She saw that, unlike everyone else, he wasn't shocked at all. It was like he knew what she planning and nodded his head in a way to show that she should go for it. Once she saw that, Akiza nodded her head as well and put her trust in the card that friend gave to her.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the battleship that mows down all opposition! Number 50: Blackship of Corn!"

**Number 50 – Blackship of Corn: ATK 2100 DEF 1500 Rank 4**

When both of Akiza's monsters dove into the Overlay Network, a giant eruption of light suddenly occurred. It was at that moment that a giant black ship appeared from the portal and started standing next to both Akiza and Black Rose Dragon. Everyone who saw it, with the exception of Enoch, was amazed by the sight of the ship and saw that it had the number 50 on its main sail, proving that it was a Number Card.

Aiku was the most surprised out of everyone present as he didn't expect that Akiza had a Number Card in her possession. As he started to wonder what type of abilities that it had, his shock only grew even more as Akiza inserted another card from her hand into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, since I have Black Rose Dragon and a Plant-Type monster on my field, I can equip my Blackship with the Spell Card: Black Rose Resonance! Now with it, as long as Black Rose Dragon remains on the field, my Blackship of Corn gains Attack Points equal to that my dragon!"

**Number 50 – Blackship of Corn: ATK 4500**

Once Akiza played her Spell Card, she watched as Black Rose Dragon transferred some of its power into Blackship of Corn. This increase of power made the Number Card the strongest monster on the field, even stronger that Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode. It was here that Aiku finally realized what Akiza was up to and decided to stop her right in her tracks by activating his face-down card.

"I'm not going to let that thing touch my dragon!" He declared. "I activate the Trap Card: Soul Protect! With it, all my monsters with Soul in their names can't be targeted for attacks until the End Phase of this turn!"

Upon its activation, Aiku's Trap Card produced a shield of flames that surrounded Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode. With this new shield, the dragon was now immune to attacks this turn and thus making Akiza's monsters unable to fight it. However, having expected such a play, Akiza promptly the effect of her Number in order get around Aiku's Trap.

"I activate my Blackship of Corn's Special Ability!" She said. "By using one Overlay Unit, my Blackship can destroy one monster on your field whose Attack Points are equal or less than its own. In exchange, my Blackship can't attack this turn. The monster I choose…is Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode!"

"I told you that I'm not letting that thing harm my dragon!" Aiku countered. "I activate my Bursting Soul Dragon's Special Ability! I remove your Black Rose Dragon from play, thus removing the 2400 Attack Points that your Blackship received from your Black Resonance Spell!"

As one of the 2 Overlay Units that were surrounding Blackship of Corn entered into one of its cannons, Bursting Soul Dragon prepared to create another portal by using its flames again. However, just before create it, Akiza responded by inserting her final card into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, Black Rose Dragon started roaring once again.

"I saw that coming Aiku," She said. "And I'm not falling for it again! I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Protective Rose! This card negates your dragon's effect since it's targeting a monster with Rose in its name!"

Black Rose Dragon released another array of flower petals from its body and directed them all at Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode. When it hit the dragon, Aiku's Ace started losing all its powers and soon became vulnerable to Blackship of Corn's effect. This was proven with the Number Monster fired its Overlay Unit at Bursting Soul Dragon, destroying it in one massive attack.

Once he saw his best monster be destroyed, Aiku was left speechless as he had no idea what happened. Somehow, Akiza managed to overcome the odds and was now on the verge of winning. He tried to come up with a way to prevent that from happening, but had no cards that could do that. Also, because Akiza banished the original Bursting Soul Dragon from the Duel, Aiku couldn't bring it back with Bursting Soul Dragon/Assault Mode's effect. There was absolutely nothing he could do.

"Normally you would lose 1000 Life Points since my Blackship successfully destroyed your dragon with its effect," Akiza explained. "However, because of your Aura Shield Spell, that can't happen since you're immune to effect damage. Fortunately for me though, I can still attack with my Black Rose Dragon!"

Akiza's Signer Dragon started roaring one more time as it prepared to end the Duel with one final attack. In an act of desperation, Aiku frantically looked through all his cards in order to find some way to stop this. However, there was no stopping it as he was about to find out.

"Black Rose Dragon, attack his Life Points directly…Black Rose Flare!"

The dragon complied with its master's wishes and fired a stream of purple and black flames at Aiku. The force of the attack was so great that he was sent flying towards the ground as his remaining Life Points started to drop.

**Aiku: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>It's over!" <em>The MC shouted. _"Ladies and Gentlemen…in what could possibly be one of the greatest comebacks I've ever seen, Akiza Izinski managed to defeat Aiku Gato! With that, Akiza becomes our 4__th__ Semi-Finalist!"_

As everyone in Kaiba Dome started cheering for her, Akiza fell to both knees as she was completely exhausted from her Duel against Aiku. She started breathing rather hard as all the holograms started disappearing and the Augmented Reality started fading away as well. She had just won one the hardest Duels of her life and managed to move on to the Semi-Finals. She was now just one win away from possibly fulfilling her promise to Takashi and Dueling him in the Final Round.

When she finally finished catching her breath, Akiza slowly got up from the ground and noticed that Aiku was beginning to do the same. She saw that his face contained a mixture of both anger and disbelief. She had hoped that this Duel would allow them to put everything behind them, but from what she was seeing, it wasn't that easy. Because of the anger that she was seeing from him, Akiza was about to go and talk to Aiku. However, before she could go and talk to him, Akiza noticed that all of friends were making her way towards her.

Once they got to her, all of them congratulated the Rose Duelist on her hard fought victory and that she truly deserved it. Hearing such flattery made Akiza smile a little as she was happy that she didn't let her friends down. That happiness soon caused her to forget about Aiku for a moment as she was simply enjoying herself too much.

Eventually, as Akiza continued to hang out with her friends, Aiku looked at all of them and started to feel sick to his stomach. He was about to confront all of them, but was soon stopped when both of his parents made their way up to him. Upon seeing them, Aiku stopped what he was about to do and listened carefully as his father started talking.

"Aiku," Cecil said. "Can you tell me why you lost just now?"

"…Hah," Aiku scoffed. "She just got lucky! If I wasn't having an off day there would be no way that she could have defeated me."

"No, my son," Cecil corrected. "That's not why you lost to Akiza. You lost because you failed to trust yourself."

Shocked by his father's words, Aiku's eyes widen as he tried to comprehend what he just heard. As he attempted to do that, Akiza and the others noticed what was happening and deciding to listen closely as Cecil started to explain himself.

"Aiku…because you lack the ability to trust in other people, your unable to trust in yourself," Cecil stated. "A Duelist must have completely faith in their ability to win. If they can't do that, then defeat is all that awaits them."

"But…but I did believe that I could win!" Aiku pointed out.

"No Aiku…you were simply being overconfident. You underestimated the strength and resolve that Akiza had within herself and she managed to take advantage of that. If you had more faith in your abilities and weren't so caught up in your anger and frustrations, then maybe things would've ended differently for you. However, that didn't happen and until you realize this fault of yours…you'll never be a True Duelist."

After listening to his father's words, Aiku was beginning to become more and more irritated with him. He couldn't understand how he could say that to him, his own son. He soon started to wonder if Cecil lacked faith him just because of this defeat and that thought was bothering him even more.

Eventually, as Aiku continued pondering this thought, Akiza made his way over to him and gently touched his shoulder. When he turned to face her, Aiku looked at Akiza for a moment and watched as she extended her hand out to her.

"Aiku," She said to him. "I'm sorry that we kept our secret away from you. We never intended to betray you, but it was something that we just had to keep hidden. I promise we'll tell you everything when the time is right. Until that time…can we please put all this behind us and go back to being friends."

As Akiza continued to extend her hand out to Aiku, everyone waited for him to respond. They also wanted this bad blood to be put to rest as they really wanted to be friends with him again. Fighting with one another wouldn't solve anything and that only by rebuilding the bond that they once shared with each other could the tension finally be lifted.

However, just as Aiku was about to shake Akiza's hand, he proceeded to pull it away. Somewhere in his heart, the young man couldn't forgive Akiza and the others for what they did and thus, couldn't accept the handshake. He then proceeded to leave, much to everyone's disapproval.

"I can't," He said. "By just keeping that secret, you've betrayed my trust. You may have defeated me Akiza, but that doesn't make us friends again. Now just…stay out of my life!"

Once Aiku said that, he continued on his way without even taking a moment to look back at the others. Upon seeing him do that, Akiza looked down with a disappointed look on her face as she failed to do what she hoped on doing. It wasn't until Takashi gently touched her shoulder that she started to feel better.

When she looked up at him, Akiza saw that Takashi had a determined look on his face. It was the type of look that he would always where when he was there was something very important that he just had to do.

"Don't worry Akiza," He said to her. "I don't care how long it takes. Aiku will be our friend again…I promise!"

Akiza continued to look at Takashi and finished saying that to her. Soon, the young woman started feeling better about what happen and smiled as a result. She truly believed that Takashi could rebuild the bond that everyone had with Aiku so that everything would return to the way it once was. Because of that, Akiza gently nodded her head towards Takashi.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen!" _The MC called over the loudspeaker. _"This concludes the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals! Please join us 2 days from now as our 4 remaining Duelists face-off against each other…in the Semi-Finals!"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_With the Quarter-Finals now over, our heroes return home to Poppo Time in order to discuss everything that transpired. Afterwards, Takashi decides to go on a walk in order to clear his head. What will happen during that walk and how will it affect him moving towards the Semi-Finals?_

_Meanwhile, inside of the main Sector Security building, Goodwin is busy looking at a device that's connected to the Zero Reverse tragedy that took place almost 20 years ago. Just what is this device…and how does it relate to Takashi's father; Minato?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 80: The Long Night – Part 1_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I hope all of you enjoyed the Quarter-Finals and were happy about the four Duelists that managed to move on. I would really like to hear your thoughts about each match in your reviews, as well as your predictions on which Duelists will face one another in the Semi-Finals._

_Next, I would really appreciate it if all of you take a moment of your time to read and review my Pokémon story; Trails to Becoming a Master. I just recently posted Chapter 8 and it involves the main character's first Gym Battle. Please tell me what you think about it._

_Lastly, I want to thank all of your for supporting Over the Nexus for as long as you have. It's been over 2 years since I first started this story and I truly believe that I couldn't have gotten this far without your help. Please continue with your support as we get closer and closer to finding out the mystery behind the Signers and the Crimson Dragon._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	80. Chapter 80

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 80: **_The Long Night – Part 1_

* * *

><p>"Today was certainly…interesting,"<p>

After a long day of intense Dueling, the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals have finally come to an end. Out of the eight Duelists that fought in those fierce matches, only four of them managed to win and move on to the Semi-Finals. Those four Duelists are Takashi Nakamura, Kagura Toyoshima, Kuromu Nesara, and Akiza Izinski. All of them gave it their all and their hard work and dedication paid off for them in the end. As a reward for their effort, the Fortune Cup Committee has given them 2 days off in order rest and refresh themselves.

In response to this news, Takashi and Akiza proceeded to head back home to Poppo Time, along with the rest of their friends. Joining them were Madas, Tem, Enoch and Sona, all of whom wanted to come along and join them. Once they all arrived, the group took a moment to relax and reflect on the events that led to this moment.

In the first Quarter-Final Duel, Takashi ended up going up against Enoch. Both of them gave the match everything they got and made it a point to hold nothing back. This was especially true for Enoch, as he wanted to determine if Takashi was worthy of Akiza's love. However, Takashi refuted that notion by telling his opponent that the only one who could determine the love of Akiza's life was Akiza herself. With the power of this strong resolve, as well as his vast Dueling skills, Takashi was able to win in the end and even managed to earn Enoch's friendship.

The second match involved Lilly going up against Kagura. Right from the start, it was clear that something was wrong with the Twilight Duelist as she extremely angry at Lilly. As the match transpired, it was revealed that Kagura blames Lilly, Crow, and rest of the members of Team Satisfaction for the death of her cousin; Vivi. This revelation shook Lilly to the core, but she managed to keep going with help of her friends. However, that simply wasn't enough as Kagura's skills were simply too much for Lilly to overcome, resulting in her loss.

The third Duel of the Quarter-Finals pitted Crow and the dangerous Kuromu together in a Turbo Duel. Using the advice that he received from Misaki, as well as his own Turbo Dueling experience, Crow thought that would be enough for him to take down his opponent and avenge all the people that Kuromu hurt. But, the Blackwing Duelist quickly realized that it wouldn't be that simple, especially after discovering Number 53: Heart-Earth's second Special Ability. With the power of that effect, Kuromu managed to get pass Crow and even damaged his Duel Runner as well.

The fourth and final Duel of the Quarter-Finals saw Akiza going one-on-one against her former friend, Aiku. This was an extremely difficult Duel for the Rose Duelist as her opponent's experience nearly overwhelmed her. However, despite the odds that she was facing, Akiza managed to overcome it by trusting in her friends, her cards, and especially herself. It's because of all those things that managed to defeat Aiku and become a Semi-Finalist. Despite that though, the Duel wasn't enough for Aiku to truly trust Akiza and the others again, resulting in him leaving the Kaiba Dome all by himself.

Once the group finished their reflection, all of them decided that now was a pretty good time to have another meeting. After all, Toru and the others who were watching from the crowd weren't there to hear everything that took place during the Quarter-Finals. Each of them had the right to know what happened, even if it meant hearing that they didn't want too. Also, all of them needed to know since what happened to the Signers also affected them as well.

The only one who didn't seem to be involved in the meeting was Enoch, who was busy typing something on personal laptop that he always kept on his person. The young Psychic Duelist seemed highly invested in his work and it looked like nothing could interrupt him. Crow, Toru, Madas and Tem each tried to get Enoch to focus on the meeting and not on his laptop, but their efforts were in vain. Eventually, all of them decided to just let Enoch work as they could simply inform him about they talked about later.

As Enoch continued to work, Misaki soon began to notice what he was working on. At first, she wasn't able to tell since it seemed like he was doing multiple things at once, but Misaki quickly figured it out after getting a better look. After she examined him a little bit more, Misaki decided to ask Enoch what he was up too since someone wouldn't be doing what he's doing without a perfectly good reason.

"…Why are you hacking into the Sector Security database?" She whispered softly.

Surprised that someone figured out what he was up too, Enoch quickly turned his head towards Misaki and looked intently at 17-year-old girl. However, before he could get a word out, Misaki grabbed his laptop and brought it over to a table. She then used her fingers in order to signal to Enoch that she wanted to come to the table with her. Though he was initially reluctant to comply, Enoch conceded to her wishes and made his way towards her.

Once he was there, Misaki proceeded to bring out her own laptop and place right next to Enoch's. As soon as it was booted up, the young woman started typing someone with incredible speed. The sight of her typing was so incredible that for a moment, Enoch started to question if Misaki was some kind of robot. Fortunately for him though, he managed to snap out of his surprised state of mind and soon asked Misaki what her intentions were.

"Um…what are you doing?" He asked her.

"…What does it look like?" Misaki replied. "If you're going to hack into the Sector Security Database, you're going to need some help."

"Yeah…but…I really don't want anyone to see what I'm doing," Enoch told her. "I don't want the others to know just yet."

"It's fine," Misaki took a Ethernet cord and proceeded to plug it into her laptop before plugging it into a nearby jack. "I can keep a secret. Besides, something like this is going to be difficult. You're going to need my help if you want to get in Security without getting the rest of us in trouble."

After giving her explanation, Misaki went back to typing on her laptop. As she did that, Enoch looked at her once more as he thought about what she just said. It was true that breaking into the Security Database would be difficult, but it's not like he hadn't done it before. After all, the reason why he faced Takashi in the Quarter-Finals is because he changed the original match-ups. If he hadn't, then Takashi would have gone up against Aiku while Enoch himself would have faced Kuromu. That was something that Enoch didn't want to happen and thus he made changes in order to get his desired result.

However, after taking a moment to think about it, Enoch decided that it was indeed a good idea to have Misaki help him. It was clear from his point of view that she knew what she was doing and that her help could allow him to get his work done without Sector Security interfering. Also, Enoch felt good about someone helping him with this type of work since most of the time, he's working by himself. At least with Misaki here with him, the work wouldn't be too long and Enoch could work with someone that had the same interest as him.

Eventually, as the two of them continued to work, Enoch finally reached the area of Sector Security that he wanted to reach, but soon discovered that it was covered by multiplied firewalls. Normally, something like this wouldn't be a problem for him, but he also discovered that Security was already beginning to trace his hacking signal. If they managed to trace it all the way over to Poppo Time, everyone present would be arrested on the spot. Because of that, Enoch stopped what he was doing and attempted to stop the trace. However, he soon stopped when Misaki called out to him.

"Don't panic," She said to him. "Let me handle this. You focus on what you need to do."

Surprised by her words, Enoch looked over to Misaki's laptop and saw that while he was hacking into the main Sector Security database, she was hacking into the satellite that they stationed in space. As she did that, Misaki's efforts shutdown the tracing signal that Sector Security employed. Not only that, but she also got rid of a few of the firewalls that Enoch was facing. Just seeing that impressed Enoch even more and he soon began to wonder who taught Misaki such skills.

"Hey…who taught you how to do this?" He asked.

"No one taught me," Misaki answered as she continued on with her work. "I learned how to do this myself. Ever since I was a little girl, I've always had a knack for machines and computers. In fact, I even managed to create my Duel Runner by using some of the spare parts that my father had before he died."

"Is that so…Well, I'm sure if your dad was still here he would be very proud on how far you've come."

Misaki was slightly flattered by Enoch's words, but she didn't show it on her face. She just kept her mind focused on her work since disabling a Satellite takes a lot of concentration and she needed to be aware of everything that might happen. Upon seeing how focus she was, Enoch realized that he needed to be just as focused as well and thus went back to work. With that, the both of them continued hacking into the Sector Security database without making them aware of their actions.

Back at the meeting, the others were busy discussing the potential match-ups that could possibly take place during the Semi-Finals. Since there were only four Duelists remaining, the pairings were very limited. However, despite that fact, most of them believed that one particular pairing wouldn't be taking place. They believed that the odds were extremely low for Takashi and Akiza to face each other in the Semi-Finals.

The reason for that claim is because during the Quarter-Finals, not one Signer ended up facing another Signer. Each of them fought in their own individual Duels, away from one another. Though the group couldn't be completely sure that was entirely the case, most of them believed the reason for this is because Goodwin didn't want them to face each other until the Finals and, by extension, the Title Duel. That was the most likely scenario and, for the most part, everyone agreed with it.

Upon hearing that, Akiza silently smiled to herself as that outcome was one that she really wanted. On the day that she and Takashi both qualified for the Finals, both of them promised that they would face each other in the Final Duel. The reason for that promise is that Akiza believes that Takashi has the ability to truly connect with the opponent's that he happens to go up against. This was especially true during his Duel against Enoch earlier and how the two didn't really like each other before hand.

Akiza wanted the same thing. She wanted to understand and connect with Takashi on a much deeper level than before. She wished to know what truly drives him to do the things that he does and how he could bring hope to other people, despite everything that he's seen and lost. Also, even though she hasn't revealed this anyone, she was planning to use that moment to finally confess her true feelings to Takashi as well.

There was no doubt in Akiza's mind that she was truly in love with Takashi, but the young woman has always been trouble trying to get those feelings out in the open. As a result, she would usually act very timid and play things off like nothing was going on. Also, even when she felt like that she'd finally gathered up enough courage to reveal her feelings to him, someone would come out of nowhere and interrupt the two of them. That interruption would cause her to lose all the courage that she built up and force her to start all over again. Akiza always hated when that happened and she wanted a situation in which that couldn't occur.

It was at one of those moments that the idea of having an epic Duel with Takashi hit her. With both of them so into the match, they could zone out and completely focus of the Duel and on themselves. It was the ideal situation and the one Akiza was desperately waiting for. All she needed to do was win her next Duel and hope that Takashi did the same thing. Once that happened, she could finally tell the one person who changed her so much just how much she really felt about him.

"Just a little longer," She thought quietly as she gently held her hands together. "Just a little longer and he'll…finally know."

While Akiza smiled at the thought of facing Takashi in the finals, Takashi himself wasn't as pleased. Although he's promised that he would face her in the Final Duel, he was beginning to have second thoughts. Truth be told, after everything that he's seen so far, Takashi silently hoped that he would face Akiza in the Semi-Finals instead of the Finals. The reason for that is because he was concerned for her safety.

If what he's friends discussed happened to be true, then Akiza's possible opponents in the Semi-Finals would either be Kagura or Kuromu. After seeing both of them in their respective matches, Takashi was concerned that Akiza would have an extremely hard time against them, despite her immense skill. This was especially true for Kuromu as he somehow had the ability to inflict real damage when he's using his Ace Monster; Number 53: Heart-Earth. Even with Akiza's Psychic Powers, there was no doubt in Takashi's mind that she would struggle against Kuromu and his powerful Number Card and he didn't want that to happen.

As for Kagura, Takashi believed that she was just as dangerous as Kuromu, if not more so because of her current mindset. Revenge was the only thing that was on the Twilight Duelist's thoughts and she was willing to cut through anyone who got in the way of her objective. Takashi was concerned that Akiza would fall prey to Kagura's revenge, especially since she was associated with both Lilly and Crow, the ones that Kagura was after.

Takashi truly wanted to fulfill his promise to Akiza and face her in the Final Duel of the Fortune Cup. However, with everything that's going on, the young man hoped that he would face her in the Semi-Finals. At least with that, the two could still face each other and she would be safe. Though such thoughts may seem quite selfish on his part, Takashi believed that it was for the greater good. After all, he felt that if anything bad happened to her, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He loved her and could bear to lose her just like he lost Hikari.

Eventually, after everything was said and done, the meeting came to a close. Since there was a lot of time until the Semi-Finals, Madas and Tem decided to stay at Poppo Time for a while longer and help Crow repair his damaged Duel Runner. As for Enoch, he was still working his project with Misaki and thus he wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. Lastly, Sona was asked by Alex to keep an eye on everyone until the Finals were over and she intended to comply with his request. Even though she had her own place to stay, she decided to stay at Poppo Time and wait to see if something happens.

As everyone did their own thing, Takashi's mind was starting to be filled with doubts and worries and he needed some time to think things over. However, the young man didn't want to worry his friends with his problems and thus he decided that he needed to be by himself for a while. As a result, Takashi got up from the couch and began to make his way towards the garage. Once he was there, he started up his Duel Runner and prepared to leave his home for a while.

"…Where are you going?"

Recognizing the voice of the person who just spoke to him, Takashi turned his head around and saw Akiza standing by the entrance of the garage. She had a look of concern on her face and Takashi could tell that she was worried about him. However, since Akiza was one the reasons why he was feeling this way, Takashi decided that it was best not to have her around for a while.

"Nowhere," He answered as he went back to working on his Duel Runner. "I'm just going on a little run. I'll be back in a few."

"I see…" Akiza replied, sensing that there was more to this than what she was being told. "Can I come with you?"

"I wouldn't recommend it," Takashi said. "It's going to be quite boring and I'm not planning on going anywhere. I'm just going to go out and get some air."

"That's fine with me," Akiza told him. "To tell you the truth, I could use a little fresh air myself."

Akiza's persistence was flattering, but Takashi still didn't want her to come along with him. He needed to be alone in order to think things over and he couldn't do that if she was around. However, after getting another look at her face and seeing how worried she was for him, Takashi was beginning to have second thoughts. Eventually, he came up with an idea that could get Akiza to stay with the others and he decided to use it.

Opening the case to his Extra Deck, Takashi took a moment to flip through all of his cards until he found two of them. Once he had them in hand, he put the rest of the cards away before making his way towards Akiza. As soon as he reached her, Takashi gently placed the cards that he pulled into Akiza's hand. After she took a moment to look at him, Akiza's eyes widen from shock and soon looked back towards Takashi as he started talking.

"These two cards used to belong to two of my best friends," He explained. "However, a couple years ago…they died and I've kept these cards with me as a way of remembering them. Akiza…I want you to hold on to them until I get back."

"Really…?" She questioned. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," Takashi confirmed. "After all…Out of everyone here, you're the only one that I would want to have taking care of these cards. I know that you would keep them safe until I got back."

Akiza blushed upon hearing Takashi say that and even more so when he gently touched the side of her face. He truly trusted her to take care of these cards and this tender moment between them was the personification of that trust. Eventually, Akiza found tears forming around her eyes as a small smile appeared on her face. She then started nodding her head towards Takashi.

"…Okay," She said. "Just be safe."

"Don't worry," Takashi told her. "I'll be back soon."

With that said, Takashi smiled at Akiza before making his way back towards his Duel Runner. He then finished all the work he needed to do on it before getting on it and putting his helmet on. After he did that, he waved good-bye to Akiza before riding out of the garage.

Once he was gone, Akiza looked back at the cards that Takashi gave to her and got a better look at what they were. After she did that, the Rose Duelist then looked outside as she gently placed the cards by her heart.

"Please be safe…Takashi,"

* * *

><p>This world contains many secrets. Some of them contain information that's beneficial to mankind while others contain information that can only lead to its destruction. For as long as time has turned, humans spent their lives trying to uncover those secrets with only a few of them succeeding. However, even when they pull the curtain on one secret, an even darker one appears to take its place. It's that realization that makes a lot people wonder if there's some secrets that are meant to stay hidden. For the head of Sector Security; Rex Goodwin, he believes in that fact more than anyone else.<p>

In the decade since he's become the head of Security, Goodwin has made it a point to keep the secrets of the past hidden from the eyes of the people. The reason why he does this is because he feels that they simply wouldn't understand why those things happen and that they would overreact to them. Sometimes, at least in the eyes of the Director, it's best to keep the lid closed on something and hope that, in time, people will forget about it.

This is especially true when comes to the event that nearly destroyed New Domino City almost 20 years ago; Zero Reverse. During that incident, the city was literally split into two and millions of people died as a result. When things finally settled down, Sector Security explained that the incident was a natural phenomenon and that they would take measures that it wouldn't happen again. The public, scared and confused by terrible experience that they went through, accepted Securities words and eventually came to believe it to be the truth. However, what they believe to be the truth and what really happened are two different things.

Goodwin knows this better than anyone, as he was the one who created this lie in the first place. In order to prevent chaos among the masses, as well as keep appearances, Goodwin presented this false truth to the public. Fortunately for him, his plan worked and almost nobody knows what really happened. No one knows that the true cause for Zero Reverse…was New Domino City itself.

As this fact ran through his mind, Goodwin was busy in basement level of Sector Securities main office building. The room he was in was fairly large and it contained a giant machine that seemed just large. It was radiating rainbow like aura that was coloring the entire room with brilliance.

The machine Goodwin was looking at was called the Ener-D Reactor. It a Perpetual Motion Device that runs on the Duel Energy that Duelists give off during their matches. It also the main power source for not only New Domino City, but for ¼ of the world's population as well. It's a truly amazing machine that's brought joy to a lot of people of past decade. However, as the candle burns at both ends, the Ener-D Reactor as also caused great tragedy as it was responsible for Zero Reverse in the first place.

"To think," He thought quietly to himself. "The Ener-D was created for the benefit of mankind. However…it could be the source of mankind's final downfall. What should I do…Minato?"

Minato, Takashi's father, was a scientist that was one the main developers of the Ener-D Reactor back during its initial phases. His goal was to create an everlasting energy source that could help bring mankind to an even brighter future. Unfortunately, something went wrong and too much Duel Energy built up into the reactor. As a result of that build up, the reactor overloaded and a devastating explosion occurred. That explosion would be known to the world as…Zero Reverse.

However, Goodwin knows Minato never intended for such an event to take place. He also knew that he cared more about others than he did about himself. Because of that incredible kindness, Goodwin decided that he would carry on his friend's work and create a new, more efficient, Ener-D Reactor. Once he finished, Goodwin decided to keep Minato's name from the public so that they wouldn't badmouth him. He knew that he deserved better and with this new reactor, his lifelong dream could be achieved even in death.

As Goodwin continued to look at the reactor, reflecting on everything that took place from Zero Reverse to now, a scientist soon entered the room with him. He was a man of average height with wild brown hair. He also had a pair of square-shaped glasses and seemed to have a very eccentric personality, due to the fact that he practically danced his way inside the room. However, once the scientist reached the Director, he stopped and showed his respect for him by bowing slightly.

"Good afternoon…Director Goodwin," The scientist said.

"What is it Zigzix?" Goodwin questioned.

"Sir…We have finally discovered the problem with the reactor's core,"

Being one of New Domino's top scientists, Zigzix was put in charge of maintaining the Ener-D Reactor once Goodwin decided to his plan for the Signers in motion. However, in recent months, the reactor has been shorting in and out and that resulted in blackouts for some portions of the city. Security has been able to divide the power of the reactor so that the blackouts wouldn't occur as frequently, but it was just a temporary solution.

Because of that fact, Goodwin assigned Zigzix with the responsibility of trying to fix the reactor before something else went wrong. Normally he would take care of this himself, but other things have been preventing him from doing so. As a result, the Director could only stand by and hope that his top men could get this job done without him. Fortunately, thanks to this recent news, it seems that Goodwin's hope wasn't misplaced and he soon listened as Zigzix explained what was wrong with the reactor.

"Director," He started. "It seemed when the Signers first attempted to bring forth the Crimson Dragon 4 months ago, the Duel Energy that they brought out was simply too much for the reactor to handle. As a result, some parts of the reactor broke down and now it's in a state of flux."

"I see," Goodwin replied while keeping his eyes on the machine. "So…what's our best course of action?"

"Well sir," Zigzix continued. "We can make some modifications in order to fix the fluxing problem before the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals begin. However, if we do so, the reactor will be nearly out of energy and will only have enough power to sustain the city for about a month. In order to regain the power that we'll lose…we'll need two extremely powerful Duelists to face each other in an intense match. If the power of their Reiatsu can resonate with one another, the resulting Duel Energy that's created can bring the reactor back to full power."

"Resonating Reiatsus…" Goodwin started walking closer to the reactor. "I see."

Goodwin thought about what Zigzix said to him as he made his way to the Ener-D Reactor. Normally, the reactor is sustained by the constant Dueling Energy that given off by everybody within the city. However, with this new problem, using regular methods would no longer cut it. Goodwin now needed to be two exceptional Duelists whose powers were able to match-up with one another. Only then could the reactor be brought back to full and power could be sustained throughout the entire city.

Eventually, as he continued to ponder about it, Goodwin soon started thinking about Minato again. Back when he was still alive, Minato would always come up with solutions to even the most difficult of problems. No matter what the challenge he faced, he would always confront it head on and never look away. For him, backing down from a situation was a fate even worse than death itself. The same thing was now being applied here for Goodwin.

This was a problem that not only affected all of New Domino City, but himself as well. If he just ignored it, then everything that he's done so far would be for nothing. His plans would have to be thrown away and that was something he couldn't let happen. Because of that, the Director thought very carefully about what he had to do and how he should go about doing it. After a few minutes of thinking, Goodwin finally came up with an idea and proceeded to pull out a small photograph from his pocket.

"I know what needs to be done," He thought as he looked at the picture. "However…I also know that they wouldn't too happy about it. Even so…"

The picture Goodwin was looking at contained an image of Minato along with his wife and Takashi's mother, Sakura. The two of them seemed very happy as they were gathered together with their infant son. As he continued to look at them, Goodwin closed his eyes and started thinking about the past again.

"Forgive me, Minato and Sakura," He said quietly to himself. "However…I'm doing this for the greater good of the world."

* * *

><p>Several hours have passed since Takashi decided to leave Poppo Time and go on his walk. It was already at the dead of night and almost anyone who was outside was now back inside. This was good for Takashi as he wanted to be alone for the moment. He had a lot on his mind and he needed time to sort things out. Currently, the young man is busy thinking about those things as he sits on the pier, while towards the sea at the same time.<p>

"How did things…get this bad?"

It's been over 10 months since Takashi first arrived in New Domino City and, for the most part, things have not turned out the way he's wanted too. To be honest, the only thing he was thinking about back then was meeting up with Toru and taking the Dueling world by storm. However, things got complicated really quickly. Now, instead of his original goal, Takashi was now thrown into a battle that could determine the fate of the world.

As he took a moment to look at his Signer Mark, Takashi's mind was pondering the significance of it. According to Alex, the Crimson chose 5 exceptional human to defend the world when it's threatened by evil. Of those 5, one of them is given the position of leader and is given the Birthmark of the Dragon's Head as a result. That mark was currently on Takashi's right arm and he was wondering why that was the case. After all, in comparison to his friends, who also have Signer Marks, Takashi believes that they would make far better leaders than he ever could.

Despite the fact that she could sometimes let her emotions get the better of her, Lilly was very smart and wise. She always wished for the best while still preparing for the worst. Not only that, Takashi believed that she had far more experience with these types of things since she was a former member of Team Satisfaction. Lilly had the makings of an exceptional leader and so it just didn't make any sense to Takashi on why she wasn't chosen to lead the Signers.

As for Crow, the Blackwing Duelist wasn't as disciplined as Lilly, but he still had a lot of determination. He was also very creative when it comes to both Dueling and real life. Whenever he was put into a situation that prevented him from using his regular means, Crow would think outside the box in order to solve the problem. It's that ingenuity that's gotten him, and his friends, out of a lot of jams. Takashi believed that Crow would make a great leader for the Signers because his will, and his ability to think on his feet, would be vital in the trials that lie ahead.

Akiza was another one that Takashi believed would be a much better leader than him. Even though she had a rough beginning and even let her anger take control of her, Akiza was able to get past those things and gradually become a much better person. Not only that, but in the short time he's known her, Takashi quickly realized that her skills as a Duelist, as well as skills in other various areas, far surpassed his own. She was smart, beautiful and far more talented than he could ever hope to be. So, like with the others, it simply dumbfounded Takashi on why he was made the leader while she wasn't it.

"I know they say I'm the leader," He thought quietly as he looked at his Signer Mark. "But…"

This self-loathing that Takashi's been feeling wasn't something that just occurred upon receiving his Birthmark. It extended much further than that. Even when he made his vow to protect others, Takashi has seen a lot of people, some of which were his friends, die right in front of his eyes. Seeing all that death and despair, and being unable to prevent it from happening, caused Takashi to have negative outlook on his life. As a result, though he's willing to do almost anything to make sure that the people around him are happy, Takashi believes that he's unable to have a happy life.

Even when his friends, especially Akiza, told him that wasn't the case and he deserves happiness too, Takashi simply wasn't able to see that outcome. He's simply lost too much and was beginning to lose hope for his future. In fact, if Takashi was being perfectly honest with himself, he believes that first started to lose hope when his first love, Hikari, died right in front of his eyes. Her death was the catalyst and since that day nearly 7 years ago, he's been almost unable to get over it.

If there was one guiding light in Takashi's life right now, it would be Akiza. It's been her warmth and kindness that the young man been able to recover a small portion of his self-worth. Not only that, but with each passing day that he's with her, Takashi feels more and more of his worth returning to him. In the beginning, he didn't understand why that was since he initially saw Akiza as a good friend that he saved from a madman. However, as time went by and the two of them got to know one another, he soon realized that it was much more than that. Takashi had fallen in love with Akiza and it was because of that love that's been able to once again have faith in himself.

As he thought about the love that he had for his fellow Signer, Takashi gently placed his hand on the Kesshoseki necklace that she gave to him months ago. During his training with Alex and Sona, whenever he was brought to the brink of death, he would always look at the necklace it would give him the strength to keep going. He knew that if he died back then, Akiza would be the one who would suffer the most. He didn't want that to happen as her happiness meant everything to him. She wanted her warm smile, which always made him smile, to remain intact and for her to have absolutely no worries in her life. However, as he continued to think about that, Takashi was wondering if he was doing a good job at that.

Before he left to go on his walk, Akiza came up to him and asked if she could come along. Takashi believed that the real reason why she wanted to do that was because she was worried about him. Like she told him before, she could sense how he was really feelings and had most likely figured out what was bothering him. Unfortunately, in an act of both fear and stupidity, Takashi told Akiza to stay at home and that he promised he would return.

In the past, Takashi's martial arts master, Izumi, told him something that he tries his best to apply. She said that one person can't do everything alone and that they'll need the help of their friends in order to get through life. Ever since he heard those words, Takashi had tried to follow them by making sure that his friends never forget that they have each other. However, as he tried to do this, Takashi been realizing that he's contradicting himself. Though he told his friends that they always have each other, Takashi usually tries to handle things himself.

He doesn't want other people to suffer because of him and simply wants them to be happy. However, by doing this, Takashi puts too much pressure on himself and sometimes pushes himself to the brink. Akiza and the others have tried to tell Takashi that he should follow his own advice, but his pride and his past prevents him from listening. But, now that's been thinking about this for the last couple of hours, Takashi been wondering if he should change that. Perhaps it was okay to let his friends know more about his personal struggles so that they could help him out with them.

In the end, after thinking about it very carefully, Takashi decided to hold on to his personal feelings for a little while longer. Now wasn't the time for such things as he needed to focus on the Semi-Finals of the Fortune Cup and Goodwin's plans for him and the rest of the Signers. Once all of that is taking care of, he'll bring everyone together and tell them everything about himself and his past. Perhaps then they could really understand why he has such thoughts and does the things that he does.

"I'll tell them really soon. Once I do…then they'll know the truth about me."

Upon coming to that decision, Takashi sat up from the edge of pier and started stretching a little. He then clutched the Kesshoseki necklace a little before giving out a small smile and making his way to his Duel Runner. Once he reached it, he put his helmet on, started up the engine, and began making his way back home to his friends.

As he made his way through the city, Takashi decided to cut on the radio and listen to the news. Upon doing so, he heard that there was something going on in the downtown district. Apparently, a local gang that's been causing trouble for past couple of years, the Silent Cobras, was busy causing trouble for a group of Security Officers. Though he was reluctant at first, Takashi decided that he couldn't just stand by and let those officers be killed by that gang. His vow to protect other people extended to everyone and not just those people that he held close to his heart. As a result, the young man sighed quietly to himself before revving up his Runner and changing directions.

"Sorry guys," He said quietly. "I'm going to be a little late coming back."

After changing his path, Takashi quickly drove through New Domino as he made his way to the downtown district. As he traveled, the young man reflected on the time Toru taught him all the shortcuts that were present in the city. This knowledge proved to be very useful as he was able to make it to the downtown district much faster than usual. Because of that, Takashi silently promised himself that he would thank his step-brother once this was over.

Once he arrived, Takashi noticed that the fight between Sector Security and the Silent Cobras was taking place in a large parking lot. A lot of people were on the ground, but there were plenty of others who were still up and causing trouble. Upon seeing that, the young Signer decided that he needed to put an end to this pointless fight before things got out of hand. As a result, he quickly got off his Duel Runner and began making his way towards the battlefield.

As soon as he reached it, Takashi started using his incredible martial arts skills to take down as many Silent Cobras as he possible could. When some of the Security officers saw him do that, each of them questioned his motives. However, when it became apparent that he was on their side, all of them realized that they needed the help and silently thanked him as they continued their individual fights. Eventually, as he continued to fight, Takashi noticed something in the distance and he decided to check it out.

Upon arriving, Takashi saw that a young girl, who looked around his age, was being harassed by some of the Cobras. She had short orange hair and amber-colored eyes. She was also wearing the standard Sector Security uniform, although a female version of it. When it became obvious that this girl was in desperate of assistance, Takashi didn't waste any time and quickly came to her aid. He then quickly dispatched all the thugs that were messing with her, even going so far as too breaking the arms of one of them. Once they were gone, Takashi checked up on the girl in order to see if she was alright.

"Don't worry," He said in a reassuring tone of voice. "Those guys won't bother you anymore."

The girl, both surprised and amazed by Takashi's actions, simply looked on at him as he checked her body for any injuries. As she watched him do that, she suddenly found herself blushing as she never met someone so handsome before. This caused her to clinch her left hand by her heart before suddenly embracing Takashi and kissing him on the lips. That action surprised the young man greatly, but before he could fully comprehend what was happening, the girl stopped what she was doing and gently bowed her head towards him.

"Thanks you…" She said with tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much for saving me."

"….Uh," Takashi stuttered. "Don't…don't mention it."

Takashi gently placed his hand upon his lips and noticed that they were very warm. He then remembered that the last time they were this warm was when Akiza kissed him all those months ago. That thought made him blush a little and soon started to wonder if he should save cute girls more often so that he could receive such nice rewards. However, just as he thought that, Takashi shook his head in disagreement as he knew that both Akiza and Hikari would be extremely upset with him if he saved others for such a frivolous reason.

"Sorry…about that," The female officer said, after realizing what she did. "It was…just in the moment of things."

"Don't'…worry about it," Takashi replied as he tried to regain his composure. "Anyway…what's your name?"

"Nami," The officer answered.

"Well Nami…Let me get you somewhere safe. I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire."

Gently grabbing Nami's hand, Takashi proceeded to bring her out of the parking lot so that she could be safe. However, before they could even reach the exit, both of them stopped when Takashi saw someone stand in their way. It was a young woman with long black hair and blue eyes. She was also wearing black and white with a snow-white ribbon tied on the top of her head. But, what stood out the most was the pure-black weapon that the girl was carrying in her right hand. This sight surprised Takashi immensely as he knew who the girl was as he had the scars to prove it.

"Ka…Kagura,"

Yes, the person standing in front of Takashi and Nami was indeed Kagura Toyoshima. Having heard the report of Sector Securities battle with the Silent Cobra, the Twilight Duelist decided that she would use her skills to help out. However, what she wasn't counting on was seeing Takashi here on the battlefield as well. Just seeing him caused her blood to boil as she remembered how he got in the way of her revenge earlier. However, what really pushed Kagura over the edge was seeing Nami standing by Takashi.

"Takashi Nakamura…," She said in a furious tone of voice. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing with Nami?! Are you with this Duel Gang?!"

"What…?" Takashi said in confusion. "No…I just came by to help stop this fight. I was about to go back out there once I brought her to safety."

"Liar! There's no reason for you to be here unless you're with them! Well…if you're planning on causing trouble for my friend, then it's my duty to strike you down!"

With her sights now set on her new target, Kagura dropped everything and began making her way towards Takashi. As she did so, Takashi noticed the killing intent that was in her eyes and realized that she had every intention of killing him this time. Seeing that forced the young man to gently push Nami out of the way before pulling out his sword and intercepting Kagura's strike. Once he did that, Takashi then started blocking every one of Kagura's sword swings as he got further and further away from Nami.

"Stop, Kagura!" Nami pleaded. "He was just…trying to save me!"

Nami's words fell on deaf ears as Kagura continued to attack Takashi. She tried calling out to her friend again, but was soon overwhelmed by more members of the Silent Cobras. When Takashi saw that, he tried to break free from his battle so that he could help her, but Kagura was simply too strong for him to do so.

"Let me go, Kagura!" He demanded as he continued fighting her. "I have to help her!"

"Not on your life!" Kagura replied. "You're going to pay for not only messing with my friend, but for also getting in the way of my vengeance! I'm going to make sure that you don't get in the way of my affairs ever again!"

As Kagura anger continued to grow, she soon started swing her sword with even more power than before. Eventually, it came to the point that Takashi couldn't completely block one of strike and she ended up reinjuring the shoulder wound that she inflicted upon him earlier. Upon seeing the blood flow from his shoulder, Kagura realized that she had the upper hand and soon decided to focus on the injury.

Takashi his best to defend himself from Kagura's ruthless assault, but found it to be very difficult when the Twilight Duelist's attacks were increasing in power with each swing. Soon, it came to the point that Takashi realized that he would have to fight back with the intent of killing Kagura. Only by doing that could he possibly defeat her while not taking her life in the process. To that end, he gathered all the strength that could muster before finally fighting back.

With this strength in hand, Takashi soon started pushing Kagura back and eventually put her on the defensive. After about a few seconds, in a critical moment of the battle, Takashi ducked Kagura sword swing and nailed her right in the head with a rolling kick. This blow stunned Kagura considerably, causing her to completely miss her next strike. Using that opportunity, Takashi knocked her towards the ground and stuck his sword right next to her head.

"Enough!" He yelled. "You have to let this go Kagura! Your vengeance is only going to lead you to despair! Why can't you see that?!"

"It's…it doesn't matter how much despair I feel," Kagura replied as blood fell down her face. "All that matters…is avenging Vivi!"

Once again gaining strength from her anger, Kagura knocked Takashi to the ground and prepared to finish him off. However, by using the soles of his shoes, Takashi was able to block her attack and push her away from him. He then got up from the ground and the two soon continued on with their battle. It was a fierce confrontation with the both of them now unable to get an advantage over the other. However, in the midst of that fierce fighting, something happened that caught both of their attention.

"AHHHHH! HELP ME!"

Upon hearing that cry for help, Takashi and Kagura looked around and saw that it was Nami. She was once again being harassed by some of the Silent Cobras and was soon knocked out by one of them. Once that happened, she was placed one of the members Duel Runners before she was taken off somewhere.

Seeing her leave caused Takashi and Kagura to drop everything and attempt to give chase. However, as they tried to do that, some of the Cobra got in their way, preventing them from moving forward. Because of that, the both of them were forced to fight them as the remaining members of the Cobras left on their own Duel Runners. By the remaining members of Sector Security left in pursuit, Takashi and Kagura had finally taken down their opposition. However, they were the only ones left standing in the parking lot.

As the both of them surveyed their surroundings, Kagura's anger finally reached an all-time high and proceeded to grab Takashi by his shirt collar as a result. She was clearly upset by what just happened as her eyes showed the entire story. Soon, she started dangling the Signer around as she vented her anger at him.

"Look at what you've done now!" She yelled. "You Bastard…if you hadn't gotten involved, Nami wouldn't have been kidnapped! Now she's going to die and it's all your fault!"

Takashi listened to what Kagura had to say and he did agree with her to some extent. Perhaps if he had done more, Nami would still be around and the all the Silent Cobras would be defeated. However, he knew that he didn't have time to think about that. He had to figure out where the Cobra's took Nami so that he could rescue her. As a result, he broke Kagura's hold on him and started making his way towards one of the Duel Runners that the gang left behind.

"Hey!" Kagura shouted. "Where the hell do you think you're going?!"

"Where do you think?" Takashi asked her. "I'm going to get Nami back."

"Like hell you will! You're not getting involved any-"

As Kagura was about to finish her sentence, Takashi finally had enough and punched her straight in the face in order to get her to be quiet. Upon hitting the ground and feeling the blood pour from her lip, Kagura quickly even more infuriated with Takashi and was about to attack him again. However, before she could do so, Takashi simply kicked her in chest, causing her to fall flat on her butt.

"Enough! We're not going to accomplish anything if we keep fighting all the time! You want to save Nami and so do I. But we're not going to be able to do so if we keep bickering! Tell me something Kagura…what would Vivi say if she saw you right now?!"

Takashi's words hit Kagura hard and the young woman soon started to have a flashback about her cousin. In that moment of reflection, she recalled how Vivi would always do her best to help other people. Even if it meant doing something she didn't like or working if someone that she despised, Vivi would put that in her back pocket and do what needed to be done. As a Security officer, she would always think about others before herself and her actions reflected that. It was at this moment that Kagura realized that she needed to do the same thing and work with Takashi in order to save Nami.

Upon seeing her calm down, Takashi gently nodded his head at Kagura before looking up towards the night sky. As he stared at the moon, he remembered what he told Akiza before he left to go on his walk.

_Don't worry…I'll be back soon._

After he finished thinking about that, Takashi sighed quietly to himself before closing his eyes and thinking about the woman that he cared so much for. He then clinched his fist in both anger and annoyance as he started talking to himself.

"Forgive me Akiza…But please wait for me a little bit longer. It's going to be a long night."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Realizing that they need to work together, Takashi and Kagura join forces in order to find the Silent Cobra's hideout and rescue Nami. However, can this team keep it together or will their differences finally result in death?_

_Meanwhile, Akiza learns the meaning behind the cards that Takashi gave to her. Just what are those cards and how do they relate to not only his past, but his current mind-set as well?_

_Next time, on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 81: The Long Night – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, it's Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_I just finished fixing up my homepage and now it contains a list of the current arcs in both of my stories. If you ever have trouble trying to find a particular story arc to read, please take a look at the list in order to receive guidance. Also, I've put my OC explanation list on my homepage as well. Take a look at it if you want to send me an OC for either of my stories._

_Second, for those who celebrate the holiday, I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a good time hanging out with your family and friends. _

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, it's Spirit Reader signing off!_


	81. Chapter 81

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 81: **_The Long Night – Part 2_

* * *

><p>"Oh…where can he be?"<p>

When you're in love, waiting for someone can be almost unbearable. The pain of being apart from the person who's filled your heart with so much happiness can wear you down both physically and emotionally. At times, the people who are experiencing this heartache begin to wonder why they're in love in the first place. However, after they take a moment to think about it, those people realize that the reason they're in love is because the person they've fallen for is worth such heartache.

No matter how worry they may cause them or how much despair they may feel, the love that they have will overshadow it. It will give them the ability to move forward with their lives and allow them to keep going despite how much pain they might be feeling. For a lot of people, they're unable to go through with this as the heartache they're feeling is simply too much for them to handle. However, for Akiza Izinski, she's willing to wait above and beyond for the person she loves as she knows he would do the exact same thing for her.

It was the middle of the night in New Domino City and almost all the residents in the Poppo Time apartment complex were already asleep. The only one who was awake was Akiza, who was busy waiting for Takashi to come back home. Because it was so late, she had already ate dinner, took a shower and got into her evening clothes. Akiza hoped that while she was doing all of those things, Takashi would have already returned to her and their friends. However, that didn't turn out to be the case. Because of that, she simply waited in the living room while the others slept.

As she waited for the love of her life, Akiza was busy looking at the cards that Takashi gave to her before he left to go on his walk. He told her that the cards used to belong to a couple of his best friends that he had back home in Crash Town. When they passed away a couple of years ago, Takashi took their cards and held onto them as a way of remembering them.

When Akiza first looked at the cards, she was surprised that they were the Synchro Monster; Light End Dragon and Dark End Dragon respectively. In the past, back when Takashi first came to New Domino City, Akiza would seem him use these cards along with his own Ace Monster; Stardust Dragon. However, in recent months, Takashi stopped using these powerful cards and instead focused on tactics that strengthened Stardust or his newest Ace, Number 39: Utopia. Akiza wondered about why he stopped using them since both Light End Dragon and Dark End Dragon were extremely powerful monsters. However, after hearing who the monsters originally belonged too, the Rose Duelists finally understood why, even if it was just a little bit.

Despite coming to that realization however, there was still something on Akiza's mind. Because of her strong relationship with Takashi, Akiza's been able to sense how he truly feels about certain things. Although this ability isn't the same as reading someone's mind, it was really close to that effect as it allowed Akiza to know what's going on in Takashi's heart. It's because of that feeling that the Rose Duelist noticed something when Takashi gave her those cards. She could tell that there was something more about them aside from them belonging to his old friends. However, Akiza couldn't figure out what that other thing is and that was beginning to bother her a little.

"What is it?" She thought as she looked at the cards. "There's something more here, but I can't tell what is. Just what is it?"

As Akiza closed her eyes in order to focus, someone noticed her sitting all alone in the living room and decided to check up on her. When the individual reached her, she noticed that Akiza was thinking very intently and was probably wasn't even aware of her surroundings. Because of that, individual decided to grab her attention by clapping right in front of the Signer's face.

"You awake?"

Akiza's eyes quickly popped opened when she heard the loud clap. She then lifted up her head up and noticed that the person who just did that was Sona Shitori, the Psychic Duelist who helped train Takashi for 3 months. She remembered that Sona decided to spend the night here with the others, but Akiza thought she had already went to bed. But, with that no longer the case, the young woman now had to deal with an individual that she knows next to nothing about.

"I'm…I'm awake," Akiza mumbled. "Thanks for asking."

Akiza and Sona looked at one another for a moment before the latter decided to sit down on a chair that was across from where Akiza was. The two of them then remained quiet as neither of them knew what to say to the other. However, this silence was more on Akiza's part than Sona's as the young woman seemed somewhat nervous. Even though she had a hard time getting used to people she doesn't know very much, Sona brought that feeling to the next level because of the mysterious feeling that Akiza sensing off her. Because of that, the Rose Duelist just kept to herself and hoped that Sona would leave after a few minutes.

As the two of them continued to sit in silence, Sona noticed the two cards that Akiza was looking at and decided to get a better look at them. When she saw that the cards were Light End Dragon and Dark End Dragon respectively, the young woman knew right away that they belonged to Takashi. Not only that, but Sona also knew that both cards belonged to a couple of his old friends. It was at this moment that she finally realized why Takashi gave Akiza those cards, despite the fact how much they mean to him.

"Now I see," She said quietly to herself. "It all makes sense now,"

"Huh?" Akiza said. "Did you say something?"

Sona looked at Akiza for a moment and thought about how Takashi would talk about her all the time during his training. For him, she was driving force for almost everything he did during those 3 long months. Sona knew full well that if Takashi didn't have Akiza in his life, he probably wouldn't have survived the experience. Because of that, Sona was really grateful to Akiza as her actions would allow Alex's plans to move forward. So, all the young woman could was smile while nodding her head in disapproval.

"No," She answered. "I didn't say anything. So…what are you doing up so late? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I know," Akiza replied as she placed her head down. "But I'm waiting for Takashi to get back. He said that he would be back soon, but that was 7 hours ago. I'm worried that something might've happened to him."

Akiza continued looking doing until she saw the necklace that Takashi gave to her over 4 months ago. She then gently placed the necklace in the palm of her hand before closing her eyes and thinking about Takashi again. She recalled his warm smile and the strength that he would display whenever things were at his darkest. She also remembered how he could always make her smile, even when she was feeling really depressed about something. All of those things made Akiza smile a little, but she soon lost that smile when she realized that her love wasn't with her right now.

"For as long as I've known him," She continued. "Takashi's been someone that I can always count on. His desire to protect the people that are around him give people strength even they believe that they don't have known. It's because of that selfness that I fell in love with Takashi as I always admired that part of him. However…even though I know he's doing the right thing when he helps other people, I still worry about him. I'm afraid that if he keeps going about this all by himself, he might not come back to me. Maybe it's selfish of me to have such thoughts, but that's how I feel."

"…I don't think that's selfish at all," Sona replied.

Akiza looked at Sona with a surprised expression on her face as she watched her fellow Psychic Duelist look up towards the ceiling. As she did that, Sona recalled the feelings that she has towards her friend; Alex McQueen and how it relates to Akiza's situation. Like her, she was concerned about her love too and that she would sometimes have nightmares of Alex leaving, but never coming back. It's during those times that made Sona wonder why doesn't she do something about it, but it's also during those times that she realizes why doesn't act.

"I know how you feel Akiza," She said. "And I know that you want to have a more active role in Takashi's life. However, there are some times in which you have to let love of your life settle things by himself. It's not the most popular decision and I know it may cause you to worry, but this is something that he has to do. Besides, just like there are some things that only he can do, there are things in which only you can do."

"…Things that only I can do?" Akiza questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"You'll find out when the time's right,"

After hearing Sona say that, Akiza took a moment in order to ponder her words. She understood what she meant when she said there are some things in which only Takashi could do, however she didn't understand the things in which only she could do. Perhaps it was her vow to always support Takashi and be the one who always protects him. In the end, Akiza didn't know the answer to that question. However, the Rose Duelist did believe that she would figure it out in time. Until then she would just have to be patient and think about it very carefully.

As Akiza proceeded to do that, Sona looked over at the two dragon cards again and went on to pick them up. When Akiza saw her take them, the sight of that made her realize something. She then decided to ask Sona about it and hope that she would have an answer to her question.

"Sona," She called.

"Yes Akiza," Sona replied.

"Do you know about those two cards? Takashi told me that they belonged to a couple of his friends, but I feel there's more to it than that."

Sona looked at the cards one more time before looking over at Akiza. She was surprised that she was able to sense the deeper meaning behind them, but Sona quickly got over it when she remembered how deep the bond between Akiza and Takashi was. She then sighed quietly to herself before taking a moment to think about her words. Once she had all of her thoughts in check, Sona gave Akiza her answer.

"Before I explain," She said. "Has Takashi ever told you about his past?"

"Takashi barely talks about his past," Akiza explains. "I think it's because it reminds him too much of Hikari, the girl that he had a crush on."

"I see," Sona said. "If that's the case, then it's going to surprise you when I tell you that this Light End Dragon…was Hikari's Ace Monster."

Just like Sona said, Akiza was indeed surprised when she heard her say that. She then quickly turned her attention towards the Light End Dragon card and took a moment to examine it once again. Never in her life did she think that this card belonged to Hikari, but upon learning that fact, Akiza believed that it made sense that it would belong to her. After all, Japanese word for light is Hikari. So, it would make sense that she would own a card that had her name in it.

As Akiza continued thinking about this, Sona placed Light End Dragon's card back on the table. After she did that, the young woman then took a moment to examine the other card; Dark End Dragon. Once she finished her examination of the Synchro Monster, Sona placed it on the table as well before continuing on with her explanation.

"From what Takashi told me and Alex during his training, Hikari was one of two Duelists in all of Crash Town that he wasn't able to defeat," She continued. "The reason for that is because Light End Dragon's effect was simply too difficult for him to overcome."

"I see," Akiza replied. "Wait a minute. Hikari was one of two Duelists? Then who was the other one that Takashi couldn't defeat?"

"Hikari's older brother; Riku," Sona answered. "His Ace Monster was this Dark End Dragon card."

Akiza turned her attention towards the Dark End Dragon card that was lying on the table and proceeded to place the Light End Dragon card that she was holding next to it. The Rose Duelist then took the time to examine both cards very carefully as she started thinking to herself. Even though she knew that Takashi had a friend named Hikari, he never told her that she had an older brother named Riku. This fact made Akiza wonder what other things Takashi was hiding from her, but she soon cleared that thought from her mind when she remembered that people who these cards originally belonged too were no longer alive.

It was clear from the way Takashi has cherished those two cards that he cared for Hikari and Riku very much. Their deaths had a powerful impact on him and Akiza felt that he had every right to keep this from her, especially since it was so close to his heart. However, even though she now knows who these two cards belonged too, there was something else still going on in Akiza's mind. She couldn't quite explain it and a part of her even considered it to be silly, but she had figure out what that feeling was and she believed that Sona might have the answer.

"Hey Sona," She said. "Do…do you think these cards are more connected to Takashi, then just them belonging to his friends?"

Sona looked at Akiza after she asked her that question. She then turned her attention towards the two Synchro Monsters before closing her eyes and thinking. As she thought quietly to herself, the Psychic Duelist started comparing Takashi's overall personality to the appearance of the two dragons. Once she finished doing that, Sona reopened her eyes and promptly gave Akiza her answer.

"I do," She said to her fellow Psychic. "I think Light End Dragon and Dark End Dragon represent the way Takashi feels about himself."

"The way he feels about himself?" Akiza questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"As I'm sure you're already aware," Sona continued. "Takashi is an extremely kind person who always thinks about others. However, he's burdened by a terrible past that causing him to lose hope for his future. I think Light End Dragon represents the hope he has for others and how they can live a happy life. But, at the same time, Dark End Dragon represents the despair he feels about himself and how he'll probably won't live a long life and will die all alone. At least, that's what I think. What about you?"

Akiza took a moment to think about what Sona just explained to her and realized that she made a lot of good points. Takashi does care about others more than he does himself. It was because of that noble aspect of him that she fell in love with him in the first place. However, by caring so much about others, Takashi neglects to care about himself and what he wants. Just thinking about the loneliness that he must be feeling reminded Akiza about the loneliness that she felt in the past.

Eventually, after she finished thinking about the conflict that Takashi feels about himself, Akiza took a moment to look at the necklace that he gave to her. After that, the Rose Duelist then took the time to remember all the good things that Takashi's done for other people, especially her. All of those things caused Akiza to reach a realization and she proceeded to hold her necklace very tightly as a result.

"I think you're right," She said to Sona. "Takashi does feel that he doesn't deserve happiness and that his heart is clouded by darkness. However, that's just it. His heart is clouded. Deep within that cloud in a powerful light that shines brighter than any star. Even though Takashi may not realize it, I know that light allows him to keep going, despite how much despair he might feel about himself. Also, I know that Takashi can overcome that darkness…because that's the type of person he is."

Akiza continued holding on to her necklace as Sona watched her. The older Psychic Duelist then recalled the relationship that both Takashi and Akiza had with each other and smiled as a result. She then got up and made her way over to her young friend.

"Well," She said. "Even if that's the case, Takashi can't do it all alone. He's going to need your and the others help."

"I know," Akiza said with a smile on her face. "I'll always stand by Takashi's side…no matter what."

After hearing Akiza sat that, Sona smiled once more before nodding her head at her. She then proceeded to leave the living room, effectively leaving the Signer all alone again. Once she was gone, Akiza looked at the Light End Dragon and Dark End Dragon cards again before pulling out her Black Rose Dragon card. She then gently placed her Ace Monster right beside the other two.

"Hikari…Riku…I promise to look after Takashi, just like the both of you have," She thought quietly to herself. "I'll look after him for as long as I live…and even longer if necessary."

* * *

><p>"Don't move or I'll-"<p>

"Or what…shoot me?!"

The criminal underworld of New Domino City isn't as big as the one that can be found in the Satellite Sector. However, in a lot of ways, it can be several times worse. The reason for this is because there's not a lot of gangs fighting amongst each other. With no conflict between fellow gangs, all of them could work together and effectively rule the underworld with an iron fist. It's because of this reason that Sector Security as a tough time dealing with the more prominent gangs due to their organized functions.

However, despite the efficiency amongst some of the gangs, that didn't mean that they don't have their fair share of problems. Some of the more experienced Security Officers are always on their tail and forcing them to change their plans. Also, they sometimes have to do deal with self-righteous freedom fighters who decide to take matters into their own hands. In this circumstance, it's more towards the latter as Takashi Nakamura makes his way through abandoned building filled with thugs.

As he used his incredible martial arts skills to dodge rapid gunfire, the young man was quietly thinking to himself about how he got into this mess in the first place. All he wanted to do was take a walk in order to clear his head. However, instead of that, he's now on a rescue mission, trying to find a female Security Officer that he failed to save during a gang war. Not only that, but Takashi was also forced to team up with Kagura Toyoshima, a fellow Fortune Cup Semi-Finalist and a person he isn't too fond of.

All of these problems ran through Takashi's head as he started to wonder why he continues to put up with this mess. However, after remembering his vow to always help other people, no matter who they are, the young man realized that the answer was obvious and simply turned his attention back towards the matter at hand. To that end, he continued dodging the bullets that were coming at him until he reached the shooter. Once he got close enough, the Signer swiftly punched him through the door that he was in front of.

Unfortunately, by doing that, Takashi noticed that there were 2 more gun-wielding thugs in the room that he just entered. One of them was carrying a set of rapid-fire machine guns and he started firing them at the youth. Acting quickly to the thug's actions, Takashi rolled across the floor in order to avoid the bullets and quickly grabbed the thug before he could fire his weapons again. After that, Takashi jumped up and kicked him across a table that was in front of the both of them.

Once he did that, Takashi turned his attention towards the other thug and immediately jumped into the air in order to confuse him. The thug tried to stop him by attempting to use a double barrel shot gun, but Takashi was simply too quick and swiftly destroyed the weapon with his sword. After that, he punched the criminal dead in the face, knocking him out in the process.

"20 rounds a second and they're still too slow," The Signer said to himself as he scratched the back of his head. "I need to remind myself to thank master for teaching me how to fight."

"…I'm not slow, punk!"

Takashi turned his head towards the person that just spoke and realized that there was a third thug that he neglected to notice. He saw that he had a regular pistol in his hand and started firing it repeatedly at the Signer. Unfortunately for him, Takashi was too fast and dodged the gunfire by jumping and rolling out of the way.

"Me neither," Takashi replied.

As Takashi set his sight towards him, the thug tried firing his gun again. However, Takashi grabbed it before another round could be fired and immediately tossed it away. He then punched his foe in the gut, causing him to spit up a little bit of blood. Once his opponent was incapable of fighting back, Takashi grabbed him by his shirt collar and gave him an intimidating glare.

"Alright chuckles," He said. "You're going to tell me where the main hideout of the Silent Cobra's is located."

"I…I'm not telling you s**t!" The thug replied, spitting blood into Takashi's face.

"Is that so…well, I had a feeling that you might say that."

Using his thumb to wipe the thug off his face, Takashi knocked the thug towards the ground and made his way towards a long rope that was lying on the ground. He then tied one end of the rope around the thug's feet, before tying the other end around the edge of a balcony stand. After he did that, Takashi grabbed the thug and tossed him over the balcony.

As he watched the thug dangle in the air, Takashi sat down on the edge of the balcony and began pulling his sword from its sheath. He then started to cut the rope very slowly, shocking the criminal greatly.

"You know, I never interrogated someone like this before," He pointed out. "I hope I don't mess up and cut the rope too soon."

Takashi continuing cutting the rope very slowly and watched as the thug's fear quickly started to increase. Despite this rough interrogating tactic however, the young man had no intention of letting the criminal die. He doesn't like killing other people, as doing so will cause him to have nightmares. He wanted his opponents to live, as he felt that having them experience defeat was a much more suitable punishment for them. After all, Takashi considered death to be an escape from one's problems and that they needed to live in order for them to face punishment.

As the young man continued cutting the rope, the thug finally reached his breaking point. If this kept up, Takashi could cut the rope and he was fall straight to his death. Not only that, but from the way Takashi was looking at him, the thug believed that he probably wouldn't care if he let him die. Because of that, the thug gave in to his fear and started revealing what he knew to Takashi.

"Alright…alright, I'll tell where our hideout is!" The thug exclaimed. "It's in the abandoned building located near the south side of the city!"

"The south side?" Takashi questioned as he started dangling the rope. "You mean it's by the pier?"

"Yes!" The thug shouted desperately. "That's all I know, I swear! Please, don't let me fall!"

"There's a good thug. You see…you're not as dumb as you look."

Though he wasn't sure if the thug was telling him the truth, Takashi decided that his information was worth investigating and promptly started lifting him back up on the balcony. Once the thug was back by his side, Takashi knocked him out with a firm punch to the gut so that he wouldn't cause any more trouble. After that he then cut the section of the rope that was beginning to come apart and used it to tie up the thug's hands. As soon as he finished, Takashi proceeded to make his way out of the building.

Upon exiting the building, Takashi saw that Kagura was waiting for him by their respective Duel Runners. She had an irritated look on her face, but the young man paid it no mind as he wasn't in the mood to listen to her crap. All he wanted to do was tell her about what he learned from the thug so that the both of them can make their way over to the abandoned building that's stationed by the pier. Unfortunately for him though, Kagura had to get a couple of words.

"What took you so long?" She asked. "Every moment we waste brings Nami that much closer to death. You should have let me come inside with you."

"Yeah," Takashi said sarcastically. "And if I did that then you probably would have killed all the thugs I just defeated. I mean, look at what happened an hour ago. You broke a man's collarbone! He would have talked, but you put him into shock! You have to go about this more intelligently, Kagura. If you don't then not only will more of our time will be wasted, but more people will be injured as well. If anyone's delaying us, it's you!"

Fed up with Takashi's words, Kagura grabbed him by his shirt collar was prepared herself to strike him right in the face. However, before she could land her attack, the Twilight Duelist realized that hitting Takashi would only be a waste of time. She wanted to save Nami and even though she didn't want to admit it, she knew that she would need Takashi's help. Because of that, Kagura simply gritted her teeth before eventually letting him go.

"So," She said as she mounted her Duel Runner. "Did you find the location of the main hideout?"

"Yeah," Takashi answered as he also mounted his Runner. "I found out that it's the abandoned building located by the pier."

"Okay…then let's stop wasting time and hurry up over there."

Nodding his head in agreement to her words, Takashi started up his Duel Runner and proceeded to make his way over the south side of the city alongside Kagura. As he drove across the city, the young man took a moment to look at the Twilight Duelist and started to notice something about her. Even though she's determine to get revenge on his friends, Lilly and Crow, for being involved with the death of her cousin, Vivi, Kagura was still a nice person at heart.

The reason why Takashi was able to come to this conclusion is because Kagura wouldn't be going through this much trouble if she didn't care about people. It was clear from her actions that she cared for Nami deeply and that the only reason why she was being so rough with the other members of the Silent Cobra's is because she was so determined to find her. She blamed herself, just as much as she blamed Takashi, for her kidnapping and wanted to make things right.

Takashi acknowledge that side of Kagura and had large amount of respect for her as a result. However, the one thing that he just couldn't respect was her unhealthy lust for revenge. He knows how she feels since a couple of his friends that he knew in the past were murdered in Crash Town by the Radley and Malcolm families, but no one did anything about it. During that time, all Takashi ever wanted to do was take his revenge of his friend's murderers and finally bring his suffering to an end. However, he couldn't be he knew that it would only be his own self-justification.

Revenge doesn't bring the people who are gone back to life. All it does is cause more suffering, both for the person who got their revenge and for the people who are affected by it. That's why, if ever possible, Takashi tries his best to rid himself of any thoughts of revenge. He doesn't want to be consumed by it and wants to stay true to his goal of helping other, no matter what may happen to him in process. It wasn't easy to keep that desire in check and there were some occasions in which he almost forgot that belief, like when Sayer captured Akiza. However, with the help of his friends, Takashi was always able to return to way he was before and become an even stronger person because of it. It's because of that reason why Takashi wants to help Kagura get over her revenge, no matter how futile that goal may be.

Eventually, after about 20 minutes of driving through the city, Takashi and Kagura finally reached the pier on the south side of New Domino City. The two of them then took a moment to look around for the abandoned building that the Silent Cobra's are supposed to be stationed at. Upon finding it, both of them realized that the thug's information was indeed correct as there were hundreds of Cobra's standing outside of the building. With so many of them currently outside, both Takashi and Kagura decided to hide in the shadows so that they wouldn't be seen.

As the two of them looked on from afar, Takashi counted the number of thugs that were stationed outside of the building. From his estimate, he could tell that there were about 100 of them. With so many people around, the chances of both of them making it inside in order to rescue Nami was slim to none. They needed something or someone to distract the guards outside long for at least one of them to get inside undetected. Fortunately, Takashi had an idea for this particular problem.

"Kagura," He said softly. "Have a plan."

"Oh really," Kagura said in a sarcastic tone. "And what would that be?"

"I'm going to take on all of those guys over there," Takashi explained. "While I'm doing that, you take the opportunity to go inside and rescue Nami. If things go perfectly, we should be able to get through this without any unnecessary casualties."

Kagura looked at Takashi for a moment and started to question if his plan could actually work. She knew that he was a good fighter, but she didn't know if he could take on 100 thugs all at the same time. It seemed almost impossible for one man to handle all on his own. However, upon seeing the confident look that was on the young man's face, Kagura was beginning to have second thoughts.

"Alright…just don't blame me if you get yourself killed."

Takashi nodded his head in agreement to Kagura's words and proceeded to make his way out of the shadows. As he walked towards the crowd, the Signer slowly drew his sword from its sheath and began striking down thugs left and right. Although none of the blows were lethal, since Takashi was striking them in a way that prevents him from killing them, all the commotion he was creating attracted the other thugs. From that point onward, it was a battle between Takashi and 100 Silent Cobras.

As she slowly made her way towards the abandoned building, Kagura looked on at the battle with a look of amazement on her face. Takashi's skills far exceeded her expectations as he was taking out countless thugs and not even breaking a sweat. This display made the Twilight Duelist wonder just how strong Takashi is and what else he was keeping from her. However, she quickly drove that question from her mind and decided to focus on the matter at hand. To that end, she continued making her way towards the abandoned building.

Upon entering the complex, Kagura looked around and noticed that there weren't as many thugs around. Not only that, but they were spread apart from each other, allowing her to sneak around without being caught. Normally she would simply beat down all that stood in her way and proceed to make her way to the top. However, after remembering what Takashi said about reducing the number casualties, Kagura realized that she couldn't afford it be caught up in battle as well. She needed to find Nami at all costs, even if meant doing something that she wasn't use too.

As she sneak her way to the top of the building, Kagura got a few glances at the battle outside and noticed that even though Takashi was far from finished, he was still holding his own. Not only that, but he was also taking down his foes without taking their lives. Seeing him do that, as well as remembering how compassionate he is towards his friends, reminded her a lot of Vivi. She and Takashi were a lot alike as they cared deeply about their love ones and they preferred to handle their problems without killing.

Kagura wondered why she was making such a comparison, especially since Takashi was on the side of her enemies. She told herself that she would kill Takashi if he ever got in the way of her revenge again, but now she's working together with him. This whole alliance of theirs is slowly causing her to question if her vengeance against him and his friends is misplaced, especially since she was kind of their friend in the past. Eventually, Kagura decided that she couldn't afford to go back after coming so far. She was willing to go forward on her path of vengeance and once she accomplished it, she would deal with the backlash of it later.

Soon, after spending about 10 minutes making up the building and silently taking care of any opposition that got in her way, Kagura finally reached the top. As she looked around the area, the Twilight Duelist noticed that Nami was busy tied up to a chair with her mouth being gagged by a small towel. She also saw that her friend had bruises all over her face, indicating that Nami was beaten while she was held hostage.

Without wasting anytime, Kagura rushed over towards Nami and prepared to cut the ropes restraining her with her sword. However, before she could reach her friend, something suddenly came down from the ceiling and hooked itself around Nami. Kagura saw that it was cable and it soon started lifting Nami up and dangling her in the air. When the young Security Officer woke up and noticed that she was floating, she started screaming as loud as she could, even though it was being muffled by her mouth gag.

"Hang on!" Kagura yelled. "I'm coming, Nami!"

"…You should spend less time worrying about her and more time worrying about yourself,"

Surprised by the person who just spoke to her, Kagura's eyes widen suddenly and soon turned around in order to see who it was. When she got a good look, the young woman saw that the person in question was a young man that looked a couple of years older than she was. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a purple jacket that had a cobra printed on the back. Upon seeing that cobra, Kagura realized that she was with the gang and promptly prepared herself to fight him.

"So," She said. "You're with the Silent Cobra's too?"

"That's correct," The individual answered. "My name is Syd and I'm the leader of the Silent Cobras. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance…Kagura Toyoshima."

Quickly becoming even more surprised by the fact that Syd knows her identity, Kagura took one step back as she held her sword firmly in her arms. She soon stepped back a little as she started to wonder how did the leader of the Silent Cobra's figure out who she is. As she thought about that, Syd already figured out what she was thinking and decided to answer her question.

"Don't look so surprised," He told her. "You're competing in the huge Fortune Cup tournament, right? Everyone in Japan is watching it. So it's only natural that my gang and I happen to know your identity."

Syd turned his attention away from Kagura for a moment to look outside and observe the battle that was taking place. Having been informed of what Takashi doing, the leader of the Silent Cobras promptly called more of his members that were stationed around all of New Domino City. Because of that, Takashi was now dealing with hundreds of more gang members, with the numbers ever increasing.

"So he's Takashi Nakamura," He said. "I saw your fight with him on TV. He is pretty good, but he won't be able to keep this up for long. You were wise to leave him behind."

"Shut up!" Kagura shouted, not caring what Syd had to say. "Let Nami go!"

"Oh…you mean that female officer?" Syd replied, turning his attention back towards Kagura. "I'm not too sure about that. I mean, Sector Security has been getting in the way of my goal of taking over New Domino City. I can use her as an example, in order to show them not to interfere with my affairs. I can use you too, if you want?"

Annoyed with Syd's words, Kagura was getting really close to coming up towards him and cutting his pathetic head clean-off his shoulders. As a result of her anger, she started shaking her weapon somewhat violently. When Syd saw that, he remembered the fight Kagura had with Takashi during the Fortune Cup. He knew that if the two of them fought, there was a pretty good chance that he was lose. Because of that, Syd decided do something that could allow him to bring the odds over to his side.

To that effect, Syd walked over towards a desk that was stationed behind him and went on to open one of its drawers. When Kagura got a good look at the item that Syd pulled out, the Twilight Duelist saw that it was a purple and black Duel Disk. She then went on to watch Syd place the device around his left arm.

"Let's do this," Syd said as he grabbed a deck from his pocket and inserted it into his Duel Disk. "Let's have a little Duel. If you win, then you can take that officer with you. However, if I win, then you and her must join the Silent Cobras. How does that sound to you?"

Kagura thought very carefully about Syd's proposal and she started to wonder whether or not she should accept it. Her common sense was telling her to just ignore him and try to take him out. However, something was bothering her about this whole situation. She wondered why Syd would propose such a deal, especially since he watched all the Duels that took place in the Fortune Cup so far. Eventually, Kagura came to the conclusion that she should probably accept Syd's proposal since there might be a chance that Nami's safety could be jeopardized if she attacked the leader of the Silent Cobras.

"Alright," She said. "I accept your terms."

Putting her sword back into its sheath, Kagura pulled out her Duel Disk went on to place it onto her left arm. Once she did that, the young woman then grabbed her Dueling Deck and placed it into the device. Both she and Syd then went on to shuffle their cards before drawing 5 of them. As they did that, Nami looked on at Kagura with a worried expression on her face.

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Kagura: 4000 LP**

**Syd: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Syd declared. "I Draw!"

Swiftly pulling a card from the top of his deck and placing it into his hand, Syd took a moment to look over all of his cards before looking over towards Kagura. Since he watched her Duel against Lilly on TV, the gang leader was aware that his opponent uses a Twilight Deck. Because of that, Syd already had an idea on what he should do to combat Kagura's monsters and decided to implement that strategy right away.

His first move consisted of taking a card from his hand and placing it face-down onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. By that, a holographic image of the card appeared face-down on his side of the field, in a horizontal position. After that, Syd then went on to take two more cards from his hand and insert them into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. Doing that caused the two cards to appear face-down, right behind his first face-down card.

"I'll start off by setting a monster face-down in Defense Mode. After that, I set two cards face-down and end my turn. It's your move now, Ms. Toyoshima."

Kagura gently nodded her head at Syd, while keeping a determined look on her face. She then took a moment to look up at Nami before examining the cards that her opponent just placed on the field. Since they were face-down Kagura couldn't tell what they were and if they would pose a threat to her. However, in the end, the young didn't care. All she wanted to do was crush this foe and save her friend. Aside from that, nothing else mattered to her.

"It's my turn," She declared. "Draw!"

Wasting no turn in beginning her turn, Kagura drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand without even looking at it. The young woman then went on to open the Field Spell section of her Duel Disk and placed one of her cards on it before closing the section again.

"I activate the Field Spell: The Road to Twilight!"

Upon activating her Field Spell, Kagura watched as the area around her and Syd started to change. Eventually, the two of them found themselves on a grassy plain that had that had a road with a fork in the middle. Once the Field Spell fully took effect, Kagura continued on with her turn by grabbing another card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Due to the power of my Road to Twilight, I can Special Summon Dark Attribute Monsters from my hand if I don't have any monsters on my field," Kagura explained. "So, I Special Summon: Twilight Swordswoman, in Attack Mode!"

**Twilight Swordswoman: ATK 1600 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

After placing her card onto her Duel Disk, Kagura watched as a bright flash of light started shining across her side of the field for a few seconds. From that light, a beautiful woman with long black hair appeared before her. She had blue eyes and was wearing a black kimono. Also, attached to her back was a katana, a traditional Japanese long sword.

Once Twilight Swordswoman was fully materialized onto her field, Kagura continued with her turn by grabbing one more card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone. Like before, this action caused a bright flash of light to shine across her field for a few seconds.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Queen's Knight!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

When the light that was shining across her field finally faded away, Kagura saw her Queen's Knight appear and stand by her Twilight Swordswoman. With her two Warrior-Type monsters now standing before her, Kagura decided that now was the time to strike. She needed to hurry up and defeat Syd because she felt that the longer she waited, the more danger that Nami would have to face. To that end, the Twilight Duelist promptly conducted her Battle Phase.

"Queen's Knight," She called. "Attack his face-down monster!"

Nodding her head in compliance to Kagura's order, Queen's Knight grabbed its sword and prepared itself to strike down Syd's face-down monster. However, as it did that, Syd started smiling to himself as he flipped up his face-down monster.

"Thanks for that," He said. "You've just activating the Special Ability of my Adhesive Explosive!"

**Adhesive Explosive: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

Kagura's eyes widen upon hearing Syd say that and she went on to watch as a powerful claw-like machine appeared when the face-down card flipped up. She then watched as the monster attached itself onto her Queen's Knight, effectively stopping her attack.

"What the hell?" Kagura questioned. "What is this?"

"It's the power of my Adhesive Explosive," Syd explained. "You see, when it's attacked while face-down, my Adhesive Explosive attaches itself onto your attacking monster. Now…I could tell what happens next, but I think it's better that you wait."

Completely irritated by her opponent's words, Kagura started balling up her fist in anger. She then looked over at her Queen's Knight and watched as it tried its best to get Syd's monster off of her body. However, when it became apparent that Queen's Knight didn't have the strength to do that, Kagura decided to leave her monster be and instead focus on her Twilight Swordswoman.

"Fine," She grunted. "You may have stopped my knight, but my Swordswoman won't be taken down so easily!"

Taking her words as a sign to attack, Twilight Swordswoman drew her katana from its sheath and began making her way towards Syd for a direct attack. However, having expected such a play, the leader of Silent Cobra's simply smiled again as he activated one of his face-down cards.

"We'll see about that," Syd said. "I activate the Trap Card: Magic Cylinder! With it, your swordswoman's attack is negated and you take damage equal to its Attack Points!"

As Twilight Swordswoman prepared herself to strike down Syd, two magical cylinders appeared before her, blocking her attack. The beautiful warrior tried cutting them down, but one of the cylinders simply absorbed the power of her attack. Then, after taking a moment to process the power of the blow, the second cylinder fired a powerful blast of energy that sent Twilight Swordswoman back towards Kagura's side. Not only that, but the attack also hit Kagura, causing her to fall to one knee as her Life Points started to decrease.

**Kagura: 2400 LP**

"Wow," Syd said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Are you alright? I hope that attack didn't take everything out of you. I mean, this Duel has just started."

As she listened to Syd's words, Kagura started glaring at him fiercely as she began to make her way back up to her feet. The Duel had indeed just started and she was already sick of looking at this man's face. Right now, all she wanted to do was go over there and bring her arrogant opponent back to reality. However, with things as they are now, Kagura couldn't do that. She had to endure the taunting of his words, no matter how much it annoyed her.

Eventually, after finally getting herself back up, Kagura looked over the rest of the cards in her hand. With her Twilight Swordswoman's attack being negated and Queen's Knight now equipped with Syd's Adhesive Explosive, the Twilight Duelist needed to think things through. With the cards that her opponent is using, Kagura realized that she would need to bring out her strongest card if she wanted to win. However, with the cards she currently has now, she wouldn't be able to bring that out.

To that end, Kagura decided to simply prepare for her next turn by taking one card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, the young woman watched as the card appeared face-down on the field, right behind her Twilight Swordswoman.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "I end my turn."

"Why thank you," Syd replied. "Then allow me to begin my turn, I Draw!"

Starting his turn by drawing the top card of his deck, Syd took a moment to look at it before looking over Kagura's side of the field. After making sure that everything was in place, the gang leader placed his drawn card into his hand before pulling out another one. He then went on to take that card and place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now Kagura," He said. "Since you have monsters on the field and I don't, I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand. Take to the field; Vice Dragon!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

Upon playing his new monster, Syd watched as a bright flash of light shined across his side of the field. When the light started to fade away, he saw Vice Dragon appear before him and Kagura. However, unlike normal Vice Dragons, this one was rather small and wasn't menacing as other ones.

"However," Syd continued. "Since I Special Summon Vice Dragon this way, then its Attack and Defense Points are cut in half!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 1200**

After he finished explaining the side effect of his dragon, Syd continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. Like before, this action caused another bright flash of light to shine across Syd's side of the field.

"Next, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Black Salvo, in Attack Mode!"

**Black Salvo: ATK 100 DEF 1100 LVL 3**

When the flash of light started to disappear, Kagura looked on as a small bomb-shaped creature appeared before Syd. From the expression that was Black Salvo's face, Kagura started to think of it as more as a cartoon character, due to how silly it looked. Fortunately for her, the young woman wouldn't have to look at it for a very long as Syd proceeded to conduct his true move.

"I Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Black Salvo!"

Both of Syd's monsters nodded their heads upon hearing him make that declaration. They then proceeded to make their way high into the air in order to conduct the process for a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished that ritual, a giant flash of light covered the entire field, blinding everyone for a few moments. It was at that moment that Syd grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Synchro Summon! Appear now, Ally of Justice Light Gazer!"

**Ally of Justice Light Gazer: ATK 2400 DEF 1600 LVL 8**

When the light consuming the entire field started to fade away, Kagura's vision slowly returned to her and she managed to get a good look at Syd's newly summoned Synchro Monster. From her point of view, Ally of Justice Light Gazer looked like something you would see in a sci-fi movie. It had an alien-like appearance and it looked very similar to a UFO. Just looking at this creature made the Twilight Duelist wonder what kind of powers does it have, but she soon realized that she would have to put thought aside since she had more immediate problems.

"Go, Light Gazer!" Syd yelled. "Attack her Twilight Swordswoman…Blazing Light!"

Obeying its master's command, Ally of Justice Light Gazer proceeded to fire a powerful blast of light energy towards Twilight Swordswoman. When the blast struck her, the force of the attack was so intense that it vaporized the female warrior in an instant. During her monster's destruction, Kagura was blown back a little from the shockwave, just as her Life Points started to drop again.

**Kagura: 1600 LP**

When he saw his opponent lose even more of her Life Points, Syd started smiling to himself again as he went on to conclude his turn. His final act saw him take one more card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the gang leader watched as another face-down card materialized on his side of the field and was stationed by his other face-down card.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "It's your move now, Kagura. I hope you fair better than you did last time."

"Oh…you can count on it!" The Twilight Duelist stated as she placed her hand upon her deck. "I Draw!"

Acting quickly, Kagura drew the top card of her deck and placed it into her hand. She then was about to take another card from her hand and place it onto her Duel Disk, but stopped when she noticed something odd. She watched as the Adhesive Explosive that was attached to her Queen's Knight beginning to glow. When that glow reached a certain brightness, the device exploded and Queen's Knight was consumed by the blast.

"Oh, did I forget?" Syd sarcastically wondered. "On the Standby Phase in which my Adhesive Explosive is equipped to one of your monsters, it's then destroyed!"

Kagura gritted her teeth in frustration upon hearing this news. She then went on to place the card that she was about to play back into her hand since she now had to rethink her strategy. As she did that, the young woman also noticed that when her Queen's Knight disappeared, a bright yellow aura started surrounding Ally of Justice Light Gazer's body.

"Also, since there's a Light Attribute Monster in your graveyard, the effect of my Light Gazer activates," Syd continued. "It now gains 200 extra Attack Points!"

**Ally of Justice Light Gazer: ATK 2600 **

As the aura that was covering Light Gazer's body continued to glow even brighter, Kagura looked over her hand for a moment in order to figure out what her next plan of attack should be. Because of the effect of her opponent's Synchro Monster, it would gain Attack Points whenever she placed Light monsters into her Graveyard. Since half of her usual strategy involves her doing just that, Kagura needed to find a way to get around that.

Eventually, after about a minute of pondering, Kagura realized that she needed to make her opponent's strength her own. To that end, she continued on with her turn by grabbing one card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone. Upon doing so, she watched as a bright flash of light covered her side of the field.

"I activate the effect of the Road to Twilight Field Spell!" She declared. "Since I have no monsters out, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. Appear now, Bowganian!"

**Bowganian: ATK 1300 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

When the light covering Kagura's field started to fade away, a small robot with a giant eye and two arms appeared before her. In one of Bowganian's arms was a menacing cross gun that was aimed directly towards Ally of Justice Light Gazer. Once her monster was fully materialized, Kagura kept up the pace by taking another card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone, right next to Bowganian's card.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Goblindbergh!"

**Goblindbergh: ATK 1400 DEF 0 LVL 4**

Another bright flash of light covered Kagura's field for a few seconds as Goblindbergh appeared high above her. As the fighter pilot flew high in the air, a small crate that was underneath its plane dropped down and landed in front of Kagura. It was at that moment that Kagura grabbed one more card from her hand and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"When Goblindbergh is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I choose to Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Effect Veiler!"

**Effect Veiler: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

When the crate began to open, Effect Veiler appeared from it and stood by her fellow monsters. Once Kagura saw that, she put the final piece of her plan into motion by grabbing all three of her monster's cards and placed them into her Graveyard.

"I Tune my Level 3 Bowganian and Level 4 Goblindbergh with my Level 1 Effect Veiler!"

The three monsters complied with their master's request and proceeded to fly high into the air. When they reached a certain height, they promptly began the process for a Synchro Summoning. It was here that Kagura grabbed one card from her Extra Deck and placed it firmly upon her Duel Disk.

"Light from the heavens and Darkness from the shadows, merge together and become the power that upholds justice! Synchro Summon! Show the road to dawn, Twilight Dragon!"

**Twilight Dragon: ATK 2700 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

Once the Synchro ritual came to an end, Kagura watched as all of her monster disappeared in a giant flash of light. When the light faded away, some of the stars in the holographic night sky merged with the shadows that was on the ground. This unique combination brought the arrival of Kagura's Twilight Dragon, who started roaring once it was completely materialized onto the Dueling Field.

However, as Twilight Dragon emerged, Ally of Justice Light Gazer started glowing again. When Syd saw this a small smile appeared on the gang leader's face. He knew that by doing that, Kagura had just activated his monster's Special Ability!"

"Thanks for that Kagura," He said to her. "Since you put another Light monster into your Graveyard, my Ally of Justice Light Gazer gains another 200 extra Attack Points."

**Ally of Justice Light Gazer: ATK 2800**

"No…I should be the one thanking you," Kagura replied. "By activating your monster's effect, the effect of my Twilight Dragon can now activate!"

Syd's eyes widen upon hearing Kagura say that. He then watched as the young woman went on to pull a card from her card Graveyard and present it to him. When Syd got a good look at it, the gang leader noticed that it was her Effect Veiler.

"Once, during either of our turns," She explained. "I can negate the activation of one of your monsters by banishing a Light Attribute monster from my Graveyard! So…say good-bye to your precious Light Gazer!"

Twilight Dragon started roaring once again as it activated its Special Ability. Soon, a powerful glow covered the entire field, consuming Ally of Justice Light Gazer in its brilliance. When the light faded away, only Twilight Dragon remained.

"Twilight Dragon," Kagura called. "Attack his Life Points directly…Twilight Surge!"

Nodding its head upon hearing its master's request, Twilight Dragon started building up power from within its body. Once it gathered enough strength, the powerful Synchro Monster launched a concentrated blast of positive and negative energy from its mouth. As the attack made its way towards Syd, the young man attempted to block it with one of his face-down cards.

"Not so fast," He declared as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate the Trap: Mirror Force! With it, since you just declared an attack, all monsters on your side of the field that are in Attack Mode are destroyed!"

"Like that will happen," Kagura retorted as she pulled out another card from her Graveyard. "I activate Twilight Dragon's second Special Ability! By banishing a Dark Attribute Monster from my Graveyard, Twilight Dragon negates the activation of your Mirror Force and destroys it!"

A powerful mirror-like shield appeared in front of Syd as Twilight Dragon's attack made its way towards him. However, the shield failed to do its job as it was vaporized the moment the attack struck it. This act caused Syd to be consumed by the Twilight Stream blast and was sent flying as his Life Points began to drop.

**Syd: 1300 LP**

As Syd landed flat on his back, Kagura looked at him with a small hint of satisfaction on her face. She has successfully managed to use her opponent's powers against him and caused to lose almost all of his Life Points. However, the young woman knew that the Duel wasn't over yet and that she had to be prepared. To that end, she took one card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing that, she watched as a face-down card materialized behind Twilight Dragon.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," She said. "It's your move now."

Syd continued lying on the ground for a few moments, causing Kagura to wonder if she knocked him out with her attack. Eventually, he did respond to her words, just not in the way she expected. She heard him chuckling to himself, almost like he was amused with what happened. This scene confused Kagura a little and she started to wonder just what was on her opponent's mind.

"What's so funny?" She asked. "Are you pleased that you're getting your ass kicked?!"

"…Not at all," Syd replied as he started to sit up. "I just find it very amusing…that would attack me even though your friend's life hangs in the balance."

Confused by Syd's words, Kagura looked up and saw that Nami was still hanging in the air. However, after looking past the virtual sky that her Field Spell was creating, the Twilight Duelist saw that her friend was in more danger than she initially thought.

On the roof of the abandoned building, another member of the Silent Cobra's was holding the rope that held Nami in the air. Kagura also noticed that this individual was beginning to cut the rope with a pocket knife that he had on his person. If he was successfully with what he was planning, then Nami would fall and the impact would most certainly kill her. Upon seeing that, Kagura attempted to abandon the Duel in order to help Nami, but Syd had other plans for her.

Pulling out a long cable from his Duel Disk, Syd through it towards Kagura's and watched as it connected to it. This act prevented her from moving any further and thus keeping the Duel between her and Syd active. Though Kagura did try to slice the cable with her sword, it was made from a substance that was too hard for her to cut.

"Sorry," Syd said. "But I can't have you surrender this Duel. We're just getting to the good part."

"…You bastard," Kagura angrily replied.

Kagura attempted to cut the cable that was holding her, but she was once again unable to do so. Despite that, the young woman continued her efforts as she knew that she was running out of time. If she couldn't free herself soon, then Nami would die and her death would be on her hands. She didn't want that to happen, especially since she came all this way to save her. Because of that, Kagura kept on going, no matter how futile her efforts may be.

As she continued to do that, Syd looked on at her with a smile on his face. His plan was working to perfection. He knew that if Kagura somehow got the upper hand during their Duel, he could simply use Nami as a way to cause her to lose her focus. With that now accomplished, the gang leader could now retake his advantage and begin putting an end to this Duel.

"Alright…it's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing his next card, Syd took a moment to look at it before turning his attention towards Kagura's Twilight Dragon. With its Special Abilities, the dragon was a truly formidable opponent. However, it wasn't an unbeatable creature as it had one major flaw. Because of that, Syd decided to exploit it for his own means. His first started this by taking a card from his hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"To begin, I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With it, I revive my Ally of Justice Light Gazer from the Graveyard!"

"I…I won't let that happen!" Kagura said. "I activate Twilight Dragon's Special Ability! I banish another one of my Dark Monsters in order to negate your Spell!"

Twilight roared once again as a dark aura emerged from its body. The aura tried to make its way over to Syd's Spell Card in order to negate its effect. Unfortunately for Kagura, her opponent was already one step ahead of her and promptly activated one of his face-down cards as a result.

"There's no stopping it, Kagura!" Syd replied. "I activate the Continuous Trap: Ally of Justice Seal! This Trap equips to your Twilight Dragon, negating its effects and causing it to lose Attack Points equal to its Level, multiplied by 100 points!"

Upon explaining his Trap, Syd watched as a powerful stream of energy wrapped itself around Twilight Dragon. The energy slowly started to drain some of the beast's power, causing it to lose its effect and some of its Attack Points.

**Twilight Dragon: ATK 1900**

As Kagura watched helplessly, Syd smiled some more as the despair that she was feeling started to set in. Wanting even more despair to be installed within her, Syd continued on with his turn by taking his Ally of Justice Light Gazer's card and placing it back on his Monster Card Zone. Once he did that, and watched his monster return to his side of the field, Syd then took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell: De-Synchro! With it, I can return Ally of Justice Light Gazer back into my Extra Deck in order to Special Summon the monsters that I used to Synchro Summon it. So return…Vice Dragon and Black Salvo!"

With the power of his Spell, Syd watched as his Light Gazer split back into his Vice Dragon and Black Salvo. Once the two of them were back out on the field, Syd then grabbed one last card from his hand and proceeded to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, I Normal Summon: Ally Salvo!"

**Ally Salvo: ATK 400 DEF 300 LVL 2**

A bright flash of light illuminated across Syd's side of the field for a few moments as a new Salvo monster appeared before and his other monsters. This one had the appearance of meteor with purple-colored craters all around its body. Also, Ally Salvo had a powerful aura surrounding its body, which was the same color as its craters.

Once his newest monster was out, Syd continued on with his turn by taking the cards of his three monsters off of his Monster Card Zone and placing them into his Graveyard. As soon as he did that, the gang leader watched they jumped high and into and prepared themselves to begin a ritual.

"I Tune my Level 2 Ally Salvo and Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Black Salvo!" He declared.

The three monsters nodded their head in compliance and continued on with their Synchro ritual. When it reached a certain point, a giant flash of light illuminated the entire dueling field for a few seconds. It was at this moment that Syd grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and went on to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Synchro Summon! Eradicate her, Ally of Justice Decisive Armor!"

**Ally of Justice Decisive Armor: ATK 3300 DEF 3300 LVL 10**

When the light covering the field finally came to an end, Kagura managed to get a good look at the monster that Syd just summoned and was awestruck by its appearance. It looked like a blue and gold robot with three laser cannons all across its body. It looked like something that the military would have. It's because of how intimidating this monster looks that Kagura started to break down in a cold sweat.

"Fortunately for you, the effect of my Ally of Justice Seal prevents any of my Ally monsters from destroying Twilight Dragon through battle," Syd explained. "However, that doesn't mean you won't take Battle Damage!"

Taking his words as a means to attack, Ally of Justice Decisive Armor fired a repeated barrage of cannon fire at Twilight Dragon. Thanks to the seal that was covering its body, the powerful Synchro Monster was destroyed during the assault. However, the Battle Damage that Kagura took as a result still remained and the force of the blast sent her finally towards the wall of the building.

**Kagura: 200 LP**

As Nami looked on in horror, Kagura fell to ground after she was sent flying and struggled to get back to her feet. As she attempted to do so, Syd was busy laughing, as he was amused by the torment that he was inflicting upon his opponent. Once he stopped laughing, the gang leader looked towards Kagura's field and noticed that she still had 2 face-down cards out. He then came to the conclusion that he should get rid of them before they posed a problem in the future.

"I activate my Decisive Armor's Special Ability!" He declared. "Now, since you have a Light Monster on your field, I can send one card from my hand to the Graveyard in order to destroy all of your Spell and Trap Cards!"

Once he finished explaining the effect of his monster, Syd took a card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard. As soon as he did that, he watched as Decisive Armor fired two blasts towards Kagura's face-down cards. When the blast connected, both cards were destroyed and Kagura was now only left with her weaken dragon.

As soon as Syd saw that, the gang leader took a moment to look at his hand and saw that he had no other moves that he could make this turn. Despite that though, he was certain that he had this Duel well in hand. Kagura had only 200 Life Points left and the odds that she would make a move that could win her the Duel was unlikely, especially since Nami's life was literally hanging in the balance. Because of that, Syd was confident that this Duel was about to come to an end.

"I end my turn, Kagura," He said with a sly smile on his face. "It's your move now…just don't do something that you'd regret."

After Syd said that to her, Kagura slowly got back to her feet and contemplated on what her next move should be. With her dragon's powers drained and its effect negated, things weren't looking good for her. Also, after what Syd just said, it was obvious that he would have his cohort drop Nami if she did something that could possibly lead to her victory. All of these things made Kagura wonder what would Vivi do in this situation and she silently wished that her late cousin was with her right now. Fortunately, even though Vivi wasn't here to help her, there was someone just as good.

On the other side of the room, Takashi silently emerged from the shadows and began making his way towards man that was holding Nami. His body was somewhat bloody due to battle that he just went through, but it wasn't something that he couldn't handle. When he eventually made it the individual's location, Takashi grabbed him and silently knocked him out. After that, he quietly lifted Nami to her so that Syd wouldn't notice that she was now safe.

As soon as she was safe from harm and was untied, Nami hugged Takashi really tight. However, the young man had her stop because he didn't want to make any noise until the time was right. Once the both of them agreed not to make any noise, they turned their attention back towards the Duel and watched as Kagura was about to begin her turn.

"It's my turn," Kagura said as she placed her hand upon her deck. "I draw!"

After drawing a card from her deck, Kagura looked at it and saw that it wouldn't do her any good in this situation. The same thing could be said for all the other cards that were in her hand. Because of that, the Twilight Duelist decided that she needed to place her trust in one of the face-down cards that Syd just destroyed.

"I activate the Trap Card: Twilight Stream!" She declared.

"What…?!" Syd questioned. "But how…I destroyed your face-down cards!"

"I know, but Twilight Stream is a special Trap Card that can only be activated when it's destroyed while it was face-down," Kagura explained. "Now, since Twilight Dragon is on my field, I can draw one card from my deck. If the card is a Trap Card, I can activate it right away!"

With the entire Duel now riding on a single draw, Kagura placed her hand back upon her deck and prepared herself to make the deciding draw. There was a lot riding on this move, but Kagura was out of options. If she didn't draw the card that he needed now, then her defeat was assured. Because of that, the young woman put her faith in her cards and prepared to make her move.

"Are you sure that you want to do that?" Syd questioned as he watched her. "Don't forget that I have your friend. I could easily have her killed if you decided to do anything."

"…Oh really? I'd like to see you try."

Shocked by a voice that he did not recognize, Syd looked around the area in order to find the person who just spoke. As he looked, he noticed a powerful red glow coming from near the roof of the building. When he looked up, Syd saw Takashi was there and that the glow was coming from his Signer Mark. Not only that, but Nami was also by his side as well. Seeing the two of them together shocked Syd to no end and he wondered how something like this could happen.

As he wondered about this, Kagura looked up towards the roof as well and wondered the exact same thing. Takashi was facing hundreds of Silent Cobra and yet he was able to defeat them all and get here. Not only that, but he was also able to rescue Nami without either Syd or her finding out. Just seeing that caused Kagura to wonder even more about Takashi, but she soon decided to put that aside for the moment. With Nami now safe, she could Duel with all of her strength and now about to show Syd the full extent to her power.

Upon reaching that level of determination, a powerful Reiatsu started to erupt from Kagura's body. When Takashi sensed it, the pressure he was feeling was even greater when Kagura first unleashed her strength against Lilly. However, despite the power that he was feeling, that wasn't the most surprising thing that he saw. He noticed that as Kagura's power increased, a white dragon mark emerged on her back. After getting a good look at it, the young man realized that it was same mark that Alex has.

"I knew it," He thought quietly to himself. "She is a Dragunity Knight."

While Takashi continued to observe the Duel from afar, Kagura proceeded to draw the card that would decide everything. After she got a good look at it, the young woman smiled to herself before inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Trap: Assault Mode Activate!" She shouted. "With it, I evolve Twilight Dragon into Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3200 DEF 2600 LVL 10**

Upon playing her Trap Card, Kagura watched a powerful light shot from it and struck her Twilight Dragon. This light granted the Synchro Monster incredible strength and allowed it to break that seal that Syd place it under. Once it did that, Twilight Dragon roared at the top of its lungs as black and white armor covered its entire body. As soon as it was completely covered, the light that was hitting it disappeared and the beast turned its attention towards Syd and his Ally of Justice Decisive Armor.

"I now activate Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability! By banishing a Light Attribute monster from my Graveyard, I can banish your Ally of Justice Decisive Armor and deal you damage equal to half of its Attack Points!"

Kagura grabbed her original Twilight Dragon card from her Graveyard and watched as her Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode prepared to conduct its effect. As it did so, Syd looked on in horror as his Decisive Armor was vaporized by a powerful light that shot out of Twilight Dragon's mouth. Once it was gone, Kagura's beast turned its attention towards Syd and proceeded to attack him with the same light. The force of the blow sent him flying backwards as his remaining Life Points began to drop down.

**Syd: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Once Syd's Life Points hit zero, all of the holograms that surrounded the two Duelists slowly started to disappear. As it did, Twilight DragonAssault Mode looked at Kagura for a moment before letting out one final roar. One it did that, the dragon disappeared and the Dragunity Knight symbol that was on Kagura's back vanished as well. After that, Kagura looked up towards the roof and once again saw that Nami was okay. As soon as she was able to relive herself of that worry, the young woman decided to take her revenge against Syd.

To that end, Kagura pulled her sword from its sheath and began to make her way towards the gang leader. When Takashi saw what she was about to do, he immediately brought Nami down with him and attempted to reach Kagura before she could kill Syd. He was eventually able to do so and promptly placed his sword by the Dragunity Knight's neck. However, despite having a weapon pointed towards her, Kagura did not waver from her immediate goal.

"What are you doing?" She asked him. "This man threatened my friend's safety…do you honestly expect I'll just sit back and let him live?"

"What would killing him accomplish, Kagura?" Takashi asked her. "In the end, all the people that he and his friends have killed will still be dead and you'll just be satisfying your own personal justification. This isn't the way to settle this, Kagura!"

Kagura remained silent as Takashi continued to tell her that she shouldn't kill Syd in order to make him pay for his mistakes. As she did so, the young woman noticed that Syd was attempting to escape. Fortunately for her though, Kagura grabbed the gang leader by his hair so that he wouldn't escape from her clutches. After that, she then took her weapon and gently placed it by Syd's throat.

"Kagura!" Takashi shouted.

"Shut up, Takashi Nakamura," The young woman silently replied. "Someone like him can't be allowed to live. If he does, then he'll just continue to hurt innocent people. The only way to end his madness is to take him out once and for all."

"You're wrong!" Takashi told her. "It only ends when the fighting stops! If you kill him now, his friends will no doubt come after you and the people you care about in order to get their revenge. It's a cycle of hatred that never stops until one forces it too! You have to listen to me, Kagura! This isn't the way to end this!"

Once again, Kagura listened closely to what Takashi had to say, but she mostly wanted to ignore his pleas. To her, she believed that Takashi's explanation was that of an idealistic child who knew nothing about the world. Syd runs one of New Domino City's most powerful crime organizations and Kagura knew that if he was gone, then the Silent Cobras would die along with him. Whether Takashi liked it or not, his death needed to happen and Kagura was about to make sure that came to pass.

As she prepared to slit Syd's throat, Takashi started shaking his sword as he contemplated whether or not he should stop Kagura by taking her life. The young man didn't want to kill her since he knows that there's a tremendous good within her. The fact that a Dragunity Knight mark appeared upon her back was a testament to that fact. However, he knew that if Kagura killed Syd right now, then she would be no better than the gang leader. Takashi didn't want that to happen and he soon started to wonder whether or not he should kill her in order to prevent that from happening.

Fortunately for Takashi, someone came in so that he wouldn't have to make that choice. Just as Kagura was about to put an end to Syd, Nami came in and stopped her sword with her hand. The sight of her surprised Kagura greatly and she watched as Nami's hand started pouring out blood due to her grabbing the full brunt of the blade.

"Please don't kill him, Kagura," Nami pleaded. "He's not worth it."

"But Nami," Kagura said. "He and his friends nearly killed you."

"I know, but killing him won't take back what he did. I want him to pay for his crimes, but only in the right way. Please…just let him go. I mean, what would your cousin say if she saw you now?"

Hearing Nami say that shocked Kagura greatly. Then, after she sensed someone behind her, the Twilight Duelist turned around to where Takashi was and noticed that someone was beside him. She couldn't quite make it out at first, but when she did, Kagura saw that it was Vivi. It was only for a moment, but Kagura finally saw her cousin again after almost 7 years. However, after getting a better look at her face, Kagura noticed that Vivi wasn't pleased to see what she was about to do.

She had a look of disappointment on her face and soon shook her head in disapproval before eventually disappearing. Upon seeing her vanish, Kagura looked down towards the ground for a moment and started to realize that Vivi didn't want her to kill Syd either. After that, she then thought about what both Takashi and Nami told her and finally realized that they were right. Because of that, and because she didn't want to walk the same path as Syd, the Twilight Duelist decided, although reluctantly, to spare the gang leader's life.

After that was settled, Nami called her fellow Sector Security officers and told her about what happened. Once they arrived, all of them proceeded to arrest Syd and the rest of the Silent Cobras that were there with him. Although some of them managed to escape arrest, it was generally believed that the Silent Cobras were utterly destroyed and their criminal empire was now in ruins.

By the time all the arrests were made, Takashi noticed that the sun was beginning to rise and that night was turning back into day. As he looked at the sunrise, the young looked to the left of him and saw that Kagura was doing the exact same thing. He also noticed that there was something different about her now, although he couldn't quite explain it. However, despite being unable to figure out what caused this change, Takashi smiled as he felt a small part of Kagura's hatred disappear from her heart.

Soon, just as he decided to leave and make his way back home to his friends, Takashi saw that Nami was beginning to make her way towards him and Kagura. When she finally reached them, the young woman bowed towards the two as a sign of gratitude. After that, she then went on to smile at the both of them.

"Thank you," She said. "Thank you for saving my life. I'll never forget what you've done for me…and I promise to make it up to the both of you."

"…There's no need," Kagura told her.

"Yeah," Takashi replied in agreement. "The reason we did it is because we wanted too. So there's no need to thank us, Nami. We're just glad you're okay."

Nami's smile grew bigger upon hearing Takashi say that to her. She then went on to hug him as she was grateful that he came to save her. After that, the young Security Officer then went on to hug Kagura as she was grateful to her as well. As she did that, the Twilight Duelist remembered what her friend did and how she prevented her from making a mistake that she would have regretted for the rest of her life. Because of that, Kagura felt grateful to Nami as well and went on to silently thank her for her actions.

Once that was settled, Nami said her good-byes to the both of them before leaving with her fellow Security Officers. As soon as she was gone, Takashi and Kagura took a moment to look at the sunset before making their way to their respective Duel Runners. Once they reached them, Takashi looked at Kagura for a second before extending his hand out to her.

"What are you doing?" Kagura wondered as she looked at his hand.

"Thanking you," Takashi answered. "I couldn't have save Nami without your help, Kagura. I want to thank you for what you did…and how you chose not to kill Syd in the end."

Kagura looked at Takashi's hand for a moment before taking the time to look at him. She then recalled how, for that split moment, Vivi's spirit appeared beside him and dissuaded her from killing Syd. Just seeing her cousin beside him only strengthened Kagura's belief that the two of them were very similar. However, despite coming to that conclusion, Kagura chose not to shake Takashi's hand and simply proceeded to get on her Duel Runner.

"Don't confuse it," She said to him. "Regardless if you came along with me, I would have saved Nami. Beside…this doesn't change anything. I'm still going to kill Lilly Muto and Crow Hogan for what they did to my cousin. That fact won't ever change."

Once she said that, Kagura placed her helmet upon her head and went on to start her Duel Runner. She then turned it around and prepared to leave the area in order to go back home. However, before she could do so, the Twilight Duelist looked down for a moment before looking back up towards Takashi.

"However…if we happen to face each other in the next round of the Fortune Cup, I hope that our Duel can, at the very least, be an honorable one."

After saying that, Kagura left and didn't look back. As he watched her leave, Takashi got a good look at her back and saw that her new Dragunity Knight mark was glowing faintly. Upon seeing it and remembering the good that he felt within her, Takashi simply smiled as he proceeded to get on his own Duel Runner.

"Yeah," He thought quietly. "I hope so too."

With that said, Takashi revved up his Runner, put his helmet on, and began making his way back home. As he rode along the streets of New Domino, the young man thought about everything that he went through tonight and how he was able to successfully work together with someone that he initially had problems with. Just the thought of that made him smile as he was glad that Kagura was a good person, despite the person issues that were inside her heart. Eventually, Takashi came to realize that this experienced only strengthened his resolve and he promised to help free Kagura from the darkness that was consuming her, no matter how challenging the task may be.

Soon, after driving for about an hour, Takashi finally reached Poppo Time and went on to place his Duel Runner back in the garage. After he did that, Takashi walked inside the apartment and began yawning quietly to himself. He's been through a lot in past 24 hours and all he wanted to do now was getting someone to eat and take a nice long nap. Because of that, he promptly made his way into the kitchen in order to fill his stomach.

Once he arrived, Takashi looked towards the kitchen table and saw that Akiza was sleeping there. She was most likely waiting all night for him to come back and the fatigue of it all finally took its toll on her. However, the fact that she tried so hard to stay up for him made Takashi smile a little bit and gently kissed Akiza's forehead as a way of saying thank you.

After he did that, Takashi placed his jacket over his love's body and began to make his way over to the refrigerator. As he opened, it and began looking for something to eat, Sona suddenly appeared and began making his way towards him. Once she was by his side, the Psychic Duelist watched as Takashi pulled out almost half of the food that was in the refrigerator and place it on the kitchen counter.

"So…" Sona said as she watched him cook. "What happened?"

"…Nothing much," Takashi answered. "I just had a long…but interesting night."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_After a full day of rest, everyone gets set for the start of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals. However, before the Duels begin, Takashi starts thinking about a dream he had last night. Just what is this dream and how does it relate to the tournament so far?_

_Also, Goodwin prepares to begin his plan to stabilize the Ener-D Reactor. Who are the two Duelists that he chose and what is there relation to each other?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 82: The Star in the Twilight – Part 1_


	82. Chapter 82

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 82: **_The Star in the Twilight – Part 1_

* * *

><p><em>5 years ago<em>

_Takashi: 13-years-old_

_Toru: 15-years-old_

If there was one term that best sums up the lifestyle that the people at Crash Town go through, it's the term of survival of the fittest. In their small community, the strong live and the weak die. It's been like this for the past couple of decades and that mind-set has only increased as the years gone by. Nearly everybody in Crash Town doesn't like this gruesome mind-set, especially since it can cost them their lives, but they put up with it because they don't have the power to stop it. For young Takashi Nakamura, that fact runs true for him more than anything else.

It's been over a year since the young Duelist loss the love of his life; Hikari Higurashi, and one of his best friends; Riku Higurashi. Since that day, Takashi has not been able to recover from that loss as he felt that a large part of him died when they did, especially when it comes to Hikari. His friends and love ones have tried their best to snap him out of it so that he can come back to reality, but their efforts were for naught. The reason for that is because Takashi was already stuck in reality.

Takashi knew, better than anyone else, that if this was a dream, he would have already woken up from it by now. The events of that day was so traumatizing that he initially believed that it was so type of dream or mirage and that everything would return back to normal soon. However, that simply didn't happen.

Every single person in the world goes life depending on and bound by their individual knowledge and awareness. This is called reality. However, both knowledge and awareness are equivocal. One person's reality and be another person's illusion. They all live inside their own fantasies. For Takashi, him believing that the deaths of both Hikari and Riku were just some dream or mirage was his own arbitrary assumption. Whether he liked it or not, the young boy was trapped in reality and he had to accept that fact. However…that's easier said than done.

We you care about something a lot, it's hard to let it go. This is especially true when love is involved. Takashi loved Hikari, even though a part of him felt that the feelings he had for her was one-sided on his part. He made a promise that he would protect her and that she would always be happy. However, that was a promise he simply could not keep. Hikari died right in front of his eyes and even after a year, that image still remains.

Since that time, Takashi has tried his best to make sure that no one ends up suffering the way he has. He wanted others to live happily, despite his own unhappiness. However, despite how hard he's trained or much he worked, Takashi was met with more failures than victories. Because of that, a small part of him wanted to give up on helping people all together and simply wallow in his own helplessness. Fortunately for him though, his memories of Hikari would always resurface whenever he made it to that point. It was her kindness that always gave him the strength to continue and that's the reason why he keeps going even when things seem utterly pointless.

One evening, while trying to figure out just how to properly go about helping other people, Takashi was busy looking at his Duel Monster cards in his hideout. It was an abandoned cabin that he and a couple of friends found back when he was around 7-years-old. No one was messing around with it so they decided that they would take the cabin for themselves. It turned out to be a good idea as it gave them a place to hang out without having any adults complaining to them.

As he continued to work on his deck, he was joined by his step-brother Toru. He was busy working on a Duel Runner that he managed to find while walking around town. It didn't belong to anybody so Toru decided to take for himself. Klaus, Takashi's grandfather, was originally reluctant about Toru keeping the Runner, especially since it was practically destroyed and that it possibly belonged to either the Malcolm or Radley Families. However, after hearing Toru beg for about two weeks, Klaus gave in to his step-son's wishes and allowed him to keep the Runner on the condition that he would work hard to fix it.

Toru agreed to the conditions that Klaus set for him and has worked every day to get his Duel Runner fixed up. Unfortunately, the young man has realized that this particular task is more difficult than he thought. Toru knew next to nothing about repairing a Duel Runner and there wasn't anyone in Crash Town that he could rely on for help. Despite that problem though, Toru didn't give up as he was determined to get this Runner fixed so that he could get closer to achieving his dream of becoming a Professional Turbo Duelist.

As the two brothers continued to work, Takashi looked up towards the window and saw that the sun about to set over the desert horizon. Just seeing that sunset brought up memories of Hikari as the both of them, along with Toru and Riku, would usually spend the remainder of the day looking at it while reflecting on what happened that day. Normally that would be a happy time for Takashi, but things were different now. All the sunset's doing is reminding him of the past and all the things that he's lost. Just thinking about that made him very depressed and he started looking down towards the cabin floor as a result.

"Hey bro," Toru said after noticing what Takashi was doing. "Is something wrong?"

"…Why do you ask questions that you already know the answer too?" Takashi answered. "You should know what's going on with me."

Toru felt a little bit annoyed with Takashi's attitude, but he quickly got over it since he knew what his little brother was feeling. Like Takashi, Toru considered both Hikari and Riku like family and he was very upset when he heard that both of them died. However, unlike Takashi, Toru didn't let the pain of their deaths stop him. He wanted to keep moving forward with his life as he knew that what Hikari and Riku would want him to do. Toru had hoped that his little brother would follow his example, but that simply wasn't the case.

"Listen Takashi," Toru continued. "I know you're upset. I am too. But you can't let that stop you from living your life."

"…I was right there Toru," Takashi replied as he closed and started thinking the past. "I was right there and I wasn't able to help them. Don't say you know how I feel…as you didn't watch the life fade from Hikari's eyes."

Takashi placed his head down even further and started silently weeping to himself. He didn't want Toru to see how weak he was being as he felt that he deserved a stronger little brother. That's why Takashi tries his best to keep his inner most feelings to himself, so that no one, whether it be friend or foe, can see just how weak he really is.

However, despite trying to keep his emotions intact, Toru was able to see just how much Takashi was suffering. Just seeing him suffer made Toru wonder what he could do to help him. He had promised both Klaus and Izumi that he would watch over Takashi and make sure that he's safe and happy, but he's failed miserably in trying to fulfill that request. The only person who Takashi got really close to was Hikari and with her gone Toru didn't know what to do. Because of that, Toru didn't know what to do and he started to feel that he was a pathetic excuse for an older brother.

Eventually, after trying to get himself together, Takashi decided that he couldn't stay in the hideout anymore. He needed to get some fresh air so that he could think things over and try and get these negative thoughts out of his head. To that end, the young boy sat up and began making his way to the front door. However, before he could grab the doorknob so that he could leave, Toru stopped him by grabbing his left hand.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He asked.

"I'm going out," Takashi answered. "I can't stay here anymore."

"Are you nuts? Don't you know what time it is? It's time for the Radley Family and Malcolm Family Duel! If you go out there while that's taking place you could be taken away to the mines!"

Takashi listened to Toru's concerns, but he simply tuned them out. For right now, Takashi couldn't care less how his big brother felt or the risks that he was taking by going outside. All he wanted to do right now was get some air and think. That was the only thing on his mind and the only thing that he cared about at the moment. Because of that, Takashi ripped his hand from Toru's and proceeded to touch the doorknob.

"Listen, I just need to be alone right now," He said. "Tell Klaus that I'll be back before nightfall."

With that, Takashi opened the door and proceeded to run outside. Toru attempted running after him, but Takashi was simply too fast and soon lost track of him. This was due to the fact that while Takashi was in better shape than him, having been training under Izumi ever since he was 5-years-old. Toru also received the very same training, but ultimately gave up after 3 years since he didn't have a talent for martial arts. It's due to his lack of training that he was out of shape was ultimately unable to catch up with the more experienced Takashi.

As he began to make his way back towards the hideout, Toru took a moment to look back towards the direction that Takashi fled too. Even though he wanted to stop him, a part of Toru felt that Takashi couldn't be stopped. Whenever Takashi put his mind to something, whether it be smart or foolish, he usually couldn't be stopped. This was one of those times and Toru had to accept the fact that Takashi needed to go on this walk. To that end, the young 15-year-old simply sighed to himself and hoped that his little brother would come back to him in one piece.

Meanwhile, after getting away from Toru, Takashi spent his time walking around Crash Town in an attempt to clear his head. During his walk, he took a moment to observe the Duel that the Malcolm Family and the Radley Family was having with each other. Normally, the citizens of Crash Town would stay inside while these events took place as they knew that they would be punished if they were caught. However, using the skills that Izumi taught him, Takashi was able to watch without anyone knowing. In a lot of ways, he was the modern day version of a shinobi, the Japanese term for a ninja.

As he watched the Duel, Takashi saw that winner was the Radley Family. Because of that, the losing Duelist from the Malcolm Family was taken away and was now forced to work in the mines for the rest of his life. Going to the mines was almost as bad as being sentenced to death. Those sentenced there would be work all day with hardly any breaks and they would be beaten regularly if they did something wrong or failed to work. In fact, it wasn't surprising if someone working in the mines died from being overworked and thus creating another reason why these Duels between the families take place.

Just watching this farce irritated Takashi to no real end. He felt that Crash Town could be really great place to live, but that couldn't happen if things remained as they are. The Malcolm and Radley Families were the cause of this suffering and unhappiness and Takashi knew that things weren't going to change as long as they stayed. However, despite his desire to get rid of them, he knew that he couldn't do much about it. He wasn't at the strength needed to take out both families and until that day, all he could do was watch.

This realization bothered Takashi a lot as he knew that as long as things remained as they are, the citizens of Crash Town would be the ones who would suffer the most. The young boy had made a vow to protect everyone that happened to need his help, but seeing so many people being taken away to the mines or simply killed made him wonder if he was doing a good job. His efforts weren't amounting to anything and were causing him to have doubts about himself and his goal. However, despite how hopeless things seemed for Crash Town, Takashi wanted keep fighting for a better future for his home. Not because he liked it but because he felt that the people living here deserved such a future.

Eventually, after watching both sides get into some petty argument and start fighting with each other, Takashi sighed quietly to himself before deciding to make his way back home. As he did so, Takashi successfully used his martial arts skills to avoid detection while also making sure that neither the Radley nor Malcolm Families got in his way. As he was about to finally reach his home, Takashi looked back to where all the fighting was and started to wonder if there was anything he could do about it. He soon got his desire when he saw something strange going on in the distance.

After making his way towards it, Takashi saw a couple of people from the Radley Family harassing a little girl that looked around his age. She had long black hair with a white ribbon on top and bright blue eyes. She was also carrying a pitch-black sword that she was swinging around like some manic. Takashi didn't know what this girl was up too, but he could tell from the way that she was dressed that she wasn't from Crash Town. She was an outsider and since neither the Radley nor Malcolm cared for outsiders, there was a strong possibility that she was in danger. As a result, Takashi decided to display rules and go on to help her.

Upon reaching the young girl's side, Takashi promptly stood in front of her as he prepared to face the Radley Family members that were giving her trouble. As he prepared to do so, he went on to take the girl's sword from her. With the way she's been swinging it around, Takashi knew that she was more likely to hurt herself than any of them. Because of that, the young boy took the girl's weapon from her and went on to show her the proper on how to use it.

To that end, Takashi went about attacking all the Radley Family members that was giving the girl trouble. Even when some of them started shooting at him with guns, Takashi used the sword to block the bullets that were making his way towards him. He was also able to dodge some of the bullets by reading the pathway in which the guns were being fired at him. Eventually, it didn't take long for all of the Radley Family goons to run away in fear of Takashi's amazing strength and skill. Once they were gone, Takashi made his way over to the girl.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he returned her sword to her. "Did they hurt you?"

"…I'm…I'm fine," The girl stuttered as she took her weapon back. "Why don't you…mind your own business? I would've been fine…even without your help?"

As the girl slowly began walking away from Takashi, the young boy looked at her and wondered what her deal was. After all, he just saved her and yet she rebuffed his concerns. She wasn't grateful to him at all. That bothered Takashi a little bit, but he soon got over it when he remembered that he doesn't help people to be thanked for his efforts. He helps people because he knows that it's the right thing to do. As a result, Takashi simply sighed to himself again as he continued to watch the girl leave.

Eventually, just as he was about to head home, Takashi heard a loud thud from close by. After taking a moment to look around the area, he saw that the thud came from the girl falling down towards the ground. He quickly made his way over to her and saw that she was extremely tired. Upon further inspection, Takashi saw that the girl was also seriously injured. She had bandages underneath her clothes and most of them were bloody.

"Holy crap," He thought as he continued to examine the girl's body. "How in the hell did she manage to survive with these type of injuries?"

Takashi continued examining the girl's body for a few seconds and soon came to the conclusion that she would die if her injuries weren't treated. Because, he placed her on his back and proceeded to take her home with him. Even though the two of them just met and he knew next to nothing about her, Takashi knew that he couldn't just let her die. He had to help, whether she liked it or not.

When he finally reached his home, Takashi told Klaus and Toru about what happened. Naturally, Klaus was upset that his grandson was out during the Malcolm/Radley Duel, but he eventually got over it once he heard his explanation. After that, he went on to take the girl from Takashi and proceeded to treat her injuries from inside his room. As he was doing that, Takashi and Toru were busy talking to one another.

"So…do you know who this girl is?" Toru asked.

"No," Takashi answered. "However, I think she's from someplace else. Her outfit resembles city wear. She must be from someplace far away."

"What, you mean like New Domino City?" Toru questioned.

"Maybe," Takashi replied. "But I can't be sure."

As the two brothers continue talking about this subject, Klaus reappeared before them an explained that the girl had been successfully treated and was now beginning to wake up. After receiving permission to see her, the three of them made their way into Takashi's room and saw that the girl was sitting up on his bed. All of them stared at one another for about two minutes before Toru decided to come out and break the ice.

"So…how are you feeling?"

"I'm doing fine," The girl said in a low tone of voice. "But I would've been okay regardless of your help?"

Toru felt a little bit insulted after hearing the girl say that to him, but calmed down when Klaus pulled him aside and told him to relax. After that, Takashi decided to step forward and he proceeded to make his way towards the girl. Once he reached her, the two of them looked at one another for a moment before Takashi finally spoke.

"Let's do this," He suggested. "Hi, my name is Takashi. What's your name?"

The girl looked at Takashi for a moment, wondering whether or not she even give his name to Takashi. However, after looking down at her newly bandaged body and remembering how he defended her from the Radley Family thugs, she soon decided to comply with his request.

"My name is…"

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

After successfully working together with Kagura in order to rescue Nami from the clutches of the Silent Cobra Duel Gang, young Takashi Nakamura made his way back home so that he could rest. Having been fighting almost all night, there was no doubt that he needed a nice long nap after got some food in his stomach. However, because he ate so much, Takashi ended up oversleeping and didn't start moving around again until it was about 9 in the evening.

As he began to open his eyes, Takashi vision was blurry as he was just awoken from a very interesting dream. The only thing he could make out was the smell of roses. He didn't understand why he was smelling something so pleasant, especially since he knew that he was inside his home, but as his vision began to return he soon found out.

He realized that as he spent most of the day sleeping, his head was resting comfortably on Akiza's lap. Whenever Takashi was near her, he would always smell the scent of roses. That scent gave him a sense of comfort as he always liked that aroma. However, despite that fact, the reality that he was this close to woman that he loved was beginning to set in and he started blushing as a result.

When Akiza looked down at Takashi and saw him looking at her, the young woman was at first very happy since he's hasn't been awake since this morning. Though, that happiness soon turned into embarrassment when she realized just how close the two of them were. Because of that, she started blushing too. Eventually, the two of them slowly separated from each other despite that their faces were still quite red. However, Takashi was slow to get up as he was feeling a slight pain in his chest. When he looked down he saw that his chest was bandaged up.

"What…?" He silently questioned. "Who did this?"

"It was Lilly," Akiza answered as refocused herself. "When all of us noticed that you were injured, she went on to treat your wounds. She was going to heal you completely, but Sona said that since we have to keep up appearances, she told her to only bandage your wounds."

Takashi gently placed his hand upon his chest as he thought about what Akiza just explained to him. Since only a few individuals know that he and his friends have these special powers, things would get very complicated if the general public saw that he recovered from his bloody battles against Kagura so soon. In order to avoid that, Takashi was forced to endure the pain that he was feeling and hope that his own natural energy would speed up his healing.

Eventually, Takashi decided to stop thinking about that and focus on what's going on right now. When he looked at Akiza's face, he could tell that she worried about him. After all, he was gone all night and by the time he came back he was all bruised and bloodied. Akiza had every right in the world to be worried about him and Takashi felt very bad as a result. All he really wanted to do that night was go for walk, but he ended up getting involved in something else.

It's during these times that make Takashi wonder why he goes about doing this. It's always the same thing. Every day he wakes up knowing that the more people he tries to save, the more enemies that he'll make as a result. Not only that, but the more times he tries to save others, the more times he ends up worrying the people he cares about. It's during those moments that ponder if he should keep doing this. Takashi cares more about his friends than he does his promise to help others. All he wants is to make sure they're happy, but that can't completely happen if he keeps helping people that he doesn't know. It was selfish of him and no could dispute that fact.

"Akiza," He said silently. "I'm so-"

"You don't have to apologize, Takashi,"

As his eyes widen a little, Takashi looked up towards Akiza and saw that she was busy looking up towards the ceiling. It was clear to him that she had a lot on her mind, but he could tell from the look in her eyes that she wasn't too upset with what happened. The worried expression that was on her face was more towards his wounds than his actions. After taking a moment to sigh quietly to herself Akiza, not really caring about how embarrassed she might feel, gently placed her head upon Takashi's shoulder.

"I can't stop you from doing what you do Takashi and I don't want too," She said with a slight blush on her face. "You're the type of guy who helps people through your actions. You saved me like that so who am I to stop you when it comes to things like that. I just want you to come back safe. That's all I really want. So please…be more careful next time."

Takashi looked at Akiza for a moment as he thought about what she wanted him to do. He then took a moment to look at his sword and Dueling Deck before closing his eyes.

"Alright," He said. "I promise."

After Takashi made that promise, Akiza smiled gently to herself as she soon lifted her head from upon his shoulder. The two of them then spent the rest of their time together talking about various things. One of things that was mentioned was that incident that involved the Silent Cobras was all over the news while Takashi was sleeping. Akiza believed that he had something to do with the gang's destruction and when he reluctantly revealed that was indeed the case, the Rose Duelist couldn't have felt any more proud of her love.

Even though Akiza was worried about Takashi's safety, that didn't change the fact that she was always amazed whenever he went out of his way to help somebody. This is especially true when those people in question are people that he doesn't even know. It shows that Takashi is a very compassionate person who's willing to go out of his way to help others, even if he doesn't know them very well. Akiza always liked that about him and she knew it was because of that compassion that she fell in love with him in the first place.

After that, Takashi and Akiza continued talking to one another for about another two hours until the clock hit around 11:00pm. When both of them saw that, they agreed that they should head to bed since they had a big day tomorrow. To that end, both of them got up and began making their way to their respective rooms. However, before they did that, Takashi stopped for a moment and started thinking about the dream that he had earlier. When Akiza noticed the complex look that was on his face, she began making her way towards him.

"Are you okay, Takashi?" She asked. "Is something wrong?"

"…I don't know," He answered. "I had a strange dream earlier. I can't be certain, but I think it involved something that place in past."

"I see," Akiza said. "Well…I remember Lilly telling me that sometimes dreams can be messages. Maybe this dream of yours is telling you that something from your past might happen here in the present."

"Maybe…"

Takashi looked down towards the ground as he started wondering if what Akiza said was true. He found it somewhat hard to believe, especially since he would forget most of the dreams that he had after a few hours. However, he did remember that the night before he left Crash Town for New Domino City, he had a particularly strange dream. In that dream, Takashi saw several dragons and a young woman with dark burgundy hair. After everything that's happened to him in the last couple of months, Takashi realized that the dragons in question was the Signer Dragons and the young girl was Akiza.

Upon coming to this realization, Takashi started to wonder if what Akiza said was right. Do dreams really to lead to future? He wasn't quite sure if that was the case, but he decided to give it more thought since the dream that he just had was worth pondering over. To him, it felt like a memory that he forgot and is now returning to him. He wanted to know why he was having these dreams and how could they possibly affect the future of not only his friends, but himself as well.

Eventually, after seeing Akiza yawn, Takashi decided that it was time to head to bed and went on to wish her goodnight after seeing her into her room. After that, Takashi promptly went into his own room and started lying down on his bed. He then took a moment to stare at the ceiling before closing his eyes and drifting off back to sleep. It was at this moment that the young man resumed the dream that he was having.

"_My name is…Kagura."_

* * *

><p>"Alright, let's give it one last test,"<p>

After two long days of anticipation, the day of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals has finally arrived and nearly everybody who's anybody is ecstatic about the Duels are going to take place. Of the four Duelists that are competing today, two of them have already made their way to the Kaiba Dome. Those Duelists are Takashi Nakamura and Akiza Izinski respectively. Both of them wanted to get an early start as they knew that the Duels that they're going to compete in will be the toughest ones they'll ever face. Helping them in their preparation is all of their friends, who will be watching their Duels from the sidelines.

As Lilly and Crow were busy making tweaks to Akiza's deck, Toru and Misaki were busy checking up on Takashi's Duel Runner. Despite the fact that he's grown significantly as a Turbo Duelist, Takashi was still had the least experience when it came to Turbo Dueling. Because of that, Toru wanted to help his little brother out and asked Misaki to assist him since she was very gifted when it came to machines and stuff of that variety.

During this examination, Misaki noticed that there was some minor damage to the Runner's internal gears. It wasn't something to serious, but she knew that it could become a problem if it was left unchecked. Because of that, she promptly pulled out her toolkit and went on to make repairs to her friend's Runner. As she did that, Toru questioned Takashi about this and the Signer explained that the damage most likely from his training in the underground.

During his training with Alex, one of the things that the Dragunity Knight was trying instill in Takashi was the ability to unleash his Sense. In the Duels that he's competed in prior to his training, Takashi was able to unconsciously unleash Sense blast against his opponents, especially when he was using his Singer Powers. However, because of his lack of experience when it comes to said powers, the Sense he gave off wasn't that powerful and would usually get overwhelmed by his opponent's Sense. In order to prevent that from happening, Alex made it a point to improve Takashi's skills so that his Sense could become more powerful.

The training turned out very well as Takashi was now capable of producing Sense without the need of his Signer Powers. However, the battle scars of his training still remained as his Runner took a beating. Although it was repair to riding condition from some of Alex's friends back in the underground, it wasn't fully restored. It's for that reason that Takashi is unable to perfect his Cross Sense technique as his Duel Runner isn't in the state in which it can be pulled off. Fortunately, Misaki was there to help him out with that little problem.

Using her amazing mechanic skills, Misaki was able to tend to all damaged that Takashi's Runner has sustained rather easily. She even managed rewire the engine so that it could so that it could produce more power. Once she was done, Takashi tested out his Runner and saw right away that it was even better than before.

"Holy crap," He said in a slight state of surprise. "This is incredible. Thank you, Misaki."

"It's no big deal," Misaki replied in an indifferent tone of voice. "It wasn't really all that difficult. However, we won't know how well it does until you go out and use it again."

"Right,"

Takashi examined the new power that his Duel Runner was displaying one more time and felt that with it, he would be one step closer to perfecting Cross Sense. Because of that, he thanked Misaki again, only to be told by her that it was no big deal. After that, the young man soon made his way over to Akiza, in order to see how she was doing.

When he got there, Takashi learned that Lilly and Crow were trying to make changes to Akiza's deck in order to incorporate her newest monster, Number 50: Blackship of Corn. The Number was not only Akiza's newest Ace, but also the first Xyz Monster that she ever included into her deck. Up until her Duel with Aiku, the Rose Duelist only focused on Synchro Monsters. With this newest addition, Akiza needed to work things around in to properly incorporate this new style into her old one. This is where Lilly and Crow came in.

Even though Crow, like Akiza, doesn't focus on Xyz Summoning, he is very skilled when it comes swarming the field with monsters of similar Levels. It's because of that skill that he included cards into Akiza's deck that would allow her to bring out Blackship of Corn more easily. As for Lilly, she specialized in both Synchro and Xyz Summoning, so she was a natural choice to teach Akiza on how to properly use her newly acquired Number Card.

After this was done, Akiza went on to thank her friends before taking the time to examine her cards. Everything seemed to be in working order and she felt that with this deck, she could successfully make it through the Semi-Finals. Doing that would allow her to achieve her goal of possibly facing Takashi in the Final Round of the Fortune Cup. Once that happens, Akiza truly believes that she will obtain the confidence needed to finally confess her feelings to Takashi and say that she loves him with all of her heart.

Once she finished looking over her cards, Akiza saw Takashi looking over at her and made her way over to greet him. When the two of them finally reached each other, they started talking about their upcoming Duels, along with a variety of other topics. The others looked at them as they talked and saw that with each passing day, the two of them were becoming more and more comfortable with each other. Seeing that made them all believe that it wouldn't be too much longer until they finally confess their feelings for each other. All they needed now was a little extra push.

"So that's it," Akiza said as she continued talking to Takashi. "I'm all set and ready to go for the Semi-Finals."

"That's great," Takashi replied with a smile. "I'm all set too. I can't wait to get out there and rev-"

Stopping midsentence, Takashi notice someone from afar and instantly recognized that person to be Kagura. Having not seen her since the two of them successfully rescued Nami from Syd and the Silent Cobras, the young man wanted to know how she was doing after that long night of fighting. When it appeared to her that she was okay, Takashi smiled to himself as he began to make his way over to one of his possible opponents.

When Kagura saw Takashi making her way up to her, the Twilight Duelist looked at him with a silent expression on her face. After spending all of yesterday thinking about the events of the other night, Kagura's opinion about Takashi was in the grey. He had helped her save Nami, but he's friends with the people she's trying to kill. Because of that, she couldn't tell whose side Takashi's on and that was bothering her a little bit. However, Kagura chose not to show that conflicted mind-set as she believed it to be a form of weakness.

"Hey Kagura," Takashi said with a small smile on face. "How are you doing?"

"…I'm fine," Kagura answered. "Shouldn't you be preparing for your Duel today?"

"I'm doing that now," He told her. "However, I also wanted to see how you were doing. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that the both of us spent all night trying to save your friend. I was kind of worried about you."

"Well, as you can see, I'm fine. There's no need to worry about such trivial matters."

Kagura turned her head away from Takashi as she was tired of listening to his concerns about her. However, as she did that, the young woman got a good look at both Lilly and Crow. Just seeing the two of them caused her anger to boil and she soon grabbed her sword as a result. Fortunately, Takashi was there and he soon pulled his sword from his waist and extended his arm in front of the Twilight Duelist. The two of them then stared at each other with powerful looks on their faces.

As the two of them did that, Lilly and the others looked down at the both of them and they all felt the tension in the air. The last time both Takashi and Kagura was this close to each other, the two nearly killed one another in a ferocious sword fight. If it wasn't for Goodwin and the Fortune Cup Committee, things could have gotten really bad for the both of them. Now that the two were back together again, the guys wondered if another battle between them was about to take place. Fortunately, such a battle didn't occur.

Kagura, realizing that a fight with Takashi wouldn't accomplish anything right now, decided to walk away. She had to use what little time remained to prepare herself for the Semi-Finals and she couldn't waste time dealing with her enemies. Because of that, she turned around and started walking away. However, she took about two steps forward, Kagura stopped.

"You're a grey area…Takashi Nakamura,"

"What…?" Takashi questioned as he placed his sword back by his hip. "What do you mean I'm a grey area?"

"In this world, I've learned that everything falls into two categories; Black and White," Kagura explained. "The black side is evil and needs to be destroyed while the white side is pure and needs to be protected. Everything, from people, places, and things, falls into one of those two categories. However…that's not the case with you Takashi Nakamura. You fall into the land in between the two sides…the land of grey."

Kagura closed eyes and started thinking about her confliction about Takashi. Even though she despised things that she placed on the black side, the young woman hated things in the grey side even more. When black and white mix, the color grey is created and with that, so does confusion and uncertainty. Kagura hated that more than anything in the world as it meant that she couldn't tell whether or not Takashi was an enemy or a friend.

"When things are in the grey area, I can't read them," She continued. "When that happens, I get irritated as I can't determine which side they're on. It's the same case with you, Takashi Nakamura. You side with my enemies, yet you fight for good. Such a grey existence cannot be tolerated in my eyes."

"Kagura…" Takashi said silently. "I…"

"Don't misunderstand me," Kagura said. "Like I told you the other day, if we face each other, I want our Duel to be an honorable one. However, I'm also going to use it to determine which side you're really on. And if it's determined that you're on the side of evil…I will not hesitate to kill you after our Duel."

With that said, Kagura left Takashi and the others and didn't look back. As he watched her leave, Takashi looked towards the back of the Twilight Duelist and remembered that a Dragunity Mark was on there. That mark meant that she was a Dragunity and thus an ally of the Signers. The two of them are already supposed to be on the same side, but her words are making Takashi wonder if she's his enemy. Eventually, he decided that he needed to Duel Kagura during this tournament. Doing so would allow him to show her that her black and white view of the world is misguided and that all of them are all fighting on the same side.

Meanwhile, in the control room that was stationed on top of the Kaiba Dome, Rex Goodwin was busy making sure that everything was ready for the start of the Semi-Finals. Everything had to be perfect as a lot was riding on these next couple of Duels. Not only for all of New Domino City, but his overall plans as well. Once he was able to confirm that everything was set, the Director soon started looking over some things as Vice-Director Lazar made his way over to him.

"Director Goodwin," Lazar said after bowing towards his boss. "The matchups for the Semi-Finals have been decided. I have them right here."

Lazar handed Goodwin a piece of paper that contained matchups for the Semi-Finals. After reading it, Goodwin nodded his head before passing the paper back to Lazar. He then had his Vice-Director leave the control room as he went back to work.

"The city's power problem should be settled with this one Duel," He thought. "Especially since the two Duelists that are about to compete have the power to do it. Isn't that right…Minato?"

As Goodwin went back to work, Lazar made his way out to the MC and told him which Duelists will face each other in the first Semi-Final Duel. After receiving this information, MC understood and began making his way to his place on the platform of the Kaiba Dome. Once he was there, quickly grabbed a microphone and started talking to the people who were sitting in the stands.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen," _He said over the loudspeaker. _"Welcome to the start of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals! We have two particular Duels today and I'm sure that our 4 competitors are ready to give it their all in order to get one step closer to Alistair Miles and the chance to face him for the title of Duel King Japan!"_

The crows started cheering at the top of their lungs after hearing the MC say that. All of them have been waiting for the Semi-Finals to start after the end of the exciting Quarter-Finals. They wanted to see what kind of tactics will the 4 Qualifying Duelists will use during their respective matches and which 2 will move on to the Finals. Because of that, they kept on cheering for the next few minutes. When things finally started to die down, the MC proceeded to announce which two Duelists will face each other first.

"_We'll begin the Semi-Finals with a Turbo Duel!"_ He explained. _"In this match, two of our most exciting competitors will face off in what is sure to be an epic match! It will be the Twilight Duelist, Kagura Toyoshima, going up against one of New Domino City's fastest rising Duelists, Takashi Nakamura!"_

As the crowd started cheering again, Takashi looked up towards the control where Goodwin was at and wondered what was going on. Just as he was thinking about Dueling her, he's now about to face Kagura in the first Duel of the Semi-Finals. Something just didn't seem right and Takashi could sense it. However, despite the fact that he got his wish to face the Twilight Duelist, there was something more important on his mind.

Taking a moment to look over towards Akiza, Takashi knew that since he was about to face Kagura, she was going to face Kuromu in the second Semi-Final Duel. He was the one person that he didn't want her to go up against. This fact worried him greatly and he started to wonder if there was something he could do to change the match-up. As he thought about that, Akiza made her way over to him.

"What's wrong Takashi?" She asked. "Shouldn't you be making your way to the track for your Turbo Duel?"

"I…I know," He said. "But Akiza…you're going to have to face-"

"You don't have time to be worrying about my Duel," She interrupted. "Kagura's a powerful opponent and you'll need to be at your absolute best if you want to defeat her and move on to the Finals. Besides, I can tell Kagura needs help and you're the only one who can do it."

Takashi looked at Akiza with a surprised expression on his face as he was shocked about how calm she was about this. Even though she was going to face Kuromu later, she knew that she had to focus on supporting Takashi during his Duel. Because of that, she wasn't worried about her Duel or the opponent that she was going face.

Upon seeing that, Takashi felt a little bit better, but he was still worried. However, upon seeing the rest of his friends give their support, the Signer decided to put his worries aside for now and instead focus on the immediate task. To that end, he thanked all of his friends for their support before getting on his Duel Runner and making his way towards the Kaiba Dome Duel Track.

As he did that, Sona and Enoch, who have just arrived at the stadium, watched Takashi leave. The two Psychics noticed who his opponent would be and both of them knew that this was going to be a tough Duel for him. However, that wasn't the only thing that was on their mind. After remembering the resonance that she felt during Takashi's and Kagura's clash, Sona investigated it and promptly called Alex for answers. Upon receiving that answer, Sona relayed it to Enoch.

"I can't believe it," He said as he made his way towards the others. "It just seems hard to believe."

"Well, it's the truth," Sona replied. "Alex wouldn't lie about something like this. I wondered why their Reiatsus resonated with one another and now I that know the truth…it all makes sense."

While Enoch and Sona made their way to their friends, Takashi finally reached the track and waited patiently for his opponent to show up. After about a minute, Kagura appeared on her black and white Duel Runner and soon stood beside him on the starting line. As they waited for the Duel to begin, Takashi recalled the dream that he had last night, especially the part in which the girl he saved was called Kagura. Hearing that name made him wonder if the Kagura he helped back then is the same one he's about to face. Eventually, he decided to ask her about it in order to discover the truth.

"Hey Kagura," He said. "Have you…ever been to place called Crash Town?"

"…Why do you ask such a question?" Kagura asked.

"Um…no reason," Takashi replied. "I just wanted to know."

Kagura turned her head towards Takashi and thought about what he just asked her. The Twilight Duelist wondered why he would ask her such a question, especially since they were about to have a Duel. However, she decided that there was no harm in giving him an answer as she believed that it wouldn't change anything.

"I was only there for about a month," She answered. "It was 5 years ago, so I barely remembering being there. However, to answer your question, I did visit Crash Town in the past."

After she gave her answer, Kagura turned her attention back towards her Duel Runner and prepared herself for her Duel. As for Takashi, the young man thought about what she told him and soon nodded his head as a result. He then also turned his attention towards his own Runner as he started thinking to himself.

"I see…so it is her,"

Eventually, after about 5 minutes of waiting, the referee overseeing the Duel signal for both Duelists to activate the Speed World 2 Field Spell. When both of them did that, a powerful aura shot from both of their Duel Runners and went on to cover the entire area. After that, Takashi and Kagura went on to place their respective Duel Gazers over their left eyes as the Augmented Reality Vision was activated. Once that was done, the referee signaled the start of the Duel and the two of them rode off.

As crowd looked on with excitement, Takashi tried his best to use his Duel Runner new power in order to reach the first corner before Kagura. Since she was an experienced Turbo Duelist, he knew that he would need the first turn so that he could make his strategy right away. Unfortunately, his Runner's new power wasn't enough.

Kagura's experience as a Turbo Duelist allowed her to slip past Takashi just before he reached the first corner. Because of that, she was now granted the first turn of the Duel and Takashi now had to go second. Though this may not seem like much in the eyes of the crowd, both Takashi and Kagura knew that the first turn was initial. Now that Kagura was able to obtain it, the Twilight Duelist could now implement her strategy right away while Takashi had to wait and wonder what she was planning.

While the two Duelists prepared to begin their Duel, neither of them noticed something suspicious going on in the crowd. 5 individuals were watching from the front seat of the stadium. Though they didn't seem like much at first glance, all 5 of these individuals had one thing in common. On each of their right arms was a tattoo of a purple cobra. This cobra was the mark of the Silent Cobra gang, the same one that Takashi and Kagura disbanded the other night.

"Go ahead," One the individuals said as he watched the Duel. "Have your little match. It doesn't matter which of them wins."

"Yeah," Another individual said in agreement. "In the end…both of them are going to die."

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Kagura: 4000 LP**

"It's my move," Kagura pointed off as she placed her hand upon her deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Kagura: SPC – 1**

After drawing the top card of her deck, Kagura examined it for a moment before placing it into her hand. She then went on to grab another card before placing it upon her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"Since I don't have a monster on the field, I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand!" She stated. "Appear now, Twilight Knight!"

**Twilight Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 500 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light shined next to Kagura as she continued to ride around the track. From that light, a powerful warrior who was dressed in black and white armor appeared before her. Once it was out, Kagura continued on with her turn by grabbing another card from her hand and also placing it upon her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Card Trooper!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 400 DEF 400 LVL 3**

Upon placing the card onto her Duel Disk, Kagura watched as another bright flash of light shined across her side of the field. When that light started to fade away, Card Trooper appeared onto the field and started riding next to its master and Twilight Knight. After that happened, Kagura then went on to take the top three cards of her deck and place them into her card Graveyard.

"Now, I activate Card Trooper's Special Ability!" She declared. "Once per turn, I can discard up to 3 cards from my deck in order to give Trooper 500 extra Attack Points for each one. I just discarded three cards, which mean my Card Trooper now gains 1500 Attack Points!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 1900**

When Kagura placed her cards into her Graveyard, she watched as a colorful aura surrounded her Card Trooper for a few seconds. Once that aura faded away, the Twilight Duelist continued on with her turn by stacking Card Trooper's card on top of Twilight Knight's. She then watched as both of her monsters started to change shape.

"Now, with that taken care of, I Overlay my Level 3 Twilight Knight and Card Trooper!"

Both of Kagura's monsters nodded their heads slightly as they started to transform into two colorful orbs of light. Once that transformation was complete, they then started flying around the entire Kaiba Dome. It was at this moment that a colorful portal appeared in front of Kagura as she continued to drive around the race track.

"With these two monsters, I now build the Overlay Network. Xyz Summon!"

The two orbs of light promptly made their way towards the portal once their master declared her intent to perform a Xyz Summoning. Once they were inside it, a powerful eruption occurred as Kagura pulled out a card from her Extra Deck. The young woman stared at the card for a few seconds before going on and placing it on top of her other two cards. As soon as she did that, she watched as a monster started to emerge from the Overlay Network.

"Come and rip through his forces, Black Ray Lancer!"

**Black Ray Lancer: ATK 2100 DEF 600 Rank 3**

As the Overlay Network continued to erupt colorful sparks, Kagura's Black Ray Lancer emerged from it and started flying next to her. While it did that, Takashi wondered why she would bring her one of her best monsters this early in the match. However, he soon decided to put that thought aside for now as worrying about it would only complicate things. Kagura is an extremely talented Duelist and he would have to be at his best if he wanted to defeat her. He couldn't afford to lose his focus, not even for an instant.

Meanwhile, as Takashi waited to see what she was going to do next, Kagura took the time to look over her hand. She had 4 cards left and only a few of them could be used at this moment. Because of that, the Twilight Duelist decided to wait and see what Takashi would do during his turn before making a move. To that end, she grabbed one card and inserted it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. This action caused a face-down card to appear beside her Duel Runner for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "With that, I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Takashi said. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Kagura: SPC – 2**

After drawing the top card of his deck and taking a look at it, Takashi glanced over at Kagura's side of the field and looked at her Black Ray Lancer. Due to the abilities that the Xyz Monster has, the Signer knew that he would have to take it out now before it could inhibit any of his monsters. Because of that, Takashi wasted no time and promptly inserted the card that he just drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"To start off, I activate the Speed Spell: Summon Speeder!" He declared. "Since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. In exchange, the summoned monster cannot attack this turn."

Upon explaining the effects of his Spell, Takashi grabbed one of the cards in his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. After he did that, the young man watched as a bright flash of light started shining across his side of the field.

"I Special Summon: Gagaga Gardna!"

**Gagaga Gardna: ATK 1500 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

When the light shining across his field started to fade away, Takashi's Gagaga Gardna appeared before him and the two started riding together on the track. As that happened, he continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone, right next to Gardna's card.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Goblindbergh!"

**Goblindbergh: ATK 1400 DEF 0 LVL 4**

As soon as he played his next card, Takashi watched as his Goblindbergh appeared before him and Gagaga Gardna in a bright flash of light. Like usual, it was carrying a crate with its fighter plane.

"When Goblindbergh is successfully summoned onto the field, its Special Ability allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!" He explained as he placed a card on his Duel Disk. "Appear now, Gagaga Magician!"

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

When Goblindbergh dropped the metal crate that it was carrying, Takashi watched as his Gagaga Magician appeared and started flying with his two other monsters. Now that all of them were out, the Signer could truly put his plan into motion. To that effect, he immediately stacked all three of his monster's cards on top of one another and watched as they started to transform.

"I Overlay my Level 4 Goblindbergh, Gagaga Gardna, and Gagaga Magician! With these 3 monsters, I build the Overlay Network. Xyz Summon!"

The three monsters complied with their master's order and quickly transformed into colorful orbs of light. Then, just what Kagura's monsters did earlier, they started flying across the field as they waited for the portal to the Overlay Network to appear. When the portal finally showed up, the three orbs dove into it and another eruption occurred as result.

As the eruption showered everyone in the crowd with colorful sparks, Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and looked at it for a moment. When he did, the young man recalled the moment when Enoch gave him two cards after their Duel in the Quarter-Finals. The card that he was holding was one of those cards and Takashi decided that now was the perfect opportunity to test it out. With that, he placed the card on top of his other three cards.

"Descend, Number 10: Illumiknight!"

**Number 10 – Illumiknight: ATK 2400 DEF 2400 Rank 4**

As the Overlay Network continued shooting out sparks, everyone in the stadium looked on in shock as a new monster emerged from it and appeared next to Takashi. It was a knight that was completely covered in armor and it was riding a horse that was also covered in armor. Also, on one of Illumiknight's shoulder plates was the number 10, indicating that it was indeed a Number Card.

Upon seeing that, almost everyone in the stadium jumped up in excitement. They had already known that Takashi had one Number Card in his possession, so the fact that he now had two was truly incredible. Even his friends were shocked by this revelation as they never seen him play Illumiknight before. However, all of them soon calmed down when they remembered that Enoch gave Takashi two cards shortly after their Duel. Upon remembering that, they soon turned their attention back towards the Turbo Duel so that they could see what type of powers Number 10 has.

"Alright," Takashi said, continuing on with his turn. "I activate Illumiknight's Special Ability! By using one of its Overlay Units, I can discard 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard in order draw 1 card from my deck!"

After explaining the effect of his newest Number, Takashi grabbed a card from his hand and placed it into his Graveyard. As soon as he did that, he then drew another card from his deck just after one of the Overlay Units that were surrounding Illumiknight entered its body. Once that was done, Takashi decided to turn his attention towards Kagura's Black Ray Lancer.

"Illumiknight," He called. "Attack Kagura's Black Ray Lancer…Radiant Sword Slash!"

Complying with Takashi's order, Illumiknight made its way over to Black Ray Lancer and began hitting it repeatedly with its sword. The sword strikes were so fast and elegant that nothing seemed to happen at first. However, it was only a delayed reaction as Black Ray Lancer soon exploded into several pieces. Force of that explosion knocked Kagura back a little, but she managed to regain herself rather quickly.

**Kagura: 3700 LP**

"With that, I end my turn," Takashi concluded.

Once he announced the end of his turn, Takashi looked over towards Kagura in order to get her reaction on his recent play. However, instead of seeing a look of shock and confusion, the Twilight Duelist remained unmoved and focused. It was like she already knew that he got a new Number Card and that she already had a way to get rid of it. That expression made Takashi somewhat afraid, but also very excited at the same time. As a result, a small smiled appeared on the Signer's face as he watched Kagura begin her next turn.

"It's my move," She said as she placed her hand upon her deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Kagura: SPC – 3**

Upon drawing her next card, Kagura looked at it for a second before placing it into her hand. She then turned her head towards Takashi and watched as he was slowly making his way up to her. Although she didn't show it on her face, Kagura was shocked that Takashi was able to bring out a new Number Card. However, the Twilight Duelist wasn't about to let this little development get in the way of her victory. Because of that, Kagura took a moment to think about what she should do in order to get rid of Number 10: Illumiknight.

After spending the next 30 seconds thinking about her strategy, Kagura figured out what she needed to do and immediately put her plan into motion. She started off by grabbing one of the cards that were in her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, she went on to gently place her hand upon her deck.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton!" She declared. "With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can now draw 2 cards from my deck at the cost of discarding 1 to the Graveyard."

Once she finishing explaining the effect of her Speed Spell, Kagura went on to draw 2 more cards from her deck and place them into her hand. She then went on to place one of the cards that were in said hand into the Graveyard before continuing on with her turn. Kagura's next move involved her taking one of the cards that she just drew and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Twilight Swordswoman!"

**Twilight Swordswoman: ATK 1600 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across Kagura's side of the field for a few seconds as her Twilight Swordswoman appeared and started flying beside her. Once it was out, Kagura then went on to take a card from her Graveyard and place it onto her Monster Card Zone, right next to Twilight Swordswoman's.

"When Twilight Swordswoman is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon Twilight Knight from either my hand or Graveyard!"

Another flash of light shined across Kagura's field as her Twilight Knight soon returned to her side. After it materialized onto the field, the Twilight Duelist then grabbed one more card from her Graveyard and went on to place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Now, I activate the Special Ability of my Sun Sprite Tuner Monster!" She announced. "When a Dark Attribute Monster is on my field, I can Special Summon this Tuner from my Graveyard!"

**Sun Sprite: ATK 100 DEF 100 LVL 1**

Unlike the other two flashes of light that shined across her field earlier, the summoning of Sun Sprite only produced a small light. When it eventually materialized onto the field, the monster's appearance resembled that of a small yellow fairy. It looked rather cute, but it wouldn't staying on the field for very long. The reason for that is because Kagura had plans for her monsters and promptly placed their cards into the Graveyard as a result.

"I Tune my Level 3 Twilight Knight and Level 4 Twilight Swordswoman with my Level 1 Sun Sprite!"

All three of Kagura' monsters complied with her order and immediately flew high into the air. Once all of them reached a certain height, they promptly began the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. It was here that Kagura grabbed another card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Light from the heavens and Darkness from the shadows, merge together and become the power that upholds justice! Synchro Summon! Show the road to dawn, Twilight Dragon!"

**Twilight Dragon: ATK 2700 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

When the Synchro ritual finally came to an end, a giant flash of light illuminated across Kagura's side of the field. When that light eventually faded away, Twilight Dragon appeared onto the field and started flying just above its master's head. The sight of the beast impressed most in the people in the crowd, but the one who was most impressed was Takashi, as he now had to figure a way to defeat it.

As he thought about what he should do to defeat Kagura's monster, the Twilight Duelist thought about what she should do next. There was no doubt that Twilight Dragon was going to defeat Illumiknight this turn, but the best that action would do reduce Takashi's Life Points so that it equal hers. She had to take advantage that her opponent had to no Spell or Trap Cards to defend himself with. Because of that fact, Kagura decided to respond by activating her face-down card.

"I now activate the Trap: Call of the Haunted!" She declared. "With it, I revive my Card Trooper from the Graveyard!"

After she played her Trap Card, a small portal from the card Graveyard appeared in front of Kagura as she continued to ride across the track. From that portal, Card Trooper reappeared and started riding next to its master and fellow monster. It was at that moment that Kagura placed her hand back on her deck and drew 3 cards.

"With my Trooper back on the field, I activate its Special Ability once again! I now discard the top 3 cards from my deck in order to increase Card Trooper's Attack Points by 1500!"

**Card Trooper: ATK 1900**

As she placed her 3 cards into the Graveyard, Kagura watched as her Card Trooper started glowing with its colorful aura again. Once that aura faded away, the young woman continued her turn by having her Twilight Dragon focus on Takashi's Illumiknight.

"Twilight Dragon," She called. "Attack Number 10: Illumiknight…Twilight Surge!"

Upon hearing its master's command, Twilight Dragon started gathering energy from inside of its body. When it finally built up enough power, the Dragon-Type monster fired an enormous blast of both positive and negative energy from its mouth. The blast struck Takashi's Illumiknight, destroying it completely.

**Takashi: 3700 LP**

"Now, with your monster out of the way, Card Trooper can go in and attack your Life Points directly!" Kagura pointed out.

Card Trooper turned its attention towards Takashi, just after it saw Twilight Dragon destroy his Illumiknight. It then prepared to attack him directly with its two laser cannons. However, before the attack could happen, Takashi immediately grabbed a card from his hand and placed it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I don't think so," He countered. "I activate the Special Ability of my Battle Fader! When I'm the target of a Direct Attack, I can Special Summon this card from my hand and end the Battle Phase!"

**Battle Fader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

A small flash of light shined across Takashi's field as his trusty Battle Fader appeared before him. Upon its arrival, Card Trooper ceased charging its lasers and began making its way back towards Kagura. The Twilight Duelist didn't react upon seeing her attack fail as she expected that it wouldn't be that easy to get at Takashi's Life Points. She would have to get at them in a unique way and she proceeded to do that by taking a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, the card appeared face-down beside her Duel Runner before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," She said. "With that, the effect of my Card Trooper ends, bringing its Attack Points back to their normal value."

**Card Trooper: ATK 400**

After Kagura ended her turn, Takashi watched as the Attack Points of her Card Trooper returned to their normal setting. The young man wondered why she would leave such a weak monster on the field, especially since almost any of his monsters were strong enough to take it down. Eventually, he came to realize that Card Trooper was bait. Kagura wanted him to destroy it so that its other effect could activate, allowing her to draw a card since it was destroyed through battle.

Having been playing Duel Monsters ever since he was a little boy, Takashi knew all too well that just one draw could change the outcome of a match. It can change victory into defeat and vice-versa. Because of that fact, Takashi decided that he needed to strike Kagura hard. He managed to take out a good portion of her Life Points then he could possibly take the advantage even if Kagura draws a useful card with Card Trooper's attack. It wasn't going to be easy and there was a chance that his plan might not work, but the Signer didn't have any other options right now.

"Here we go," He said as he placed his hand on his deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Kagura: SPC – 4**

Upon drawing his next card, Takashi glanced at it for a second and saw that it was just the card that he was hoping for. With it, he could bring out one of his best monster's that could allow him to turn this Duel around. To that end, he immediately placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Debris Dragon!"

**Debris Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as his mighty Debris Dragon appeared and started flying next to him and his Battle Fader. Once the monster was fully materialized onto the field, Takashi proceeded to grab one of the cards that were in his Graveyard. After taking a look at it, he placed the card firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When Debris Dragon is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard that has 500 or less Attack Points!" He explained. "I Special Summon: Tricular!"

**Tricular: ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL 3**

When Takashi placed the card onto his Duel Disk, Debris Dragon roared at the top of its lungs as a bright light shined next to it. As the light faded away, machine-like creature that was riding on three wheels appeared and started riding next its fellow monsters. Once it was out, Takashi looked toward all three of his monsters before taking their cards and placing them into his Graveyard.

"I now Tune my Level 1 Battle Fader and Level 3 Tricular with my Level 4 Debris Dragon!"

The three monsters complied with his orders and quickly jumped high into the air. Upon reaching a certain height, they quickly began to before the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. It was at that moment that Takashi grabbed another card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

When the Synchro ritual finally came to an end, a giant flash of light completely covered the Kaiba Dome for a few seconds. From that light, Stardust Dragon appeared and started roaring at the top of its lungs. After that, the dragon then turned its attention towards Kagura's Twilight Dragon and the two of them started facing off with one another.

As the two dragons looked at one another, Takashi felt a strong burning sensation coming from his right arm. When he looked down towards it, he saw that the pain that he was feeling was coming from his Signer Mark. From what he could tell, the reason why he was feeling this pain was due to the fact that Stardust Dragon and Twilight Dragon were so close to one another. It was just like the time when Stardust first faced off against Black Rose Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend. This sight, along with the fact that he could see a white mark beginning to appear on his opponent's back, once again confirmed that Kagura was indeed a Dragunity Knight.

"Alright," He said quietly to himself. "This is where the real battle begins. Stardust Dragon, attack Card Trooper…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust nodded its head in compliance and started gathering power from within its body as a result. As soon as it gathered enough power, the mighty Synchro Monster fired a blast of cosmic energy towards Card Trooper. However, just before the attack could hit, Kagura responded to Takashi's move by activating her face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Forceful Rebound!" She declared. "With it, the Battle Damage I take from your monster's attack is also reflected towards you!"

Takashi eyes widen as he listened to effect of Kagura's Trap Card. He then looked towards Card Trooper and watched as it was blown away by Stardust Dragon's Cosmic Flare attack. The explosion of the attack created a Sense blast that knocked Kagura for a loop. However, as the candle blows both ways, the Sense also struck Takashi, causing him to lose his balance as well. The two Turbo Duelists were able to regain the balance in the end, but the damage from that battle was done.

**Takashi: 1600 LP**

**Kagura: 1600 LP**

"_Amazing!" _The MC shouted over the loudspeaker _"Takashi Nakamura had hoped that the power of his Stardust Dragon would allow him to take the lead, but Kagura Toyoshima countered with her Trap Card! Now, both Duelists have the same amount of Life Points and have their Ace Monsters on the field. I have to tell you Ladies and Gentlemen, this is turning into one awesome match between these two evenly match competitors!"_

The crowd started cheering in agreement to the MC's words as all of them believed that he was right. Both Takashi and Kagura were giving it their all and the match just started only a few turns ago. This meant that things were only going to get even more exciting and all of them couldn't wait to see what kind of tricks these two Duelists will use during this match-up.

As the crowd continued to cheer for Takashi and Kagura, Goodwin simply smiled at the two of them as he watched the Duel from control room. He was able to feel the Reiatsu that both Duelists were giving off and saw that they were beginning to resonate with one another. That showed him that everything was going according to plan.

"Good work, you two," He said as he clapped silently. "You're making them very proud."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As the Turbo Duel to determine the first competitor to compete in the Finals continue, Takashi tries his best to convince Kagura that revenge isn't the answer. Will the Twilight Duelist listen to her opponent's advice or will Takashi become just another one of her victims._

_Also, as more of their past is shown, the true relationship between Takashi Nakamura and Kagura Toyoshima is revealed._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 83: The Star in the Twilight – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader here with a couple of quick announcements._

_First off, as my way of wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, I'm releasing a second Holiday Special for Over the Nexus. It should be out on Christmas Eve, December 24__th__, so please look out for it. Also if you have the time, please read the first Holiday Special and leave review to tell me how you like it._

_Second, I want to thank all of you for supporting Over the Nexus for as long as you have. This story almost has 500 reviews and there was no way it couldn't have gotten there without your help. Please continue to read and review this series as we get closer to the start of 2014._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	83. Chapter 83

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 83: **_The Star in the Twilight – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em>5 years ago<em>

_Takashi: 13-years-old_

_Kagura: 13-years-old_

_Toru: 15-years-old_

When you're trying to make friends with someone, it's usually best to try to get to know the individual first. By getting to know one another, they're able to reach a level of understanding that allows the bond that's forming between them to grow. Once the bond has reached a certain level of growth, the friendship between the individuals can truly blossom. It's for this reason that getting to know the person that you're trying to be friends with is crucial and should not be taken likely. If that step is not achieved then the likelihood of a friendship being formed is slim to none.

Ever since he was a little boy, Takashi has always gone out of his way to try to get to know the people that he wants to be friends with. He learned fairly quickly that forming a friendship isn't as easy as some people make it out to be. However, despite the trials that he had to go through in order to make friends, Takashi never gave up and his tenacity has allowed him to make lasting friendships with several people, including those individuals who are no longer alive. However, recently there's been one person that Takashi is really having a hard time being friends with. That individual is…Kagura Toyoshima.

Ever since he saved her from those Radley Family thugs, Takashi has tried his best to get to know Kagura. In the month that the future Signer has known her, he hasn't been able to get anything out of the future Dragunity Knight. He's tried being kind to her, telling jokes to her, and even telling her some things about himself. However, despite how hard he tries, Kagura simply refuses to respond to his attempts and continually asks him to leave her alone. Fortunately for Takashi, his stubborn streak prevented him from giving up and he swore that he would form some type of connection with Kagura before she returned to New Domino City.

As for Kagura, the young girl wasn't too happy with Takashi bothering her all the time. His constant attempts to make friends with her were annoying her considerably. All she wanted to do was hurry up and recover from her injuries. The reason why she left home in the first place was to find a particular group of individuals. Since she was certain that those individuals were not here in Crash Town, the young girl wanted to get better as soon as she could so that she could leave and return home. Unfortunately, Takashi's constant pestering was slowly down her recovery and that was bothering her greatly.

Eventually, as one month passed by and Kagura's injuries were mostly healed, Takashi's grandfather, Klaus, decided that now was the time to return the young girl back to her home in New Domino City. He informed her that they would be leaving early the next morning, which pleased Kagura greatly, even though she didn't show it on her face. However, Takashi wasn't happy to hear about this news as it meant that he only had one last chance in order to become Kagura's friend. Because of that, he worked all day, forming several plans in order to achieve his goal.

As the sun started to set over Crash Town, Takashi was busy forming another one of his plans while he waited for Klaus to finish dinner. As he worked, Toru was trying to figure out how one of parts of his broken Duel Runner worked. As he did that, the Scrap Duelist looked on at his step-brother and saw how intently he was working. Toru was used to that look as he knew that once Takashi sets his sights on something, he won't stop until he achieved it. However, something seemed off about this whole situation and Toru decided to ask Takashi about it.

"Hey bro," He started off. "Why don't you use those skills that Master Izumi taught you? She did say that they can be used to interrogate someone if they're used correctly."

"I can't do that," Takashi answered as he wrote something on a piece of paper. "Master told me that I can't use my training in these types of situations. I can only use them in self-defense or when helping another person. If I try and interrogate Kagura like how Master taught me, I would get into a lot of trouble. Besides…even if I did do that, I doubt that it would work."

"What do you mean?" Toru questioned.

Toru was confused by his brother's statement. Out of all the young individuals that Izumi took under her wing, Takashi was the only one to begin advance training, which he started back when was 12-years-old. Takashi would sometimes tell Toru about some of the things that he learned and the Scrap Duelist was very impressed. When he saw his younger brother put his training to actual use, Toru was even more impressed and started to wish that he hadn't quit Izumi's training when he had. So, when Toru heard that Takashi's training wouldn't help him in this situation, naturally he was shocked.

As for Takashi, the future Signer wasn't as shocked about this problem that he was facing. Although he couldn't quite explain, he sensed something strange about Kagura. Also, along with that strange feeling, the young boy also sensed something familiar about her too. He didn't quite know why he was having these feelings, but he did know that they were related to his problem. Because of that, Takashi knew that become friends with Kagura would be a difficult task and that he couldn't use the methods that Izumi taught him in order to help him. Whether he liked it or not, Takashi was forced to rely on his own power in order solve this particular problem.

"Okay…Dinner is ready!"

Upon finishing the meal that he prepared, Klaus called for everyone to come down to the kitchen in order to eat. When he smelled the scent of the food, Takashi knew right away that his grandfather prepared one of his favorite meals, miso ramen with roasted pork fillet. The mere smell of the meal was satisfying that he started drooling uncontrollably. It was only when Toru forcibly closed his mouth that Takashi stopped drooling and he finally made his way to the kitchen table.

Once he was there, Takashi sat down at the table and he was soon joined by Klaus and Toru. As soon as the two of them were there, Takashi grabbed a pair of chopped sticks and prepared to chow down on his meal. However, just before he could take the first bite of his ramen, Takashi stopped when he got a good look at the table. Despite the fact that a delicious meal was on the table, Kagura was nowhere to be found. Not having here bothered him a little, resulting in him losing his appetite.

"Where's Kagura?" He asked.

"I think she's on the roof," Klaus answered as he started to eat. "For the last two weeks, she's been sitting there around this time of the day. In fact, since she's been here, Kagura always ate when we finished eating."

After hearing his grandfather say that, Takashi looked down at the miso soup that was left for Kagura. As he stared at it, the young boy wondered why Kagura would spend all her time by herself. Were he and his family an inconvenience to her or was there something more to it than that. In the end, Takashi didn't know the answer to that question, but he was going to do everything within his power in order to find out.

To that end, Takashi got up from the table and grabbed the bowl of miso soup that he was about to eat. He then made his way over to Kagura's bowl and proceeded to pick it up as well. Once he had both bowls of soup in hand, Takashi began to make his way outside.

"Hey…where are you going bro?" Toru questioned.

"To the roof," Takashi answered. "I'm going to go eat with Kagura. You two go eat without us."

With that said, Takashi made his way outside and didn't look back. Upon seeing him leave, Klaus took a moment to think about the interactions his grandson was having with their guest. Ever since they met, Takashi has been trying to be Kagura's friend, but she's been fighting him the entire way. Though he didn't pay it no mind at first, Klaus sensed something very family between the two kids and simply let the two of them go about their business. He didn't know what this feeling was entirely, but Klaus believed that this was something that Takashi and Kagura had to get through and that it wasn't his place to interfere.

Soon, as he used to martial arts skills to make his way to the roof with the bowls of soup, Takashi saw that Kagura was busy staring at the sunset. As he looked towards the horizon as well, the young boy saw that it was indeed a beautiful sunset, but wondered why Kagura would let her dinner get cold in order to watch it. He soon decided to ask that question to her in person and soon made his way to the edge of the roof. Once he there, Takashi sat next to her and soon presented the young girl with her bowl of soup.

"Here," He said. "It's miso soup that my grandpa made. It's really good."

As he dangled the soup in front of her, Takashi waited to see a reaction from Kagura. However, nothing took place and Kagura simply continued staring at the sunset. Eventually, Takashi stopped trying to persuade her to eat and gently placed the bowl of soup on her lap. Once he did that, he looked towards the sunset and stared at it as he started to eat his dinner.

"Nice sunset," He said. "It's really pretty."

"…It's not a sunset. What I'm staring at is the twilight."

Takashi's eyes widen a bit as he just heard Kagura speak. He then looked towards her as she slowly, but surely, started to eat the ramen that he presented to her. As she ate, Kagura explained to her what she meant when she said that she was staring at the twilight.

"The Twilight is the one time in which day and night are intertwined with one another," She stated. "I've always enjoyed looking at it, so I make it a point to watch it whenever possible."

"I see…" Takashi said. "That's cool."

"…If you say so. Now…could you please leave? I want to be alone right now."

Kagura kept eating her miso soul as she continued staring at the twilight. As she did so, the young girl started thinking about the past. Upon doing so, Kagura started gritting her teeth a little as she stirred up some memories that she would really like to forget. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't forget them and they were causing her to slowly become angry. The reason why Kagura wanted Takashi to leave her alone was because he didn't want him to see her like this. This is especially true since he was the one who rescued her from the Radley Family a month ago.

However, despite being told to leave, Takashi stayed on the roof with Kagura. The future leader of the Signers saw the anger building up within Kagura and he wanted to know why she was acting this way. Also, Takashi could tell, even though that she wasn't aware of it, that Kagura was in desperate need of a friend. It's for this reason why he chose to stay with her, as he wanted to be the friend that she needed.

"So…what brought you to Crash Town?" He asked her. "Were you looking for something that was here?"

"…I wasn't looking for something," Kagura corrected. "I was looking for a certain group of people. However, while trying to look for them, I got lost and ended up here instead. So you see…I ended up here by accident."

"Oh…well, who are these people that you're looking for?" Takashi wondered. "Are they your friends?"

"Friend…? Don't be stupid! I'm looking for them because they're my friends. I'm looking for them…because I want to get revenge on them!"

Takashi looked at Kagura with a puzzled expression on his face as he wondered who she wanted to get revenge on. From what he could tell from just looking at her, these people must've done something really bad to her and now she was out for their blood. Just seeing that brought mixed feelings to Takashi's heart as he knows how she feels when it comes to revenge. However, he also knows the downsides that come with such a path and he decided to give Kagura his opinion on the matter.

"Well…I don't really know why you want revenge on these people, but I don't think it's a good idea," He said to her. "I mean, let's say you do get your revenge…what will you have left?"

"…Be quiet," Kagura told him. "You don't know anything about me, so don't talk to me like you know what I've been through."

Kagura was wrong about what she just said to Takashi. He does know how she feels as he lost someone very close to him. Ever since his crush, Hikari, passed away, Takashi has been tormented by that loss and has been desperately searching for a way to atone for that failure. As he searched for that answered, Takashi decided that he would do everything within his power to prevent others from experiencing the same heartbreak that he felt. By doing this, he was able to drive away those thoughts of revenge that dwelled inside his heart as he knew that Hikari wouldn't want him to take such a path.

As he continued thinking about that, Takashi took moment to look up towards the sky and watched as the darkness was beginning to consume the light. While he looked, the future Signer noticed something very interesting and it caused him to smile a little. He then continued to stare at it for about a minute before turning his attention towards Kagura.

"You're right," He said. "I don't know much about you or what happened that caused you to want to try and get revenge. However, this I do know. There's a lot of anger dwelling inside of you. But, inside of that anger, there's a light of hope that's just waiting to be revealed. I pray that light continues to shine, just like that star that's in the sky."

With that said, Takashi looked down towards his bowl of soup and saw that it was empty. Since he was still hungry, the young boy stood up and prepared to leave Kagura so that he could get some more ramen. As he did that, Kagura looked up towards the sky and single star shining in the sky. She then started thinking about what Takashi just said to her, especially the part about the light of hope that's dwelling within her. For some reason, those words caused her to feel something that she hadn't felt in a long time, much to her own shock and confusion. It's for that reason that Kagura presented her bowl towards Takashi, just before he left the roof.

"…More food please," She said.

"Cool…" Takashi smiled as he gently grabbed Kagura's bowl. "You see, I told you my grandpa's ramen was good."

"That's not it," Kagura pointed out. "I was born with an extremely high metabolism, so I have to eat a lot in order to keep myself from feeling sick."

"Is that so…" Takashi's smile slowly became bigger as he started to walk away. "I have a high metabolism too."

After telling her this, Takashi left the roof and got ready to get more ramen for himself and Kagura. Once he was gone, Kagura looked back towards the star that Takashi pointed out. She then recalled what he said about the light of hope that dwell within her and wondered if it really existed.

"…Vivi," She called quietly to herself. "Am I…doing the right thing?"

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

**Takashi: 1600 LP**

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

**Kagura: 1600 LP**

**Twilight Dragon: ATK 2700 DEF 2100 LVL 8**

"_Ladies and Gentlemen, in all my years of calling Turbo Duels, never in my life have I seen a contest this epic! Takashi Nakamura and Kagura Toyoshima have been giving it everything they have and not only are their Life Points the same, but also managed to bring out their respective Ace Monsters! The fire has truly been lit now and I can guarantee that the flames are only going to get hotter!"_

As the MC continued to shout out how much he was enjoying the match, everyone watching the Duel from inside the Kaiba Dome was cheering along with him. It was the first Duel of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals and the action has already reached the boiling point. Both Takashi and Kagura and exchanged and almost everyone watching believed that things were only going to get more epic and time passed by.

While all the spectators continued to watch the match, Takashi's friends quietly observed the contest from the stands. Like the rest, all of them were very impressed by the sight that they were seeing. Despite the fact that Kagura has more experience as a Turbo Duelist, Takashi's will and determination was allowing him to keep up with the Twilight Duelist. Because of his actions, all of his friends were very happy for him proceeded to root for him as he continued his Duel with Kagura. They knew that if he won this match, he would advance to the Finals and that was the one thing that they wanted for him.

Meanwhile, as the group watched the Duel from the stands, Rex Goodwin was busy observing it from his control room. The Director was also very impressed by the skills that Takashi and Kagura were displaying, but there was more to it than that. Goodwin was more impressed by the resonance of power that the two Duelists were emitting during their match. Because he needed a strong resonance of Reiatsu in order to fix the power flux of the Ener-D Reactor, Goodwin choose the two Duelists that he believed he could get the job done. Upon seeing that his choice wasn't misplaced, the Director looked on at Takashi and Kagura as the two continued their Turbo Duel.

"That's it," He said silently to himself. "Keep going, you two. You're making us very proud."

As Goodwin continued to watch the match from afar, Takashi was beginning to think about what he should do right now. It's currently his turn and he just destroyed Kagura's Card Trooper with the help of his Stardust Dragon. However, having seen through his plan, Kagura countered with the power of her Trap Card: Forceful Rebound. With it, the Battle Damage that she just received was also reflected onto Takashi, causing them to lose the same amount of Life Points.

When that happened, Takashi was both impressed and frightened by Kagura's skills. It was clear from this first couple of turns that Kagura is one of, if not the, strongest Duelists that he ever fought before. Her tactics were out of this world and she had monsters that were just as amazing, like her Twilight Dragon. Also, Kagura's emotionless expression made it extremely hard for Takashi to read her moves. Whenever he faces an opponent, whether it be a Duel or a regular fight, Takashi usually attempts to counterattack by reading their emotions. By figuring out the mindset of his foe, he could predict their moves and prepare his own moves in order to counter them. However…that wasn't the case with Kagura.

In this particular Duel, the Twilight Duelist was shutting out her emotions. Since she did that, Takashi had a hard time predicting her, which is one of the reasons why he failed to pick up her Trap Card on time. This realization bothered him greatly, but the frustrations that he was feeling was more than just him being upset by out things were turning out in this Duel. Before the match began, Kagura told him that she was going to use this Turbo Duel in order to determine which side Takashi was on. In her mind, Takashi was a shade of grey and she rejected such an existence. As a result, Kagura stated that if she determined that Takashi wasn't on the side in which she believed was right, she would kill him. For Takashi, this meant that had to figure out a way to defeat Kagura, otherwise this Duel could potentially be his last.

As he continued to think about this, Kagura turned her head a little and looked at Takashi as he attempted to keep up with her. The Twilight Duelist, even though she didn't show it on her face, was quite impressed that Takashi managed to push her this far. However, she was still conflicted on which side he was on. From what she saw the other day, it was clear to her that Takashi Nakamura was a person who fought for the safety of other people. However, he was friends with Lilly Muto and Crow Hogan, the individuals that Kagura believes were responsible for the death of her beloved cousin, Vivi. Because of that, Kagura had to determine which side her opponent was really on and she hoped that this Duel could provide her with an answer.

"I activate the effect of my Card Trooper," She declared as she placed her hand upon her deck. "Since you just destroyed it through battle, I can now draw one card from my deck!"

While Kagura drew a card from her deck, Takashi looked towards the cards that he currently had in his hand. As of right now, he had three cards and he had to make the most of all of them. Because of the abilities of Kagura's Twilight Dragon, Takashi couldn't activate any of his abilities carelessly. If he did, then the dragon would negate their effects and destroy them. He had to think strategically, which, fortunately for him, was something that he was good at, especially during a Duel.

To that end, Takashi took two of three cards and inserted them into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing so, the young man watched as two holographic cards appeared on both sides of his Duel Runner, in a face-down position. However, just as quickly as the cards appeared onto his side of the field, they just as quickly disappeared from sight. Once that happened, Takashi went on to end his turn.

"I set two cards face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

Once Takashi concluded his turn Kagura, who was still looking at him at the time, turned her attention towards her deck and gently placed her right hand upon it. As soon as she did that, the Twilight Duelist went on to draw another card.

"Then it's my turn," She stated. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Kagura: SPC – 5**

After watching her Speed Counter total increase by 1, Kagura placed the card that she just drew into her hand before proceeding to look over all of her cards. Like Takashi, Kagura knew that she had to think strategically if she wanted to win this Duel. However, unlike Takashi, the Twilight Duelist was aware that she had the advantage and she was planning to make the most of it. Because of that, Kagura decided that the best thing to do was to make her opponent use his face-down cards.

However, before she did that, Kagura also decided that it would be best to summon a monster onto her side of the field. After all, if her plan was successful, she could possibly end the Duel right here and now. And, even if that wasn't the case, it was good to fortify her forces so that Takashi couldn't get to her Life Points directly. To that end, she took one of the cards that was in her hand and placed it firmly onto her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon: King's Knight, in Attack Mode!" She declared.

**King's Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across Kagura's side of the field for a few seconds as her King's Knight appeared and started flying next to her as drove across the track. Once her knight was fully materialized, Kagura turned her attention towards Twilight Dragon and prepared herself to launch an attack.

"Twilight Dragon," She called. "Attack Stardust Dragon…Twilight Surge!"

Twilight Dragon nodded its head in response to Kagura's order and soon started gathering energy from within its body. Once it built up enough power, the powerful Synchro Monster unleashed a concentrated blast of positive and negative energy towards Stardust Dragon. When Takashi saw this, the Signer knew that he had to stop the attack and proceeded to activate one of his face-down cards as a result.

"Not so fast!" He shouted. "I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack! With it, I can stop your dragon's attack and end the Battle Phase!"

As Twilight Dragon's attack continued to make its way towards Stardust Dragon, Takashi watched as a powerful vortex appeared in between the two. The vortex seem prepared to intercept the blast and forcibly end Kagura's Battle Phase, but unfortunately, the Twilight Duelist had anticipated this and already had a countermeasure put into a place. That countermeasure was…the power of her Twilight Dragon.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Twilight Dragon!" Kagura declared. "By banishing a Dark Attribute Monster from my Graveyard, I can negate the effect of your Trap Card and destroy it!"

Following the conditions of her dragon's effect, Kagura proceeded to take one of the Dark Attribute Monsters that she had in her Graveyard and remove it from play. Once she did that, she watched as a dark aura covered her dragon's body for a few seconds. During that instance, the aura caused the vortex that Takashi created to disappear, allowing Twilight Dragon's attack on Stardust Dragon to continue uninterrupted.

When Takashi saw that, the Signer gritted his teeth in frustration. Although he could have negated Twilight Dragon's effect with the powers of his Stardust Dragon, Kagura would have used her dragon's other effect to destroy Stardust. That would result in him being wide open for a direct attack and with the amount of Life Points that he had left, Takashi couldn't let that happen. Because of that, he was left no choice but to activate his other face-down card.

"I may not be able to stop your dragon's attack, but I won't let it destroy Stardust!" He said. "I activate the Trap Card: Half Unbreak! With it, I can prevent Stardust Dragon's destruction and the Battle Damage that I take is cut in half!"

Just as Twilight Dragon's attack was about to connect with its target, a powerful veil of light surrounded Stardust Dragon. With the power of this veil, Stardust was about to endure the blast and come out of it unharmed. Also, the 200 points of damage that Takashi would have taken from this battle was not cut down to 100, causing the power of the Sense Blast that he received to be cut in half as well.

**Takashi: 1500 LP**

When Kagura saw Takashi get through her attack with so little cost to him, the Twilight Duelist glared at him slightly before deciding to continue on with her turn. Since she already attacked with Twilight Dragon, King's Knight was the only monster she had left that could battle this turn. However, the Attack Points of the Warrior-Type Monster was far too low to compete with Stardust Dragon. If it attacked, Stardust would destroy it and she would lose Life Points. Because of that, she chose to end her Battle Phase so her knight wouldn't sacrifice himself for nothing.

Once she did that, Kagura looked towards her hand in order to see what other moves she could make before she ended her turn. There was a possibility that Takashi would attack King's Knight on his next turn so she had to be ready for it. Also, Kagura feared that the destruction of her knight could possibly lead to something even worse. Because of that, she had to prepare herself for such an event and already had the card for the job.

To that end, Kagura took the card that she was pinning her hopes on and proceeded to insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone. She then watched as it materialized face-down, right beside her Duel Runner. As soon as the card disappeared from sight, Kagura looked towards the other cards that were in her hand and noticed that she didn't need to play them at this particular moment. Because of that, she decided to hand things back over to Takashi.

"I end my turn,"

"Then it's my turn again," Takashi pointed out as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Kagura: SPC – 6**

After drawing the top card from his deck, Takashi placed it into his hand before examining it and the other card that he had as well. Once he got a good look at both cards, the Signer then turned his attention towards Kagura's Twilight Dragon. Since it had the power to negate the activation of his Spell and Trap Cards, once per turn, Takashi decided that he needed to take advantage of that. Fortunately, even with the two cards that he had on him, Takashi knew that he could pull that off.

"Alright," He said as he inserted one of the cards into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I activate the Speed Spell: Change of Heart! By removing 2 of my Speed Counters, I can take control of one of your monsters until the End Phase of this turn and the monster I choose…is your Twilight Dragon!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

Upon activating his Speed Spell, Takashi watched as Twilight Dragon began to succumb to the effect of his Spell. As it began to make its way over towards him, Kagura realized what Takashi was trying to do. However, the Twilight Duelist was also aware that she had no choice in the matter. Because of that, she proceeded to grab another Dark Attribute Monster from her Graveyard.

"I activate my Twilight Dragon's Special Ability!" She declared. "I remove another Dark Attribute Monster from play in order to negate your Speed Spell's effect and destroy it!"

Once again, a dark aura began to cover Twilight Dragon's body as the beast attempt to resist the power of Takashi's Speed Spell. Upon successfully doing so, the dragon promptly returned to its master's side as she continued to ride around the race track. However, the negation of Takashi's first Speed Spell was all a part of his overall strategy. Since he made Kagura use her dragon's dark effect, she couldn't use it again this turn, thus allowing him to activate his other card.

"Thanks for that," He said. "Now, I activate the Speed Spell: Cards of Sanctity! Since I have 4 or more Speed Counters, both of us must draw until we each have 6 cards in our hand!"

Kagura looked at Takashi with a silent expression on her face as she proceeded to draw until the number of cards in her hand reached 6. As she did that, the young woman realized that Takashi had figured out the powers of her Ace Monster and was now using its weaknesses to his own advantage. Kagura knew that things would become troublesome if this continued and thus silently waited for her opponent to make the move that she expected him to make. Only then could she truly take control of this Turbo Duel.

Meanwhile, as Kagura waited for her chance, Takashi finished drawing cards from his deck. Since he had no cards when he first activated Cards of Sanctity, the young man now had 6 cards that now made up his hand. Upon looking at them, Takashi saw that these cards could really help him out, especially one that he saw in the far right corner. With that card, he could once again take advantage of his opponent's monster and possibly destroy it. However, before he could activate it, he had to use another card, which he proceeded to place onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Queen's Knight!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

After placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Takashi watched as a bright flash of light shined across his side of the field. When the light faded away, Queen's Knight appeared and started flying next to him and Stardust Dragon. As she did that, Queen's Knight turned her attention towards Kagura's King's Knight. Normally, these two warriors would be fighting on the same side, but things were different now. Unbeknownst to them however, Takashi was planning on using the two knights together and went on to do so by first inserting a card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"With my Queen's Knight now on the field, I now activate the Speed Spell: Xyz Light Ritual!" He stated. "This unique Speed Spell can only be activated when I have 4 or more Speed Counters. With it, I can now use a monster on my field and a monster on your field in order to Xyz Summon a Rank 4 or lower Light Attribute Monster! So…I Overlay my Level 4 Queen's Knight with your Level 4 King's Knight!"

Everyone watching from inside the Kaiba Dome looked on as Takashi's Queen's Knight and Kagura's King's Knight transformed into bright colorful orbs of light. As soon as that transformation was complete, the two orbs started flying all across the stadium just as the portal to the Overlay Network materialized right in front of Takashi's Duel Runner.

"With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

When the portal fully emerged onto the field, the two orbs stopped flying around and began to make their way inside of it. Upon entering it, a giant eruption of light occurred, showering everyone with colorful sparks. It was during this moment that Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the Warrior of Hope, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

Upon calling out the name of his Xyz Monster, Takashi watched Number 39: Utopia emerged from the portal and started flying before him and Stardust Dragon. As the crowd looked on in awe at the sight of the two monsters, Takashi looked towards Kagura and wondered how she would respond. With his two Aces on the field, it seemed clear to him that he had the advantage. However, Kagura didn't show any sign of fear on her face. She kept her cool and remained silent, once again making it hard for Takashi to figure out what her motives really are.

Eventually, Takashi decided that he couldn't let Kagura's lack of emotions get the better of him. He needed to focus on what was going on right now, otherwise he could lose the Duel. To that end, he grabbed one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing so, he watched as the card appeared face-down on his side of the field for a few seconds before eventually disappearing. Once that happened, Takashi revved up his Duel Runner and began closing the distance between himself and his opponent.

"Because I used Xyz Light Ritual to summon Utopia, I can't attack this turn," He explained. "So, I'm setting one card face-down and ending my turn."

After Takashi concluded his turn, Kagura took a moment to look at her Duel Runner's display screen. When it revealed the face-down card that her opponent just set, Kagura believed that it was the card that could help her turn this Duel in favor. The fact that Takashi brought out Utopia was a testament to this belief as she felt that he would somehow bring out another one of his prominent monsters. Now with Stardust Dragon and Number 39: Utopia on the field, Kagura felt primed to destroy them both and she prepared herself to do just that.

"It's my turn," She said to herself. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Kagura: SPC – 7**

Upon drawing a card from her deck, Kagura looked towards Stardust Dragon and Utopia and wondered which monster she should attack. Although the choice didn't mean much as the same result would happen in the end, the Twilight Duelist felt that she needed to be careful about her decision. Eventually, Kagura decided to focus her attention towards Stardust Dragon, as she hopes that targeting it would prompt Takashi to use Utopia in order to defend it.

"Twilight Dragon," She called. "Go and attack his Stardust Dragon!"

Twilight Dragon complied with Kagura's demand and soon started to gather energy once again. Once it built up enough power, the Synchro unleashed another blast of positive and negative energy towards Stardust. For both Takashi and Kagura, this was exactly the moment that they've been waiting for.

"I activate Utopia's Special Ability!" Takashi declared. "By using one Overlay Unit, Utopia can negate your dragon's attack!"

"I don't think so," Kagura countered. "If that's the case, I'm activating my Twilight Dragon's second Special Ability! By banishing a Light Attribute Monster in my Graveyard from play, I can negate the effect of your Utopia and destroy it!"

When both Duelists activated the Special Abilities of their monsters, Takashi and Kagura watched the following action take place. Just as one of the Overlay Units that were circling its body entered its chest plate, Number 39: Utopia suddenly found itself unable to move as Twilight Dragon's body started radiating a bright white color. Upon seeing that, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face as he knew that he had Kagura now.

"You fell for it!" He shouted. "I knew that you were going to do that, so I'm activating my Stardust Dragon's Special Ability! By sacrificing itself, Stardust can negate Twilight Dragon's effect and destroy it!"

Once he finished explaining the effect of his dragon, Takashi watched as Stardust started glowing like a star. As the light that was coming from it started to overpower Twilight Dragon's light, Stardust Dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs. When that happened, the smile that was on Takashi's face slowly became bigger as he knew that with Twilight Dragon gone, Kagura's defeat was almost guaranteed. However, unfortunately for him though, Kagura saw through his tactic and promptly implemented her countermeasure.

"I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Dark Void!"

Upon hearing her say that, Takashi's eyes widen from shock as he watch a dark orb beginning to surround his Stardust Dragon. The darkness that the orb was giving off was causing Stardust's light to fade. Eventually the light faded way completely, effectively stopping Stardust Dragon from using its Special Ability. It was at that moment that Kagura continued explaining the effect of her Speed Spell.

"This card can only be activated by removing 3 of my Speed Counters," She explained. "With it, during the Battle Phase, I can negate the effect of one of my opponent's monsters!"

**Kagura: SPC – 4**

As the dark orb that was enclosing it started to shrink, Stardust Dragon did everything within its power in order to try and escape. However, despite the strength of the powerful Signer Dragon, it simply wasn't enough to free it. Because of that, Takashi was forced to watch Utopia fall prey to Twilight Dragon's powers and proceed to continue its attack towards Stardust.

Because of Kagura's ingenious tactic, Takashi was now left with no choice but to use his other face-down card. Although he was hoping to save it for later moment, he knew that he didn't have any other choice right now. If he didn't use it, Stardust Dragon would be destroyed and his field would be completely empty. Not wanting that to happen, Takashi gritted his teeth and went on to activate his other face-down card.

"I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate!" He said. "With it, I evolve my dragon into Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode!"

"No you won't!" Kagura shouted as she activated her own face-down card. "I activate the Counter Trap: Curse Transfer! This card allows me to use your Trap Card as if it were my own. So, I evolve Twilight Dragon into Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3200 DEF 2600 LVL 10**

With the power of her Trap Card, Kagura watched as the power of Takashi's Assault Mode Activate was being applied to her Twilight Dragon instead of her opponent's Stardust Dragon. As her monster's Assault Armor was being placed onto its body, Kagura's Dragunity Knight Mark fully appeared onto her back. She then turned her Duel Runner around and started drifting backwards as she and her dragon turned their attention towards Takashi and Stardust.

As they did that, Takashi looked on in disbelief as his Signer Mark glowed, resonating with Kagura's Mark. Despite all his planning, Kagura used his strategies against him and now he was the one who at a disadvantage. Now, with Stardust Dragon's effects negated and no cards on the field to counterattack, Takashi could only look on as Kagura started making her way towards him.

"When Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode is successfully summoned," She started off. "I can banish one monster on your side of the field and deal you damage equal to half of its Attack Points!"

As Kagura continued to make her way towards Takashi, her Dragunity Knight Mark started glowing brighter as a white aura surrounded her body. It was at that moment that Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode used its powers to send Stardust Dragon to another dimension. The act created an explosion which Kagura directed fully towards Takashi using the power of her Sense. The force of the Sense Blast and the explosion threw Takashi for loop and he soon found himself coughing up blood as he began to lose control of his Duel Runner.

**Takashi: 250 LP**

Once she finished launching her Sense, Kagura turned her head back around and quickly passed by Takashi as he continued to wobble around the racetrack. As she turned her head to face him, Kagura wondered if Takashi would regain his balance or crash into the security wall that he was heading for. Eventually, the young woman discovered that it was the former as Takashi used what little strength he had left to regain himself and avoid the wall. Upon seeing him do that, Kagura turned her head back around and started widening the gap that she created between the two of them.

While Takashi, although he was very tired and sore all over, attempted to reach his opponent, a large pop erupted from the crowd. All of them were amazed by the turn of events that they just witnessed. Like Takashi, they initially believed that he had Kagura right where he wanted her. However, in reality, Kagura was one stringing Takashi right in the palm of her hand. Now, not only does she have her strongest monster on the field, but also had a considerable lead in terms of Life Points as well.

As the crowd started cheering for the Twilight Duelist, Takashi's friends were beginning to wonder what he could do in order to turn this situation around. Since he was only one who saw Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode in action, they all believed that Takashi was the only real one who had any idea on how to defeat it. However, with Utopia destroyed and Stardust banished from the Duel, Takashi wasn't left with a lot of options. This worried them greatly and as a result, all of them silently preyed that their friend would pull out one of his miracles and somehow turned this Duel around.

Back at the racetrack, life was beginning to return to Takashi's eyes as he began to recover from Kagura's attack. Having been battered, bloodied, and beaten by a large number of things, Takashi could honestly say that Kagura's Sense was one of the most painful things that he ever experienced. It only lasted for an instant, but for him, it felt like forever. This was due to the fact that Kagura's Sense was extremely dense and thus, while he was struck by it, Takashi felt like things were slowing down for him. However, during that moment of anguish, Takashi felt something else about Kagura's Sense.

In that moment, Takashi felt despair. However, it wasn't his own despair that he was feeling, but Kagura's. He felt years of suffering coming from Sense, allowing him to fully understand the pain that lay within his opponent's heart. It was here that he realized why Kagura is so desperate to achieve her goal of revenge. Though avenging Vivi was part of it, what Kagura really wanted was to rid herself of the pain and suffering that she was feeling and she felt that killing the members of Team Satisfaction would allow her to do that.

Takashi felt for Kagura as he knew exactly what she's going through. However, he also knows that the path that she's currently taking is the wrong one. As a result, Takashi motivation to save Kagura from her path increase and he soon began to slowly close the distance between himself and her.

When Kagura saw that Takashi was beginning to catch up with her, the Twilight Duelist turned her head in order to see what was happening. Upon getting a good look at his face, Kagura saw that the look in Takashi's eyes were different from before. Instead of being the eyes of someone trying to win, they were now the eyes of someone trying to save another. Kagura wondered why Takashi would have such look, especially since he was on the verge of losing. Eventually, she decided to put that thought aside for now and conclude her turn.

"Since I used Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode's summoned effect, I can't conduct my Battle Phase this turn," She explained. "So, I end my turn."

Once Kagura ended her turn, Takashi revved his Duel Runner once more as he began to speed up. Though the distance between him and Kagura was still great, he was making progress. The Signer felt that he couldn't let himself fall behind anymore as he knew just what he was fighting for in this Duel. He had to win. Not for himself or for his friends, but for Kagura.

"It's my turn," He said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Kagura: SPC – 5**

Upon drawing the top card from his deck, Takashi examined it very closely. He then took a moment to examine all the other cards that were in his hand before forming a flow chart from within his mind. As electricity flowed through the chart, several cards revealed themselves to Takashi. When it finally came to an end, Takashi saw a ghostly image of his Stardust Dragon appear before him.

Once he finished formulating his plan, Takashi turned his attention towards Kagura's Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode. Although he fell for Kagura's tactics once, he was not about to let it happen again. If there was one thing that Takashi always did well during a Duel, it was learning from his mistakes. He wasn't about to let Kagura's strategies get the better of him again. He was going to overcome them and that started right now.

So, after putting the card that he drew into his hand for a moment, Takashi proceeded to grab another one of his cards. He then went on to place it face-down on his Monster Card Zone in a horizontal position. This action caused a horizontal face-down card to materialize right in front of his Duel Runner. Once he did that, Takashi then took two more cards, one of which was the one of just drew, and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. The two cards materialized next to his Duel Runner in a face-down position before eventually disappearing.

"I set monster face-down in Defense Mode," He said. "Then, I set two cards face-down. With that, I end my turn."

As soon as he stated that he ended his turn, Takashi once again revved up his Duel Runner and continued to make his way towards Kagura. While he rode across the track, his friends started to sense an incredible power coming from him. Although most of them lacked the training to sense Reiatsu, they were still able to feel his power. Just feeling the warmth of Takashi's Reiatsu gave them a renewed sense of confidence as now felt that he had everything under control and that it wouldn't be too much longer until he won this Duel.

While all of them looked on with smiles on their faces, Kagura wasn't as happy as they were. The Twilight Duelist was also able to sense the strength and confidence that came with Takashi's Reiatsu and wondered why she was sensing it. Also, when she turned to face him again, Kagura also noticed that Takashi's eyes were burning with a fiery determination. Even though she was defeating him, Takashi wasn't upset about it and that was beginning to get to her.

"…What is this?" She asked. "How can you look so confident, especially when you're so close to losing?"

"That's simple," Takashi answered. "It's because I'm facing a strong opponent. You see, I Duel for two reasons. The first one is to have fun while the second one is to protect others. In both cases, when the opponent that I'm facing is extremely powerful, I get extremely excited and that motivates me to bring out my full power. However…there's one time that I can't do that and that's when…I'm fighting for revenge."

Kagura's eyes widen slightly upon hearing Takashi say that he doesn't fight for revenge. She then watched Takashi as he closed and started thinking about the past. The most notable thing that Takashi was thinking about was the feelings he had shortly after Hikari's and Riku's deaths. During that time, he was consumed with thoughts of vengeance as he wanted some type of retribution for his friends. However, Takashi eventually realized that doing that would be the wrong thing to do.

"Fighting for the sake of revenge isn't that great," He said, continuing on with his explanation. "All that you're really doing is achieving your own personal satisfaction. You're not really fighting for the person you're trying to avenge, as you're now simply fighting for yourself. I know for a fact that the people we lost, but are still looking out for us, would be disappointed if we chose to live such a life. Hikari and Riku would be upset if I did…and I know that Vivi would be upset with you if you continue down that path."

Takashi's words, albeit with good intentions, struck a chord within Kagura. If there was one thing that she didn't like it was people saying that Vivi would be disappointed at her, especially when it came to avenging her death. As a result, the Twilight Duelist violently gritted her teeth and proceeded to glare at Takashi. All of her anger caused her Dragunity Knight Mark to shine even more brightly than ever, as well causing the white aura that was surrounding her to consume her entire body.

"That's it," She said. "I've done with you telling me that my path is wrong! You may say you know I feel, but you don't! I'm going to make you shut up once and for all, Takashi Nakamura!"

As Kagura's aura continues to resonate around her, Takashi went on to bring out his own blue aura. He then gripped the handles of his Duel Runner as he watched his opponent place her hand upon her deck.

"It's my turn," Kagura stated. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 7**

**Kagura: SPC – 6**

Upon drawing a card from her deck, Kagura immediately placed it into her hand before grabbing another card and placing it firmly onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, a bright flash of light shined across her side of the field for a few seconds.

"I summon: Armageddon Knight!"

**Armageddon Knight: ATK 1400 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

When the light that was shining on her field started to fade away, a powerful dark warrior emerged onto Kagura's side of the field. He had long black hair and had a fairly muscular build. Also, he was warrior a frightening dark armor, making his overall appearance even scarier. Once Armageddon Knight was fully materialized onto the field, Kagura then started to press some buttons on her Duel Runner.

"When Armageddon Knight is successfully summoned, its Special Ability allows me to send a Dark Attribute Monster from my deck to my Graveyard!"

After she continued pressing buttons for a few more seconds, a single card popped out from the middle of Kagura's deck. The Twilight Duelist then immediately took the card and placed it into her Graveyard. Once she did that, Kagura then turned her attention towards Takashi's face-down monster.

"Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode," She called. "Attack his face-down creature…Twilight Spiral!"

Twilight Dragon complied with Kagura's order and proceeded to fire a concentrated spiral of positive and negative energy towards Takashi's face-up monster. When the attack landed, a giant explosion surrounded Takashi and Kagura believed that she successfully destroyed her opponent's only means of defense. However, as the smoke began to clear, Kagura quickly found out that she was wrong as it was revealed that the monster she just attacked was a Shield Wing.

**Shield Wing: ATK 0 DEF 900 LVL 2**

"Sorry Kagura," Takashi said in a slight sarcastic tone. "But due to my Shield Wing's Special Ability, you'll have to attack it three times if you want to destroy it!"

Kagura gritted her teeth some more as she annoyed that Takashi had such a bothersome monster in his deck. With only two monsters on her field, she didn't have the means to destroy Shield Wing this turn. As a result, the Twilight Duelist was reluctantly forced to end her Battle Phase. She then continued on with the rest of her turn by taking one card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. The card then appeared face-down, right in front of her Duel Runner, before eventually disappearing.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," She said in a disgruntled tone of voice.

Once Kagura ended her turn, Takashi looked towards his deck and stared at it for a few seconds. Although he managed to get by this turn, it wouldn't take her long to get by the defenses of his Shield Wing. Everything was literally riding on his next draw. However, despite the odds that he was facing, Takashi did not waver. Deep within his heart, he believed completely in his victory and his powers promptly responded to that will.

"It's my turn," He said. "I Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 8**

**Kagura: SPC – 7**

As he prepared to draw a card from his deck, Takashi's right hand started glowing very slightly. The light was so faint that he didn't notice it as he placed his hand upon his deck. However, despite how faint it was, this power brought force the card that he needed in order for him to win the Duel. Because of that, as he looked at the card, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face. He then went on to place the card into his hand before activating one of his face-down cards.

"To start things off, I activate the Trap Card: Return from the Different Dimension!" He stated. "By cutting my Life Points in half, I can Special Summon my banished Stardust Dragon back to the field until the End Phase of this turn."

**Takashi: 125 LP**

As a painful red aura surrounded Takashi's body for a moment, a giant portal from another dimension suddenly appeared onto the field. From inside the portal, Stardust Dragon could be heard as the beast prepared itself to break free from its prison and return to its master. Unfortunately for Stardust, Kagura was about to derail its escape plans.

"I activate Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability!" She declared. "By banishing a Dark Monster from my Graveyard, I can negate your Trap's effect and remove it from play!"

Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode started roaring at the top of its lungs as it used its powers to close the portal that Takashi created, effectively preventing Stardust Dragon from escaping. However, despite his first attempt being lost, Takashi was already one step ahead and went on to insert a card from his hand into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Thanks for that," He said. "Now that you used your dragon's effect, I can play this without any problems. I activate the Speed Spell: Star of Hope! By removing 6 of my Speed Counters, I can banish one the monsters I have on the field in order to Special Summon one monster that's already been banished. In exchanged, the two monsters must have the same Attribute. My Shield Wing and Stardust Dragon are both Wind Attribute Monsters, so I use this Spell's effect in order to have them swap places!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

As the people in the stadium looked on in anticipation, Takashi's Shield Wing suddenly disappeared from the field. Once that happened, the sky above him started to crack. When Kagura saw this, the Twilight Duelist was initially confused by what was going on. However, as pieces of the sky began to fall towards the ground, the young woman suddenly heard Stardust Dragon's cry. Hearing it caused her to glare at Takashi as his trusted partner emerged from the hole in the sky and promptly returned to his side.

"Stardust," He called. "Attack Kagura's Armageddon Knight…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust Dragon nodded its head and soon started gathering cosmic energy from within its body. Once it built up enough of that energy, the powerful Synchro Monster prepared to unleash it towards Armageddon Knight. It was at that moment that Kagura activated the face-down card that she set on her previous turn.

"Not so fast!" She said. "I activate the Trap Card: Sakuretsu Armor! With it, since you just declared an attack, your Stardust Dragon is destroyed!"

"…I won't let that happen!" Takashi countered. "I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability! I release in order to negate the effect of your Trap Card and destroy it!"

Stardust Dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs as it prepared to use its powers to negate Kagura's Trap at the cost of its own self. However, just as it was about to do that, the Twilight Duelist went on to put her final plan into motion.

"I activate Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode's final effect!" She declared. "By removing my final Light Attribute Monster from play, I can negate Stardust Dragon's effect and banish it from the Duel! Not only that, you'll take damage equal to your monster's Level, multiplied by 100 points! Stardust Dragon is a Level 8 Monster, meaning that you'll lose 800 Life Points!"

Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode started roaring just as its body was being covered by a blinding light. As the light consumed the entire battlefield, Stardust Dragon disappeared, much to the shock of everyone watching from the stands. Believing it to be the effect of her monster, Kagura promptly turned her Duel Runner around and began making her way towards Takashi. As she did that, the young woman started building up her Sense again.

"This is the end," She said quietly. "You lose…Takashi Nakamura."

"…That's what you think,"

Kagura's eyes widen suddenly as she was shocked by what Takashi just said to her. However, that shock was soon overshadowed by what she just saw. Just as she was making her way towards Takashi, a ghostly version of Stardust Dragon appeared before her. As the dragon stood in front of her, Kagura was wondering just what the hell was going on. It was here that Takashi explained the situation to her.

"At the moment you activated your dragon's effect, I activated the Trap Card: Space Jump!" He said. "Since Twilight Dragon/Assault Mode attempted to banish Stardust during my Battle Phase, Space Jump removed Stardust before that could happen. Now, due to the second effect of my Trap Card, you take damage equal to Stardust Dragon's Attack Points!"

As the ghostly Stardust Dragon prepared to attack Kagura, Takashi surrounded himself with his Sense before diving into the space in between his and Kagura's Sense. Once he did that, the Signer then combined the two Senses together and prepared to slam all of it towards Kagura.

While Takashi prepared to do that, Kagura suddenly broke down in a cold sweat. She thought that she had this Duel well in hand, but her opponent suddenly turned the tables of her. She soon started swinging her head around very frantically, almost like she was trying to look for something that she just couldn't find.

"Help me…Vivi," She thought. "I need you to lend me your strength! If you're encouraging me and smiling at me, I know that I won't lose to anyone. No matter how strong the opponent, your love gives me the strength to overcome them. So please help me. HELP ME, VIVI!"

As Kagura mentally screamed for her cousin's help, the Twilight Duelist saw a shadowy image of Vivi appear just in front of Stardust Dragon. However, she wasn't smiling nor was she about to give her encouragement. Vivi simply stared at Kagura with a disappointed look on her face. Just seeing that expression broke Kagura's will and she soon let go of the handles of her Duel Runner just as Takashi assaulted her with his Cross Sense.

**Kagura: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>It's over! In an incredible come from behind victory, the winner of first Semi-Final contest is Takashi Nakamura!"<em>

Once the MC declared Takashi the winner of the Duel, everyone in the stands jumped out of their seats and started screaming at the top of their lungs. Although this was just the first match of the Semi-Finals, the action that they just witnessed made it seemed like it was the title match for the Duel King crown. Both Duelists were giving it their all, not letting up a single inch. It could have gone either way, but on this day, Takashi Nakamura was the one who came out victorious. With this victory, Takashi was now just one win away from winning the Fortune Cup and facing Alistair Miles for the title of Duel King.

As the crowd continued to cheer for him, Takashi stopped his Duel Runner and soon started breathing rather heavily. Although the Cross Sense that he just used against Kagura wasn't perfected, its progress only being about 80%, it still took a lot out of him. This was due to the fact that he was being struck by Kagura's Sense as he was trying to take control of it. Since Cross Sense involves takes controls of his opponent's Sense and combines it with his own, the chances are pretty high that the Sense he takes control of will still harm him in a way. Because of that, the amount of damage that his body endures will be quite taxing and it will only get worse if his opponent's Sense surpasses his own.

While he continued catching his breath, Takashi slowly lifted up his head and started looking around for Kagura. When he first struck her with his Cross Sense, he blacked out for a moment and lost sight of her as a result. He wanted to make sure that she was okay, as it was never his intention to harm her. All he wanted to do was sure her that the path that she was taking was wrong and that she needed to find one that didn't involve taking revenge for Vivi's death. When he eventually caught sight of her, Takashi saw that his actions had a mixed result on the Twilight Duelist.

It was revealed, as she slowly got up from the ground, that Kagura very upset with what just happened and had a rather violent expression on her face. To Takashi, it seemed like Kagura was second away from snapping and killing him in her enraged state. However, the Signer knew that the Dragunity Knight wouldn't do such a thing. The first reason for that is because she was too weak, Takashi's Cross took a lot out of her as she using all the energy she had just to keep herself up. The second reason was the look in her eyes.

Even though she looked angry, the look in Kagura's eyes made Takashi realize that she was very confused. Their Duel, at least in a small way, has shown her that the path that she was taking was not the correct one. As a result, Kagura was now unsure on what she should do and how she should go about doing it. That was the reason why Kagura was glaring at Takashi, because she was blaming him for the conflicted feelings that she was now having.

"…Takashi…Nakamura….!"

Although she was completely exhausted and her beliefs now disturbed, Kagura was determined to face Takashi. If the way she went about going things were really wrong, the Twilight Duelist needed to ask Takashi his opinion about it. She needed an answer, otherwise she would most likely go insane. Because of that, Kagura slowly made her way to Takashi, even though it literally pained her to do so.

While he watched her do that, Takashi simply stood there and continued to look at the conflicted expression that was written on Kagura's eyes. As he stated time and time again, he felt for her as she knew how she felt. Also, because he met her a couple of years ago, Takashi felt somewhat responsible for Kagura. If he had simply done more for her back then, perhaps she have taken her road of vengeance in the first place. It's because of that guilt that he decided to talk to her once more and hopefully give her the answer that she's desperately searching for.

"Kagura…I…"

Just as he was about to tell her something, Takashi felt an immense pain from his right arm. As everyone, including Kagura, looked on in shock, Takashi fell to the ground as blood started squirting out from his arm. As the blood split onto the track, Takashi held his arm and realized that he was shot. The pain from his injuries and his desire to help Kagura caused him to not realize that someone was targeting him. The question was, who was targeting him and why?

As he attempted to pull himself back up, both he and Kagura soon noticed three individuals making their way towards the both of them. All of them hat guns in their hands and Takashi noticed that the individual in the middle was the one who shot him, due to barrel of his guns giving off a light smoke. He attempted to get up and confront them, but the pain of his injuries forced him back on the ground. He could only watch as the individuals started shooting towards his and Kagura's feet.

"That was a nice Duel, you two," The middle individual said as his twirled his gun around. "As a reward…how about we end your lives!"

The individuals continued shooting by Takashi's and Kagura's feet, trying to intimidate the two. As they did that, some of the people in stands got scared and started running for their lives. While they ran, Takashi's friends got tired of sitting and got ready to help him. However, their attempts were delayed when the people who leaving started blocking them. The only ones who managed to break free was Lilly and Crow, who attempted to reach the area where Takashi and Kagura were before the thugs could kill them.

Back at the stadium floor, Takashi once again attempted to get back up to his feet, but his injuries caused him to fall to the ground. As blood continued to pour from his damaged arm and his vision started fade, the thug who shot him began to make his way towards him. While he did that, Takashi saw a snake tattoo on the thug's arm, indicating the individuals were members of the recently defeated Silent Cobras. Upon seeing that tattoo, this entire situation quickly started to make sense to Takashi, although he was far too weak to do anything about it.

Eventually, as the thug made his way towards the weaken Signer, he soon pointed his gun towards Takashi's head. After that, he gently placed his finger by the trigger and was about to pull it.

"Those who mess interfere with the affairs of the Silent Cobras will not be forgiven," He said in a menacing tone of voice. "Do you have any last words before you die?!"

"…I do," Takashi said as he struggled to keep himself from passing out. "But I have no intention…of telling you what they are!"

Annoyed with the young man's lack of respect, the thug prepared him to pull the trigger of gun and end Takashi's life. However, before he could do so, something unexpected happened. At the last second, Kagura made her way towards the thug and knocked the gun out of his hands with her sword, Shusui. Once she did that, Kagura punched the thug dead in face, sending him flying into the security wall.

Upon seeing their leader get knocked down, the other two thugs soon turned their attention towards Kagura and prepared to shoot her with their weapons. Although the Twilight Duelist noticed them, her act spent all the energy she had left. As a result she fell to both of her knees and watched as the thugs were about to shoot her. Fortunately, just before they pulled the trigger of their guns, Crow and Lilly finally appeared.

The two Signers knocked the guns out of the thugs' hands and immediately started beating the life out of them. When Kagura saw that, the young woman was in disbelief. She had considered Lilly and Crow her enemies and even told the both of them that she was going to take their lives. Yet, despite that threat, the two of them were saving her from being killed. It was practically unbelievable and eventually, Kagura confronted them about it.

"Why…why did you do that?"

Upon hearing Kagura's question, Lilly and Crow looked at one another for a moment just Toru, Akiza, and the others appeared to help Takashi. When the two of them turned their attention back towards Kagura and saw the confused look on her face, Crow decided that he will be the one to speak up first.

"It's because…we couldn't stand there and watch as you and Takashi were about to be killed," He explained. "No matter what may have happened between us, we don't want to see you die, Kagura."

"…Don't give me that crap!" Kagura shouted as she slowly got back to her feet. "After what you and your friends did, do you expect that this little gesture will be enough?! Do you honestly realize what you did to me? What you did to, Vivi! Team Satisfaction killed my cousin, the only family I had in this world! Do you honestly believe that I'll forgive you for what you did….DO YOU?!"

As tears started streaming down Kagura's face, Crow found himself to look at her. The memories of the past were beginning to flare up inside of him again, causing him to feel extremely bad. Although what Kagura said wasn't exactly the truth, it didn't change the fact that Team Satisfaction was, in some ways, responsible for Vivi's death. It's because of that blame that the Blackwing Duelist put his head down slightly as Kagura continued glaring at him and Lilly.

However, as Crow continued looking down towards the ground, Lilly soon gently tapped her friend's shoulder and began making her way towards Kagura. Although she felt bad about what happened 6 years ago, Lilly was tired of having Kagura accuse her and her friends for something that they didn't technically do. She was going to tell her the truth, no matter if she actually believed it or not.

"Kagura," She said. "Team Satisfaction weren't the ones who killed Vivi. In fact…Vivi died protecting Team Satisfaction."

Upon hearing her say that, Kagura's eyes widen as she couldn't believe what she just heard. For the past six years, she believed that her cousin died by Team Satisfaction's hands. However, she was now being told that wasn't the case at all. Vivi died protecting Team Satisfaction, much to her utter disbelief.

"No…" She said. "That…can't be true. Goodwin told me that it was you and your friends that killed Vivi."

"Goodwin lied to you Kagura," Lilly said. "I'm not sure why he lied, but he did."

Kagura shook her head violently as she refused to accept what she was being told. However, as started thinking about it, the more it made sense to her. Vivi was a kind individual who always risk her life to protect others. That was just the type of person she was. Because of that, Kagura simply continued shaking her head as she placed her hands on it. With this new information, the Twilight Duelist was beginning to question herself again, and that was bothering her immensely.

As she did that, the thug that she knocked down earlier was beginning to wake up. Once he regained consciousness completely, he realized that Kagura wasn't paying any attention towards him. Seeing that made him smile as he now had the perfect opportunity to kill her and take revenge for Syd's capture. As a result, he grabbed his gun and prepared himself to blow a hole in Kagura's skull.

Fortunately for Kagura, Lilly saw what was about to happen and acted fast. Just as the thug pulled the trigger of his gun, Lilly dashed towards Kagura and pushed her out of the way. This act allowed them both to escape death, although Lilly's left was scratched due the bullet scraping her arm.

Once the both of them were out of the way, Kagura turned her head towards the thug and glared at him intensely. After everything that happened to her today, the Twilight Duelist finally had enough. In her enraged state, Kagura unconsciously brought out her white aura and began making her way towards the thug. Although fired rapid gun shots at her, Kagura avoided them all and knocked the thugs back towards the security wall. However, despite the fact that her powers augmented her strength, the blow wasn't enough to kill the thug. Because of that, Kagura grabbed Shusui and prepared herself to cut the thug down with her sword.

However, just as Kagura made her way up to the thug and swung her down at him, something stopped her. Although he was completely exhausted and losing blood by the second, Takashi had made his way in between Kagura and the thug and caught the former's weapon with his left arm, his only good one. As blood poured from the palm of his hand, Takashi used what little strength he had left to try and stop Kagura from killing her target.

"Move it!" Kagura shouted.

"…No," Takashi silently replied.

"I said, get out of the way!" Kagura attempted to overpower Takashi. "Move, Takashi Nakamura!"

"I will not," The young man told her. "If I do, you'll kill this man."

As his vision continued to fade away, Takashi slowly lifted up his head so that he could face Kagura. Upon doing so, the Twilight Duelist saw that tears were gently coming down Takashi's face. Just seeing him cry caused her to lose her anger, causing her to ease up.

"Do you remember what I told you…back when we first met in Crash Town?" He asked. "There's a bright light inside of you…that's being consumed by darkness. You keep this up, that darkness will completely over power that light. Kagura…it's time for you to let go. If you continue on like this…you will lose Vivi's smile forever."

With that said, Takashi passed out and fell face first in front of Kagura. As his friends rushed over towards him, Kagura looked down at Takashi for a moment as she attempted to figure out what he just said. After about a minute, the young woman realized that Takashi Nakamura was in fact the same Takashi that she met back during her time Crash Town. During that time, he said that there was a bright light inside of her that was being overtaken by darkness, just like a single star shining within the Twilight.

Upon remembering that and Takashi's words, Kagura soon looked up towards the sky as tears started falling from her eyes again. She then recalled the two times she saw Vivi's spirit and how, in both cases, she wasn't smiling at her. It was at this moment that she finally realized that what she was doing was wrong. However, upon coming to that realization, Kagura now had another problem that she was facing.

"Vivi…what should I do?"

As Kagura fell to her knees, Vivi's spirit silently looked at her cousin from above. Since she was a spirit and couldn't be seen, Vivi couldn't give Kagura the answer that she was searching for. However, even if she could be seen, she wouldn't give it to her. Vivi knew that Kagura had to find the answer to her questions on her own. But, having seen her understand the errors of her ways, Vivi was confident that Kagura would find it eventually.

_I know that you can do this, Kagura. I believe in you._

With that, Vivi gave her cousin a small smile before disappearing. Despite leaving her, Vivi would always believe in Kagura and would continue to watch over her. She will watch over her…forever.

Meanwhile, in his control room, Goodwin called the medical unit that was stationed throughout the Kaiba Dome and had them go to where Takashi was. Although the Director didn't believe that he would die from something like this, Goodwin wanted Takashi treated as the Finals were tomorrow and he needed him to compete. Once he finished during that, he immediately called Zigzix in order to find out the status of the Ener-D Reactor.

"Alright," He said. "Did the reactor get the power that it needed?"

"It got that and more," Zigzix answered. "With the resonance of power that Takashi Nakamura and Kagura Toyoshima created, the reactor as more than enough power to sustain the city for several lifetimes."

"Excellent…"

A small smile appeared on Goodwin's face as he was pleased that his plan worked without any problems. He then hung up on Zigzix and prepared himself to work on others things. It was at that moment that Lazar entered the control room. The Vice-Director had just finished watching the Duel and was pleased that a Signer was now moving to the Finals. However, there was something else on his mind and he wanted to ask Goodwin about it. Since he set the pairings for the Semi-Finals, the chances were very high that he would have an answer.

"Director Goodwin," He started off. "Why is it…you paired Takashi Nakamura with Kagura Toyoshima?"

"You should already know the answer to that question," Goodwin replied, not even taking the time to face his Vice-Director.

"I know sir," Lazar said. "But…if the city needed a strong resonance of Reiatsu, wouldn't it been easier to have Nakamura go up against Akiza Izinski instead? After all, they're both Signers."

Goodwin thought about what Lazar just said to him and knew that his Vice-Director had a valid point. Out of the 4 Semi-Finalist, Akiza was the most powerful, due to the sheer level of her powers, while Takashi was had the most potential, due to his highly advance growth rate. If the two Duel, there was no doubt that the same resonance of power could be achieved. However, Goodwin had a reason why he chose Kagura to face Takashi instead and he was about to reveal it to Lazar.

"Reiatsu resonates better when the Duelists creating it are related," He explained.

"What does that mean, sir?" Lazar questioned. "You do mean-"

"Yes," Goodwin interrupted. "Takashi is Kagura's older brother. The two of them are Sakura's and Minato's children…with the both of them being born on the same day."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_After cleaning up the mess that was created after the last Duel, the second Semi-Final match is about to begin with Akiza going up against Kuromu Nesara. However, before the Duel takes place, someone attempts to convince Akiza to drop out of the tournament. Will the Rose Duelist listen to this individual's advice or will she go out and face the toughest battle of her life?_

_Next Time, on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 84: The Rose of Love vs. the Heart of Hate – Part 1_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope all you had a wonderful time during the holidays and are ready to embrace everything that 2014 has to offer us._

_Second, since it's the beginning of a New Year, I've decided to make a New Year's resolution. I know that I've said this countless times in the past, but I'm going to do everything within my power to make it happen this time around. My resolution for 2014 is to try and bring all of year a chapter of Over the Nexus, every week. I know that it's going to be tough, but I believe that I can pull it off. Wish me luck as I try to bring you more chapters of this amazing story._

_Lastly, I want to thank all of you. Just before the start of the New Year, Over the Nexus reached an incredible milestone by obtaining 500 reviews. Ever since I first started this story, it's always been my dream to make it to this point. However, now that I'm here, it's almost overwhelming. Like I said before, I could have never made it to this point without the support of all of you. You're the reason why Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus is still here and for that, I'm really grateful. Please continue read and review Over the Nexus in the future as we now make the journey to 600 reviews._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	84. Chapter 84

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 84: **_The Rose of Love vs. The Heart of Hate – Part 1_

* * *

><p>"What…what happened?"<p>

After his fierce Turbo Duel against Kagura Toyoshima, Takashi Nakamura passed out from the injuries he sustained during the match, and the wounds that he received from the Silent Cobra thugs that attacked him later. As he slept, the young man couldn't hear anything nor could he see anything. To him, it felt like he died for a moment and was simply floating darkness. When he finally did regain consciousness, Takashi found himself someplace where he didn't expect to be.

"Why…why am I back home?"

As he sat up from his bed, Takashi looked around the area and realized that he was truly back in his room in Poppo Time. He was unsure why he was here, especially since the last thing that he remembered before passing out was trying to convince Kagura to let go of her hatred. He wondered if one of his friends brought him back home or if he somehow brought here by some other means. In the end, the young man didn't know the answer to that question and that ended up confusing him even more.

While he attempted to put the pieces together within his head, Takashi folded his arms, which is an act he usually did when he was in deep thought. However, upon touching his right arm, he realized that it wasn't hurting. He then made his way over to mirror that was placed on top of his dresser and realized that the bullet wound that was there was now gone. Not only that, but the bruises that he received through Kagura's Sense Blasts also gone as well. The fact that all of his injuries were completely healed made Takashi realize that he's been sleeping longer than just a few hours.

Wanting to know how much time has passes since his match with the Twilight Duelist, Takashi looked all over his room for his cell phone. Once he finally found it, he checked the calendar app that he placed onto it and realized that it was July the 16th, six days after his match. Upon seeing that, Takashi was utterly shocked and soon lost the feeling in his legs. As he fell to his bed, he soon placed his hand on top of his head and started wondering about what happened during the time he was unconscious.

The Fortune Cup Semi-Finals and Finals take place on July the 10th and the 11th. When he first qualified for the main tournament, Takashi made sure that he kept both of those dates in mind. However, now that it was July the 16th, the Finals were already over and a Fortune Cup Champion was already decided. That realization made him wonder who won the tournament, but he soon put that thought aside when he started thinking about the condition of one of two remaining Duelists.

"Akiza…"

Remembering that Akiza was scheduled to face Kuromu Nesara in the second Semi-Final match, Takashi became extremely concerned about her safety and well-fare. Since he wasn't there to see the Duel, the young man became very worried and soon started to wonder if Akiza was okay. Eventually, he decided to stop thinking about it and find out for himself. To that end, Takashi quickly put some clothes on, grabbed his sword and Duel Disk and started making his downstairs.

As he looked around the apartment, Takashi noticed that there were a lot of decorations all over the place, but quickly paid them no mind. For him, the only thing that mattered right now was finding Akiza and making sure that she was okay. Ever since he came to realize that he was in love with her, Takashi swore that he would always protect her and that she would be happy. However, since he's been sleeping during her match against Kuromu, Takashi was unsure about both of those promises. He had to find Akiza no matter what and he was willing to search all of New Domino City until he did.

Eventually, as he continued to search Poppo Time, Takashi started smelling something coming from the kitchen. The smell had a very sweet scent to it, making the Signer realize that someone was baking something. Hoping that the person who was baking was in fact Akiza, Takashi dashed towards the kitchen in order to find out if that was indeed the case. Unfortunately, once he finally got there, Takashi saw that the person baking wasn't Akiza, but in fact Lilly. When the young woman looked at him, her eyes widen from shock.

"Takashi…" She said with a slight gasp. "You're awake."

"That doesn't matter right now, Lilly!" Takashi replied. "You have to tell me what happened during the second Semi-Final match! You have to tell me what happened to Akiza!"

Takashi dashed towards Lilly quickly grabbed her shoulders. As she looked at him, Lilly was still somewhat shocked by the fact that he was up and around. When he first passed out, several Fortune Cup doctors came to treat his injuries. It was only after they finished working on him, that Lilly and Sona came out and did their real treatment on their friend. Through their combined efforts, Lilly and Sona were able to heal Takashi's injuries, although it would still take him some time before he would wake up. Now that he's finally awake, Lilly was still trying to come to terms with it all.

While she continued to stand there with a blank expression on her face, Takashi was quickly becoming fed up with it and soon started shaking her around. He needed to her focus as every second she spent staring at him, Akiza's fate would still be up in the air. Because of that, Takashi started shaking Lilly even harder than before. Eventually, after about a minute, Lilly regained herself and slapped Takashi towards the ground in order to get him to stop. Once she did that, the young proceeded to answer her friend's question.

"Don't worry," She said as she placed her hand upon head, trying to shake off the dizziness. "Akiza's fine. She defeated Kuromu in their Duel."

Once Lilly said that to him, Takashi closed his eyes for a moment and gently let out a sigh of relief. He was happy that Akiza won the Duel, but more pleased with the knowledge that she was okay. As he continued to relieve himself from the stress that he was feeling earlier, Lilly stared at him for a second before continuing her explanation.

"I guess you're also wondering about what happened after that," She said. "Well…because you were still sleeping during the Final Day of the Fortune Cup, Goodwin decided name Akiza the champion by default. Because of that, she's now going to face Alistair for the title of Duel King two days from now, on July the 18th."

"I see," Takashi replied as he slowly got up from the floor. "That's good to hear. I mean, I always did consider Akiza a far better Duelist than myself. If anyone deserves to face Alistair for his title…it's her."

Lilly stared at Takashi as he said that Akiza deserves to be the Duel King and wonders if it was true. It's the dream of every Duelist to become very best that they can possibly be. For Takashi Nakamura, that was no exception. She remembered that a couple of months ago, Takashi told her and the others that it was his dream to become the world's best Duelist. He wanted to become a Duelist that not only surpassed his mother, Sakura Nakamura, in strength, but also the legendary Duel King, Yugi Muto, as well. Because of that goal, Lilly has watched Takashi work his ass in order to become an even better Duelist than he is right now. She even believed that he could actually achieve his dream. However…that changed when Akiza got involved.

Lilly was the first one out of all of her friends to notice that Takashi and Akiza had feelings for one another. It's because of that knowledge that she's been attempting to get the two together, as she knows that they'll be much happier that way. However, as time passed, Lilly started to notice that Takashi was beginning to himself to be a much inferior Duelist than Akiza was. That bothered Lilly slightly as she considered Takashi to be just as good as Akiza, if not better. At first, she believed that this was due to the fact that Takashi loved Akiza. However, after thinking about it some more, Lilly wondered if there was more to it than that. Regardless, Lilly allowed Takashi to hold on to that belief as it was his decision.

Soon after that, Lilly went back to work. She had wasted a lot of time talking to Takashi and she wanted to finish cooking before everything got burnt and ruined. As she did that, Takashi watched her cook and realized that she was baking a cake. Seeing the cake made the Signer remember about the decorations that were all over the apartment building and he came to realize that Lilly was preparing to throw a party. The only question is, who was the party being thrown for.

"Hey Lilly," He said. "What's the occasion for?"

"It's for Akiza," Lilly answered as she continued to work. "Don't you remember? Today is Akiza's 18th birthday."

After being told that today was Akiza's birthday, Takashi looked at Lilly with a shocked expression on his face before suddenly slapping himself. How could he possibly forget such a day? Eventually, once he came to terms that he forgot, Takashi started looking around the kitchen in order to find some way he could help before the party began. Just as he was about to take Lilly's cake out of the even so that he could decorate it, Takashi watched as Lilly pushed him away.

"Please…don't mess with the cake," She told him. "I've been working on it since forever and I don't want anything to happen to it."

"But I want to help in some way," Takashi replied. "This is a special day for Akiza and I want to try and make it even more special for her."

"If that's the case, then why don't you go out and find Akiza," Lilly suggested. "Last time I checked, she left to go to that new flower garden that he city set up. By the time you go there and pick her up, I should be done and the others should be back from doing their things."

Takashi nodded head in compliance to Lilly's suggestion and got ready to leave home so that he could head to the flower garden. However, just before he left the kitchen, he watched as Lilly soon grabbed the cake from out of the oven and prepared to cover it with icing. It was at that moment that Takashi quickly made his way over to her and placed his finger over the icing so that it hit it before it landed on the cake. Takashi then tasted it, much to Lilly's annoyance, and came to the conclusion that the icing was pretty good. As a result, he gave Lilly a thumbs up just as she gave him the middle finger. Once that was done, Takashi soon made his way over to the garage.

Upon reaching his Duel Runner, Takashi quickly started it up and soon made his way outside. Once he was there, the young man drove off and began to make his way towards the flower garden. As he did that, Takashi thought about the garden for a moment and remembered that he was planning to take Akiza there once the Fortune Cup came to an end. But, with her already there, Takashi believed that now was good as ever to show her around the place. To that end, he revved up his Runner and started driving faster.

After about 10 minutes of riding around the city, Takashi finally reached his destination. The flower garden that New Domino City set up was first under construction during the spring. It was only till recently that construction was completely and Takashi saw that the workers did not disappoint. There were flowers all over the place and every single one of them very beautiful. Even though he wasn't really into plants like that, Takashi did have to admit that they looked very cool. A part of him wanted to stare at them for a little while longer, but he knew that he came here to find Akiza and he decided to do just that.

He soon started walking around the single path that the garden had for viewers. Takashi spent about 7 minutes looking around for Akiza, eventually finding her as she stared at some flowers. As he watched her look at them, the young man found her somewhat adorable as she started to pick some flowers and even considered standing back and watching her work. However, Takashi decided to do something else instead and began to slowly make his way towards Akiza's back. Once he was there, the Signer gently placed his hands over her eyes.

"Guess who?" He playfully asked.

Upon hearing recognizing the voice that just spoke to her, a huge smile quickly appeared on Akiza's face. She then proceeded to push Takashi down towards the flowers and look at them as tears started running down her face. As some of the tears started falling on his face, Takashi simply smiled to himself before taking his hand and gently wiping Akiza's tears away, although that didn't stop more from pouring.

"C'mon now," He said. "You're going to drown me if you keep doing that."

"I'm sorry…" Akiza sniffled as more tears came out. "I'm just…I'm just so happy that you're okay, Takashi!"

Akiza quickly hugged Takashi very close to her as he continued to lie on the flowers. As she did that, Takashi thought about what she just said to him and soon started smiling to himself. After that, the young man soon gently placed his arms around Akiza.

"So those are my words," He said. "I'm glad to see that you're okay…Akiza."

The two Signers continued embracing one another for a few minutes as both of them were extremely relieved that the other was okay. After about a few minutes of this, both of them came to realize what exactly that they were doing and quickly became embarrassed as a result. That embarrassment led to both of them standing up off the ground separating from each other. However, despite the fact that they did that, both Takashi and Akiza enjoyed the short time that they held other and started smiling as more blush appeared on their faces.

Eventually, the two of them started walking around the flower garden for a little while. Since Akiza's party can't really start until she got there, Takashi considered that their friends wouldn't mind they continued waiting for them for a little while longer. As the two of them walked around, Takashi looked at Akiza's face and saw the radiant smile that was on there. Simply looking at that smile made him very happy as he considered Akiza's happiness to also be his. Soon, as the two of them stopped to take a break, Takashi and Akiza started talking to one another.

"So," Takashi started off. "I heard that you're going to be facing Alistair for his title soon."

"…Yeah," Akiza replied, placing her head down a little. "Although…I can't really say that I deserve it. I mean...I got here by default. I was supposed to face you in the final Duel of the Fortune Cup. We did promise each other that we would."

Akiza placed her head further towards the ground as she thought about how she couldn't face Takashi like she originally planned. The young man felt that this was her opportunity to finally Takashi how she really felt about him. However, since that couldn't happen now, Akiza was upset and a part of her believed that it was her fault that this happened. When Takashi saw just how disappointed she was, he responded by gently placing his hand upon her cheek.

"Don't worry about it, Akiza," He said with a smile. "Like I told Lilly earlier, you deserve to be here right now. Don't let anybody tell you any different. Now…go out there and give Alistair hell! Show him that it's your time to reign supreme as Japan's best Duelist!"

As Takashi continued to smile at her, the sadness that Akiza was feeling quickly began to fade away. For as long as she's known him, his kindness has already made her happy, even when she feeling sad. This trait was one of the reasons why she fell in love with him in the first place and how she wanted to be with him forever. Soon, after thinking about her feelings for a moment, Akiza decided to go for broke and soon gathered all the courage that she could muster.

"Takashi…" She said. "There's something that I have to tell you. Something that I wanted to say for a while."

"What is it, Akiza?" Takashi asked.

"…Takashi...I…I love you."

Takashi's eyes widen a little bit as Akiza finally confessed her true feelings to him. He then watched her close her eyes as she waited for him to respond. Although she finally managed to tell him how she really felt, Akiza was scared that he wouldn't reciprocate his feelings. However, as she continued to wait, the Rose Duelist soon discovered that Takashi did share her feelings.

"I love you too…Akiza," Takashi replied. "I've been in love with you for a while now."

Akiza opened her eyes in a slight state of shock as she looked up towards Takashi. As she watched him smile at her again, a small smile started to appear on her face. Soon, Akiza made her way towards the one she loved and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. Takashi returned her affection with a kiss of his own and for the next five minutes, the two continued this sweet embrace.

Shortly after they broke the kiss, Takashi and Akiza looked at one another as a small blushed reappeared on their faces. When both of them saw that blush, they started smiling before embracing one another. As they did that, Akiza suddenly remembered something important and soon turned her attention towards Takashi as a result.

"Takashi," She said. "There was something else that I wanted to give you…once I finally told you how felt about you."

"Sure Akiza," Takashi said. "What is it?"

"Close your eyes first. Then, when I tell you, open them."

Takashi nodded his head and soon closed his eyes shut. As he waited for Akiza to tell him that he can open his eyes again, the young man wondered what kind of thing she wanted to give him. Was it another necklace or something else entirely? Takashi didn't know and thus simply waited in anticipation for Akiza. After about a minute, the time finally arrived.

"Okay…open them!"

Upon opening his eyes, Takashi looked on in shock as he couldn't believe by what he was seeing. He wasn't in the flower garden with Akiza anymore. Instead, he was now all alone, in a black void filled with nothing but bones. The air around him suddenly got very cold and the bones that were beneath his feet were all dusty and starting to decay. Not understanding what's happening, Takashi slowly took a couple of steps back.

"Wha…what is this place…?" He asked himself. "Where…where am I…?"

As he attempted to figure out where he was just transported too, Takashi started walking around this dark bone yard. He had hoped that he would find someone here, but there no was no one to be found. All that was there were more and more bones, much to his growing fear. Eventually, as he stopped and picked one of the skulls that he saw on the ground, Takashi examined it for a moment. However, upon seeing spiders come out of the skull's eyes, Takashi freaked out and soon threw the skull away. He then placed his hand upon his head as he once again tried to figure out what's happening to him.

"What's going on here? This place…it's almost like Hell. A place fitting for Sayer…and Sasuke…"

As he said the names of two of the people who caused him the most trouble upon first arriving in New Domino City, Takashi took a moment to reflect about his past. Upon doing so, the young man soon placed his head towards the ground. He then started clinching his fist for a few seconds before slowly loosening it.

"No…" He thought. "This place…it suits me too. After all, I swore that after Hikari and Riku died that I would do everything within my power so that no one has to go through the same suffering I went through. But…the number of people I've helped are overshadowed by the number of people that I failed to save. If anyone deserves to be in Hell…it's me."

Takashi spent the next couple of minutes thinking about all the failures in his life. All he wanted to do was to make sure that the people around him are safe and living happy lives. For nearly 7 years, he's dedicated himself to that goal. However, despite all the positives he's done, Takashi believed that it still wasn't enough. The mistakes he's made and the people he's failed to help continue to haunt him even after all this time. Eventually, Takashi started to wonder if he should just stay in this dark Hell so that he couldn't mess up anymore. However, that thought soon left his mind when he saw someone walking in the distance.

When he got a good look at the individual, Takashi noticed that the person walking was Akiza. Upon seeing her, the young man wondered what she was doing in a place like this. But he soon put that question aside for now and attempted to catch up to her. Unfortunately for Takashi though, no matter how he tried, the distance between himself and Akiza wouldn't close.

"Akiza…!" He called. "Akiza…please stop!"

Akiza didn't respond to Takashi's pleas and simply kept on walking. She even didn't take the time to turn around and face him. That scene bothered Takashi greatly, but it also motivated him to try and catch up with her. It through his desire to be with the one that he loved that allowed him to slowly close the distance between himself and Akiza. Eventually, the distance closed even further when Takashi started using his Signer Powers to bring out his blue aura. The power of the aura improved his physical attributes, allowing him to run faster. Soon, after using all of his strength, Takashi finally got Akiza to stop when he grabbed her hand.

Once she stopped moving, Takashi took a moment to catch his breath as he spent a lot of energy just trying to catch with Akiza. However, despite the fact that he finally got her to stop, Akiza wasn't even looking at him. This felt strange to Takashi, especially since both of them just finally confessed their feelings for each other.

"Akiza…what's wrong?" He asked as he tried to get her to turn around and face him. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

Takashi started pulling Akiza's arm in attempt to get to turn around, but his efforts were in vain. As he attempted to figure out what he was going to do next, he noticed that Akiza's feet were beginning to turn. Just seeing her do that informed him that she was beginning to turn around and face him. As a result, Takashi got ready to listen closely as he was sure that Akiza would explain where they are and why they're here. However, that simply wasn't the case.

As he watched her turn around, Takashi looked on in shock as Akiza's appearance began to melt away. He saw her skin, hair, eyes, and several other of her facial features fall to the ground before disappearing. Once it stopped, Akiza's appearance was now that of another young woman, one that Takashi was extremely surprised to see.

"Hi…Hikari…?"

Takashi couldn't believe his eyes. Akiza Izinski has just changed into his first love, Hikari Higurashi. Seeing the sight of his lost friend not only shocked Takashi beyond words, but also scared him as well. He soon took a couple of steps back as he couldn't comprehend what was going on. As he did that, the bones beneath him started to give way and soon broke apart.

Before he fell into an even darker void of nothingness, Takashi managed to grab the edge of the hole that was just created. However, his grip wasn't firm and he felt that he could fall at anytime. When saw his sword and Duel Disk fall into the void, the young man knew that he was running out of time and attempted to pull himself back up. However, no matter how hard he tried, Takashi didn't have the strength to get back up and his grip started to loosen even more.

"…Hikari!" He called. "Hikari…please…save me!"

Takashi desperately called for Hikari to help him from certain death, but the young didn't respond. She simply looked at him with an emotionless expression on her face. Eventually, after seeing him lose grip of his left arm, Hikari finally decided to act. When Takashi saw that, a huge smile appeared on his face. However, the smile on his face soon turned into a look of despair as Hikari firmly stomped her foot on his hand. She then started talking to him as she kept pressing down on it.

"Save you?" She questioned. "Why should I…when you couldn't even save me!"

With that said, Hikari took her foot and slammed it against Takashi's face. The force of the blow caused Takashi to lose grip of the edge and start falling into void. As he fell, the young man watched as Hikari continued looking at him for a moment before closing her eyes and walking away. The sight of that broke Takashi's spirit completely and he soon started crying as the darkness around him started to consume his body.

"HIKARI!"

* * *

><p>"Wake up! Takashi, you have wake up! Wake up, Takashi!"<p>

As he started to hear someone tell him to wake up, Takashi was busy lying on a small hospital bed with his eyes closed. When he finally did open his eyes, the young man was very confused by what was going on. This confusion eventually caused him to sit up rather quickly and he soon started breathing very heavily as a result. Not only that, but upon sitting up, Takashi felt an intense pain come from his right arm. This pain caused him to instinctively hold his arm, although doing that didn't make things better for him.

When the pain in his arm started to lessen a little bit, Takashi noticed that his right arm was completely bandaged up. Not all only that, but as he began to adjust to his surroundings, he realized that he was in a small doctor's room. Seeing all of these things confused Takashi greatly as he remembered very clearly that he was just in a dark Hell filled with nothing but bones and that his arm was just fine. This confusion eventually caused him to wonder if this was just dream was he back in reality. He soon got the answer to that question when he lifted his head and started looking in front of him.

Upon doing that, Takashi saw all of his friends staring at him. Most of them seemed relieved that he was okay while others were so happy that tears started to form. Out of all of them though, the one who was the most happy was Akiza. The Rose Duelist was so happy to Takashi awake that immediately embraced him. However, she soon let go when he started screaming, indicating to her that she was touching his injured arm. Once she let go, Akiza stepped back a little as Takashi held his arm again.

"Takashi…" She said as tears started flowing from her eyes. "I'm so happy that you're okay."

As Akiza continued crying, the pain in Takashi's arm started to ease up a little and he soon found himself looking at her. When he got a good look at her, Takashi remembered when he saw her felt met away before she turned into Hikari. Wanting to know if the same thing would happen again, the Signer slowly placed his hand upon Akiza's face. After rubbing it a bit, Takashi realized that what he saw before wouldn't happen again. As a result, he put his hand down before turning his attention towards the rest of his friends.

"You had us worried for a minute there, Takashi," Lilly said as she looked at him. "When we saw you moving around while you sleeping we wondered if something was wrong. Fortunately, those fake-ass doctors who tended to your wounds just said that you were suffering from a fever, which seemed to be the case."

"I…was sleeping?" A slightly confused Takashi asked.

"Yeah," Crow said. "Don't you remember what happened? After your Duel against Kagura, you were shot in the arm by some of those gang members that you fought the other day. Lilly and I fought them off, but you soon passed out from blood loss."

After hearing his friends explain to him what happened, Takashi finally realized that everything that he just experience was just a dream. His and Akiza's confession, him being sent to that dark place, and Hikari plunging him into the darkness, all of it was a dream. That realization brought him a sense of relief, but it still troubled him greatly. Even though it was dream, what he experienced felt very real to him. Because of that, Takashi gently placed his head towards the ground as he tried to come to terms with what he saw during his dream.

"Takashi…" Akiza called in a worried tone of voice. "Are you okay?"

Takashi looked up towards Akiza and saw just how worried she was about him. He wanted to tell her what he saw during his dream, but he couldn't quite come up with the right words. Not only that, but a part of him didn't want to talk about it as simply doing so would force him to relive that nightmare again. As a result, Takashi put on his best fake smile so that Akiza wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.

"I'm fine, Akiza," He told her. "Please don't worry."

Akiza wasn't fooled by Takashi's words as she could tell right away that the smile that he was wearing was fake. She's been with him long enough to know when he was sincere with his feelings and when he wasn't. A large part of her wanted to confront Takashi about how he was truly feeling, but Akiza didn't know what to say to him. She looked back towards her friends, hoping that they saw through his façade too and confront him about it. However, when she did, Akiza saw that although her friends knew that Takashi was lying, they also knew that trying to get him to tell the truth would be almost impossible. Because of that, she had to reluctantly accept his lie for the time being.

"Anyway," Takashi said, trying to change the subject. "What happened to Kagura? The last I remember before passing out was telling Kagura to let go of her hatred. I want to know where she is right now."

Everyone, with the exception of Sona and Enoch, looked at one another for a moment as wondered what to say to Takashi. They could all tell that even though he and Kagura were at each other's throats for the last couple of days, Takashi still cared about her. Whenever he saw someone who was in desperate need of help, regardless of that person be friend or foe, Takashi was going to help them. It's for this reason that the others decided to come out and answer his question.

"Kagura…left shortly after you were taken by the doctors," Toru told him.

"She wanted us to tell you that she wanted to leave so that she could think things over," Misaki followed. "However…she did promise that she'll be back once she does."

After Toru and Misaki told him what happened to Kagura, Takashi took a moment to think about what he just learned. As his memories of what happened after his Duel began to return, Takashi remembered that both Lilly and Crow told Kagura the truth about what really happened to her cousin, Vivi. He also remembered Kagura was visibly shaken about learning this news and that she initially denied it to be true. When Takashi saw that, he didn't really blame her for doing so as such a revelation would be hard to believe.

Eventually, after thinking it over for a bit, Takashi believed that having Kagura leave to think things over was probably a good thing. The Twilight Duelist has been through a lot in her life, especially during the last couple of days. She deserved some time to herself as she needed to fully come to terms with what she learned and how that knowledge would affect her from this point forward.

"I see…" Takashi said. "It's most likely for the best. I mean after all, Kagura-"

"_Ladies and Gentleman, we once again apologize for that incident earlier. However, I'm pleased to announce that the second Duel of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals is about to begin!"_

Upon hearing an announcer declare that information over the loudspeaker, Takashi's eyes widen a little bit as it was another form of proof that what he experienced earlier was indeed a dream. In his dream, he was told that Akiza had already had her Duel against Kuromu and even managed to defeat him. However, by just hearing that announcement, the young man realized that what he experienced wasn't the truth and that Akiza was about to be in the toughest Duel of her life.

"_Will Akiza Izinski and Kuromu Nesara, please make their way over to the Dueling Field!"_

After hearing her name called, Akiza looked down towards the ground for a moment as she tried to prepare herself emotionally for the battle that was ahead. Her opponent, Kuromu, was without a doubt the toughest opponent that she was about to face. In the two Duels that she saw him in, not only did he managed to defeat Toru, but Crow as well. Having known from experienced that the two were powerful in their own right, Akiza wondered if she had what it took to defeat Kuromu. As she contemplated that, Akiza soon felt someone touch her shoulder and saw that it was Lilly.

"Don't worry, Akiza," She said to her. "You can do this."

"That's right," Toru said in agreement. "If anybody can take down that bastard, Kuromu, it's you!"

"Just believe in yourself," Crow followed. "Remember your training with me Lilly."

"…And pay close attention to Kuromu moves," Misaki told her. "Since we now know that Number 53: Heart-Earth can't be destroyed unless all of its Overlay Units are gone, you have to focus on that before dealing with the Number itself."

As he listened to her friends encourage her, Akiza's fear and insecurity slowly began to disappear. She soon started smiling at all of them as she felt that as long as they were by her side, there was no way that she was going to lose. Eventually, as he resolve continued to strengthen, Akiza soon placed her Duel Disk on her arm before looking back towards her friends.

"Right," She told him. "Leave this to me. I won't let you down."

"Okay," Enoch replied. "Just be careful."

Akiza nodded her head upon hearing Enoch's words and proceeded to smile at him, and the rest of her friends again. She then turned her attention towards Takashi who, much to her disappointment, had his head down. She wondered if he was bothered by the fact that she was about to face Kuromu or by the other thing that he was trying to hide. In the end, Akiza didn't know the answer. She just hoped that Takashi would encourage from a far as he injuries continued to heal. With that, she prepared to leave the room so that she could go out and face Kuromu.

"…Wait,"

Akiza stopped when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. When she turned around, she saw that Takashi was the one who just spoke to her. However, unlike the others, he didn't have a smile on his face nor did he have a look of confidence in his eyes. It was silent expression, indicating that he's been thinking about something really important that's not easy to say.

"Akiza…I need to talk you," He said to her. "Alone…"

After hearing him say that, Akiza started to wonder what Takashi had to say to her. A part of felt that it wasn't good news, but she also felt that this was something that Takashi felt he had to tell her. Because of that, the young woman silently nodded her head and slowly made her way up to him. As she did that, Sona dragged everyone outside so that they couldn't hear the conversation. Once she did that, the Psychic Duelist then stood outside the room Takashi and Akiza were in, waiting patiently for the two to finish their conversation so that she could heal the former's injuries.

Once they were alone, Akiza looked at Takashi as he continued to give her a silent expression. When she temporarily turned her attention to his left hand, the Rose Duelist saw that it was trembling slightly. That sight didn't please her at all and even made her somewhat afraid. Regardless of that though, Akiza put on a tough front and gave Takashi a warm smile.

"What is it, Takashi?" She asked. "What's wrong?"

_Save you? Why should I…when you couldn't even save me!_

The words that Hikari said to him during his nightmare ran through Takashi's head as he continued to stare at Akiza. Even though the Hikari he saw wasn't real and was only a part of his nightmare, what she said to him rung true in his heart. Despite the promise he made to both her and her older brother, Riku, Takashi wasn't able to save Hikari. It's because of that failure that she died and Takashi has never forgiven himself for that. Now, with a similar outcome possibly waiting for Akiza, Takashi was determined not to let that happen.

"Listen," She said to her. "There's something I have to ask you…but I don't want you getting mad at me."

The smile that was on Akiza's face slowly faded away as her fear started to resurface. She had no idea what Takashi wanted to ask her, but when he told her not to get mad him, the young woman knew that it wasn't good news. As a result, she braced herself as Takashi gave her his request.

"When you go out there to the Duel Field…could you please surrender the match to Kuromu?"

When Takashi asked her to surrender her match to Kuromu, Akiza couldn't believe her ears for a moment. She then placed her head down so that he couldn't see the look in her eyes nor the expression on her face.

"Why…why would you ask that?" She asked him.

"Kuromu Nesara…is a very dangerous Duelist," Takashi explained. "I'm not sure if he's a Psychic Duelist or if he has any type of special powers, but he can inflict real damage towards his opponents. You saw what he did to Toru and Crow. Akiza…I'm scared. If anything happened to you I-"

"So you want me to surrender the Duel before I even start," Akiza interrupted. "And you expect me to watch you battle an opponent that could possibly kill you. Is that it?"

Takashi started gripping the edge of the bed he was sitting on as he could tell that Akiza wasn't happy with what he wanted her to do. This decision wasn't an easy one for him as he still believed that Akiza was a far better Duelist than he was. However, he was well aware of the powers that Kuromu had and he simply couldn't forgive himself if Akiza got seriously hurt, or worse, during her match. Takashi wanted Akiza to surrender and let him handle Kuromu in the Final Duel, even though he wasn't completely sure that he could be him. Unfortunately, Akiza wasn't having any of that.

Making her way over to him, Akiza took her left hand and smacked it across Takashi's face. The sheer force of the slap made Takashi's face sting for a moment, but he didn't get mad. All he did next was listen as Akiza told him something that he didn't want to hear.

"Do you know what I do if you fought Kuromu and died?" She asked him. "I would first kill him and then…I'd kill myself! I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I let you die...so what would be the point of living?!"

As soon as heard that Akiza would kill herself if he fought Kuromu and died, Takashi face quickly shifted into one that was filled with nothing but despair. All he wanted to do was protect her from dying, that was the only thing that was on his mind when he first came up with that idea. However, upon learning that she will throw away her life he if died, Takashi didn't know what to do now.

As a result of the hopelessness he was now feeling, Takashi shook his head in disagreement for a few seconds, showing Akiza that he was sorry for saying that and that wouldn't say something like that again. Once he finished doing that, the young man placed his head further towards the ground and shaking his hands rather violently. When Akiza saw him do that, the anger that she was feeling earlier quickly faded away.

"I'm sorry," He said. "I guess…I guess I'm losing my nerve. Please…please forgive me."

Akiza continued looking at Takashi for a few more seconds before gently placing her hands upon his so that they would stop shaking. Once she did that, the Rose Duelist slowly took one of her hands and gently lifted Takashi face. As soon as his eyes reached her face, Akiza slowly gave him a warm smile.

"Takashi…" She said. "I know you don't want me to face Kuromu and I know that you're concerned for my safety…but I have to go out there and fight him. Like you said, it's because of him that Toru and Crow got hurt earlier. If I don't stop him then he'll just go on and continue to hurt other people. We can't let that happen…and you know it. Besides…I made a promise."

"A promise…?" Takashi questioned. "You mean…the one we made about us facing each other in the Finals."

"Yeah…" Akiza answered as her smiled grew a little bigger. "But there was also another promise I made. I promised…that I would always be there for you…and protect you. If I beat Kuromu then I can keep both promises. That's why…I have to go."

Akiza soon took her right hand and gently placed it on Takashi's left cheek. As she touched it, the young woman took a moment to feel the groves of his first cross-shaped scar. When she was told that it was created when Takashi met Lilly and the rest of Team Satisfaction nearly 4 years ago, she wondered why it hadn't healed yet. However, after doing some research, she learned that some scars don't heal when the people who wear them have major regrets.

Takashi's past was still very unclear to Akiza. She doesn't know what he experienced nor does she know all the people that he lost. The only thing that she does know is that he lost Hikari Higurashi, the one person he cared for more than anyone else in the world. Even after almost 7 years, her death still haunts him, causing the regrets that he feels to worsen with each passing day.

When Akiza promised Toru that she would always watch out for Takashi, she meant it with all of her heart. She didn't care if it meant going up against a powerful person, a monster, or even the devil himself. As long as she could protect Takashi and live happily with him and the rest of her friends, she was willing to go through anything. In the past, Akiza knew that there was no way in hell that she would do something like that for another person. However, things were different now and it was because Takashi that things change for her. Because of that act of kindness that he showed her, Akiza knew that she had to return the favor.

To that end, Akiza smiled at Takashi one more time before slowly closing the distance between them. She then closed her eyes and gently kissed his cheek. When Takashi felt that kiss, his eyes widen a little as he was surprised that she did that. He also felt a powerful warmth enter his body, a warm that made the despair that he feeling go away a little bit. Once Akiza finally stopped kissing Takashi's cheek, the young woman gently placed her head against the one she loved.

"I have to go now," She said softly. "But I promise…I'm going to win. So don't worry, Takashi."

After saying that, Akiza smiled at Takashi one last time before turning around and exiting the room. When she did, the Rose Duelist saw waiting outside the door. The two Psychics stared at each other for a moment before Akiza smiled at her and walked away. As she watched her leave, Sona started thinking to herself for a moment.

"Akiza Izinski…." She thought. "She's a very intriguing woman."

As Sona walked inside the room and prepared to treat Takashi's arm, the Signer was busy thinking about what Akiza said to him. Her words were really comforting and ease some of the stress that was in his heart, but he was still very troubled. He then started looking towards the sky and started thinking about Hikari. As he did, he remembered how Hikari would always help him, even though he wanted to be the one who helps her. Once he finished doing that, Takashi then remembered the nightmare that he had.

_Save me? Why should I…when you couldn't even save me!_

"Hikari…" He thought quietly. "I know I'm asking a lot…but please watch over Akiza. Please…"

Once he finished giving his pleas, Takashi closed his eyes and let Sona tend to his injuries. While that was going on, a small orb of light suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and started hovering above Takashi's head. However, after a few seconds, the orb soon left him and proceeded to make its way outside.

Meanwhile, in his private control room, Rex Goodwin was busy overlooking some personal things. With the power issue of the Ener-D Reactor now solved, the Director of Sector Security was now making sure everything concerning his true objective was ready. It's because of his desire to make sure his plan was prepared that he didn't really have any interest in the second Duel of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals, because he already knew the outcome of it.

As he worked, Lazar was busy looking at him for a far. Unlike his boss, the Vice-Director was very concerned about the upcoming Duel. He knew how much time and effort Goodwin has put in so that he could get this far and he didn't want that to go to waste. It's for that reason that Lazar decided to ask Goodwin the following question.

"Sir…" He started off. "Are you sure that it was a good idea to have Akiza Izinski go up against Kuromu Nesara?"

"Don't make me go through this again, Lazar," Goodwin told his subordinate.

"I know, sir," Lazar replied. "But Kuromu Nesara is an extremely dangerous opponent. What if…what if Akiza cannot defeat him?"

"I don't expect her too,"

Lazar's eyes widen from disbelief as he couldn't believe what he just heard. Goodwin said that he doesn't expect Akiza Izinski, one of the 5 Signers, to win her Duel against Kuromu Nesara. In the beginning, Lazar believed that Goodwin wanted two of the Signers that were competing in the Fortune Cup to face each other in the Finals. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.

"But Director Goodwin…" Lazar said. "What do you mean you don't expect Akiza to win?"

"It's exactly what I said," Goodwin answered. "Akiza Izinski's current level of strength isn't enough to defeat Kuromu Nesara. I don't expect her to defeat him in their upcoming match, which is why I'm not going to even watch it. However…I do believe that she's skilled enough to reveal the final effect of Nesara's Ace, Number 53: Heart-Earth."

"Heart-Earth…has a final effect?" Lazar questioned.

Goodwin remained silent for a moment as he looked up and watched as both Akiza and Kuromu were beginning to make their way over to the Duel Field. As he watched Akiza walk, the Director paid close attention to her right arm, which holds the mark of the Crimson Dragon's Legs.

"However, even though I don't expect her to win…that doesn't mean I can let her die."

Goodwin grabbed some of his things and proceeded to make his way out of the control room. As he did that, Lazar looked at him and saw that the Director had a serious expression on his face. When Lazar saw that expression he became a little bit frightened, as he knew that things weren't good if Goodwin wasn't happy. He about to leave the control room, but stopped when he saw Goodwin stop.

"Lazar," The Director said. "I want you to stay here and watch the Duel. "The moment it ends, have all the officers stationed here to surround Kuromu. I need Akiza Izinski alive…and I can't afford Kuromu Nesara to kill her."

"Yes…yes sir,"

As Lazar reluctantly followed his boss' orders, Akiza was continuing making her way towards the Duel Field. When she finally reached it, the young woman stared at her opponent, Kuromu, as he stood on the other side. Even though she was about 12 feet away from him, Akiza could feel a massive power coming from him. She also felt that Kuromu wasn't giving off half of his full strength, which scared her a little bit. However, after remembering all the promises that she made, especially the one she just made to Takashi, Akiza found the strength of heart to not back down and quickly activated her Duel Disk as a result.

When Kuromu saw Akiza prepare herself for battle, he started smiling evilly to himself. He didn't know whether or not she was rushing towards her doom or if she was just plain stupid. In the end, it didn't matter to him. All that matter to him was getting passed this annoying insect so that he could get one step closer to his goal. It's for that reason that Kuromu activated his Duel Disk as well.

"I hope you're ready to experience true pain," He said with a smirk on his face.

"Don't underestimate me!" Akiza firmly replied. "There's no way I'm going to lose to someone like you!"

Both Duelists stared each other down with neither side wanting to back down. As the referee saw them both activate their Duel Disks and placed their Duel-Gazers over their eyes, he proceeded to signal to the MC to announce the start of the Duel. Upon receiving that signal the MC activated the Augmented Reality Vision before preparing to talking to the audience once again.

"_Ladies and Gentleman, the time has finally come!" _The MC shouted over the loudspeaker. _"Let the second of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals…Begin!"_

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Kuromu: 4000 LP**

"I know most people would allow you to go first, given that you're a lady and all," Kuromu stated. "However, as you're well aware…I'm not most people. So, I'm making the first move…Draw!"

Swiftly pulling the top card from his deck, Kuromu glanced at it for a moment before placing it into his hand. He then looked over all of his other cards and saw that all of them looked pretty good. However, Kuromu was well aware that the same thing could be said about the cards that Akiza just drew. It's for this reason that he began this Duel by taking one of his cards and inserting it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"To begin," He said. "I play the Spell Card: Card Destruction! With it, we both discard are entire hands and then draw cards equal to the ones that we just got rid of!"

Akiza's eyes widen a little before she started glaring at Kuromu. The cards that she had in her hand were really good, but now they couldn't be used anymore. Fortunately, as she discarded her cards to the Graveyard and started drawing a new hand, Akiza knew that Kuromu had to do the same thing. She now had to hope that Kuromu's new hand wouldn't have anything that could potential end this Duel right now.

Once Kuromu finished drawing cards, he looked at his new hand for a moment before continuing on with his turn. His next move comprised of taking one card from his hand and placing it face-down on his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. This act caused a solid-vision face-down card to appear before him in a horizontal position. As soon it was out, Kuromu then grabbed one more card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. This caused another face-down card to appear just behind his first one.

"Next, I set a monster face-down in Defense Mode and then one card face-down," Kuromu continued. "With that…I end my turn."

When Kuromu announced the end of his turn, Akiza gently placed her hand upon her deck as she looked at the cards that her opponent just set. Both of them were set face-down, meaning that she had no idea what they were and how they could be used against her. Such plays would normally cause a Duelist to hesitate, but Akiza knew that she couldn't afford that. In order to defeat Kuromu, Akiza had to strike hard and fast and that was exactly what she was planning to do.

"It's my turn," She said. "Draw!"

After drawing a card from his deck, Akiza took a moment to look at it before placing it into her new hand. She then took a second to examine all of her cards before slowly picking up one of them. Once she had that card in hand, Akiza proceeded to place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Summon: Botanical Lion, in Attack Mode!" She shouted.

**Botanical Lion: ATK 1600 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across Akiza's side of the field as her monster started to materialize before her. When the light faded away, Botanical Lion fully appeared onto the field and started roaring at Kuromu, who didn't seem fazed by the monster's arrival.

"As long as Botanical Lion is on the field," Akiza continued. "Its Special Ability grants it 300 Attack Points for every Plant-Type monster on my side of the field….including itself!"

**Botanical Lion: ATK 1900**

When Akiza finished explaining her monster's effect, she watched as a bright pink aura started to cover Botanical Lion's body. The power of this aura increased the muscle mass of her Lion's strength, making it stronger than it was previously. Once it finished charging up, Akiza continued on with her turn by proceeding to conduct her Battle Phase.

"Botanical Lion," She called. "Go and attack his face-down monster!"

Upon hearing her order to attack, Botanical Lion released another powerful roar just before it ran towards Kuromu's side of the field. As it did that, the face-down monster that he set on his last turn flipped up. This caused a small flash of light to shine on Kuromu's field for a few seconds. When the light faded away, Akiza saw that the monster that her opponent set was a Garbage Ogre.

**Garbage Ogre: ATK 800 DEF 1300 LVL 3**

Once she saw Kuromu's monster reveal itself, Akiza then watched as her Botanical Lion started to rip it to pieces. However, despite the fact that her lion managed to destroy one of her opponent's monsters, Kuromu wasn't dealt any damage since his Garbage Ogre was set in Defense Mode. Akiza knew that she needed to deal as much damage to Kuromu as possible before he brought out his Ace Monster, which she knew was on the way. It's for this reason that she responded by taking a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, since a Plant-Type monster I controlled just destroyed one of your monsters, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell: Thousand Rose Petals!" She explained. "With this card, you now take damage equal to the level of my Botanical Lion, multiplied by 200 points! My lion is a Level 4 monster, which means you take 800 points of damage!"

After playing her Spell Card, Akiza watched as her Botanical Lion started firing a large barrage of razor sharp rose petals from its flower-like mane. She then watched as the rose petals made its way towards Kuromu, who simply took the hit since he knew that it wouldn't do him any actual harm.

**Kuromu: 3200 LP**

When her Botanical Lion finished launching its attack towards Kuromu, Akiza looked at him for a moment in order to see if he would react in any type of way. However, when it was clear to her that no such reaction was taking place, Akiza continued on with her turn. Since she believed that Number 53: Heart-Earth was on the way, the Rose Duelist decided to make plans in order to get rid of it. To that end, she took one card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. She then watched as the card appeared face-down, right behind her Botanical Lion.

"I set one card face-down," She stated. "I end my turn."

"Good," Kuromu replied. "Now, as a reward for damaging my Life Points, allow me to show you…why you shouldn't have done that. It's my turn, Draw!"

When Kuromu drew his next card, Akiza suddenly felt a cold chill shot straight from her spine. This feeling made her enter a small cold sweat, which she did not like one bit. However, what she was feeling also indicated to her that what she believed was coming was in fact on her way.

"Alright," Kuromu said as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "To begin, I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With it, I can Special Summon the Garbage Lord that I discarded via the effect of my Card Destruction Spell!"

**Garbage Lord: ATK 0 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

Upon activating his Trap Card, Kuromu watched as the portal to the Graveyard suddenly appeared before him. From that portal, his Garbage Lord emerged and it started standing by his side. After that was settled as the Graveyard portal disappeared, Kuromu continued on with his turn by activating one of his favorite cards.

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Inferno Reckless Summon! This card allows me to Special Summon two more Garbage Lords from either my hand, deck, or Graveyard, since the first one I Special Summoned had less than 1500 Attack Points!"

Kuromu, after explaining the effect of his Quick-Play Spell, soon grabbed his deck and started going through all of his cards. Upon finding the Garbage Lord that was residing in there, he quickly put it aside before placing her deck back into his Duel Disk. He then pressed a button on the device so that the cards in his deck would shuffle. Once that was done, Kuromu then grabbed the Garbage Lord that was in his hand before placing both cards onto his Monster Card Zone.

As soon as he did that, everyone in the Kaiba Dome watched as two more Garbage Lords appeared and started standing next to the first one. For those who have already seen Kuromu Duel, they knew what was coming next. This was verified when they watched Kuromu stack all three of his Garbage Lord cards on top of one another.

"Now…I Overlay all three of my Level 5 Garbage Lords! With these three monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

The three Garbage Lords quickly transformed into dark orbs of light that started flying around the Kaiba Dome for a few seconds. As they did that, the portal to the Overlay Network slowly appeared on Kuromu's side of the field. Once the portal was fully materialized, everyone watched as all three orbs dove straight into it. It was at that moment that Kuromu grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and stacked it on top of his other three cards.

"Xyz Summon! Come forth, an entity that promises to fill the world with complete and utter chaos, Number 53: Heart-Earth!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 100 DEF 100 Rank 5**

When Kuromu placed his Number Card onto his Duel Disk, a giant explosion of light started shooting from the Overlay Network. As sparks sprayed across the entire field, Heart-Earth emerged and started standing next to Kuromu. As Akiza looked on at the Number, the young woman felt her arm burning. She looked down towards it and saw that her Signer Mark was glowing rather brightly, telling her that there was danger ahead. Upon seeing that, Akiza braced herself as she waited to see what her opponent would do next.

While Akiza waited, Kuromu looked at her and noticed the slight hint of fear that was on her face. The sight of that fear pleased him and he planned on instilling even more fear into her. However, he knew that the time to do that wasn't here yet. He was still missing a card and until he got it, Akiza's suffering would have to wait. However, that didn't mean he was done and so he took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. The card then materialized face-down on his of the field, right behind Heart-Earth.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "I end my turn, Akiza Izinski. Now, let's see if you can do what no one else could…and destroy my Heart-Earth."

Akiza glared at Kuromu after he said that as she knew that he didn't believe that she could destroy Heart-Earth. Granted, the Number would be the most powerful monster that she'd be going up against and it near invincibility made it an even bigger problem to deal with. However, Akiza's been Dueling long enough to know that every monster, in one way or another has a weakness. It's for this reason that she didn't back down, as she believed that she figured out the weakness of Number 53.

"It's my turn," She said as she placed her hand upon her deck. "Draw!"

After drawing a card from her deck, Akiza looked at it for a few seconds before turning her attention back towards Heart-Earth. As she watched the three purple-colored Overlay Units circle around its body, the Rose Duelist recalled what Misaki told her before the Duel began. She said that she needed to take out Heart-Earth's Overlay Units, which is the source of its invincibility. Taking that advice to heart, Akiza looked at the cards that were in her hand and the cards that were on her field. Once she came up with an idea, she decided to act utilize it right away.

She started her turn by taking the card that she just drew and place it face-down upon her Monster Card Zone. Upon doing so, Akiza watched as a face-down card materialized on her side of the field in a horizontal position. When the card fully appeared on the field, it was placed right next to her Botanical Lion.

"First, I set one monster face-down in Defense Mode!" She stated.

Once she did that, Akiza continued on with her turn by activating the face-down card that she set on her previous turn. When she did that, the card slowly flipped itself up and a bright flash of light shined across her field as a result.

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Overtake Summon! With it, by detaching an Overlay Unit from one of your monsters, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!"

Kuromu watched as one of the Overlay Units that were surrounding Heart-Earth quickly left it and began to make its way over to Akiza's field. When it reached her, the Rose Duelist pulled out one of her cards and watched as the Overlay Unit went inside of it. As soon as that happened, Akiza placed the card firmly onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Lord Poison, in Attack Mode!"

**Lord Poison: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Akiza watched another flash of light shined across her side of the field. When that light eventually faded away, she watched as her Lord Poison appeared and started standing next to her Botanical Lion. With another Plant-Type monster on her field, the Special Ability of her lion granted it another 300 extra Attack Points.

**Botanical Lion: ATK 2200**

However, despite the fact that one her monsters was now stronger, Akiza had no intention of attacking with it, or her Lord Poison, this turn. The whole purpose of her move was to not only remove one of Heart-Earth's Overlay Units, but to also bring out another monster that has the same Level as her first one. Now that she's done that, Akiza continued on with her turn by taking her two monster cards and stacking them on top of one another.

"Now…I Overlay my Level 4 Botanical Lion and Lord Poison! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

Both of Akiza's monsters responded to her words and quickly transformed into two orbs of light. Like what Kuromu's orbs of light did earlier, these two orbs also started flying across the stadium for the next couple of seconds. As that was happening, the portal of the Overlay Network reappeared, only on Akiza's side of the field. It was at this moment that both orbs dove right into the portal and Akiza proceeded to grab a card from her Extra Deck.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the battleship that mows down all opposition! Number 50: Blackship of Corn!"

**Number 50 – Blackship of Corn: ATK 2100 DEF 1500 Rank 4**

After placing the card onto her Extra Deck, Akiza watched as a giant eruption of light shot from the Overlay Network. As colorful sparks shined down on everyone in the Kaiba Dome, the Rose Duelist looked on as her powerful Blackship of Corn appeared and started standing back her side. Now with her own Number Card on the field, Akiza decided that the time was now to get rid of Heart-Earth's second Overlay Unit.

"I activate Blackship of Corn's Special Ability!" She declared. "By using one Overlay Unit, my Blackship can destroy a monster on your field whose Attack Points are equal or less than its own and then deal 1000 points of damage. The monster I choose…is Number 53: Heart-Earth!"

"…I see what you're trying to do," Kuromu said as he watched one of Blackship of Corn's Overlay Units get stored into one of its cannons. "You're using all of power trying to get rid of Heart-Earth's Overlay Units, since you know that it can't be destroyed while it has them. Well…let's see if your plan will actually bring you a victory."

After storing an Overlay Unit into one of its cannons, Blackship of Corn took aim at Kuromu's Heart-Earth and proceeded to fire the Unit at it. When the attack struck the monster, a giant explosion occurred, covering Kuromu's entire field in a massive cloud of smoke. The effect of the Augmented Reality Vision went on to make the smoke even more realistic, making it extremely hard to see what was going on.

When the smoke finally started to clear up, Akiza looked on as Heart-Earth now had only one Overlay Unit remaining. That sight put a smile on her face for a moment, but it quickly faded away when she saw that the face-down card that Kuromu had set earlier was now flipped up. She also noticed that the face-down card was not only causing Heart-Earth's body to glow a fiery red color, but the same thing was also happening to her Blackship of Corn.

"Thanks for that, Akiza Izinski," Kuromu said with a sarcastic smile on his face. "Now, since you used a monster effect on Heart-Earth, I was allowed to activate the Trap Card: Burning Hearts! This card forces our monsters to do battle this turn!"

Akiza's eyes widen as she watched both her Blackship of Corn and Kuromu's Heart-Earth begin to make their way towards one another. As they did that, the young woman noticed that the aura that was surrounding Heart Earth's body was beginning to glow even brighter than before.

"At this moment, I activate Heart-Earth's Special Ability!" Kuromu continued. "It now gains Attack Points equal to that of your Blackship of Corn, until the end of the turn!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 2200**

Once Heart-Earth gained the attack power of Blackship of Corn, the two Xyz Monsters quickly engaged in battle. During this conflict, Akiza's Blackship did everything within its power to try and defeat its foe. However, Heart-Earth power was simply too much for Number 50 to overcome and it ended up being destroyed by Number 53's Infernal Surge attack.

**Akiza: 3900 LP**

As the debris of her monster started falling towards her, Akiza instinctively covered her head so that she wouldn't be harmed. Unfortunately, the destruction of her Blackship of Corn wasn't the only thing that Kuromu had in store for her. This was proven when the Rose Duelist saw Heart-Earth slowly make its way over to her.

"Now, I activate the second effect of my Burning Heart Trap Card!" Kuromu stated. "Since the monster Heart-Earth just destroyed was a Xyz Monster, you now take damage equal to half of your Blackship of Corn's Attack Points!"

Once he finished explaining the effect of his Trap Card, Kuromu watched as Heart-Earth completely covered Akiza's body with an intense flame. He then watched as the heat of the flames was taking its toll on Akiza, causing her to fall to both knees as her Life Points began to drop again.

**Akiza: 2850 LP**

When Heart-Earth's attack ended and it returned to his side, Kuromu smiled gleefully at Akiza as he pleased that his monster was causing her to suffer. For as long as he could remember, Kuromu has always enjoyed the suffering of other people and this moment was no exception to him. He then waited in anticipation for Akiza to hurry up and end her turn so that her suffering could continue.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Akiza was still reeling from Heart-Earth's attack. For a moment, she nearly passed out as the pain that she was feeling was almost too much for her to take. If it wasn't for her strong will to win this Duel, Akiza knew that she would have given in to the pain and it would've been all over for her. She had to keep fighting, no matter how much pain she had to endure.

Eventually, as she got back on her feet, Akiza took a second to look over her cards. As of right now, the only card that she had on the field was the face-down monster that she set earlier during her turn. Since Heart-Earth's effect only works during her turn, the chances that Kuromu would attack during his turn were really low. It's for this reason that she decided not to play anymore cards this turn and just wait and see what her opponent would do next.

"I end my turn," She said.

"Good," Kuromu replied with a sneer. "Now…it's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing his next card, Kuromu glanced at it before smiling like deranged madman. He then turned his attention towards Akiza and soon directed that smile towards her. His smile creep her out a little and she tried her best to keep her fear from showing, but it was becoming rather difficult to do.

As she continued to fight back her emotions, Akiza started to sense something coming from Kuromu. It was a very cold and dark feeling, which in turn caused her to shiver a little. Eventually, the Rose Duelist saw a dark aura surround her opponent's body as he proceeded to open the Field Spell slot of his Duel Disk. Then, as he placed the card he drew into the slot, Akiza watched as the dark aura covering Kuromu's body steadily became bigger.

"Behold, Akiza Izinski," Kuromu said to her. "I activate the Field Spell: Shadow Realm!"

Once he activated his Field Spell, Kuromu's dark aura started to extend from his body towards all across the Duel Field. As she watched this display, Akiza felt her body becoming colder and the fear in heart growing larger. She then went on to take one step back as the darkness continued to cover the field.

"What…what is this?" She questioned. "What's going on…?"

"It's the Shadow Realm!" Kuromu answered. "And in this place…you will know terror far beyond your worst nightmares!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As the second Duel of the Semi-Finals continues, Akiza is doing everything within her power to keep herself from losing. However, Kuromu's abilities are immense and the power of his Field Spell is making her see things that aren't there. All of these things bring her to the brink and it's during this moment that an old part of Akiza begins to reawaken within her. _

_Can Akiza hold on to herself and manage to defeat Kuromu or will the darkness that once consumed her life before consume her again?_

_Next Time, on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus! Chapter 85: The Rose of Love vs. The Heart of Hate – Part 2_


	85. Chapter 85

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, **and** Zexal**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 85: **_The Rose of Love vs. The Heart of Hate – Part 2_

* * *

><p><strong>Akiza: 2850 LP<strong>

**Kuromu: 3200 LP**

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 100 DEF 100 Rank 5**

"What's going on? What…the hell is…this?"

Those were the questions that were running through Akiza Izinski's head as she watched a large darkness begin to make its way towards her. As the second Duel of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals continued, the young Psychic Duelist was in the midst of fighting against, Kuromu Nesara, the powerful Duelist that's been tearing up his opponent's like thin pieces of paper. Kuromu's Dueling skills made him almost unstoppable and his nearly invincible Ace Monster, Number 53: Heart-Earth, didn't make things any better. However, for the first couple of turns during this Duel, Akiza didn't show any fear.

For Akiza, she had two reasons why she felt that she had to defeat Kuromu here. The first reason was to protect her friends. Although she didn't know how he was doing this, Akiza was aware that Kuromu could inflict real damage onto his opponent's, especially when he uses his Heart-Earth. This was done to not only Toru and Crow, but to herself as well. Akiza felt that if such a man continued to make his way through the tournament, then the number of victims that he created would only increase. Not wanting that to happen and not wanting to lose the friends that she worked so hard to gain, Akiza stood tall against her foe.

The second reason why she kept on fighting was for the person that she loved, Takashi Nakamura. Ever since she first met him, Akiza's life has slowly, but surely beginning to turn towards the right direction. His strength, determination, and compassion has affected her more than anyone else has. It's because of all those things that Akiza fell in love with Takashi and that she swore that she would always be there for him, just like how he's always there for her.

Akiza's promise to always be there for the man that she loved became even more important to her after the conversation that she and Takashi had shortly before the Duel. During their talk, Takashi told Akiza to forfeit her match against Kuromu before it even started. The reason why he wanted her to do that is not because he was afraid of facing her in the Finals, but because he was concerned about her safety. Just like how he became one of the most people in Akiza's life, Takashi considered her one of the most people in his life. He simply didn't want to lose her and Akiza knew how he felt, but she still had to fight Kuromu.

Just like how Takashi was concerned about her safety, Akiza was concerned for his. It's for that reason that she told him that if he fought Kuromu and lost his life during that struggle, Akiza would do everything within her power to kill Kuromu in revenge. Then, after she finally settled that score, the young woman would then take her own life. The despair of failing to protect the one who was most important to her would be too much, at least in her mind, for Akiza to take and thus she would be unable to forgive herself. There would be no point in continuing living after that and Akiza decided to end it all if such a thing happened.

However, despite that claim, taking her own life was something that Akiza didn't want to do at all. She wanted to live her life with Takashi and the rest of their friends. Since she no longer had a family to call her own, the Signer considered her close friends to be her family instead. She swore that she would protect her new family and continue to live happily with him, as she doesn't want to go through the tragedy of being alone again. That's why Akiza's fighting Kuromu and why she promised that she would win. Unfortunately, Akiza is quickly finding out that some promises are harder to keep than others.

As the Duel between her and Kuromu continued, not only did the later put Akiza on the defensive by bringing his Heart-Earth, but Kuromu also played a Field Spell that nobody has even seen before. This Field Spell was the Shadow Realm and just like its name, dark shadows were beginning to enclose the entire field around Akiza and Kuromu. The thick darkness that surrounded her brought massive chills down Akiza's spine as she never felt anything like this before in her life. Even though it was just a Solid-Vision image, it felt more real than that and it quickly brought fear into her heart.

Out of all the emotions that humans feel, it's widely considered that fear is one of the most prominent. Fear can bring out the best or the worst in an individual, which in turn sometimes bring out the flight or fight reaction within them. For Akiza, the sight of the darkness was making her want to run away. She has dislike for the darkness, mostly because she knows what it's like to be there and she doesn't want to go back. However, despite the darkness coming closer to her and the fear in her heart slowly growing bigger, Akiza held on to her courage and stood her ground.

While Akiza waited for her opponent to continue on with the rest of his turn, Kuromu simply kept his eyes on her. He saw that the moment that he activated his Field Spell that Akiza's resolve was beginning to waver. That sight brought a smile to his face as it precisely the thing that he wanted to see. Although his main goal is to win the Duel, Kuromu also had a strong desire to make the opponents that he goes up against suffer. He told Akiza that Shadow Realm will bring her terror far beyond her worst nightmares and he had every intention of making that happen. To that end, the psychotic Duelist prepared himself to continue on with his turn, so that he could bring even more pain and suffering to Akiza.

As this was going on, almost everyone in the Kaiba Dome was trying to figure out what was happening. With all of them never hearing about this Field Spell before, none of them had no idea what was about to happen. For about half of the crowd was excited about this unknown prospect because they were very interested in seeing what kind of powers does the Shadow Realm have and how Akiza would counter or fall to it.

For the other half of the crowd, they were frightened by the darkness that the Shadow Realm was creating. Even though it was just a hologram, it felt very real to them. Some of the spectators even started to feel a frightening chill in the air, making them even more frightened in the process. Eventually, as the darkness continued to spread all over, some of the people in the crowd decided that they weren't going to watch the Duel anymore. For them, things were getting to real and they felt that it would be better to leave and learn the result of the Duel latter than to stay and possibly get hurt.

While this was happening, Lilly and the others were busy watching the Duel from the stands. All of them felt the same fear that some of the spectators were feeling, but they decided to hold their ground. All of them wanted to support Akiza in this Duel, especially since the opponent that she was going up against was Kuromu. He was a dangerous Duelist that has powers that none of them are completely sure of. The only way to counter such power is with a power of equal force, which is where Akiza comes in. All of them believed that the massive Psychic power that dwells within her could possibly even out the playing field, which is why they believed that she had the best chance of defeating him.

"C'mon Akiza," Enoch said as he watched the Duel. "Don't let him get to you. Just keep on fighting."

"Yeah," Crow followed in agreement. "Show that bastard whose boss!"

As the two boys continued to encourage their friend, Lilly simply looked on with a silent expression on her face. Like Akiza, Lilly also sensed something dark and evil coming from the Shadow Realm Field Spell. In fact, the beautiful Signer had an even better feel for it since her spirit awareness was far superior than that of Akiza's. Lilly was able to sense the actually darkness coming not only the card itself, but from Kuromu's body as well.

This feeling bothered her greatly and Lilly was beginning to wonder if Akiza had what it takes in order to overcome it. As she thought about that, the young woman noticed a beautiful golden orb of light beginning to make its way towards the Dueling Field. Once it got there, the orb simply stayed above the darkness, waiting for a certain event to take place. Upon getting a better look at the orb, Lilly eventually figured out what it was.

"It's a…spirit," She thought. "But what's it doing here?"

That was the question that was on Lilly's mind at the moment. Just what exactly was this spirit doing here and what is it planning on doing? The Signer didn't know the answer to these questions, but her gut told her that the spirit wasn't here to do any harm to Akiza. In fact, a small part of her believed that it was here to help her friend. It's because of this feeling that Lilly decided to stand back and wait and see what this little spirit's true objective was.

As this was happening, Sona was still tending to Takashi's injuries back inside the locker room. Since healing someone using Psychic powers is different than treating someone with a natural healing ability, Sona's work took much longer. Also, since she had to keep the appearance that Takashi was seriously injured, the experienced Psychic Duelist only tended to the parts of his arm that needed to most treatment. Anything else she would tend regularly, at least once the Semi-Finals were over.

While she did that, Takashi was busy thinking to himself. He was wondering whether or not it was a wrong to let Akiza go and face Kuromu. Although he believes her to be a much more capable Duelist than he is, that didn't change the fact that Kuromu would be Akiza's greatest opponent yet. Not only that, but Takashi knows that the main reason why he gave in to his friend's wishes is because he knew that she would kill herself if he fought Kuromu himself and lost. The pressure of that situation was simply too much for him to take at that particular moment and so he let Akiza face Kuromu, even though he didn't really want her to do so.

As Takashi thought about that, both he and Sona soon felt a powerful, yet dark Reiatsu coming from the stadium. Upon feeling this massive spiritual pressure, both of them knew right away who the source of the power was coming from. It was Kuromu and from the level of his Reiatsu, he was beginning to take advantage of Akiza. Upon sensing that she was in trouble, Takashi decided that he couldn't just sit here in anymore. Even if it meant just going out and rooting for her in the stands, it was better than doing nothing at all. As a result, Takashi sat himself up and began making his way out.

When Sona watched him get up and begin making his way out the locker room, the Psychic Duelist knew right away what he was trying to do and stopped him before he could leave. Though Takashi struggled to break free, he was still in a lot of pain from the gunshot injuries that he received earlier.

"Stop it Takashi," Sona told him. "I know you want to go out there, but you won't do anybody any good if you go out there now. Let me treat your injuries first, and then you can go out there."

"…No," Takashi said as he attempted to overcome the pain that he was feeling. "I'm going out there. Akiza needs my help, Sona! I already let down one woman that I loved and I don't want to do that again!"

Upon hearing Takashi say that, Sona eyes widen a little bit and she slowly loosen her grip on him. When the Signer felt that, he quickly pulled away from her and began making his way towards the stands. When Sona finally regained her composure, she watched as Takashi left to go give support to the woman that he loved. Seeing that reminded her of something from the past and made her realize that trying to stop Takashi would be pointless. Because of that, she decided to accompany him so that not only could she give Akiza her support, but also so that she can make sure that Takashi doesn't do anything reckless.

Back on the battlefield, Akiza was still looking around the area as the darkness from Kuromu's Field Spell continued to surround her. The Shadow Realm was causing her to see illusions of monsters and other demons, scaring her and causing her to wonder if any of this was real or not. All these things were quickly causing her resolve to waver, but none more so than what she saw next.

As the darkness began to take shape around her, Akiza watched as the shadows transformed into her friends. At first, the sight of them eased her heart a little as she was just glad to see them, especially Takashi, who was smiling at her like always. However, just as Akiza was about to extend her hand out to him, the image that she thought was Takashi soon transformed into a horrific demon. The sight of her beloved transforming into a monster shook Akiza to her very core and it didn't help her that the rest of friends also transformed into terrifying monsters.

Kuromu watched as these events transpired and smiled when he saw that Akiza was beginning to break under the pressure. All she needed now was a little extra push until she was completely broken. It's for that desire that Kuromu continued on with his turn by grabbing one of the cards that was in his hand. Then, after making sure that it was indeed the card that he wanted to use, Kuromu then proceeded to insert the card into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"Alright," He said. "I'm activating the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With it, I can revive the Garbage Ogre that you destroyed earlier in Defense Mode!"

**Garbage Ogre: ATK 800 DEF 1300 LVL 3**

After explaining the effects of his Spell, Kuromu watched as some of the shadows that made up his Field Spell began to take shape right in front of him. Eventually, the shadows transformed into his Garbage Ogre, who promptly took a defensive position in front of him. Once that happened, Kuromu then took one more card from his hand and also inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. However, unlike before, this card appeared face-down on the field, just behind his Ace Monster.

"Next, I set one card face-down and end my turn. Now, Akiza Izinski…it's your turn. That is, if you have the courage to make a move."

If there was one thing that Akiza was severally lacking right now, it was courage. The strength of Kuromu's Heart-Earth, his powers that cause her real damage, and the illusions created from the Shadow Realm were all taking a massive toll on her. Eventually, Akiza was reaching the point in which she wanted to surrender the Duel so that she could get away from it all. Fortunately, just as she considered doing that, the beautiful Psychic Duelist found the strength to continue when she saw her Signer Mark beginning to glow brightly.

The light coming from her mark caused some of the monsters that she was seeing to disappear from her sight. After that, Akiza's mark allowed her to see past the darkness for a second and watch as her friends were rooting for her from the stands. The sight of seeing her real friends gave her the strength to keep going, even though the monsters that Signer Mark destroyed soon returned to torment her. Upon seeing that, Akiza decided that she needed to get rid of the Shadow Realm, so that its illusions could no longer affect her.

"Al…alright," She said as she placed her hand upon her deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing the top card of her deck and placing it into her hand, Akiza looked towards Kuromu's side of the field and stared at his Number Card. Heart-Earth's Special Ability prevents it from being destroyed while it still has its Overlay Units. During her last turn, Akiza managed to destroy two out of the three Overlay Units by using a combination of a Quick-Play Spell and her own Number, Blackship of Corn. However, she still had to get rid of Heart-Earth's final Overlay Unit if she wanted to be rid of it for good.

After thinking about it for a bit, Akiza got an idea on how to accomplish her goal and soon turned her attention towards the face-down monster card that was on her field. She remembered that she played it at the end of her previous turn, in the case that her opponent wanted to summon a monster of his own. With that not being the case, Akiza decided that now was a good time to reveal her monster, so she flipped up the card that was on her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"I Flip Summon: Magician of Faith!"

**Magician of Faith: ATK 300 DEF 400 LVL 1**

When Akiza flipped up the card that was on her Duel Disk, the face-down card that was on her field flipped up as well. As that happened, a beautiful magician wrapped in ancient garbs and was carrying a magic staff appeared on Signer's field. Once it was out completely, Akiza then placed her hand towards the Graveyard section of her Duel Disk.

"When Magician of Faith is flipped face-up, its Special Ability activates," She explained. "I can now take one Spell Card from my Graveyard and add it back to my hand."

Akiza searched through her Graveyard in order to find the card that she wanted. Once she found it, the young woman placed it back into her hand before continuing on with her turn. Her next involved taking one of the other cards that were in her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Nettles!"

**Nettles: ATK 1200 DEF 400 LVL 2**

A small flash of light shined across Akiza's side of the field for a second as her Nettles materialized onto her side of the field. When she saw it fully materialize before her, the young woman decided that now was the time to put her plan into full motion. To that end, she proceeded to take the Spell Card that she recently got back and insert it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Overtake Summon! Like before, this card allows me to remove an Overlay Unit for one of your Xyz Monsters so that I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!"

When Akiza finished explaining the effect of her Spell, Kuromu watched as Heart-Earth's final Overlay Unit left its side. He then looked on as the Unit made its way inside of his opponent's cards. After that happened, Akiza then went on to take that card and place it firmly onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Revival Rose!"

**Revival Rose: ATK 1300 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

After placing the card onto her Duel Disk, Akiza watched as another small flash of light shined across her side of the field. When the light faded, her Revival Rose appeared before her and started standing next to her other two monsters. Now, with all the pieces that she needs in place, Akiza decided that now was the time to not only get rid of this creepy Field Spell, but Heart-Earth as well.

"I Tune my Level 1 Magician of Faith and Level 4 Revival Rose with my Level 2 Nettles!"

The three monsters responded to their master's words and quickly jumped high into the air as a result. Once they reached a certain height, all of them quickly began the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. While that was taking place, Akiza quickly grabbed a card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

Upon calling out the name of her Ace Monster, Akiza watched as the Synchro ritual was finally coming to an end. As a bright flash of light covered the entire area, her Black Rose Dragon appeared and released a powerful roar. Once it did that, the Synchro Monster then turned its attention towards Kuromu's Heart-Earth, who no longer had the power to protect itself from destruction.

"When Black Rose Dragon is successfully Synchro Summoned, its Special Ability destroys all the cards on the field!" Akiza explained. "Go…Black Rose Gale!"

Black Rose Dragon nodded its head as it listened to Akiza's orders and started roaring one more time in response. As it was doing that, the dragon released thousands upon thousands of poisonous rose petals from its wings. The petals were quickly taking its effect upon everything that was on the field, including Heart-Earth and the Shadow Realm spell. The sight of that brought a smile on Akiza's face, but it would soon be wiped away when Kuromu made his countermove.

"I don't think so," He said. "I activate one of the effects of the Shadow Realm! By banishing a Dark Attribute Monster on my field, I can negate the activation of one your monsters effects. I banish my Garbage Ogre in order to negate your dragon's powers!"

Akiza's eyes widen upon hearing Kuromu explain the effect of his Field Spell. The Signer then watched as the darkness from the Shadow Realm not only swallowed up Kuromu's Garbage Ogre, but also stopped her Black Rose Dragon from using its powers. This act effectively halted the only strategy she had to destroy Heart-Earth, leaving her with no more options. However, that wasn't the end of Akiza's troubles.

"Alright," Kuromu said. "Now that I stopped your dragon, I can now activate the Continuous Trap Card: Resonating Hearts! With it, as I'm sure you're well aware, monsters on your side of the field must remain in Attack Mode. Not only that, but all your monsters must attack Number 53: Heart-Earth, starting with the monster with the highest Attack Points!"

Upon explaining the powers of his Trap Card, Kuromu watched with an evil grin on his face as Black Rose Dragon forcefully fired a purple stream of fire towards Heart-Earth. However, instead of being destroyed by the attack, the Number was absorbing its power and adding it to its own.

"Next, I activate Heart-Earth's Special Ability!" Kuromu continued. "When attacked, it gains Attack Points equal to that of the attacking monster until the End Phase of this turn!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 2500**

After absorbing the power from Black Rose Dragon's attack, Heart-Earth promptly returned fire by unleashing its Infernal Surge attack. The massive stream of hellfire consume Akiza's ace, reducing it to ash and causing her to fallback from the force of the explosion that blast. Upon landing on her back, Akiza coughed up some blood as he Life Points began to fall.

**Akiza: 2750 LP**

Once Heart-Earth's attack came to an end, the darkness that was surrounding Akiza began to take shape in front of her again. It once again created illusions of her friends, all of which stared at her with looks of discontent. By the time Akiza regain consciousness and slowly got back to her feet, the illusions of her friends transformed into monsters again, frightening her once more.

"Now," Kuromu continued as a sinister smile appeared on his face. "I activate the second effect of the Shadow Realm. Since a Dark Attribute Xyz Monster I control destroyed your monster through battle, you take damage equal to the Attack Points of your beloved Black Rose Dragon!"

After Kuromu finished explaining the second effect of his Field Spell, Akiza watched in horror as the monsters that were surrounding her each fired a powerful blast of negative energy at her. The pain from the attacks was so intense that the Psychic Duelist couldn't keep herself from screaming at the top of her lungs. Eventually, once the monsters finished launching their attack at her, they disappeared just as Akiza's hairclip fell from her head. She then landed face first on the ground, completely unconscious.

**Akiza: 350 LP**

As Kuromu started laughing hysterically to himself, Akiza's friends simply looked on in shock as Akiza remained motionless. When Takashi and Sona finally reached all of them, the former got a good look at what was going on and his eyes quickly widen as a result. Tears then started to form around Takashi's eyes as he continued to watch Akiza lie helplessly on the ground.

"No…wake up," He said. "Wake up…AKIZA!"

Takashi continued screaming at Akiza, pleading for her to get back up on her feet. However, when he saw her remain on the ground, the Signer's fear was beginning to overwhelm him. Eventually, Takashi attempted to go out towards the field in order to help Akiza, but was stopped by the rest of his friends. They knew that he wouldn't be much help to her because of his injuries and forced him to stay back. Although all of them wanted to help Akiza too, they knew that they couldn't do anything in this situation. All they could do was wait and hope for a miracle to happen.

At the precise moment that they all hoped that, Lilly saw something that immediately caught her eye. The golden spirit that she saw earlier was beginning to make its way towards Akiza. Upon reaching her, the orb soon placed itself inside the Psychic Duelist's body. It was this scene that caused a small flicker of hope to appear inside of Lilly.

"Please," Lilly said quietly to the orb. "Please…help her."

* * *

><p>"…Help. Somebody…please help…me."<p>

Inside the dark recesses of her mind, Akiza Izinski was busy crying out for help while sitting in the fetal position. The stress of Kuromu's attack, along with the illusions that she was seeing due to the powers of the Shadow Realm, forced her to retreat towards her mind in order to find sanctuary. However, by doing so, Akiza now felt more alone than before as she no longer could receive help from her actual friends in order to gain strength.

Despite the praise that she constantly receives about her skills, Akiza doesn't really consider herself all that strong. As a matter of fact, if she's being perfectly honest with herself, Akiza believes that she's really weak. The reason why Akiza believes that she's weak is because her resolve isn't all that strong. If she's put in a situation that's extremely stressful for her, especially when her friends are involved, her will to fight can diminish quickly. This was especially the case during her Duel against Kuromu.

During that contest, her opponent's Dueling skills and powers quickly brought her to the brink. Not only that, but the illusions of the Shadow Realm Field Spell also gave her problems as well. It caused her to see things that she didn't want to see, like watching her friends change into monsters and attack her. Ever since she met them nearly a year ago, Akiza cherished her friends greatly as they were the ones that saved her from the darkness of her soul. So, even though she knew that the ones who assaulted her were illusions, the sight still traumatized Akiza greatly. Now, left all alone, the Psychic Duelist was now starting to cry to herself as she contemplated the situation that she was in.

"…What do I do…?" She said to herself as tears continued to fall. "What do I do? I've…gave it everything that I had and yet…it still wasn't enough. I need help. Takashi…anybody…please help me. I…I need you…"

Akiza waited for someone to respond to her pleas, but quickly fell back into despair when she got no reply. She was truly all alone now and no one was going to help her. This revelation shook the young woman to her very core and she was beginning to believe that she would have to spend the rest of her life here. However, just as she was about to accept her fate, something unexpected happened. Akiza heard a voice calling out to her from the darkness.

_Over here…Come over here._

When she first heard the voice, Akiza was wondering where it was coming from. She was currently in a void of darkness and there was no one else there with her. However, upon hearing the voice for a second time, Akiza realized that something was indeed calling out to her. Although she didn't know who it was or why it wanted her, the emotional turmoil that Akiza was feeling forced her to comply with the voice's wishes. Because of that, it started walking towards the direction of the voice.

_Hurry…Hurry. I want to meet up with you, Akiza. _

"But…who are you?" Akiza questioned. "Where are you?"

_Just hurry up. I want to meet with you again._

Upon hearing the words that the mysterious voice just said to her, Akiza confusion was quickly increasing. According to it, both Akiza and the person creating this voice have met each other in the past. This felt strange to the Rose Duelist as doesn't remember meeting up with it before. However, as she continued to listen to the voice, a small part of Akiza recognized it from somewhere before and that familiarity increased with every passing second. It was this feeling that drove Akiza to find the source of the voice, as she had to find out who this particular person was.

Eventually, after about 10 minutes of searching through the darkness, Akiza soon found herself in a different location. She was now in a large hallway that seemed to go on forever. Also, the ground beneath her was flooded, causing a part of her legs to get wet. Being in this new area confused Akiza somewhat, but she had to keep on moving, especially when the sound of the voice became ever louder.

_You're almost there. Keep going._

Akiza nodded her head and started running down the hallway in search of the voice. She continued running for another 5 minutes until finally reaching a dead-end. After reaching the end of the line, the Signer saw a giant cage appear right before her. Inside that cage was a young girl that was all chained up, but too far away in the shadows for Akiza to see her completely.

"…It's been a long time Akiza," The girl said from inside the cage. "I've wanted to see you for so long now."

"Who…who are you?" Akiza questioned, feeling a small hint of fear from the girl's voice. "I don't…remember meeting you before."

"What are you saying?" The girl replied. "Don't tell me you've forgotten all about me. I mean…I've been you're best friend since you were a little girl."

The girl slowly made her way towards the entrance towards the cage and with each step she made, Akiza's fear grew as a result. Eventually, when the girl finally reached the entrance and Akiza got a good look at her face, the Signer was utterly shocked by what she was seeing. Somehow, the girl that was inside the cage looked exactly like her. The only difference between the two is that the eyes of this Akiza were completely emotionless and she was wearing an evil smile on her face.

The sight of this confined Akiza greatly confused the one that was outside of the cage. However, after thinking everything that this copycat just said to her, the Signer quickly realized who this person was. Her mannerism and the way that she spoke to her, there was only one person that she knew who spoke that way. Upon realizing this, Akiza dropped to both of her knees and looked at the girl with a frightened expression on her face.

"It's…it's you," She stuttered. "The Black Rose…"

"Ding-ding-ding…that's right," The Black Rose said with a smile on her face. "You see, you do remember me."

As the Black Rose continued smiling at her, Akiza was trying to figure out just what was going on. Although she knew that her split personality still resided within her, the young woman thought that Black Rose couldn't reach her anymore. However, after seeing her right in front of her eyes, it became clear to Akiza that the Black Rose wasn't as far away from her as she initially thought. Because of that, the Rose Duelist was now starting to wonder why her former self is here and why she called out to her.

While she continued to ponder these questions, the Black Rose simply continued smiling at her. Although she couldn't do anything while chained up and locked in this cage, the split personality found amusement in her other self's confusion. She soon decided to answer some of the questions that were on Akiza's mind, as it was painfully obvious to her what those questions were.

"Now…before you blow a fuse," She started off. "I'm not here to cause you trouble. I'm here because I want to lend you a hand."

"What…what do you mean?" Akiza asked. "Are you saying…that you know what's going on?"

"Of course I do," The Black Rose confirmed. "Ever since you've killed Sayer, you unconsciously placed me in this cage so that I can't get to you. Then, as time passed and you slowly became the person that you are now, these chains were placed on me, restricting my movements even further. However, despite the fact that I'm trapped here, that doesn't mean I don't know what's going on in your life. I mean…I am you after all."

After the Black Rose finished her explanation, Akiza was beginning to understand what was going on. However, she was still left with many questions. If the Black Rose truly did know what was going on back in the real world, why did she choose to call out to her now? Also, Akiza was wondering just what kind of help was her split personality going to provide for her. These questions ran through her mind and the Rose Duelist decided that she needed to get answers before moving forward.

"Why do you bring me here?" She asked. "Just what are you plotting?"

"I told you, I'm here to help you," The Black Rose told her. "I know what's going on out there and I know that if this keeps up…you're going to die."

"Why do you care about what happens to me?" Akiza questioned. "I mean, you said that I'm the reason you're trapped here. Wouldn't you want me to die?"

"Don't be stupid, Akiza. You and I are one in the same. So, if you die then I die too. I don't know about you…but I don't plan on being worm food. What about you, Akiza?"

Akiza thought about what the Black Rose just said to her and came to realize that she didn't want to die. However, given the situation that she's currently in, the Rose Duelist didn't have a lot of options available to her. Akiza utilized the best strategy that she could possibly think of, but it still wasn't enough to take down Kuromu or his Heart-Earth. This fact was showing her that she didn't have the strength to overcome this obstacle and Akiza believed that even with the Black Rose's help, she would still lose the Duel. However…the Black Rose didn't feel the same way.

"There is a way to defeat him," She said. "Let me out of here, Akiza…and let me take control."

"…What…" Akiza replied, shocked by the Black Rose's request. "You want me…to let you out?"

"That's right," A small smile appeared on the Black Rose's face again. "Listen to me. Kuromu Nesara's power comes from his hatred and his desire to destroy anything that gets in the way of his goal. The only way to defeat him is to gain power through your own hatred. However, due to the way you are now, the hatred that used to reside within you has mostly faded away. That's why you need to let me take control again…because I'm the manifestation of your hatred. In other words, I'm the only one who can defeat him."

Listening to the words of her split personality, Akiza wondered whether or not she should take the Black Rose up on her offer. If what she said was true and that Kuromu can only be defeated by the power of hatred, then perhaps it's best for the Black Rose to fight him instead. However, if she did let her other self take control, Akiza wondered whether or not she could regain control of her body once the match was over. Not only that, but she was also worried about what her friends will think of her if she return down the path of darkness.

As Akiza continued to think about what to do and how her actions would affect her future going forward, the Black Rose was quickly losing patience. The smile that was on her face faded away as she was becoming irritated by the indecision of her other half. Like she told Akiza before, if she dies during this Duel against Kuromu then she, the Black Rose, will die as well. Not wanting to suffer such a fate nor desiring to continue staying locked up, Black Rose decided to take a more forceful approach.

"Akiza…didn't you promise Takashi that you'd win? What do you think will happen to him…if you lose?"

When the Black Rose mentioned Takashi, Akiza's eyes widen as she started thinking about him. She remembered how he tried to persuade her to give up before she faced Kuromu, but chose to face him anyway in order to protect the one that she loved. However, after everything that just transpired, Akiza realized that she wouldn't be able to keep her promise to defeat her opponent and that Takashi would have to face him instead. Not wanting him to face such a foe, Akiza decided that she had to win, no matter what the cost to herself.

However, just as Akiza came to that conclusion, she unknowingly fell victim to the Black Rose's influence. As a result, her facial expression became blank and lifeless. She then began making her way towards the cage, just as the chains that were around the Black Rose were beginning to vanish. Upon seeing that, the Black Rose smiled almost psychotically and continued to watch as Akiza made her way over to her. Once Akiza reached the cage, she placed her hand against it, causing the lock that was on top of the cage to begin to unlock.

"That's right, Akiza," The Black Rose said. "Let me handle this. I won't let anything happen to you and I'll never again…let you go."

As the lock to the cage was beginning to open, the final chains that were around the Black Rose's body were beginning to disappear. Once she was free, the dark manifestation of Akiza's heart decided that she would put her weaker self in the cage so that she wouldn't interfere anymore. She spent nearly a year locked up in that cage and she wasn't about to stay there for another second. Also, since Akiza was the one who placed her there, the Black Rose decided that she needed experience what it's like to be confined and that was exactly what she was planning on doing. Unfortunately for the Black Rose, her plan was about to take an unexpected turn.

Just as Akiza was about to free the Black Rose, the orb of light that entered her body finally made its way towards the both of them. The sight of the orb confused the Black Rose and she wondered just what exactly was going on. However, just as she was thinking that, the orb got in between her and Akiza and soon let off a powerful and blinding light. The light the orb was giving off was so intense that it not only caused the Black Rose to step back, but it also woke Akiza from the trance that she was placed in.

Once the orb saw that Akiza was back to normal, it then released another intense flash of light from its small body. This light caused the chains that used to be around the Black Rose to reappear on her. Not only that, but the light also relocked the cage, preventing her from escaping. As soon as that happened, the Black Rose then noticed that she was beginning to disappear.

"What…what is that?" She said in confusion. "What the hell is happening?"

_I will not let you take Akiza. A very important friend of mine needs her and I won't let you get in the way of that!_

At first, the Black Rose was shocked by the fact that not only this mysterious orb of light got in the way of her plans, but was also talking to her as well. However, as she continued to disappear, Black Rose's shock quickly turned into anger. She then started growling at the orb just as she was about to disappear completely.

"You…you bastard!" She yelled. "You think that something like this will stop me?! This isn't the end! I'll be back…and I will reclaim what's rightfully mine! Just you wait!"

With that said, the Black Rose disappeared and orb then promptly brought Akiza back to the area where she was before. However, instead of being surrounded by darkness, the orb used its power to lighten up the area around them. Once it did that, the orb then waited for Akiza to finally regain her senses.

"What…what just happen?" She questioned.

_Take it easy. You were just under control by your split personality. You're going to feel dizzy for a little while. _

"I…I was?"

Akiza placed her hand upon her head as she tried to make sense of what just happened to her. The last thing she remembered was the Black Rose questioning her about what will happen to Takashi. After that, everything else quickly became fuzzy before she eventually blacked out. Now that she's finally regained consciousness, Akiza was wondering just what exactly was going on, especially since she was now with a golden orb that was talking to her.

"Who...are you?" Akiza asked. "Did you help me?"

_Who I am isn't important right now. However, I will say that I'm a friend and that I'm here to help._

"Really…but how?" Akiza stared at the orb very intently, trying to figure out how it was going to help her. "Kuromu is a powerful Duelist. What can you do that can help me beat him?"

_I'm not going to do anything, Akiza. You have to fight Kuromu…I don't have the power to interfere._

When she heard the orb of light say that, any hope that Akiza felt just now quickly faded away. She was hoping that it would help her defeat Kuromu, especially since it was the orb that prevented the Black Rose from taking over her body again. However, now that she knows that won't be the case, the Psychic Duelist was left wondering what to do.

"But how I can beat him?" She asked. "I don't know if I have the power to win."

…_I don't know either. However, that doesn't mean that you don't have the power to fight. The Black Rose told you that the only way to defeat someone like Kuromu, who uses hatred to fight, is with more hatred. However, that's not true at all. You have a quality that's just as powerful as hatred…and that's love._

"Love…?"

Akiza was confused by the orb's words as she wondered how love could be enough to overcome Kuromu's hatred. Although she did feel love in her heart, due to the romantic feelings she had for Takashi, she didn't know if such feelings would be enough. Fortunately, the orb of light gave an explanation so that everything would be clear.

_Just like how black can't cover black, hatred can't be defeated by more hatred. Only it's opposite, love, can do that. Unlike Kuromu, you fight in order to protect the people you care about. It's this powerful characteristic that could possibly give you the opportunity to win._

"Could…?" Akiza said with a puzzling look on her face. "Does that mean that even if I rely on my feelings of love, I still might not be able to win?"

_I don't know, Akiza. I'm not going to lie and tell that you're going to win if you do what I say. I guess…what I'm really saying is that you can't afford to give up. A lot of people are counting on you and if you give up now, then you're really be letting them down. It's better to fight honorably and lose…than to give up like a coward. That's why you have to keep fighting._

Akiza placed her head down for a moment as she contemplated the word's that were just said to her. As it waited for her to respond, the orb of light noticed an intense fire beginning to appear in Akiza's eyes. It also watched her clinch her fist, indicating that she's made her choice, but was still pondering whether or not it was the right one. Eventually, after about a minute, Akiza lifted her head and stared directly at the orb.

"Let me ask you one last thing?" She said. "The main reason why I'm fighting Kuromu is because I want to protect Takashi from him. If I happen to lose…what do you will happen to Takashi?"

…_Let me answer your question with another question. Akiza…do you believe in Takashi?_

After hearing the orb's question, Akiza closed her eyes for a second and thought about Takashi. For as long as she's known him, Akiza has watched Takashi overcome every challenge that he's taken. For him, his desire to protect his friends and make sure that they were alright was all the motivation he needed to keep going. It didn't matter whether or not the opponent he was facing was invincible, he would keep fighting because that giving up would be even worse than losing.

Once she remembered that, as well as remembering the feelings that she had for him, a small smile slowly appeared on Akiza's face. She then opened her eyes and looked at the orb. As she did, the smile that was on her face slowly became bigger.

"Thank you," She said softly.

_You don't have to thank me, Akiza. You made this choice all on your own. I just gave you another option. Now…go out there and show Kuromu what you're made of. _

Akiza nodded her head in compliance and watched as her body was beginning to disappear, indicating that she was returning to reality. As she vanished, the young woman watched as something was happening to the orb. It was slowly transforming into a beautiful young woman with golden blonde hair and emerald green eyes. Based on her appearance, this woman seemed to be about 2 to 3 years older than her.

Although she wasn't quite sure who this person was a first, after getting another good look at her, Akiza came to realize who she was. As a result, her eyes widen once again as she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was about to call out to her, but her body was quickly vanishing.

"Hey…you're…"

* * *

><p>"It's over! That's what you get for challenging me! Now, despair at your own weakness and die!"<p>

During the time that Akiza was having her mental struggle, Kuromu was busy laughing as she continues to lie on the ground. The sinister Duelist found immense enjoyment at her current state. The sight of seeing her in such pain was almost euphoric for him, as he felt that he could watch it for hours. However, despite the fact that he wanted to continue Akiza's suffering, Kuromu knew that he had more important things to do. Because of that, he turned his attention towards the referee who was overseeing the Duel.

"Hey!" He said. "She's been out for over 5 minutes. Hurry up and declare me the winner already!"

The referee was reluctant to go along with Kuromu's demand. Although the rules dictate that a Duelist who hasn't made a move in over 5 minutes is automatically disqualified, he wanted to make an exception. This was the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals, the referee felt that a victory by a technicality wasn't acceptable. It's for this reason that he wanted to give Akiza more time so that she could try to get back to her feet.

When Kuromu saw that the referee wasn't going declaring him the winner, the happiness that he was feeling quickly turned into anger. As a result of his anger, Kuromu's body started was quickly surrounded by a pitch-black aura. This aura caused the shadows that made up the Field Spell to change shape and they soon began making their way over to the referee. The referee was frightened by this sight and began taking a few steps back, but was soon stopped by the shadows.

"You're not going anywhere," Kuromu said to him. "Now…you will declare me the winner of this Duel. If you don't, then I can guarantee that you won't like what I'll do to you!"

As the shadows continued to wrap around the referee's body, he watched as the dark aura that was covering Kuromu quickly become fiercer. Eventually, the aura soon took the shape of a giant black dragon, which looked like it was about to eat the ref. Not wanting to lose his life, the referee decided to give in to Kuromu's demands and grant his request.

"This…this Duel is over," He said. "The winner of the match is-"

"…Wait,"

The referee stopped when he heard a familiar voice call out to him. As he turned his head, both he and Kuromu looked on in disbelief as Akiza was slowly rising back to her feet. The Rose Duelist had finally regained consciousness and was determined to continue this Duel. The sight of this scene shocked Kuromu greatly, so much so that he unconsciously released the ref from his shadowy grip. As he continued to watch Akiza slowly rise from off the ground, the Shadow Duelist was trying to make sense of the whole situation.

Meanwhile, back in the stands, everyone one of Akiza's friends were all jumping for joy by what they were seeing. Although it looked like she was down for the count, Akiza somehow found the strength to keep going. This scene brought a massive amount of hope to everyone, especially Takashi, and they all believed that this would be the moment that their friend would mount her counterattack. To that end, all of them cheered for Akiza as loud as they possibly could, trying to give her all the encouragement that she needed.

As they did that, Lilly was busy looking for the orb of light that entered Akiza's body a couple of minutes ago. However, no matter how much she looked, Lilly couldn't find it anywhere. After a few more minutes of searching, the Signer came to the conclusion that the orb probably hasn't left Akiza's body yet. Upon realizing that, Lilly silently prayed that the orb would continue to help Akiza, just like how she believed it helped her wake back up.

Back at the Duel Field, Akiza finally made it back to her feet and soon started staring down Kuromu. As she stared at her opponent, the Psychic Duelist noticed that the darkness of the Shadow Realm was beginning to make their way towards her again. However, unlike before, Akiza was ready for them and promptly protected herself by using her powers.

Since her hairclip was no longer restricting her abilities, Akiza was able to bring out a powerful purple that managed to deflect the shadows away. Usually, when she brings out this much power, the Black Rose usually takes control of her. However, due to the help she received from the orb of light, that wasn't the case. For the first time in her life, Akiza was now in full control of her abilities and she intended to use all of them to defeat Kuromu.

As Akiza's powers continued to shield her from harm, Kuromu was still shocked by what he was seeing. Although his last move didn't drain all of his opponent's Life Points, it should have been enough to bring down, if not kill Akiza. But, neither of which was the case. Akiza was still standing and Kuromu was shocked beyond belief.

"What…the hell is this?" He asked, trying to make sense of the situation. "How can you still be alive?"

"…There's no way I'm going to die by someone like you," Akiza said as she was starting to catch her breath. "You can knock me down, bloody me, and even break all the bones in my body. I'll just shake those off!"

Akiza gently placed her hand upon her heart and remembered the words that the orb of light said to her before she returned to reality. She was told that the love she feels in heart is more than enough to overcome any hatred. Even if it wasn't enough for her to win this Duel, as long as she continued feeling love, Akiza would survive this terrifying challenge. Once she finished thinking to herself, Akiza returned her attention back towards Kuromu.

"I won't let your hatred break me Kuromu. The love I have for my friends will protect me."

"…Is that so?" Kuromu questioned. "Well then…let's see how much protection your so called love can give you!"

Although he was still somewhat shocked by the fact that Akiza was still able to continue the Duel, Kuromu was quickly able to get over it. He then decided show her just how weak her love really is by destroying her until nothing's left. It's through this dark resolve that the black aura that was covering his body became even fiercer as he got ready to begin his turn.

"It's my move," He said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

Kuromu swiftly drew a card from the top of his deck after announcing the start of his turn. As he took a moment to look at it, the Duelist looked towards Akiza's side of the field. There was nothing there, no monsters and no Spells or Traps. Since she only had 350 Life Points left, even an attack by one of his weakest monsters would be enough to finish her off. Unfortunately, as he looked back towards his hand, Kuromu saw that he had no monsters that he could summon. The only one he had out was his Heart-Earth, whose Attack Points were now back to normal due to it being his turn.

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 100**

A monster with only 100 Attack Points wouldn't be enough to take down Akiza, even though she was barely hanging on by a thread. He had to rely on another method to try and take down his opponent's Life Points, but nothing came to mind at this particular moment in time. It's for this reason that Kuromu decided to let Akiza do all the work. If he couldn't deal her damage through his own effort then it's best for her to deal herself damage through her own incompetence.

To that end, Kuromu grabbed one of the cards that was in his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing that, he watched as a face-down card appeared onto his side of the field, just behind his Number Monster. Once he saw that, Kuromu turned his attention back towards Akiza.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now…let's if you so called love can overcome the power that is Number 53: Heart-Earth!"

"I'll…be happy to show you," Akiza said as she gently placed her hand on top of her deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Knowing full well that this could possibly be her final turn of the Duel, Akiza put everything she had into this one last draw. As she pulled the card from her deck, the Psychic Duelist closed her eyes and unconsciously used her ability to foresee the card that she was about to draw. Upon getting a good look at it from inside her mind, a small smile appeared on Akiza's face. Right when she needed it the most, the card that needed appeared before her. Now all that was left was using it correctly so that she could win the Duel and join Takashi in the Finals.

To that end, Akiza finished drawing the card from her deck and immediately inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, a beautiful flash of purple light shot from the ground. From that light, the cry of a familiar dragon could be heard.

"I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn!" Akiza declared. "With it, I can Special Summon a monster from either of our Graveyards. So, return to battle, Black Rose Dragon!"

Once she spoke the name of the monster that she was bringing back, Akiza watched as her Black Rose Dragon emerged from the light and once again stood by her side. However, despite the fact that the Signer Dragon was back, Kuromu wasn't worried about it. Black Rose Dragon's ability to wipe the field can only be activated when it's Synchro Summoned to the field. Since that wasn't the case, Akiza couldn't use it in order to destroy all the cards that were on the field, including Heart-Earth.

However, even though he knew that the advantage was still his, Kuromu felt that Akiza probably had other plans for her dragon. Because of that feeling, he decided that now was a pretty good time to activate his face-down card. Upon doing so, he watched as several fiery chains shot from the card as it began to flip up and proceeded to wrap around Black Rose Dragon.

"I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Underworld Binding!" He declared. "As long as this card remains on the field, several chains wrap around your beloved Black Rose Dragon, preventing it from attacking. Not only that, but on the End Phase of each of your turns, you take 500 points of damage!"

As Black Rose Dragon screamed in agony from the pain that it was feeling, Akiza started gritting her teeth in frustration. Kuromu, in an act that only seemed like desperation to her, strapped her dragon and preventing it from launching attacks. Also, unless she could find a way to get rid of his trap, Akiza would take 500 Points damage on each of her End Phases. Since she only had 350 Life Points left, Akiza would end losing if she didn't do something before the end of her turn. For an ordinary Duelist, such a situation would cause him/her to lose hope and admit defeat. However, Akiza wasn't most Duelists.

Despite the situation that she was in, the Rose Duelist didn't lose hope. It didn't matter to her if Black Rose Dragon couldn't attack, as she already had another plan set up for it. In fact, a small part of Akiza was happy as Kuromu's Trap Card would make her play even more effective than ever. She soon decided to put her plan into motion by taking a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I won't let that move stop me!" She said. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Black Rose Radiance! With this card, I can banish a Spell or Trap Card that's in my Graveyard since Black Rose Dragon was successfully Special Summoned onto the field. Also, by banishing that chosen card, I can activate its effect!"

Akiza quickly pulled the card that she wanted to banish from her Graveyard and then watched as another flash of light shot from the ground. This light struck her Black Rose Dragon, giving it the strength to break free from the chains that were binding it. When Kuromu saw this, he was shocked beyond words and questioned what was going on. It was only when Akiza presented the card that she just banished that he finally understood what was happening.

"I activate the Trap: Assault Mode Activate!" She continued. "I use this card's effect in order to transform my monster into Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 2900 DEF 2300 LVL 9**

As Black Rose Dragon continued being enveloped by the beam of light, its Assault Armor was beginning to materialize around it. Once the armor was completely around its body, the light faded away and the dragon proudly released a powerful roar that shook the entire stadium.

"Now, I activate the Special Ability of my Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode! Since it was successfully Special Summoned, all other cards that are on the field are destroyed! Not only that, but you take 300 Points of damage for each one that's destroyed! Aside from my dragon, you have 2 cards on the field, meaning you take 600 Points of damage!"

Kuromu's eyes widen from shock as he watched Black Rose Dragon released a much more powerful blast of rose petals from its body. Unlike before, there was nothing he could do to stop this effect from happening, so Kuromu could only watched as his cards were being destroyed one by one.

The first was his Shadow Realm Field Spell, which has been tormenting Akiza ever since it was first activated. The power of Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode's effect cleared the shadows that were present, allowing sunlight to strike the field. Once that happened, Heart-Earth was the next card to be targeted. Since it no longer had any Overlay Units, the Number couldn't protect itself and it soon exploded after being hit by a large number of the rose petals. As the explosion covered all of Kuromu's side of the field, the Duelist lost 600 Life Points due to 2 of his cards being destroyed.

**Kuromu: 2600 LP**

Once Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode finished launching its rose petals, the dragon then turned its attention towards Kuromu's side of the field. Although it was impossible to see how Kuromu was doing, due to the fire and smoke that was all over his field, Akiza was well aware of the situation he was end. He had no cards out to protect himself with while she still had her dragon, which could still attack this turn.

The thought of beating Kuromu and fulfilling her promise to Takashi was running through Akiza's mind so much that she almost couldn't stand it. Finally, after everything that he's done to her and her friends, Kuromu was going to pay. Justice would be served and it would come from the fiery blast of her Black Rose Dragon/Assault.

"It's all over," Akiza said as she clinched her fist. "Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode, attack Kuromu's Life Points directly…Assault Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode complied with Akiza's demand and prepared to fire a massive stream of purple flames towards Kuromu's side of the field. As it prepared to do that, Akiza silently looked on in anticipation as the finishing blow was about to be struck. However, just before her dragon could launch its attack, the young woman suddenly sensed something odd.

A massive power, one so strong that it was almost incomprehensible, emerged from Kuromu's side of the field. Upon sensing this power, Akiza was awestruck and she soon started to wonder what was going on. As she thought that, the Rose Duelist watched as the flames on Kuromu's field started to change color. Instead of being red and orange the flames were now black and purple. This scene confused Akiza greatly, but her confusion would only increase as she watched Kuromu emerge from the flames.

When Kuromu finally emerged from the fire, the Duelist took a moment to look at his hand. Although he used his Reiatsu to shield himself from Black Rose Dragon's effect, he couldn't block it completely. As a result, blood was pouring from the palm of his hand. The sight of seeing his own blood brought up unpleasant memories for Kuromu, causing his anger to grow. Eventually, as he turned his attention back towards Akiza, Kuromu clinched his bloody fist and quickly brought forth his black aura, which was now fiercer than ever.

"…How dare you," He said as he glared at his opponent. "You have the audacity to draw my blood?! You will pay for that. You will…PAY YOU STUPID B***H!"

As Kuromu screamed, he released another blast of Reiatsu from his body. For those who were able to sense it, all of them fell to the ground, as the pressure was too strong to withstand. Akiza got the biggest brunt of the blast, due to her being so close to Kuromu, and fell to both of her knees as a result. The young woman then watched as the fire that was behind Kuromu began to change shape.

"I activate the final effect of Number 53: Heart-Earth! When it's destroyed while it has no Overlay Units, I can Special Summon its true form my Extra Deck and use Heart-Earth itself as an Overlay Unit!"

"Heart-Earth's…true form?" Akiza questioned.

"That's right," Kuromu confirmed. He then quickly grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and slammed it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone. "Come forth, the monster so terrifying that even the Devil itself fears it, Number 92: Heart-Earth Dragon!"

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 0 DEF 0 Rank 9**

After shouting the name of his newest monster, Kuromu watched as the flames behind him continued to take shape. Eventually, they transformed into a powerful black and purple dragon that had red spikes all over its body. It looked like something from the pits of Hell, which was fitting sense Kuromu even stated that Heart-Earth Dragon is even feared by the Devil. Everyone in the Kaiba Dome was astonished by the sight of this new Number Monster, but none more so than Akiza.

As she continued to look at the beast, Akiza was left utterly speechless. She had believed that her combo had won her this Duel. However, due to the final effect of Number 53: Heart-Earth, Number 92: Heart-Earth Dragon was now on the field. Akiza had no idea what this new monster could do or how Kuromu was going to use it. All she did know is that she was deathly afraid and it was because of her fear that prompted her to end her Battle Phase.

"I…I end my turn," She said.

"Good," Kuromu replied. "Now…let me show you why you should've given up on this Duel while you had the chance! It's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Kuromu smiled almost psychotically at Akiza. He then raised his hand up into the air, just as Heart-Earth Dragon released an ear shattering roar.

"Heart-Earth Dragon, attack Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode…Dragon Cannon Blast!"

"…What?!" Akiza said in shock. "But…but your dragon has no Attack Points!"

"Do you honestly think it needs Attack Points?" Kuromu asked her. "Not with its Special Ability! You see, when it attacks or is attacked, I receive no Battle Damage. Instead, the damage I would have taken…IS DIRECTED TOWARDS YOU!"

Once Kuromu finished explaining the effect of his Number, he watched as Heart-Earth Dragon released a powerful blast of energy towards Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode. At first, Akiza's monster was able to repel the blast with its flames. Unfortunately, by doing that, Black Rose Dragon's attack was analyzed and absorbed into Heart-Earth, who proceeded to fire a much more powerful blast towards Akiza.

As she watched the attack make its way towards her, Akiza had already accepted her defeat. She gave it everything she had without giving up or losing herself to the darkness. But, in the end, it still wasn't enough. All that was left was to hope that Takashi can succeed where she failed. So after turning her head towards Takashi, who was staring back at her with tears running down his face, Akiza smiled at him just as Heart-Earth Dragon's attack struck her.

**Akiza: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>"<em>It's over!" <em>The MC shouted over the loudspeaker. _"Despite giving it everything that she had, Akiza Izinski's efforts weren't enough overcome this challenge. The winner of the second Semi-Final Duel is Kuromu Nesara! With his victory, the match-up for the Fortune Cup Finals has been set. It will be Takashi Nakamura vs. Kuromu Nesara, with the winner facing Alistair Miles for the title of Japan's Duel King!"_

As the announcer declared Kuromu the winner of the Duel, the Shadow Duelist wasn't satisfied with his victory. Akiza did something that no one else has ever done to him in a long time, and that's draw his blood. For Kuromu, that's an unforgivable crime and it can only be repaid with Akiza's death. So, as he saw her lie flat on her back, barely holding on to conscious, Kuromu prepared to have his Heart-Earth Dragon launch one final attack towards her.

When the attack was finally launched, Akiza turned her head slightly and saw what was coming towards her. However, because of the injuries that she sustained earlier, the Psychic Duelist didn't have the strength to avoid it. She was about to accept the fact that she was going to die, but something unexpected happened before Heart-Earth Dragon's attack struck her.

Somehow, Akiza saw that the beautiful girl who helped her before was blocking Heart-Earth's attack. The Signer was shocked by this sight, especially since she had a pretty good idea on who this individual might be. Once the attack ended, the girl turned towards her and sat by her side before disappearing. In her place was Takashi, who gently held Akiza in his arms. Upon seeing him, Akiza wondered if it really was the girl who saved her just now or if she just imagined that.

Meanwhile, as Takashi continued to hold Akiza, the rest of his friends appeared and prepared to face Kuromu. All of them were sick and tired of his crap and they were prepared to fight him, regardless of whether or not they could defeat him. When Kuromu saw this, he found their stand very pitiful and prepared to destroy them, along with Akiza.

However, before he could have his Heart-Earth Dragon launch another attack, Kuromu noticed that several Sector Security officers have surrounded the area. As he looked at all of them, he realized that the higher ups have most likely set this up in order to prevent him from killing anyone. Like with the defense that Takashi's friends put up, Kuromu believed that the defense that the Security Officers were putting up was just as pitiful, if not more so. He considered attacking them, but chose not too since such actions could get him disqualified from the tournament. With that, he deactivated his Duel Disk and watched as Heart-Earth Dragon disappeared.

Once his dragon was out of sight, Kuromu began making his way out of the stadium. Since he didn't take any further actions, the Security Officers had no choice but to let him go. Just as he was about to leave, Kuromu turned his head one last time and watched as Takashi and the others were trying to wake Akiza up, who fell unconscious a short while ago. The sight of their despair brought an immense amount of pleasure to his heart. He then decided to show them even more despair, after he completely destroys Takashi during their Duel tomorrow. After that, he left and never looked back again.

After he was gone, Takashi was doing everything within his power to wake Akiza up, but was not successful. Lilly, in an act of desperation, attempted to use her healing powers in order to help her friend recover. She didn't care if it meant revealing her abilities to everyone present, she just wanted to help Akiza. Unfortunately, before she could attempt to do so, Sona stopped Lilly. The Psychic Duelist was well aware of what could happened if Lilly used her powers and prevented her from doing so, even though she really wanted to help Akiza too.

Eventually, after a few minutes, Akiza slowly opened her eyes as she began to regain consciousness. When the others saw her do that, they were all happy to see that she was okay. However, their happiness was short-lived when they realized that Akiza's eyes barely had any life in them, indicating she was bound to pass out again at any moment. They were about to take her back home so that she could recover, but stopped when they saw her gently touch Takashi's cheek. She then used what little strength she had left speak to him.

"Ta…Takashi…" She said.

"Yes Akiza," Takashi said as he continued to cry. "I'm here."

As some of Takashi's tears fell on her face, Akiza took a moment to remember the promises that the two of them made to each other. The fact that she wasn't able to fulfill either of them really hurt, but she felt confident that Takashi could defeat Kuromu in the Fortune Cup Finals. Her faith in him, just like her love, was endless. It's for that reason that the young woman smiled at Takashi as she gently wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I'm…I'm so…sorry," She said as she closed her eyes. "I couldn't…keep…our promise."

With that, Akiza smiled one last time before losing unconsciousness again. When Takashi saw her do that, his eyes quickly widen from the shock. He tried waking her up again, but all of his efforts were in vain. Eventually, as tears ran down his face again, Takashi held Akiza very close to him as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"AKIZA!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_The match-up for the Fortune Cup Finals are set, but the Duel could possibly end before the first card is even drawn. Devastated by what happened to Akiza, Takashi has lost the will to fight. Can he snap out of his depression just in time to face Kuromu or is this the end of our hero?_

_Meanwhile, back in the depths of her mind, Akiza meets up with the girl who saved her from Kuromu's final attack. Just who is she and what does she want?_

_Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 86: Transform Heartache into Courage_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to apologize for the long update. I know I promised that I would update the story weekly, but I was busy with a lot of personal things. Also, I needed a week to develop future chapters for Over the Nexus. I promise to tell you in advance if Over the Nexus is taking a week off. _

_Second, I want to address a little incident that happened last week. Now, I don't mind if I get a negative review for my stories. In fact, I'm sometimes surprised by the amount of praise that I'm constantly receiving. However, when I do get a bad comment, I would really appreciate it if you explain to me what you didn't like. Do not go around spamming my story with no real reason. If you do, regardless of who you are, I will report it. _

_As for the person who sent that review, if you have a problem with the way I do things then PM me about it! Do go spamming my story because you haven't done anything worthwhile to backup your statements. Like I said, if you do it again, I'm going to report your ass again!_

_Lastly, I want to thank all of you who have read Over the Nexus so far. This past month, Over the Nexus has received the most views in its history, nearly 5000. That means, since the 4__th__ of January, this story has received over a 100 views a day. I was both very happy and very impressed by this accomplishment and I owe it all to you guys. Please continue to read my story and leave a review, regardless if it's positive or negative. _

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing out!_


	86. Chapter 86

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 86: **_Transform Heartache into Courage_

* * *

><p>The word despair is a very strong one that shouldn't be used lightly. The reason for that is because it means that one has entered a state in which all hope is lost or absent. It's nearly impossible for an individual to complete give in to despair, due to the fact that no matter how much pain they receive, a sliver of hope will still remain. As long as one continues to hold on to that hope, then the chance that things will turn out well will still be there. Unfortunately, for Takashi Nakamura and his friends, they were extremely close to losing that small sliver of hope.<p>

It's been a few hours since the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals came to an end and during that time, the residents of Poppo Time were all sitting down in silence. Although Takashi managed to defeat Kagura Toyoshima, who unbeknownst to him is his long lost twin sister, Akiza failed to defeat Kuromu Nesara. As a result, the final Duel of the Fortune Cup will be between Takashi and Kuromu, with the winner going on to face Alistair for his title of Duel King.

However, instead of preparing for that upcoming matchup, the group had bigger things on their mind. Out of all the Duelists that Kuromu has defeated throughout his run in the tournament, Akiza was the one who pushed him the hardest. Although she was close to not only losing the Duel, but also losing herself to her Black Rose personality, the Rose Duelist managed to hold her ground and fight back. But, it was because of Akiza's defiant attitude that forced Kuromu to stop playing around and finally take the Duel against her seriously. That was proven evident when he brought out his true Ace Monster, Number 92: Heart-Earth Dragon.

Through the power of Heart-Earth Dragon, Kuromu was able to instantly wipe out the remainder of Akiza's Life Points and secure his place in the Fortune Cup Finals. Not only that, but the damaged that he inflicted upon her was so intense that it brought Akiza to the brink of death. When the others made their way over to Akiza and saw the state that she was in, none of them could believe what they were seeing.

Out of all the Duelists that made up their entire group, nearly everyone believed that Akiza was the strongest. The power she had and her immense potential were second to none and all of them believed that if anyone could defeat Kuromu, it would be her. However, that was simply not the case. Kuromu proved that his skills as a Duelist far surpassed Akiza by defeating her in their Duel. His skills also posed a certain question. If Akiza couldn't defeat him, who could?

The group was busy pondering that question while Lilly and Sona, the two healers among them, were in Akiza's room, tending to her injuries. With all of them was Takashi, who refused to leave Akiza's side. While that was happening, there was a dead silence within the room, as no one could come up with anything to say. Eventually, after spending the next 10 minutes like this, Crow decided to speak up, effectively breaking the silence between all of them.

"Alright, you guys," He said. "What are we going to do?"

"…What do you mean," Toru replied, turning his attention towards the Blackwing Duelist.

"You know exactly what I mean. What are we going to do about the Fortune Cup Finals? We need to come up with a strategy that can help Takashi take down that bastard, Kuromu!"

Toru thought about what his friend asked, but nothing came to mind. Kuromu was the strongest Duelist that he's ever seen and his Heart-Earth card was the strongest monster he's ever faced. Akiza was the only one out of all of them that managed to take it down, but her actions only resulted in the arrival of Heart-Earth's true form; Heart-Earth Dragon. Due to its Special Abilities, Heart-Earth Dragon is practically unbeatable, which ultimately spelled the end for Akiza in her bid to reach the Finals.

Although Toru believed in Takashi's skills as a Duelist, having watched him progress ever since he was a little boy, even he had to admit that the odds weren't in his little brother's favor. Even with the power of his Ace Monsters, Stardust Dragon and Number 39: Utopia, neither of them had the power to take down Heart-Earth Dragon. That belief was soon proven to be true after Misaki finished typing some things on her laptop.

After turning it around so that the screen was facing her friends, the young woman pressed a key that displayed a virtual Dueling Simulator. The others watched as the simulator played out a match between Takashi and Kuromu, with both of them using all the cards that they used throughout their time in the Fortune Cup. When the simulation finally stopped, it was revealed that Kuromu had defeated Takashi rather thoroughly.

"As you can see from this simulation," Misaki said as she turned her laptop back around. "The data shows that Takashi chances of winning are practically non-existent. I ran this nearly 1000 times and during all those tests, the percentage of his victory average to about 5% at best."

"Well…5% isn't 0%," Crow pointed out. "Even if he has only a 0.0001% chance of victory, there's still chance that he can pull it off. We just have to believe that Takashi can win. I mean after all…he has done some incredible things in the past. Why should this be any different?"

Crow's encouraging words was rather mixed for those who were in the room with him. Toru believed that he made a lot of good points. Takashi has overcome some incredible odds in the past. Whether it was through Dueling or actual fighting, Takashi managed to fight back and pull out a victory in the end. It was through all of those moments that restored some of the hope that was inside Toru, causing him to believe that his little brother chances weren't as slim as Misaki's data was indicating.

As for Misaki, the young woman was still very skeptical about the whole thing. Being a realist, Misaki preferred to trust in logic and numbers and according to her math, Takashi didn't stand a chance. Even if he had pulled out some miraculous moments in the past, there was just too much riding against him in this Duel. Although Misaki wanted to believe that Takashi was going to win and would be rooting for him during his Duel, she refused to get her hopes up about the whole thing.

When Crow saw the reaction that was in the room, the Blackwing Duelist was rather upset that he couldn't raise the morale of his friends more. He then started to wonder what Takashi would do if he was in his shoes. In these types of situations, Takashi would most likely encourage his friends by pointing out all of their good points and telling them that the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed. When it came to stuff like that, he made it seem so easy.

After remembering that never give up attitude, Crow decided that he couldn't give up now and that he needed to try harder. He was about to encourage his friends some more, but was interrupted when he heard some noise coming from upstairs. When he turned his head, Crow and the others saw Lilly and Sona make their way towards them with somewhat depressing looks on their faces. Upon finally reaching them, Lilly and Sona looked at one another for a moment before the former finally spoke up.

"We…we finished treating Akiza's injuries," Lilly said in low tone of voice.

"…Well?" Crow questioned. "How is she?! Is Akiza going to be alright?!"

Lilly didn't answer Crow's question right away as he didn't have the right words to say to him. The young woman did everything that she could when it came to treating Akiza's wounds, but her ability to heal others were still, at best, unrefined. She believed that if she worked harder to perfect that skill, then maybe she would have something better to say, but that simply was the case. As a result, Lilly didn't know what to say to her friends. The only thing that she did know is that they wouldn't like it.

When Sona saw the hesitation that Lilly was displaying, the Psychic Duelist thought back to a few moments ago. Although things didn't turn out the way they intended, she knew that things could've been worse. It's through that realization that allowed Sona to overcome any sadness that was in heart. She then decided to do what Lilly couldn't do at the moment and reveal to the others what Akiza's current condition was.

"We managed heal her injuries," She started off. "However, the strain of Kuromu's attack took its toll on Akiza. As a result…she's currently in a coma."

When Crow and the others heard this particular news, none of them could believe what they just heard. With the power of two healers on their side, they believed that Akiza would be alright, no matter what injuries she sustained. However, upon learning that their friend was currently in a coma, any fear that was currently in their hearts only grew more intense.

"So…can you wake her up?" Misaki asked. "Is she ever going to wake up?"

"We don't know," Sona said as she closed her eyes. "We did the best we could, but the residual Reiatsu that Kuromu left on Akiza prevented us from healing her completely. Even if we treated her again, it probably wouldn't change anything. The only thing we can do now is trust Akiza…and hope that's enough to wake her up."

Sona's words did little to improve the mood of the others. Although they typically gain strength by encouraging and believing in one another, this was a completely different matter all together. Their friend was in a coma, one she might never wake up from, and none of them could do a thing about it. It's only natural that they would be upset about that and despite the fact she didn't like it when people were sad, Sona couldn't blame them for feeling the way they were.

For the next couple of minutes, the others all contemplated the situation that they were currently in. As they did that, Toru suddenly realized something very important, causing his eyes to widen as a result. He then turned his attention towards Sona and Lilly, since he knew the both of them had the answer to the question that was currently on his mind. Sona, already guessing what was on the Scrap Duelist's mind, decided to listen to what he had to say.

"Sona…" Toru started off. "How's Takashi taking all of this?"

"How do you think?" She replied. "He's devastated at what happened to Akiza. However…there's more to it than that. When we told him her condition, Takashi completely gave in to despair and he quickly lost all the life that was in his eyes. It's like he's dead…even though he's still alive."

When Toru heard that, the Scrap Duelist gently placed his head down and started thinking about the emotional state that his little brother was currently in. Sona's description reminded him about a time when Takashi entered a similar state. It was shortly after Hikari's death and during the first couple weeks after words, Takashi had a hard time getting over it. Even when he decided that he had to keeping living his life despite what happened to her, Toru could tell that his little brother still wasn't able to completely shake off the despair that he was feeling.

Now, as a similar situation befell his brother once again, Toru wondered what he could do for Takashi. The loss of his first love was almost too much for Takashi to overcome. So, if Akiza never wakes up from her coma, Toru was worried that the loss of another love would spell the end for little brother. Not wanting that to happen, Toru attempted to go upstairs so that he can give Takashi some words of encouragement. However, before he could get too far, Sona stopped him by calling out to him.

"Your words won't reach him, Toru,"

Upon hearing Sona say that to him, Toru stopped, but didn't turn around to face her. He simply kept his head facing towards the entrance of Akiza's room. As he did that, the others were busy looking at Sona, all of them wondering what she meant when she said that Toru's words wouldn't reach Takashi. They eventually got their answer when Sona continued her explanation.

"Like I said before, Takashi looks like he's dead even though he's alive," She stated. "Lilly and I tried talking to him, but he didn't respond. I highly doubt he'll say anything to you…despite the bond the two of you share."

After listening to what Sona had to say, Toru refused to believe her words and promptly continued on his way. When she saw him do that, Sona simply sighed to herself. She was already tired from trying to save Akiza from death and she didn't want to exhaust herself even more by trying to stop Toru. He refused to believe her, he would simply have to realize it for himself. Because of that, Sona left Poppo Time in order to get some fresh air.

Once she made her way outside, Sona looked towards the sky for a moment before looking around area. As she looked around, the Psychic Duelist saw Enoch punching a nearby wall. She could tell right away that he was suffering just as much as Takashi was, if not more so. However, Sona also knew that having her friend beat himself over this wouldn't solve anything. Because of that, the young woman made her way towards Enoch stopped him from punching the wall that he was hitting.

"Stop it," She told him.

"No!" Enoch shouted defiantly. "I'm not going to stand and watch this anymore. I'm going to find Kuromu Nesara and when I do…I'm going to kill him for what he did to Akiza!"

Sona felt the rage that was emitting from Enoch's body and she understood how he felt. What happened to Akiza was horrible and Kuromu deserved to pay for what he did to her. However, Sona knew that it wasn't Enoch's place to settle that particular score. As a result, Sona attempted to calm Enoch down so that he could overcome his rage.

"Even if you could do something, I won't let you," She said. "Despite how you feel, Takashi is the only one who can fight Kuromu now."

"Oh really…?" Enoch scoffed. "But what if Takashi can't defeat Kuromu and suffers the same fate as Akiza! Tell me Sona…who's going to avenge Akiza then?!"

Realizing that his anger was quickly overtaking him, Sona slapped Kuromu straight in the face so that he would return to his former state of mind. As he held his stinging face, Enoch watched as Sona turned her attention back towards the sky. After about a minute of staring, the young woman gently fixed her glasses before turning her attention back towards Enoch.

"You know," She started off. "When I first met Takashi, I had the same doubts about his skills and I also questioned his worth of being leader of the Signers. As a matter of fact, I believed that either Alex or Akiza deserved that honor. However, as time passed by, I realized that I was wrong about him."

"…What do you mean?" Enoch questioned.

"Takashi is a very special individual," Sona explained. "And it's neither his Dueling skills nor his powers that make him unique. It's the strength of his heart. You may not understand what I mean…hell, I doubt Takashi realizes that right now. However, I do believe that he'll overcome this particular trial and become even stronger as a result. We just have to believe in him, just like how Akiza believes in him."

Enoch thought about what Sona just said to him and took a moment to think about his Duel against Takashi during the Fortune Cup Quarter-Finals. During that Duel, Enoch was trying to determine whether or not Takashi was worthy of having Akiza. However, upon learning what he was attempting to do, Takashi turned things around and told Enoch that he was wrong. The only one who could determine who Akiza wanted to be with was Akiza herself. Takashi was able to show him that, proving to him that he was willing to let Akiza go if it meant her overall happiness.

Ever since that moment, Enoch has gained an incredible amount of respect for Takashi. The Signer's strength, both on and off the Duel Field, was in a class of its own. Even though his feelings for Akiza caused Enoch believe that she was the superior Duelist, the Psychic came to the conclusion that he might be wrong and that Sona could be right. Because of that, Enoch started to believe in Takashi and silently hoped that he who make Kuromu pay for all the horrible things that he's done.

Meanwhile, back inside Poppo Time, Toru eventually made it to Akiza room. After walking inside, the Scrap Duelist got a good look at the condition of his friend. Aside from the bandages that were around her forehead, most of the wounds that Akiza previously had were completely healed. However, despite the fact that her outer injuries were properly tended too, Toru knew that Akiza was still in trouble.

The coma that was currently in placed Akiza in a deep sleep and Toru was worried that she might never wake up from it. He wanted to see if he could do anything for her, but he soon stopped when he saw Takashi sitting by her side. The young man was gently holding Akiza's hand while he had his head facing her bed. When Toru got a good look at his face, he saw that Sona was right and that Takashi really does look like he's dead on the inside.

Not wanting despair to take control of his little brother again, Toru walked towards Takashi and grabbed him by his shirt collar. As he held him, the Scrap Duelist glared at Takashi, hoping to get some type of reaction out of him. When he didn't respond, Toru started dangling him around, but again, there was no response. Eventually, Toru became fed up and decided to speak.

"You have to snap out of this Takashi," He said to him. "Akiza's going to be fine. Lilly and Sona are going to do everything in their power in order to wake her up, I promise you. So please…you have to get over this."

Takashi didn't respond to Toru's pleas, despite how passionate they were. The only thing that he did was turn his attention towards Akiza and watch as she continued to sleep. Seeing her do that made the Signer feel even worse and he soon placed his head towards the ground. Toru, upset with the state that his brother was currently in, became angry at Takashi soon punched him dead in the face. As he watched blood spill on the floor, the Scrap Duelist started talking again.

"Listen to me, Takashi!" He said. "Akiza is not going to die! You won't lose her like you lost Hikari!"

"Hi…ka…ri…"

Upon hearing the name of his old crush, Takashi started to respond to Toru's words. However, it wasn't the response that the Scrap Duelist was looking for. Takashi was started to cry as he began to remember something from his past. As those thoughts continued to flood his mind, more tears began to run down Takashi's face. He soon slowly made his way towards Akiza and gently placed his hand upon hers. Once he did that, the young man remembered the last thing that she said to him before she succumbed to her injuries.

_I'm…I'm so…sorry. I couldn't…keep…our promise._

After remembering her words, Takashi started to cry some more as he couldn't believe what was happening. Shortly after Hikari died, he promised that he wouldn't get too close to anything girl that he happened to meet. The reason for this is so that he wouldn't get emotionally attached to anyone, despite how much other people wanted him to be. By doing that, he could focus on helping others while keeping the despair that he was feeling at bay. However, despite that promise to himself, things changed for Takashi after he met Akiza.

As soon as he first laid eyes on her, Takashi spent a strong connection with the Rose Duelist. There was something about her that drew him in and as time passed by, that feeling only grew stronger. Eventually, it didn't take Takashi long to realize that he had fallen in love with Akiza and swore that she wouldn't suffer the same fate that befell Hikari. But, after today, Takashi realized that he was fool to keep such a promise.

"Why…" He silently said. "…Why is this happening again. It's just like…what happened to Hikari…"

"What do you mean?" Toru asked. "How is this like what happened to Hikari?"

More tears fell from Takashi face as he thought about what happened to Akiza, as well as what happened to Hikari. Both set of memories flooded back and forth within his mind, causing him even more torment. Eventually, as held Akiza's hand more firmly, Takashi explained what he meant to Toru.

"Just before Hikari died…she apologized to me about being unable to keep our promise. Now…Akiza has done the same thing. It's…it's only a matter of time before I lose her too."

Reaching the edge of his despair, Takashi broke down emotionally and soon placed his head on Akiza's bed. As he started to cry rather violently, Toru's couldn't watch anymore. His heart broke for his little brother, but he couldn't do anything else for him. He did all that he could do for him, but it simply wasn't enough in the end. As a result, Toru started to cry a little too as he slowly left the room. Upon closing the door behind him, the Scrap Duelist listened as Takashi started talking again.

"I'm sorry Akiza….it's all my fault!"

* * *

><p>"Director…Director Goodwin, where are you?"<p>

While the results of the Fortune Cup Semi-Finals didn't go the way that the Signers wished it would, the same thing couldn't be said for Director Rex Goodwin. The reason for that is because Goodwin successfully predicted the outcome of both matches. He knew that Takashi was going to defeat Kagura and despite the fact that Akiza is a Signer, Goodwin felt that she didn't have the skills needed to defeat Kuromu. It's because of that belief that Goodwin was correct in his predictions and felt that the final Duel between Takashi and Kuromu would be a great one. However, there was one person who didn't feel the same way and his name…is Lazar.

The Vice-Director of Sector Security was extremely worried about the upcoming final Duel of the Fortune Cup. Although he still doesn't quite understand his boss's plans, Lazar did support it. However, it's because he supports it that the Vice-Director was extremely worried about the next Duel. Having just learned about Akiza's condition from one of the spies that are looking over the Signers, Lazar thought back to the Rose Duelist's match against Kuromu. When he saw how thoroughly Kuromu defeated her, Lazar became extremely worried that Takashi, the leader of the Signers, would suffer an even more horrible fate. Not wanting that to happen, and not wanting the Director's overall objective to fail, Lazar decided to have a talk with Goodwin.

At first, Lazar checked Goodwin's office, since he remembered that the Director had some work to do. However, upon reaching it, the Vice-Director realized that his boss wasn't there. This surprised Lazar for a little bit and forced him to try and figure out where Goodwin could be right now. After thinking about that for a few minutes, he finally realized where he was and proceeded to make his way towards lowest levels of main Sector Security building

Once he was there, Lazar quickly walked over towards the Ener-D Reactor room. Like he guessed, Lazar did see Goodwin, who was busy watching the reactor. Seeing him do that made Lazar wonder what his boss was doing, but soon put that thought out of his mind and began walking over towards Goodwin. However, before he could get too close, the Director already sensed his presence and proceeded to call out to him.

"What is it, Lazar?" Goodwin asked, not even bothering turning around to face him. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I…I can see that sir," Lazar replied, quickly becoming intimidated. "But I really need to talk to you. It's important."

Lazar went on to express his worries to Goodwin. As he listened, Goodwin didn't take his eyes off of the Ener-D Reactor. For him, he believed that the power source that Takashi's father, Minato, built was far more important than his subordinate's fears. However, despite the fact that he didn't really care, Goodwin did pay attention to his Vice-Director. He was most interested with the fact that Akiza was currently in a coma, but he had no doubts that she would wake up very soon. Other than that, Goodwin just slightly nodded as Lazar kept talking.

"Sir," Lazar continued. "I know that you have I expectations for Takashi Nakamura, but I'm afraid that even he can't stand up against Kuromu Nesara. I recommend that you pull him out of the Final Duel. If not, then at least do something that will secure his safety. Director, I'm only saying this because I want you plan to succeed, but that won't happen if you let this Duel take place."

"…Lazar," Goodwin replied. "I'm going to say two things to you, so listen up."

Lazar tensed up after hearing his boss say that to him. He then quickly to sweat bullets as Goodwin turned himself around and face him. The powerful aura that he was giving off was almost out of this world, so much so that Lazar felt that he could pass out at any moment. Fortunately for Lazar, Goodwin's presence wasn't so overwhelming that he couldn't stay conscious, thus allowing him to listen to what his boss had to say.

"First," Goodwin started off. "Stop worrying. Despite how you may feel, everything is going according to plan. In fact, if things turn out well, then this upcoming Duel will awaken a power that I've haven't seen in many years."

"Awaken a power?" Lazar questioned. "What…do you mean?"

"You'll see soon enough," Goodwin told him. "Now, as for the second thing I'm going to tell you. Takashi Nakamura is the individual who carries the mark of the Crimson Dragon's Head. He's also the oldest child of Sakura Nakamura and Minato. In other words, the depths of his potential is almost limitless. There's no need to be concerned about him. I have no doubt in his victory…and you shouldn't either. Do I make myself clear?"

Lazar gently nodded his head after listening to Goodwin's explanation. Although he still had his doubts, the Vice-Director didn't want to incur the wrath of the Director. He decided to keep quiet and come up with a strategy that would truly secure Takashi's victory in the Final Duel later on tonight. With that, Lazar bowed towards Goodwin slightly and quickly made his way out of the reactor room.

Once he was alone again, Goodwin focused his attention slowly on the Ener-D Reactor. Whenever he looked at it, the Director of Sector Security always thought about the past, especially during his time with Minato. The two of them were extremely close and Goodwin, despite how he appears, was very upset about his death. So, in Minato's honor, Goodwin always made sure that the reactor was in perfect condition. That way, Minato's desire to help other people with power of his creation can continue to move forward.

After spending about another hour in the reactor room, Goodwin decided it was time to leave. As he walked out however, he sensed a familiar Reiatsu coming from the distance. Upon analyzing the power of this Reiatsu, Goodwin figured out who it was from and proceeded to make his way over to the source. Once he reached the location, the Director smiled to himself as he was correct about who was creating the Reiatsu.

"Yes," He said. "What is it, Alistair?"

Just as Goodwin said, the person who created the Reiatsu that he sensed was none other than the Duel King himself, Alistair Miles. However, instead of being in his usual cocky attitude, Alistair had a serious expression on his face. In fact, the last time Goodwin saw his Duel King this upset was when he nearly lost first Duel against Takashi, almost 4 months ago. Goodwin had a very good guess about what was bothering Alistair, but listened anyway as the Duel King started speaking to him.

"So…what was that?"

"What was what, Alistair?" Goodwin asked, feigning ignorance.

"Don't screw with me, Goodwin!" Alistair's Signer Mark started glow his rage quickly started to rise, revealing the Mark of the Dragon's Wings. "I heard what you said to Lazar. When were you going to tell me about this so called, limitless potential, that Nakamura has!"

Goodwin sighed quietly to himself as he knew that Alistair was going to mention that. For as long as he's known him, Goodwin knew that his Duel King possessed a superiority complex. No one was allowed to be stronger than him and anyone who did would have to pay the price. As a matter of fact, it was because of Alistair's superiority complex that allowed Goodwin to secretly manipulate him for nearly 3 years. That was just the type of person Alistair was, someone who believed that the world revolved around only him.

However, despite arrogant Alistair is, it didn't change the way Goodwin felt. When comparing the two Signers, Goodwin still believed that Takashi had the greater potential. Even after training Alistair to the brink those last three months didn't change that fact. The reason for that is because Takashi has something that Alistair currently lack and until he discovers that himself, the Duel King will always be one step behind his self-declared enemy.

"Alistair," Goodwin said. "You are one of the most gifted Duelist's that I've ever seen. It's because of your gifts that I've chose you to become Duel King and represent not only all of New Domino City, but all of Japan as well. However, despite all of your skills, Takashi is still greater. He just doesn't know it yet."

Infuriated by Goodwin's words, Alistair lost his cool and released a massive amount of Reiatsu from his body. The force of his power was so great that it brought forth an aura that was so intense that it turned his entire body into a crimson red color. When Goodwin saw this transformation, the only thing he could do was smile. This sight proved that Alistair's training was truly effective and that he has now reached a level that was far beyond the one he was previously at. Unfortunately, this sight did little to change the Director's mind.

Eventually, Alistair made his way over to Goodwin and grabbed him by his shirt collar. He then went on to glare at him so more while his power continued to grow. Once his strength reached a certain point, Alistair's eyes turned completely red as soon started expressing his anger at Goodwin.

"I'm the Duel King of all of f**king Japan!" He pointed out. "I didn't need your help far! I got here because of my superior abilities! No one in this country, hell not even in this world, stands up to me and I'll destroy anyone who thinks different! That includes you…and especially Nakamura!"

Alistair was absolutely seething with rage. The Duel King despised being disrespected, so the fact that Goodwin's previous words made it seem that way was really upsetting to him. Eventually, his rage reached the point that he was about to punch Goodwin straight in the face, but the Director caught the blow before it could connect. Once he did that, Goodwin used his abilities to temporarily stripped Alistair of his powers, returning him to his normal form.

After that happened, Goodwin smiled at Alistair before taking his arm and flipping him around. As the Duel King landed flat on his back, Goodwin straighten up his shirt collar before walking away. However, after taking a few steps and distancing himself from Alistair, he stopped and soon started talking to the Duel King again.

"I recommend that you watch tomorrow's Duel," He said to him. "If you do, then I can promise that you'll not only see something interesting, but you'll also understand the potential that I said that Takashi possessed."

Once he said that, Goodwin continued on his way. As Alistair watched him leave, the Duel King was left feeling more bitter than ever. This wasn't the first time Goodwin used that abilities to drain him of his powers. He did it several times during his training and every time it felt extremely humiliating. Alistair is a very prideful individual and whenever something doesn't go his way, he's likely to throw a fit. It's for that very reason that he soon started punching the ground beneath him, not caring that he was injuring his hand in the process.

As he continued to punch the ground, Alistair thought back to the time he first met Takashi and the Turbo Duel he had with him. Although the match didn't have a conclusion, Alistair knew very well that if things continued then he would have lost. The whole reason why he accepted Goodwin's training in the first place was to get strong enough to defeat Takashi and make him suffer the same humiliation that he was feeling. Getting revenge was the reason for his being the last couple of months and after what just happened, that feeling only grew stronger.

"I refuse to accept this," He said as he powers returned and his strength grew. "I refuse to let anyone look down on me. My name is Alistair Miles, the Duel King of Japan! I will crush everyone who opposes me! You will pay for your disrespect…NAKAMURA!"

Alistair's powers quickly began to envelop the entire Sector Security building. Several electrical devices were going haywire and those individuals were could sense his Reiatsu quickly fell unconscious because of the strain. This display was an incredible sight to behold and as Goodwin began making his way towards his office, the smile that was on his face only grew bigger.

"Perfect," He said. "All the pieces are perfectly falling into place."

* * *

><p>"Beautiful…"<p>

Although her physical body is still stuck in a coma, Akiza's mind is still active. It's for this reason that the Psychic Duelist found herself at a beautiful flower garden while stuck in the recesses of her mind. However, this wasn't any ordinary flower garden that she was at. This particular flower garden held a very special place in Akiza's heart as she would usually come to this place back when she was a little girl.

Due to the terrible experiences that she went through as a child, Akiza was forced to live a life of solitude. In order to cope with the pain of being alone, the young girl did two things. The first was creating her Black Rose personality, which allowed deal with situations that she didn't really like. The second was creating this flower garden, a safe haven where her original personality can stay and be at peace while the Black Rose worked. It wasn't much, but since she was a little girl at the time, this place allowed Akiza to be at ease when things weren't going for her.

Shortly after she met up with Sayer and murdered her parents, Akiza started coming to her mental flower garden less frequently. The reason for that was because of Sayer's manipulations, which slowly brainwashed her into believing everything he said. Eventually, it didn't take her long for her to stop coming completely as she was pretty much under Sayer's control and the Black Rose effectively became the dominant personality. Fortunately for Akiza though, Takashi and others managed to break Sayer's strangle hold on her and bring her back to side of light. However, this didn't help her return to her flower garden, as she now had real friends and no longer needed to be alone.

After nearly 6 years of not being there, the memory of the flower garden slowly faded from Akiza's memory. But, just because she forgot about it doesn't mean that it was gone from her thoughts completely. Memories are an important part of someone's life and they will be with the person who created them, no matter how much time passes. This was proven evident shortly after Akiza slipped into her coma, shortly after her Duel with Kuromu.

By falling so deep into her mind, Akiza was able to unconsciously access some of the memories that she forgot in the past. One of those memories was her flower garden, which she appeared to about an hour after her Duel. The sight of all the beautiful flowers brought a warm smile onto her face as she finally remembered the importance of this place. Although she knew that none of this was real, the Rose Duelist felt at ease as she was glad to be back in a place that meant so much to her in the past.

"I wish the others could be here to see this," She said as she picked up one of the flowers. "I'm sure they'd love it."

As she smelled the flower that she picked up, Akiza thought about all of her friends. Since her mind was still active, the young woman had a pretty good idea what was going on. She was stuck in a coma and currently had no way to wake up from it. Although the thought of that was frighten a lot of people, Akiza wasn't too worried about her situation. She felt confident that her friends were help wake her up and return her to the real world. All of them help her out before and she believed with all of her heart that they would do so again.

Still, despite her faith, Akiza would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't a little bit sad. Although she was confident that her friends would help her, all of them were probably very upset about her situation. Akiza also felt that the one who was the most upset about her predicament was Takashi, especially since he tried to convince her to not face Kuromu and was unable to do so. Before she passed out, she remembered seeing him cry as he held her weakened body. The sight that was extremely painful for Akiza and although she wants to help him, the young woman was unable to leave this place, which saddened her greatly.

"Takashi…" Akiza silently said as she continued to hold the flower that she was holding. "I wish I could get out of here and be with you. But…I don't know how."

_Oh…but there is a way to get out of here, Akiza. You just need my help to do it._

Upon hearing the voice that just spoke to her, Akiza's eyes widen as she knew who it belonged to. She then watched as the flowers that were all around her started to disappear. After a few minutes, the entire flower garden was gone and Akiza was back in the strange room she came to back when she faced Kuromu. Just being in this place upset her, but her anger only increased when she turned herself around and saw a giant cage appear in front of her. Inside the cage was someone that the Rose Duelist could never forget no matter how much time passed, the Black Rose.

"C'mon Akiza," the split personality said to her. "Let me get you out of here."

As she looked at her darker half, Akiza could do nothing but glare at her. It wasn't that long ago that the Black Rose brought her to this place and attempted to take over their body again. It wasn't for the intervention of that bright yellow spirit, Akiza would be the one stuck in that cage while the Black Rose would be roaming free again. Since then, Akiza vowed to never let herself fall under her influence again and vowed to do just that.

"Why should I believe you?" She asked in a firm tone of voice. "Do you really think I'm going to fall for the same trick twice?"

"No," the Black Rose answered sarcastically. "You're too smart for that. However, despite how smart you are, you can't leave this place without my help."

Confused by what her darker half just said, Akiza slowly widen one of her eyes. She wondered what the Black Rose meant when she said that she could escape from her coma without her help. Although she swore that she wouldn't fall prey to the Black Rose's influence again, the fact remained that she knew a lot about this place that she did not. As a result, Akiza decided to ask the Black Rose to elaborate on what she just said.

"What do you mean?" She asked. "Why can't I escape from this place?"

"It's quite simple," the Black Rose pointed out. "You see Akiza, when you lost your Duel against Kuromu, the amount of damaged that you received should've killed you. However, before you could succumb to the pain, you unconsciously dove into the deepest part of your mind in order to escape it. By doing that, you saved yourself from dying, but it also led you to this predicament. By diving so deep into your subconscious, you've entered a place where no one should go. Because of that, you can't wake up unless something or someone can give you the necessary to escape the section of your mind."

"…I see," Akiza said, understanding the full extent of the problem she was facing. "And let me guess…you can give me the power that I need."

"That's correct. If you let me out of this cage, then I get give you the power to escape. Once that happens you can not only be reunited with all of your friends, but also with your beloved Takashi as well. I don't think it's a bad offer. So…what do you say?"

Akiza took a moment to think about the Black Rose's proposal. It was true that she couldn't leave this place, since she was unable to do so when she first encountered her long-lost flower garden. Also, the thought of being with her friends again was very tempting. The Rose Duelist cared about her loved one more than anything else in the world. This was especially true for Takashi, who was the one of won her heart. However, despite all of those things, Akiza also thought about the negative aftereffects that could take place.

If she did release the Black Rose from her prison, there could be a chance that her split personality could take over. If that happened, then there's a strong possibility that her darker half will hurt everybody that she cares about. Akiza didn't want that to happen. The Black Rose was a part of life that she wanted to distance herself from. Her true self was Akiza Izinski and despite the fact that she wanted to reunite with her friends, the Rose Duelist knew what her answer had to be.

"No…" She answered. "I'm not going to let you out."

"I see," The Black Rose looked at Akiza with a serious expression on her face. "Does that mean that you don't want to return to your friends?"

"Of course I want to go back to them," Akiza placed her head down for a second before lifting it back up. "It's just…I know what you'll do if I release you. You'll cause pain and suffering for a lot people. Also, even I return to my friends like that, I could never be with them since there's a chance that you could try and take control of me again. I…I would stay here and be alone, then to harm them. That's why…I'm not going to free you!"

Akiza's resolve was truly impressive as she chose to live a life of solitude if it meant protecting her friends from her darker half. However, despite her resolve, the Black Rose was insistent on escaping her prison. She was sick and tired of letting someone that she believed to be weaker and inferior than herself control their body. If words couldn't convince Akiza to set her free, then the Black Rose decided to use a more forceful approach.

However, before the Black Rose could use her abilities to try and force Akiza to unlock the cage, something interesting happened. The orb of light that appeared before the two of them during the Duel against Kuromu had reappeared. Like before, it released a powerful golden light that not only lit up the entire area, but also prevented the Black Rose from trying anything. When she got a good look at the orb, Akiza's darker personality started glaring at it as a fierce expression appeared on her face.

"It's you again," She said. "Are you trying to interfere with me again?! Just what the hell are you?!"

_I'm a friend._

With that said, the orb of light came in between Akiza and the Black Rose and released another flash of light from its body. The light was so intense that it not only caused the Black Rose to disappear, but also brought Akiza back to her flower garden. Once the light faded away, Akiza examined the orb for a second and saw that it truly was the same one that helped her out before. However, upon remembering what the orb turned into just before she left the first time, Akiza smiled as she prepared to guess its true identity.

"Thanks again for the help…Hikari,"

The orb remained silent as it thought about what Akiza just called it. After about a minute of thinking, the spirit decided that it couldn't hide its true identity any longer. To that end, another flash of light covered the entire area. When it faded away, Akiza saw a beautiful young woman with golden blonde hair and emerald green eyes appear before her. She was slightly taller than her, had a pretty nice bust, and was wearing a white and yellow dress. The girl then let a warm smile, which caused Akiza to smile in turn.

"That's right," The spirit said. "My name is Hikari Higurashi. It's nice to meet you Akiza. Though…I am puzzled how you figured out my identity."

"Well…it wasn't that difficult," Akiza replied. "You're just like how Takashi described you. Also, though I can't quite explain it, I just had a feeling that it was you."

After listening to Akiza's explanation, Hikari couldn't help but to start laughing to herself. The way Akiza she guessed her identity based on just her feelings, reminded her about Takashi. Because of that, the young woman simply kept chuckling to herself while Akiza looked at her with a confused look on her face. Upon seeing that expression, Hikari calmed herself down and listened as Akiza asked her question.

"So...there's something I wanted to ask ever since I first heard about you," She started off. "Hikari…since you know Takashi longer than I do, can you tell me how he was like back when he was younger?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Hikari asked.

"Well…it's because I want to know what fully drives him to do the things he does," Akiza explained. "I know a part of it is because you died, but I feel there's more to than that. I want to try and understand Takashi better…so that I can truly come to terms with my feelings for him."

Hikari looked at Akiza and saw that she was really determined to get an answer. Since she's a spirit, Hikari has watched over Takashi and noticed the growing relationship that he and Akiza were having. Just like the rest of their friends, the young woman wished that the two of them would get together. It's for that reason that Hikari decided to answer Akiza's question, in order for her and Takashi to go even closer.

"When he was a little boy, Takashi was pretty much the same as he is now," Hikari started off. "He had a tendency to care more about others and always tried his best in order to help them. However, he also had a habit of trying to prove himself."

"What do you mean?" Akiza questioned.

"As I'm sure you heard from Sona Shitori, Takashi never defeated me or my brother, Riku, in a Duel. Though he doesn't have much of an ego, Takashi didn't take those losses very well. For him, he wanted to protect the people that were important to him no matter what. So whenever he lost a Duel, especially whenever it was against me or Riku, I took it pretty hard. Those losses made it seem, at least to him, that he was very weak. Out of all the times he felt like that, none was more prominent…when he saw me die."

Akiza's eyes widen a little bit as she remembered hearing that Takashi did in fact watch Hikari die right before his eyes. The thought of watching someone you love pass right before you must've been extremely devastating for someone like Takashi, who was only 12-years-old at the time. Akiza soon looked down as she listened to Hikari continue her explanation.

"After I passed, the regrets that Takashi felt kept me bound to the world of the living. It also made him have a negative outlook on his life. Because of the way he felt about himself, Takashi continuously praises the skills of others, while downplaying his own. He has a massive inferiority complex, which keeps him from reaching his potential. That's why he constantly berates himself…because he truly believes that he deserves it."

"…I see," Akiza said softly. "I wish…I could help him."

"You are helping him, Akiza,"

Shocked by what Hikari just said, Akiza lifted her head and faced the spirit. She then watched she picked up one of the flowers that were on the ground. It was still in the process of growing, so it wasn't fully bloomed. However, that changed when she handed the flower to Akiza. Upon receiving it, Akiza watched the flower bloomed completely, much to her shock.

"Just like how you made that flower open up and bloom," Hikari said. "You're slowly opening up Takashi. You're allowing him to see the best qualities within himself, which is not only making him a much better Duelist, but a much better person as well. Akiza, you have a quality that has a positive effect on people. So, in your own way, you are helping Takashi."

"Really…?" Akiza questioned. "You really mean that?"

"Of course," Hikari confirmed. "I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't the truth. You know, I can see why he fell for you…and it's not because you have a nice body. Though, now that I think about it, it doesn't hurt that you're pretty sexy."

Akiza became slightly flattered and embarrassed after hearing Hikari say that to her, which caused the spirit to laugh in amusement. When the Rose Duelist saw her laughing, she became even more embarrassed and tried to stop her. However, as she continued to watch Hikari laugh, Akiza soon found herself laughing as well.

Eventually, after spending the next couple of minutes laughing, both Akiza and Hikari calmed down and started talking to one another again. Their conversation mostly revolved around Takashi and some of things that he's done both in the past and in the present. It's through these conversations that Akiza realized that she and Hikari both have a lot in common. Both of them care about Takashi. And although the two have different feelings about him, the fact remained that they wish for his well-being.

"Akiza…I need you do me a favor," Hikari told her.

"Sure," The Rose Duelist agreed. "What is it?"

"Right now…Takashi is suffering immensely over what happened to you," Hikari explained. "He's lost his will to fight and if he goes out there to face Kuromu, he's going to die. I need you to restore his will to fight."

Akiza thought about what Hikari just said, in particular the part about Takashi having lost his will to fight. After recalling the conversation that she just had with the spirit, along with all the times she's been with Takashi, the young woman came to a conclusion about the man she loved. Although he appears to be happy and strong, Takashi was really felt sad and weak. She wanted to do something in order to truly bring back the Takashi that she had fallen in love with and so, with a strong determination in her eyes, Akiza nodded her head towards Hikari.

"I will," She agreed. "But…how I do get out here? According to the Black Rose, I'm in section of my mind that I can't escape from."

"I'm well aware of that," Hikari replied. "However, she also said that in order to escape this place, you need a sudden boost of power. That's where I come in. You see, I'm one of the few spirits that have spiritual powers. My powers are not only another reason why I'm bound to the world of the living, but they also allow me to interact with people who are already alive. I'm going to use all of power to get you to wake up from your coma."

"But…but will that hurt you?"

Hikari looked at Akiza and saw that she was very concerned about her well being. Even though she was just a spirit and no longer alive, she was amazed that the Rose Duelist cared about her so much. This put a small smile on Hikari's face, as it was another indication why she wanted Akiza and Takashi to get together.

"It won't hurt me," She pointed out. "But will cause me to fade away. You see, when a restless spirit losses all of their spiritual power, they fade away. They won't be a ghost anymore and they won't go to the afterlife. They will absolutely…cease to exist."

"If that's the case, why would you do that?" Akiza asked. "Aren't you afraid of disappearing?"

"Of course I am. But…I care for you and Takashi more. I'm willing to fade away if it means helping you two. After all…you two are my friends."

Hikari smiled at Akiza one more time, reassuring her that it was alright. She then prepared to use the technique that will allow Akiza to wake up from her deep sleep. However, before she could do that, the young woman watched as Akiza grabbed her hand. She then saw tears flow from eyes as she shook her head in disapproval.

"No…there has to be another way!" She told her. "If you disappear completely…I know for a fact that Takashi would be even more devastated. Hikari, there has to be a way that you can wake me up without disappearing completely."

As more tears fell from Akiza's face, Hikari realized that she was absolutely serious about what she just said. The Rose Duelist truly didn't want her to disappear, despite the fact that doing so would help her wake up. Realizing that, the spirit had to come up with a different plan, which she was able to conjure after few minutes.

"Okay…how about this," She said. "When I give you my power, I'll use what's left of my existence to stay inside you and heal. Since you're Reiyoku is so high, your power can sustain me and thus keep me from fading away. Well…how does that sound?"

"That's perfect," Akiza said with a smile on her face. "I don't mind having you with me a little while longer. If it can help you then it's okay with me."

"I'm glad to hear that," Hikari nodded her head and returned Akiza's smile with one of her own. "Also, while I remain with you, my light will keep the Black Rose at bay. However…you'll have to come to terms with your other half sooner or later. Your confrontation with her is something that's bound to happen."

Akiza nodded her head as she knew that she would have to face the Black Rose soon. The two of them are connected to one another and will continue fighting over their shared body until only one of them remains. The thought of that battle frightened Akiza a little bit, but she felt confident that she'll be ready for it when the time comes.

Eventually, after both of them came to terms with their decision, Hikari once again prepared to use her power to wake Akiza up. Once she built up enough strength, the spirit placed her hand upon Akiza's chest. This act caused the Psychic Duelist's body to start to glow a bright golden color. Shortly after that, Akiza saw that her body was beginning to disappear. It was at that moment that she looked towards Hikari again and smiled at her.

"Hikari…thank you," She said.

"No Akiza," Hikari replied. "I should be the one thanking you."

* * *

><p>Later on that day, during the time that Akiza was having her mental conversation with Hikari, Takashi was still busy watching her as she slept in her room. Despite the hours that passed by, Takashi's mood didn't improve. In fact, it only got worse as time passed by. Seeing Akiza sleep like that broke Takashi's heart and soon started to wish that it was him placed into that coma instead of her. However, the fact that Akiza was in a coma wasn't the main reason why Takashi was upset. The real reason is because it felt that it was his fault that she's like that.<p>

Before her Duel with Kuromu, the young man tried to convince Akiza to drop out of the Duel. He knew who strong her opponent was and he didn't want her to get hurt, despite how good she is. Unfortunately, Akiza chose to compete anyway and Takashi could only watch helplessly as the second love of his life fell right before his eyes.

That sight, and the words she said to him before passed out, was a reminder of how weak he really was. Takashi believed that if he was stronger, he could have possibly done more and somehow prevent any of this from happening. The reason why he decided to become stronger was so that he wouldn't have to lose anybody close to him ever again. But, after what happened today, Takashi came to a powerful realization. No matter how hard he tries or how much he hopes, he will always be weak.

As he continued to watch her sleep, some tears slowly made their way down Takashi's face as he gently brought his hand over to Akiza's face. He then gently rubbed her cheek for a moment, feeling the warmth that was radiating from her. Normally, such a feeling would be comfort to him, but that wasn't the case today. Now, it only broke his heart even more and soon placed his head down as more tears continued to fall.

"Maybe everything I've done…maybe it was all for nothing," He said softly as he moved his hand from Akiza's face. "I made a promise to protect everyone. But, in the end, I…couldn't protect the woman I love. I'm so useless…I deserve to die."

Having reached the full depths of despair, Takashi had lost any flicker of hope that remained in his heart. For him, there was absolutely no point in continuing any further. He lost Hikari, the first love of his life, and now he's lost Akiza. The two people who meant the most to him were now forever out of his reach. That thought was too much for him to take. As a result, Takashi decided that when he leaves to face Kuromu tomorrow, he'll just let him win. Also, if he dies due to that loss, then he dies. He just didn't care anymore.

"…You're…wrong…"

As heard the sound of a familiar voice calling out to him, Takashi's eyes quickly widen and soon lifted his head up. He then turned his attention towards Akiza and watched as her face started to regain some color. Soon, after moving around slightly, the Rose Duelist slowly opened her eyes. She then turned her head slightly watched as Takashi started crying even more.

"Akiza…?" He said, surprised that she's now awake. "Is…is this a dream?"

Akiza stared at Takashi for a moment and saw that while she was asleep the life that was usually in Takashi's eyes was no longer there. In an attempt to restore them to their former state and to convince her love that this wasn't a dream, Akiza slowly placed her hand upon his cheek. She then gently smiled at him as she moved her hand around a little.

"No Takashi," She said softly. "This isn't a dream. It's real."

Upon hearing her say that, Takashi broke down and quickly held onto Akiza as he cried. As he did that, the Rose Duelist thought about the lifeless look that was in his eyes and words that Hikari told her before she brought her back. Takashi was indeed suffering over what happened earlier, so much so that he's given up on his life. Just seeing him like that upset her greatly and she vowed to bring him back to the way he was. And she wasn't going to do this just because she promised Hikari she would. She was going to do this because she, Akiza, wanted too.

Soon, after calming Takashi down a bit, Akiza got him to let go of her. She then used all of her remaining strength to sit up from her bed. Although Lilly and Sona tended to her injuries, Akiza was still pretty sore and in a lot of pain. However, she wasn't about to let that stop her. She was going to help Takashi, no matter how much pain she would have to experience as a result. Once she sat up completely, Akiza watched as Takashi slowly placed his head down again.

"I'm sorry," He said softly.

"Don't apologize Takashi," She told him. "You didn't do anything wrong. What happened to me wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was! If only I…If only I did more. Perhaps then you wouldn't have to suffer like you did. I swore that I would always be there for you but…I guess I'm just all talk."

When Akiza heard Takashi say that, the Psychic took a moment to think about all the declarations he's made since she's known him. Whenever he swore to defeat an important that he said he had to beat, Takashi would everything within his power to do just that. He didn't care if something happened to him, as long as she and the others were safe, he was okay with getting hurt. Although Akiza never liked it when he did get injuries, the young woman admired his resolve to protect others, a quality she's trying to obtain herself.

So, upon hearing him say that he was all talk, Akiza gently shook her head in disapproval. She then gently wipes the tears from his face again before smiling at him. After she did that, Akiza turned her attention towards the window and looked at the stars that twinkled in the night's sky.

"Takashi…you're not just all talk," She told him. "If you were…I wouldn't be here right now."

Akiza smiled to herself as she thought about what she just said. In the past, she was a person who was filled with nothing but hate. However, after meeting up with him and seeing how far he went to save her, she changed. Akiza realized back then that Takashi wasn't helping her because she had a Signer Mark or because she was a Psychic Duelist. He helped her because he believed that she was someone who needed help. Akiza never forgot the kindness that Takashi showed her and swore that she would never forget it for as long as she lived.

"You give everything your all. No matter how many times you fall down or get hurt, you always get right back up. Someone who was just all talk wouldn't be able to do that. Takashi…you're strong because you want to protect other people. It's for that reason why you can't save such negative things about yourself. If you do…it'll only make the people you help very sad."

Takashi reflected about what Akiza just said to him. It was true that he did become stronger for the sake for his friends and that he was willing to suffer any punishment if it meant protecting then. Akiza wasn't wrong when she said that. However, despite her being right about that, the fact still remained that Takashi still let a lot of people down before. As a result, he sadly had to disagree with Akiza.

"I'm sorry," He said. "But you're wrong about me. I'm not strong at all. If I was…then maybe I could've save…the people who important to me."

"Don't say that," Akiza replied.

"It's the truth! I've tried becoming stronger so that I wouldn't let anybody else get hurt, but look what happened today. You were in a coma, Akiza. You're the best Duelist out of all of us and yet you still almost died. How can I, someone who's weaker than you, do any better?! I don't deserve to be here. I should've just stayed back home in Crash Town. Perhaps then…none of this would be happening."

As he said that, Takashi thought about Hikari and her older brother, Riku. The two of them were his best friends and he swore that he would always be there for them. However, despite that promise, both of them died. Their deaths had a massive impact on him, forging him into the person he is today. Despite that though, Takashi would give anything if he could have his friends back. Since he can't do that, all the young man could do was wallow in his own weakness.

While Takashi continued feeling sorry for himself, the young woman realized that her approach wasn't working. She attempted show Takashi that he was indeed strong and that he didn't deserve to feel the way he was feeling. However, no matter how much she tried to convince him, he words wouldn't get through. It was then that she realized that if she wanted to bring the old Takashi back, she would have to change her tactics. So, after taking a breath, the Rose Duelist made her move.

"You know what," She started off, changing the tone of her voice a little. "You're right. You're just a pathetic little weakling."

When he heard Akiza call him a weakling, Takashi was slightly shocked by what she just said. The last time she berated him like that was when the two of them were enemies and that was nearly a year ago. Since that time, they've been good friends and would always complement one another. So, the fact that she was saying such things to him again was quite a shocker. He then listened closely as Akiza continued on with her rant.

"I finally realize it now," She said. "The reason why you whine and complain all the time is because you're scared. You're a scared little boy who just happens to get lucky! I can't believe that looked up to you so much! Takashi…you're absolutely pathetic!"

As she continued to denounce Takashi, Akiza didn't mean the words that she was saying. She was using reverse psychology in order to bring him back on track. Also, by telling him he's scared, Akiza hoped that this would upset Takashi and bring back the courage that still resided within him. It wasn't something that she wanted to do, but she didn't have any other options available to her.

Eventually, as she continued to do so, Akiza saw that her plan was working. Takashi was slowly becoming irritated at what she was saying to him. She also saw some of the determination that used to be in his eyes return. The sight of that made her smile on the inside and the Psychic Duelist realized that Takashi just needed one more push. To that end, she dug deep inside and pulled out her biggest insult.

"Now that I think about it…if you were trying to save her, Hikari deserved to die!"

"SHUT UP!"

Reaching the boiling point, Takashi stood up and glared at Akiza. He then unconsciously brought forth his blue aura, causing the entire room to light up brilliantly. As Akiza watched this, a small smile appeared on her face as Takashi's strength and determination had returned. She then continued smiling at him as he started talking to her.

"You can berate me all you want," He told her. "But I won't let you berate Hikari! As a matter of fact, I won't anyone talk bad to any of my friends! They're the reason why I've come so far. They're the reason why I fight! And they're the reason why I keep going no matter how much crap I have to deal with! My friends…they are my power!"

"…Good," Akiza said as she smiled at him. "Now that's the Takashi I know. It's good to have you back. I'm sorry for what I said."

Shocked by what she said and how quickly she apologized, Takashi's anger quickly disappeared. Once he calmed down completely, Takashi noticed the amount of power that he was giving off. This was most that he ever brought forth before. Even during his training with Alex, he never was able to bring out this much power and be consciously aware of it. It was at this moment that Takashi realized what Akiza's intentions were.

"You…you planned this, didn't you?" He asked.

"Yes," Akiza confirmed. "Takashi…you may not see this, but you're the strongest person I've ever known. I'm flattered that you and everyone else praise me so much, but I know for a fact that my skills don't come close to yours. I know, without a shadow of doubt, that you have what it takes to defeat anybody you come across, and that includes Kuromu. Also, I know that you have the power to protect all the people that you want to protect."

Akiza smiled at Takashi again, reassuring him that she meant every word that she just said. Upon seeing her do that, any of the anger he felt towards her quickly vanished as well. He then smiled too, happy that her plan worked and allowed him to reclaim the hope that he lost. Takashi placed her hand upon Akiza's cheek again and as she felt the warmth that was coming from his beautiful aura, Akiza smiled once more.

Soon, as she took a moment to think to herself, Akiza looked over towards the desk that was beside her and picked up her Dueling Deck. She then searched through all of her cards until she found the one that she was looking for. Believing that this card could help Takashi during his upcoming Duel, Akiza proudly gave it to him.

When Takashi examined the card that she gave him, the young man was shocked by what it was. He proceeded to ask her if it was okay to use, especially since he knew how much this card meant to her. However, when Akiza assured him that it was okay, Takashi nodded his head and put the card into his own deck. He then promised that he would use the card proudly and would return it after he got back from his Duel.

After that, as more time passed, the Rose Duelist suddenly felt extremely tired. Although Hikari was able to wake her up, the fact remained that Akiza was in a coma for about half a day. As a result, her body still hadn't adjusted yet and she still needed more time to rest. However, before she fell back asleep, Akiza looked at Takashi one last time and spoke to him.

"Listen Takashi," She told him. "Never forget this. No matter what may happen, I will always believe in you and be on your side. However, I want you to believe in yourself. Not in the Takashi that I believe in and not in the Akiza that you believe in. I want you to believe in the Takashi…that believes in you."

With that said, Akiza smiled at Takashi one last time before falling back to sleep. As he watched her rest, Takashi thought about not only the things she said to him, but the card she gave him as well. Upon pulling the card back out and looking at it, a strong fire lit up in the young man's eyes. Knowing what he had to do, Takashi's pain and heartache has now finally transformed into strength and courage.

"I will win," He said to himself. "I can't afford to lose."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_The time has finally come. Takashi and Kuromu are about to face off in the Duel that will determine the Fortune Cup champion. Can Takashi's restored resolve be enough to defeat Kuromu's powerful Number Cards? It'll have to be, especially since Heart-Earth Dragon still has abilities that have yet to be revealed. _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 87: The Power of Chaos – Part 1_


	87. Chapter 87

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 87: **_The Power of Chaos – Part 1_

* * *

><p>The day has finally arrived. After months of long and rigorous training, along with dealing with several strong and difficult opponents, the final Duel of the Fortune Cup competition is finally here. The Duel will consist of Takashi Nakamura going up against Kuromu Nesara. Both Duelists are incredibly strong individual and both of them have the skills needed to win this tournament and move on to the title match against Alistair Miles. However, despite the skills that the two of them have, Takashi and Kuromu couldn't be any more different.<p>

Kuromu Nesara is a person who only cares about one thing; himself. He doesn't give a damn whether or not he has to hurt others in order to achieve his goals simply because he doesn't give a damn about other people. In all the Duels that he's competed in during this tournament, Kuromu has dealt real, physical, damage to every single one of his opponents. Also, during the Semi-Finals, he even tried to kill Akiza after she managed to draw his blood with her Psychic Powers. At his core, Kuromu is a heartless individual and he wouldn't have it any other way.

On the other hand, Takashi Nakamura is the complete opposite of Kuromu. Whenever he makes friends with someone, Takashi will always be on that person's side and protect them if they need help. Also, the young man trains almost every day so that he can better help other people in the future. It's the strong dedication he has for others that drove the Crimson Dragon to make him not only a Signer, but their leader as well. Also, despite the fact he may have doubts about himself and his abilities, those who are is friends trust Takashi and believe in the strength that he possesses.

As the two Duelists were out preparing for their match later on in the afternoon, the rest of Takashi's friends were still at Poppo Time. Although all of them wanted to go and support their friend at the Kaiba Dome, Takashi convinced them not too. The reason for that is because he didn't want to get them involved in the Duel. This match against Kuromu was going to be a difficult one and the chances were pretty high that someone could die. In order to make sure that they're okay, Takashi had them stay and promised that he was going to win.

However, having them stay at Poppo Time wasn't the only reason why Takashi wanted his friends to stay home. Before he left early in the morning, Takashi informed all of them Takashi Akiza woke from her coma last night. Naturally, all of them were shocked by this and checked to see if this was true. However, Takashi stopped them and informed all of them that Akiza was only awake for a few minutes before final back asleep. He then asked his friends to watch over her while he left to face Kuromu in their Duel. Without a second thought, the other agreed, allowing Takashi leave without any worries.

Eventually, as they waited for the Final Duel to begin, Lilly and the others followed Takashi's instructions and took care of Akiza while she continued to rest. Soon, just as the clock struck 10:00am, Lilly noticed that Akiza's condition was improving and even saw that she was beginning to stir around a little. Upon seeing this, the young quickly called out to her friends and watched as they all entered the room. All of them then looked on as Akiza was beginning to slowly open her eyes back up.

"Look!" Toru said as a smile quickly appeared on his face. "She's started to wake up."

Toru's excitement almost couldn't be contained as he was happy that his friend was finally recovered another to regain consciousness. However, knowing that she was still very weak after what she went through just yesterday, Misaki stomped his foot in an effort to get him to be quiet. Once she did that and saw that Toru was no longer talking, Misaki turned her attention back towards Akiza and watched as she opened her eyes up a little bit more.

Soon, as the vision returned to her eyes, Akiza noticed that all of her friends were around her, all of which had smiles on their faces. Seeing their smiles made Akiza smile as well. She was worried over the trouble that she caused her friends and she wanted to wake up so that they wouldn't have to worry anymore. With that now the case, the Rose Duelist started to feel a little bit better and slowly started to sit back up. However, as the pain from her injuries was still troubling her, Akiza received some assistance from Crow, who helped sit her up. Once, she was up, Akiza looked at all of her friends once again.

"Good morning, everyone," She said gently. "I'm sorry I slept for so long."

"…Don't worry about it," Misaki told her.

"Yeah," Toru followed. "I think all of us can agree that we're just glad that you're okay."

Lilly and Crow nodded their heads in agreement as both of them were also happy that Akiza was no longer in her coma. In the short time all of them have been together, the residents of Poppo Time have started to consider each other as family. Although some of them still have family members that are still alive, the bond that was built between all of them was just as strong as a family bond. It's for that reason that all of them cared about one another so much, despite the fact that they're different people who come from different backgrounds.

Akiza was happy about the concern that her friends were showing her, as it was another indication that she was surrounded by people that truly cared about her. She was soon about to tell her that she was more than okay, but stopped when her injuries started acting up again. When Lilly saw that, she decided to remedy that situation by using her powers to tend her friend's injuries. As she did that however, the young woman quickly noticed something odd.

When Lilly treated Akiza's wounds back when she was in her coma, she was told that her healing skills weren't enough to wake her up. The reason for that is because traces of Kuromu's Reiatsu were preventing her powers from taking effect. However, that wasn't the case this time. Now, for some strange reason, Lilly's powers were beginning to take effect again. Not only that, but her healing skills seemed somewhat more power than before. Lilly was shocked by this sight and wondered if something wrong with her powers. However, as Akiza looked on, the Psychic Duelist had pretty good idea what was going on.

As she closed her eyes and started thinking to herself, Akiza remembered the conversation she had with the spirit of Takashi's childhood friend, Hikari. More specifically, she recalled the moment that Hikari attempted to sacrifice her entire existence in order to help her wake back up. At first, Akiza was against it since she didn't want Hikari to sacrifice herself just so she, Akiza, could return to her friends. She wanted a way where not only she could return to the real world, but for Hikari to continue her existence as a spirit. After some time, Hikari was able to reach an answer.

Like before, the spirit was going to use her powers in order to give Akiza the energy needed to wake back up. However, instead of leaving Akiza's body afterwards, Hikari would instead remain there. It was explained that the Psychic's incredibly high Reiyoku would have somewhat of a healing effect on Hikari, allowing her to slowly regain the powers that she lost. In exchange of letting her stay, Hikari would use her light energy to keep the Black Rose, the darker side of Akiza's personality, at bay until the time was right. It's for this reason that Akiza realized what was going on and gave an answer as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Hikari…"

"Huh?" Lilly spoke. "Did you say something, Akiza?"

"I said Hikari," The Rose Duelist answered. "Hikari's the reason why I'm healing faster than your powers should allow. Also…she's the reason why I'm awake."

Everyone in the room was shocked by the revelation, with most of them simply confused by what Akiza meant when she said that. The only one who wasn't too confused was Toru, who knew who Akiza was talking about. However, the thing that confused him was how Hikari was able to wake her up, especially since she's been dead for almost seven years. When Akiza explained to him what happened while she was sleeping, Toru's confusion only grew until it reached the level of the others. Despite how well it was explained to him, the young man simply didn't get it.

Eventually, after taking a moment to think about Akiza's explanation, Lilly started to realize that it made a lot of sense. Having been able to see spirits ever since she was a child, Lilly knew a lot about them. She also knew that some spirits in particular, like her Ancient Fairy Dragon and Dark Magician Girl, had strong spiritual powers. Through their abilities, those spirits can have an adverse effect of others, including those who are alive. So, it isn't impossible for Hikari to use her powers to heal Akiza's injuries. In fact, after thinking about it some more, Lilly came to realize something else too.

"That explains it," She said to herself.

"What explains what?" Crow questioned.

"During Akiza's Duel with Kuromu, I saw a spirit enter her body," Lilly explained. "That spirit must've been Hikari, watching over the Duel just in case something went wrong."

The others were shocked by this revelation, especially since none of them could see the spirit that Lilly was talking about. However, since Lilly isn't someone who will lie about things about this, the others accepted that what she and Akiza said was indeed the truth. Shortly after coming to that agreement, Lilly continued treating Akiza's injuries. Once she finished, the Rose Duelist felt a lot better, although she was told that she'll still need to stay in bed for a few more days.

Once that was settled, the others decided to tell Akiza where Takashi was. Since the Duel against Kuromu would be the toughest match he'll ever compete it, the Signer decided to get some last minute training in. They also told that both Sona and Enoch won't be with them when they watch the Duel on TV. According to them, they have business that they needed to do. However, they did tell all of them that they would be watching Takashi's Duel at the Kaiba Dome.

After understanding everything that she was told, Akiza nodded her head towards all of her friends. Although she wanted to be at the Kaiba Dome to watch the Duel in person, the Psychic Duelist knew that was impossible due to her current condition. Also, despite that fact that she won't be there person, it didn't necessarily mean that Akiza won't be there helping Takashi during his match against Kuromu. She still remembered giving him one of her cards just before she fell back asleep. Akiza knew that Takashi would use her card well, especially since she believed that he was a far better Duelist than she could ever be.

Eventually, once it became clear that Akiza was okay, most of the group decided to leave and get some breakfast. The only one who decided to stay with her was Lilly, who wanted to make sure that she was alright. Akiza was very happy when Lilly decided to stay with her, mostly because she considered her as an older sister. In return, Lilly felt the same way and considered Akiza as a younger sister. The bond between the two of them was very strong and it was clear that Lilly was the second closest person to Akiza, with Takashi being the first.

"Akiza," Lilly said. "What was Hikari like? Although I managed to see in her sphere form, I didn't get a chance to see her as a human. Also, since she's a friend of Takashi and Toru, I want to know what she's like."

"Hikari…is very kind," Akiza answered, taking a moment to think about her time with the spirit. "She has a majestic feel to her. She very knowledgeable about things and she isn't afraid to sacrifice herself if it means helping out her friends. In a lot of ways, she's just like Takashi. Also…Hikari is very beautiful. After meeting up with her, I can see why Takashi fell in love with her."

As she started thinking about the relationship that Takashi and Hikari possibly had, Akiza started to feel somewhat depressed. For the longest time now, the young woman wanted to have a romantic relationship with Takashi, but could never gather the courage to tell him her feelings. Even when she discovered that Takashi feels the same way she does, Akiza still wasn't able to reveal her feelings to him. The reason for that is because Akiza knows that once she does confess her feelings, things between her and Takashi will never be the same again.

Lilly understood what Akiza was going through, especially since she used to be in a romantic relationship herself. Also, although those feelings quickly faded away, the young woman did have a small crush on Takashi herself. It's for those reasons why Lilly tried her best to help both of their friends get together. After all of the things that the both of them went through during their lives, it was about time for them to have some happiness.

To that end, Lilly decided to get back to work and proceeded to pull something out of her pocket. What she pulled out was a small toy lion. It looked rather old, as there were stitches and the lion itself was missing its mane. Despite that though, Lilly found the toy to be really cute and when she presented it to Akiza, she felt the same way. After taking a moment to examine the toy, Akiza turned her attention towards Lilly again.

"What is this?" She inquired.

"Before Takashi left to go train this morning, he gave this lucky charm," Lilly explained. "According to him, it used to belong to Hikari and he would always carry with him whenever he went into a tough battle. He wanted me to give it to you…so that you could feel better."

Lilly placed the lucky charm in Akiza's hand and watched as the Rose Duelist started examining it. As she continued to do so, Akiza started to feel the presence of both Takashi and Hikari coming from the charm. That feeling made her very happy, but it also made her sad at the same time. It once again showed her that the bond between Takashi and Hikari was strong and Akiza wondered whether or not she could create such a strong bond herself. It's through all these thoughts that Akiza was started to doubt whether or not she deserved to be with Takashi.

While Akiza continued thinking about that, Lilly managed to figure out what she was thinking. She then recalled all the interactions that Akiza and Takashi had ever since the two of them first met. Although the two of them were enemies at the beginning, the relationship between the two Signers quickly evolved into what it is now. It's because of how quickly things have come between them that Lilly decided that Akiza couldn't be doubting herself like that. She and Takashi were so close to finally coming together and Lilly felt that they need just a little extra push. Because of that, she decided to something to her friend.

"Akiza," She started off. "Don't give up. If you do…then it's truly the end for you and Takashi."

Akiza's eyes widen upon hearing Lilly say that to her. She then turned her head and watched as Lilly looked up towards the ceiling and started thinking about her past. During her time in the Satellite, she had to deal with a lot of crap. However, despite what she went through and some of things she's lost along the way, Lilly never gave up and by not doing so, she gained a lot of things as a result. No matter what may happen to someone, the good things that they experience in their lives will always outweigh the bad.

"Listen to me, Akiza. I know, deep within my heart, that you and Takashi are meant to be together. Also, despite the fact that Takashi had feelings for Hikari, I can tell that the feelings he has for you is stronger. If they weren't, then I know that neither of you would be here right now. So…please don't give up. If you truly believe that you and Takashi are going to be together…then you will."

After explaining to her friend, Lilly gave Akiza a warm smile and waited for her to respond. She really wanted her and Takashi to get together and was willing to help in any way that she could. However, despite her willingness to help, Lilly felt that Akiza needed to confess her feelings to Takashi all on her own. If Lilly did help her out, it would diminish the overall event and she didn't want that. She truly believed that her two friends will end up together very soon and she also believed that Akiza would have the courage to confess her true feelings.

Soon after she gave her friend that small piece of advice, Lilly decided to go and fix Akiza something to eat. Once she was left alone, Akiza took a moment to stare at Takashi's lucky charm. At the same time, she also grabbed the necklace that he gave her a few months ago and stared at it as well. Just looking at both items made her feel like Takashi was there with her, despite the fact that he's not really there. Eventually, as she continued to look at the items, Akiza closed her eyes and held them very close to her heart.

"Takashi…" She said quietly. "I know that your Duel today will be very tough and I know that it will be very painful too. But…just remember what I said to you. While I'll always believe in you…I want you to believe in yourself too."

A single tear fell from Akiza's eyes as she held the items even closer. She then let out a small and gentle smile as she thought about Takashi and all the things that he's done for not only her, but her other people as well. All of things not only gave her a sense of strength, but a sense of peace as well. As a result, Akiza kissed Takashi's lion charm before opening her eyes and smiling once more.

"Good luck…my love,"

* * *

><p>In what seemed like seconds, the hour to the start of the Fortune Cup Final Duel was almost near. Thousands upon thousands filled the seats of the Kaiba Dome while millions upon millions were prepared to watch the even on TV. Although it was common for tournaments to be held in order to determine the number 1 contender for title matches, this was the first time in quite a while that both Duelists posed such a threat to the Duel King. Takashi and Kuromu both proved themselves throughout the course of the Fortune Cup and almost everybody believed that both of them deserved the honor to face Alistair. However, only one person could win this Duel that was about to take place. Because of that, everyone knew that whoever won this match would have earned it.<p>

As more people continued to make their way towards the Kaiba Dome, two people were already there. Those people were Madas and Tem, who were waiting patiently for Takashi to appear from his early morning training. Just before the two of them left their respective homes in order to come to the stadium, they received a call from Toru and explained to them that he and his group wouldn't be able to make it. Despite that though, he asked the both of them to go and cheer for Takashi. Naturally, since they were already good friends with Takashi, Madas and Tem agreed right away and have been waiting ever since for him to arrive.

While the two of them waited, both of them discussed about how they perceived this Duel will go and how they think Takashi should go about playing it. Tem believed that Takashi should focus more of defense, picking his moments and attacking only when he saw an opportunity to so. As for Madas, he believed that an offensive approach worked best for his friend. If Takashi continuously pressured Kuromu, then there would be no way for the Shadow Duelist to counterattack. That was what both of them believed and their difference in opinion caused them to argue a little.

However, as the Final Duel crept ever closer, both Madas and Tem did agree on one thing. This Duel would be the most intense out of all the matches that they've seen so far. They knew right away that neither side would give an inch and would do everything within their power in order to achieve victory. Also, after what took place during the second Duel of the Semi-Finals, the two boys knew that this Duel has become extremely personal. The chances were pretty high that someone could get hurt. But, after everything that's happen so far, that chance was pretty much a guarantee at this point.

"So…where do you think he is?" Tem inquired.

"Where who is…?" Madas replied.

"Who do you think? I'm talking about Takashi."

The start of the Final Duel was about to take place any moment now and yet Takashi was nowhere to be found. When Tem learned that he left home early in order to train, the young man expected that he might run late. However, this was cutting it close. Even though the Fortune Cup committee, aka Goodwin, was let it slide when Takashi arrived late during the Qualifiers, Tem was worried that they wouldn't be so lenient with him this time. He wanted to ask Madas about this, but Tem was shocked when he discovered that his friend wasn't too worried.

"Don't sweat it, Tem," He said. "After what Kuromu did to Akiza and the other people he hurt, there's no way Takashi will not be here. Also…I think a part of him wants to fight him."

Tem looked at Madas with a confused expression on his face, wondering what his friend meant when he said that. He then watched as Madas pulled out his deck and stared intently at all of his cards. Out of all of them, the one that Madas looked at the most was his Ace Monster; Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. As he continued to look at it, Madas took a moment to reflect about all the Duels that not only he competed in throughout this tournament, but the others as well.

"I've been Dueling for quite awhile now," Madas continued. "And I know that when they face particularly strong advisory, a part of them wants to face that opponent. It's the goal of every Duelist to become the best and I believe Takashi knows that better than anyone. Takashi has to face Kuromu and more than that…he wants too. That's why…I know he'll be here."

As Madas continued staring at his deck, Tem looked at him for a little while longer. He then proceeded to pull out his own deck before doing the same thing. As he looked at all of his cards, the young man thought about what Madas said to him and realized that he was right. Every Duelist, despite how nice or cruel they might be, strongly desires to face someone strong. Both Takashi and Kuromu are incredibly powerful Duelists, so it's only natural that the two of them would clash. So, upon coming to understand that fact, Tem's belief was restored and was confident that Takashi would appear soon.

Eventually, as the two of them continued to wait, the two boys noticed that someone was approaching them. At first, they believed it to be Takashi. However, after noticing that it was actually two people that were walking towards them instead of one, the boys realized that they were wrong. The people that were making their way up to them were Sona and Enoch respectively. The two of them had to do some things earlier in the morning, but were now here in order to cheer for Takashi.

After the two groups finally reached each other, all of them started talking amongst themselves. During their talks, Madas noticed that Sona looked extremely attractive and attempted to ask her out once the Duel was over. Unfortunately, Sona coldly turned down Madas' request, much to his disappointment. When Tem and Enoch saw this, both of them started snickering to themselves as they found the whole thing somewhat amusing. This caused Madas to chase after to two of them since he didn't like it when he was made fun of. As Sona watched this, she simply sighed to herself.

"Boys are such morons,"

As Sona continued to sigh over the embarrassing antics of the others, the Psychic Duelist suddenly lit up as she sensed an extremely powerful Reiatsu approaching. She soon turned her head in the direction in which the power was coming from and noticed that someone on a Duel Runner was approaching her and the others. When Enoch, Madas, and Tem noticed the individual, all of them realized that the individual looked very familiar. Eventually, after a couple of seconds, all of them saw that the person in question was Takashi, who had finally arrived.

Upon reaching his friends, Takashi parked his Duel Runner and began making his way over towards them. As he did that, the others saw that his skin and clothes were somewhat beat up, indicating that that his training was rather rough. Also, Takashi was wearing a burgundy colored scarf around his neck. Wearing the scarf was his way of having Akiza with him during the match, since burgundy red was her favorite color. Once he made his way to the others, Takashi started talking to all of them.

"Hey guys," He started off. "Sorry I took so long to get here."

When Sona noticed the look in Takashi's eyes, the young woman saw that there was a lot of power contained within them. The strength and determination that Takashi was displaying was almost frightening. Despite that though, Sona believed that this expression was a good thing. The upcoming battle with Kuromu would be extremely difficult and Takashi couldn't afford to waver, not even for a single instant. If he did waver, Sona knew that he would not only lose the Duel, but lose his life as well. However, upon seeing this expression that was not only in his eyes, but his face well, Sona truly believed that things were going to work out.

As Sona continued to admire the look in Takashi's eyes, Enoch took a moment to look into the Signer's eyes as well. Like with Sona, Enoch felt a powerful display of fear and strength coming from Takashi. This was rather shocking to him, especially since he saw the look of hopelessness that Takashi had just the other day. Compared to then, this was a complete turnaround. Soon, Enoch came to the conclusion that Kuromu was responsible for this, after what he did to Akiza. However…that was only half true.

While the injuries that Kuromu inflicted upon Akiza and the rest of his friends were one of the reasons why Takashi was so determined, there was another one. He remembered what Akiza said to him about while she will always believe in him, he needed to believe in himself. Also, she didn't want him to believe in the Takashi that she believed in or in the Akiza that he believed in either. She wanted him to believe in the Takashi who believed in himself. After hearing her say that, Takashi decided to take Akiza's advice to heart.

So, after watching Akiza fall back to sleep and getting about an hour of sleep himself, Takashi left Poppo Time in order to train. Although he found out earlier this morning that his Duel against Kuromu would be a regular Ground Duel, the young man still trained relentlessly. In order to truly believe in himself again, Takashi worked like his life depended on it. He had to rediscover the fire that he somehow lost somewhere along the way. After working nearly 12 hours, Takashi believed that he found that lost fire and made his way to the stadium as a result. His Duel with Kuromu was one that he had to win and felt that he had to the means to do so.

Eventually, after spending a few minutes talking to one another, Sona decided that now was the time for her and her friends to make their way to their seats. However, before all of them left, the Psychic Duelist made her way to Takashi and presented him with a touchpad. Takashi was confused why Sona would give him such an expensive item, but soon discovered the reason when she gave her an explanation.

"In about two minutes, someone will call you through this touchpad," She said. "I want you to listen very carefully to what he has to say."

Takashi looked at Sona for a moment, wondering just who this person she was talking about was and why he wanted to talk to him. He soon decided to do what she wanted him to do, mostly because if Sona wanted him to do something, the chances were pretty good that it was important. The female Psychic was much wiser than he was and Takashi knew that very well. He trusted her completely and so nodded his head and agreed to talk to the person that she was referring too. Once he decided to do that, he watched as Sona and others left for the stadium.

For the next two minutes, Takashi waited patiently for the person to call him through the touchpad. Eventually, when he heard the device ring, Takashi answered it and watched as the display screen activated. When he saw the person that Sona was talking about via the screen, Takashi was surprised as he knew who that person was.

"What's up, Takashi?' The individual said. "It's good to see that you're doing okay."

"…Yeah," Takashi replied. "It's good to see you too…Alex."

While he continued to look through the touchpad, Takashi was still surprised that he was talking to Alex McQueen, his mentor and New Domino City's Underground Dueling King. The last time that he saw him just before he left to participate in his first Qualifying Duel. Since then, Sona has been relaying any messages that Alex might have to him and the rest of his friends. So, the fact that he's seeing him again after quite a while was rather surprising.

As for Alex himself, the Underground King was happy that Takashi was doing okay. Although he wished to be there in person, the current situation that he was in prevented him from leaving the underground. Despite that though, Alex has watched all of Takashi's Duels via the television and was very proud of him for coming so far as a Duelist. Also, upon seeing the new look that was in his eyes, Alex was pleased that he was able to overcome the tragedy that befell Akiza and was able to continue moving forward.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be up there," Alex said. "But I'll be right here cheering on back at my hideout."

"Don't worry about it," Takashi told him. "I know Goodwin prevented you from moving. I promise I'll stop him once I get the chance."

"Don't rush things, Takashi. Goodwin isn't somebody that you can deal with all by yourself. Only with the combined efforts of all the Signers and the Dragunity Knights can we bring him down. Speaking of Dragunity Knights…have you discovered the ones that I've mentioned?"

Takashi took a moment to think about Alex's question and remembered the conversation he had with his friends a couple of weeks back. During that conversation, he told them how he suspected that Jay, Aiku, and Kagura were all Dragunity Knights. As he watched all of their Duels, his suspicions of them were confirmed when he saw all of them summon their unique Dragunity Knight Dragons. Also, during his Semi-Final match with Kagura, Takashi also saw the symbol of the Dragunity Knights appear on her back, signifying even further that she was one.

"Yeah," He answered. "I found three of them. That means, including you, there's 4 Dragunity Knights here in New Domino City."

"That's right," Alex confirmed. "There's one more Dragunity Knight that we have to recruit, but we'll come and get her shortly after Alistair defends his title as Duel King. Until then, just focus on winning this tournament."

Takashi nodded his head in agreement as he had every intention of defeating Kuromu and winning this tournament. However, as he continued to think to himself, something else suddenly caught his attention. Although he knows that he and the others will have to wait a while before they confront Goodwin, Takashi wondered why aren't they trying to stop his plans. The only thing he really knew about it is that it involves the full revival of the Crimson Dragon. Other than that, Takashi still didn't know much about it.

"Alex," He called. "Shouldn't we be doing more?"

"What do you mean?" Alex wondered.

"I mean…shouldn't we be taking a more active approach in trying to stop Goodwin's plans," Takashi explained. "I don't want to wait until it's too late. If we have the opportunity to prevent his goals from bearing fruit, then shouldn't we act?"

"Takashi...remember what I told you earlier," Alex told him. "We have to let Goodwin's plan for the Crimson Dragon take place. Doing so we'll allow us to know not only what his true motives are, but this other evil that my Dragunity Knight Dragon told me about. I know it's frustrating, but you just have to bear with it from a little while longer."

Alex watched as Takashi gritted his teeth a little, showing him that he wasn't pleased with what he was just told. The Dragunity Knight understood his frustrations, as there were moments that he wanted to go out and stop Goodwin. However, knowing the types of abilities that the director of Sector Security possesses, Alex knew that was a bad idea. Whether he liked it or not, he and Takashi had to be patient until the opportunity for them to make their move had arrived.

Soon after that, an attempt to change the subject, Alex started thinking about what he and Takashi should talk about next. Eventually, the Underground Duel King remembered the reason why he wanted to call him in the first place. He wanted to make sure that he told him before his match against Kuromu started and now that it's here, now was as good a time as ever. So, to that end, Alex relayed his message to his friend.

"Listen Takashi," He started off. "There's something I have to tell you before you Duel begins."

"…What is it?" Takashi wondered.

"First off, I want to tell you that I know that you can win. However, you can only defeat Kuromu if you stop letting yourself become a slave to your past. During your training, and during the Duels you've had so far, I've seen you come so close to unlocking the true extent of your powers. However, the reason why you haven't been able to unlock them is because you can't let go of the mistakes and pain of your past. If you keep holding on to your pain and letting it weigh you down, you'll become just like Kuromu. Believe me, depravity like his can only come from having deep-seated pain that he could not let go of. I know this because I've struggled with the same kind of pain that the two of you have. It was hard and I did some things in the past that I've regretted, but I've learn to accept them, which is something that you still need to do."

Takashi closed his eyes a little as he started to ponder Alex's words. Although he's worked hard in order to try and overcome the pain of his past, it would always come and haunt him in one way or another. It's during those times that Takashi wished he could just forget about his past, so that way it won't trouble him anymore. However, as he continued to listen to Alex, the Signer soon realized that forgetting his past wasn't a good idea.

"Now, that's doesn't mean that you should forget about your past," Alex continued. "If you do, you then run the risk of repeating it. What I'm saying is that you can't let the horrors of your past chain you down. Listen, you can't change the past. Also, not every time that someone you love gets hurts is your fault. There are some things in this world that simply beyond our control. You have to accept your past, admit to your mistakes, learn from them, and move on. There's point on lingering on what's already happened. What's done is done. But the power you possess can help you change your future, but only if you believe that you deserve one. As long as you have a future, you have something to believe in and hope for. If you can do that, if you can forgive yourself and believe in having the future in which you deserve to be happy, you'll not only be able to defeat Kuromu and his Heart-Earth Dragon, but you'll be able to grasp the very beginning of your true power. And yes, I mean just the beginning. You're about to take your first step into a larger world. You've only scratched the surface of what you can do as a Signer and there's a completely different, even stronger, power that's still sleeping within you. Once you've learned this lesson, you'll see just how powerful you are and just how much more powerful you still become."

After Alex finished his speech, he watched as the power in Takashi's eyes grew even stronger than before. The sight of that put a smile on his face as he was glad that his words reached his friend. Alex then prepared himself to watch the Fortune Cup Finals, knowing that this Duel will show not only him, but everyone who's watching, just how strong Takashi is. Just witnessing that moment will prove to all that Takashi truly deserves to bare the Mark of the Dragon's Head on his right arm.

Soon, after about a few seconds, the MC made an announcement about how the Final Duel will be beginning shortly. Upon hearing that, Takashi turned his attention towards Alex since he didn't have much time left to talk to him. Hearing the announcement as well, Alex decided to say one last thing to Takashi before hanging up.

"Takashi," He said. "Go kick his ass!"

"…Right," Takashi replied with a confident smile. "You got it."

With that, both Takashi and Alex hung up, with the former placing the touchpad into the trunk of his Duel Runner. He then grabbed his Duel Disk and placed it upon his left arm before looking towards his scarf. As he looked under it, he saw the Kesshoseki necklace that Akiza gave to him. Both items reminded him of the woman that he love, which gave him even more motivation to fight this battle against Kuromu and win. Once he finished looking at them, he placed the top part of the scarf over his mouth before walking the Kaiba Dome.

Once he made it inside, Takashi wasted no time in making his way towards the stadium floor. However, as he began to do so, the young man noticed that a group of people was blocking his way. Of those individuals, one of them was smaller than the others. Upon getting closer to them, Takashi recognized the smaller individual and started glaring at him as a result. It was Vice-Director of Sector Security, Lazar.

Takashi didn't know why Lazar and the others, who were revealed to be Sector Security Officers, were trying to block his path. However, he had no intention of standing around and trying to find out. He had a Duel to win and no one was going to get in his way, not even the Vice Director. Because of that, Takashi simply kept moving forward and didn't look back.

Unfortunately for Takashi, Lazar had no intention of letting him leave just yet. There was something that he needed to convey to the Signer and Takashi was going to listen to it, no matter how he felt. To that effect, Lazar ordered the Security Officers to surround Takashi, so that he couldn't take a single step. Although such a weak defense was nowhere near enough stop Takashi, when he noticed that each of them was pointing a gun at him, he stopped. He then listened, albeit very reluctantly, as Lazar started talking to him.

"Hello Mr. Nakamura," The Vice-Director started off. "It's been a long time since we last talked, hasn't it?"

Takashi didn't respond to Lazar's words, although he did remember the moment that the tiny Director mentioned. It was shortly after his Turbo Duel against Alistair, which was suspended when the imperfect Crimson Dragon appeared. When Lazar showed up, he gave him and his friends' invitations to compete in the Fortune Cup. He also informed them that if he and the rest of the Signers didn't make it to the Finals, Sector Security would not only arrest them, but everyone they knew as well. It's because of Lazar's threat that Takashi was force to keep secrets from some of his friends, which only added to his hatred.

"Now listen," Lazar continued. "I'm not here to cause trouble. However, it will be trouble for Mr. Goodwin if you don't win your Duel against Kuromu. So I strongly recommend that you win...or else."

"Or else what…?" Takashi questioned.

"Or else…your friends will have to pay the price for your failures."

Upon hearing his friends be threatened by Lazar again, Takashi had enough of him and decided to put the tiny Vice-Director in his place. To that end, he released a massive amount of Reiatsu that knocked the other Security Officers unconscious. He then walked over towards Lazar, grabbed him, and proceeded to place his sword by his tiny neck. Takashi then glared at Lazar, giving the Vice-Director the impression that he was about to kill him for what he just did.

"Listen to me you little s**t," Takashi told him. "You're not calling the shots anymore, I am. Now…I want you to relay a message to your boss."

Takashi whispered something in Lazar's eyes, while making sure that his sword was still placed by his neck. Once he finished, Takashi grabbed his captive by his shirt collar and lifted him up with one arm. He then brought forth his blue aura, and Lazar watched as Takashi's hair turned entirely blue.

"You listen to me, Lazar and you good," Takashi continued. "I don't care who you are or who you working for. However, those who threaten my friends will not be forgiven. If you ever come near me or friends again without my permission…I'll make you wish that you were never born."

After conveying his own threat, Takashi punched the wall and showed Lazar the giant hole that he just created. He then let the Vice-Director go and watched as he ran away. Once he did that, Takashi reverted back to his normal form and continued his way towards the stadium floor. As soon as he arrived, the young man watched as thousands of spectators were cheering him on, telling him to do his best. Hearing them cheer for him brought a smile on Takashi's face, causing him to swear that he won't let them down.

As Takashi waited for his opponent to show up, Lazar finally made it to the control room where Goodwin was at. Upon making his way over to him, the Vice-Director was shocked that Alistair was there as well. After thinking about what Goodwin said to him the other night, the Duel King decided to observe the Duel and see if Takashi was as strong as Goodwin told him he was. Also, Alistair felt that watching the Duel would allow him to discover any weaknesses that any of his potential opponents might have.

Soon, Lazar conveyed Takashi's message to Goodwin watched as the Director started smiling to himself. He then watched as Goodwin made his way towards a glass window and observed as Takashi continued waiting for Kuromu to show up. As he watched him, Goodwin thought about the message the young man gave him.

_Goodwin…I'm coming._

"Very well, Takashi," Goodwin thought quietly to himself. "I'll be waiting for you."

Meanwhile, as all of this was going on, Kuromu had finally made it to the Kaiba Dome and was beginning to make his way towards the stadium floor. As he walked, the Shadow Duelist had a sinister smile on his face. There was only one reason why he decided to enter the Fortune Cup and now close to finally achieving it. Because of that, Kuromu wasn't going to let anything get in his way. For him, Takashi Nakamura was only a bug that he needed to squash and Kuromu had every intention of doing just that.

However, before he reached the stadium floor, Kuromu noticed a group people were blocking his way. The individuals in question were family members of the people he hurt during his time trying to qualify for the tournament. When they found out that Kuromu was the one who hurt their loved ones, all of them decided that the Shadow Duelist had to pay for his crime. None of them were going to allow Kuromu to participate in the Final Duel, at while they're still alive.

Upon realizing what their intentions were, Kuromu could laugh as he found their little resistance somewhat amusing. He then decided to show them something equally amusing and proceeded to bring forth his black aura. Kuromu then made the aura surround the people and he watched as it started to consume all, but one of them. The person that was left out could only watch in horror as the darkness swallowed up his teammates, only leaving a pool of their blood behind. After that, Kuromu walked up to the person he spared and, after pretending to comfort him, snapped his neck without remorse. Once he did that, Kuromu continued on its way.

Once Kuromu made it to the stadium floor, both he and Takashi stared at each other for a moment. Even though the Duel hasn't started yet, there was still a lot of tension in the air. Both Duelists wanted to tear the other apart and it was taking everything they have just to restrain themselves. However, once the MC declared the start of the Duel, Takashi and Kuromu could finally let go of their restraints and finally get at each other. However, before they could do that, both of them still had one last thing to do first.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen," _The MC shouted over the loudspeaker. _"It's finally here, the final Duel of the Fortune Cup! This contest between the two finalists, Takashi Nakamura and Kuromu Nesara will certainly be a match for the ages! Now, before the match begins, the two Duelists will shuffle the other's deck, as per tradition."_

Following along with the MC's request, Takashi and Kuromu pulled out their decks and gave them to one another. They then proceeded to shuffle the cards that they were given, while still keeping their eyes locked on one another. As they did that, Kuromu noticed the look in Takashi's eyes and started smiling as a result. When Takashi saw that, he became extremely irritated.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"I just find it amusing," Kuromu answered. "The look in your eyes tells me that you think that you can win. However, what you think will happen and will happen are two different things. Don't worry though, Takashi. It'll all be over soon. Once I kill you, I'll go and kill your friends and love ones. That way…you won't have to go to Hell all by yourself."

Upon hearing Kuromu threaten his friends, Takashi started gritting his teeth in anger, trying his best to contain his anger. When the Shadow Duelist saw this, the smile that was on his face only grew bigger. Eventually, once the two of them finished shuffling each other's cards, the both of them regained their proper decks and began making their way to their respective side of the field. As soon as they got there, Takashi and Kuromu placed their decks into their Duel Disks and activated them before going on to wear their Duel Gazers. Once they did that, the Augmented Reality Vision was put into effect.

After the both of them got ready, Takashi and Kuromu waited for the MC to declare the start of the Duel. When the MC saw this, he turned his attention towards the control room. He wanted to make sure that it was okay with Goodwin for the Duel to begin right now. When Director gave his approval, the MC returned his attention back towards the two Duelists. He then grabbed his microphone and started talking to the crowd again.

"_It's time!" _The MC screamed. _"Let the Final Duel of the Fortune Cup finally begin!"_

* * *

><p><em>DUEL<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Kuromu: 4000 LP**

"I'll make first move," Kuromu stated as he placed his hand upon his deck. "I Draw!"

When Kuromu drew the top card from the top of his deck, Takashi felt a powerful Reiatsu erupt from his opponent's body. However, instead of being crushed by it, the Signer stood his ground. He didn't care how much power Kuromu had and he really didn't care anymore. He was going to defeat his sadistic foe, no matter what the cost to himself.

Soon, after he looked at the card that he just pulled, Kuromu quickly placed it into his hand before proceeding to pull out another card. He then placed the card horizontally onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone and watched as a face-down appeared on his field. Once that happened, the Shadow Duelist then took two more cards from his hand and inserted them both into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. As soon as he did that, it didn't take long for the cards to appear face-down on the field, just behind the first called.

"First, I place a monster face-down in Defense Mode," He said. "After that, I set two cards face-down and end my turn. Now…let's see what you can do."

"Oh don't worry," Takashi replied. "I intend to show you plenty. It's my turn, Draw!"

Once it was his turn, Takashi didn't waste any time and quickly drew a card from his deck. He then looked at all of his cards for a moment, trying to determine which one he should play first. As soon as he figured that out, the young man grabbed that card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"First, I'm activating the Spell/Card: Graceful Charity! With it, I can draw three cards from my deck at the cost of discarding two cards from my hand!"

Upon explaining the effect of his Spell Card, Takashi proceeded to draw three more cards from his deck. Once he did that, he picked up two cards from his hand and placed them into his card Graveyard. Afterwards, Takashi continued on with his turn by taking one of the cards that he just drew and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. He then watched as a bright flash of light started shining across his side of the field.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Queen's Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

When the flash of light that was on his side of the field started to fade away, Takashi watched as his Queen's Knight materialized before him. The beautiful warrior displayed a radiance that was not only majestic, but powerful as well. Upon seeing that radiance, Takashi decided to put it to good use and proceeded to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Queen's Knight, attack his face-down monster!"

Without a second thought, Queen's Knight complied with Takashi's command and quickly made her way towards Kuromu's face-down creature. With one swing of her powerful sword, Queen's Knight cut the card in half and watched as it revealed a creature that strongly resembled a scorpion. Takashi, having seen that card before, realized that it was an 8-Claws Scorpion, a rather weak monster.

**8-Claws Scorpion: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 2**

"Thanks for that, Takashi," Kuromu said gleefully as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "Since you just a destroyed a Dark Attribute Monster I control through battle, I can now activate the Trap Card: Shadow Specter! With it, I can Special Summon a Dark Attribute Monster from my hand in Defense Mode, as long as its Attack Points aren't greater than the monster that was just destroyed."

Kuromu started smiling almost insanely as he knew exactly which monster he was about to Special Summon from his hand. So, after grabbing the middle card in his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone in a horizontal position, Kuromu watched as a dark aura covered his field. Soon, the aura brought forth one his most common, yet powerful creatures to the field.

"Appear now, Garbage Lord!"

**Garbage Lord: ATK 0 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

As the dark aura continued to cover Kuromu's field, Takashi started gritting his teeth in frustration. He then watched as Garbage Lord, one of Kuromu's most common monsters, appeared onto his field. The arrival of that monster only meant that the appearance of Number 53: Heart-Earth wasn't too far either. Needing to prepare for that moment, Takashi got ready to continue on with his turn. However, before he could do so, he stopped when Kuromu activated his other face-down card.

"Next, since I just Special Summoned a monster, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell: Inferno Reckless Summon!" He continued. "With it, I can now Special Summon two more copies of my Garbage Lord, since its Attack Points are less than 1500. You can do the same thing with your Queen's Knight…if you have more than one, that is."

Takashi looked his Queen's Knight for a moment before gritting his teeth once more. Although his deck contained the other two Royal Knight cards, he didn't have two more copies of his Queen's Knight. As a result, the young man could only watch in disappointment as Kuromu brought out two more Garbage Lords from his deck. With all three monsters on his opponent's field, Takashi had to prepare himself for what was to come.

To that end, the Signer grabbed a single card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as the card materialized onto his side of the field and was placed just behind his Queen's Knight. Once he did that, Takashi decided to hand things back over to Kuromu.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

"Is that it?" Kuromu questioned with a psychotic disposition. "If so, then this Duel isn't going to last too long. It's my turn…Draw!"

Kuromu quickly drew the top card from the top of his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, the Shadow Duelist then took the three Garbage Lord cards that were on his Duel Disk and proceeded to stack them on top of each other. By doing that, he caused the three Garbage Lord monsters that were on his field to transform into orbs of dark energy.

"I Overlay all three of my Level 5 Garbage Lords!" He declared. "With these three monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

The three orbs of light complied with Kuromu's orders and soon started flying around the entire Kaiba Dome. As they did that, the portal to the Overlay Network appeared right in front of Kuromu. Once the portal fully opened up, the three orbs dived right into it, causing a massive explosion of light to occur. It was at that moment that Kuromu grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Duel Disk.

"Xyz Summon! Appear, a monster from the darkest pit of the Hell, Number 53: Heart-Earth!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 100 DEF 100 Rank 5**

Once Kuromu finished calling out the name of his Number Card, a giant vortex of wind and electricity shot directly from the Overlay Network. The sheer force of it was so intense, that it took Takashi everything he had just to keep himself balance. When the vortex finally ceased, the Signer looked on as Number 53: Heart-Earth was now on the field, staring him down. The mere sight of the monster caused his Signer Mark to glow, informing him of the danger that he was about to face.

After Kuromu watched Heart-Earth appear on the field, the Shadow Duelist continued on with his turn. Since his monster's powers can only be activated during his opponent's turn, he decided that won't bother with attacking this turn. Instead, he chose to play one of the Spell Cards that he had in hand.

"Now, from my hand, I activate the Spell Card: Pot of Greed!" He declared. "With it, I can draw 2 cards from my deck."

Following along with the effect his Spell, Kuromu quickly pulled two more cards from his deck. As he looked at him, the Shadow Duelist smiled as one of the cards was exactly the one he wanted. To that end, he placed the card that he didn't need into his hand before placing the card he wanted into his Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as the card appeared face-down, right behind his Number.

"I set one card face-down and that'll be all for now,"

Takashi didn't pay too much to Kuromu as the Shadow Duelist ended his turn. For him, the only thing he cared about was taking out Number 53: Heart-Earth. The powerful Xyz Monster is extremely dangerous and can't be destroyed unless all of its Overlay Units are gone. Also, if it's destroyed by an effect while it has no Overlay Units, then its final effect will be triggered, bring forth its true form, Number 92: Heart-Earth Dragon.

After watching the other three Duels that Kuromu participated in, Takashi had a pretty good idea on how to take down Heart-Earth without bring forth Heart-Earth Dragon. Unfortunately, he needs one more card in order to put his plan into motion and he currently doesn't have it in his hand. For Takashi, everything was riding on his next draw. However, despite that fact, he wasn't afraid.

After everything that happened to his friends so far, Takashi couldn't let his fear and doubts get the best of him. If he truly wanted to destroy Heart-Earth and defeat Kuromu, he had to look forward and not look back. It was the best and the only way for him. Because of that, the leader of the Signers glared at the Number as he placed his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn," He stated. "Draw!"

Once he declared the start of his turn, Takashi used all of his strength and will power to draw the top card on his deck. As if reacting to the strength of his spirit, the card he drew turned out to be the one he needed. That brought a smile on his face as he knew that this Duel was about to be his. So, after placing the card he drew into his hand for a moment, Takashi grabbed another card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon: Tasuke Knight!"

**Tasuke Knight: ATK 1700 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Takashi watched as a bright flash of light shined across his side of the field for a few seconds. When it faded, a new monster appeared and stood by Queen's Knight. It was a warrior that was completely covered in armor. The armor in question had a combination of medieval and Japanese elements to it. Not only that, but Tasuke Knight was also carrying a sword that was strapped to its back.

Once Tasuke Knight was fully materialized onto the field, Takashi continued on with his turn by taking the card he drew and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, the young man watched as one of the Overlay Units that was surrounding Heart-Earth was beginning to change color from purple to yellow. When that transition of coloring was completed, Takashi pulled out a card from his hand.

"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Overtake Summon! With it, I can remove one of Heart-Earth's Overlay Units in order to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!"

After explaining the effect of his Spell Card, Takashi watched as the Overlay Unit that changed color left Heart-Earth and began making its way towards him. He then presented the card to the unit and watched as it went inside of it. Upon seeing that, Takashi placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Bright Star Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

**Bright Star Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Just like with his others cards, Takashi watched as another flash of light shined across his field. Once he saw that, the young man looked on as his Bright Star Dragon materialized onto his field and stood by his other monsters. As soon as that happened, Takashi proceeded to take Queen's Knight's card and stack it on top of Tasuke Knight's.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Queen's Knight and Tasuke Knight! With these two monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

Everyone in the Kaiba Dome, along with those watching on TV, watched as both of Takashi's chosen monsters transformed into colorful orbs of light. They then started flying across the entire stadium just as the portal to the Overlay Network started to appear. Once the portal was fully opened, both orbs wasted no time and dived right into it. Like before, this caused a giant explosion of light to appear just as Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck.

"Appear now, the messenger of hope, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

Takashi placed the card that he got from his Extra Deck on top of his other two monster cards. He then watched as Utopia emerged from the Overlay Network and started glowing in a beautiful golden light. Upon seeing the Number, everyone in the crowd started cheering, exciting that both Duelists managed to bring out their best monsters.

"Number 39: Utopia," Kuromu said as he looked at Takashi's Number. "I admit that it's powerful, but it doesn't compare to the Special Abilities of my Heart-Earth."

"I'm aware of that," Takashi said as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "That's why I'm activating the Trap Card: Shining Overlay! With it, since I Xyz Summoned a Light Attribute Monster that has the same number of Overlay Units as a Xyz Monster you control, Heart-Earth loses all of its Overlay Units!"

In a slight state of shock, Kuromu's eyes widen as he watched Utopia unleash a powerful array of light from its body. The light was so intense that it caused both of Heart-Earth's remaining Overlay Units to disappear. When Takashi saw that, he smiled since he knows that he just took away Heart-Earth's invincibility. However, that wasn't the only thing that his Trap Card was able to do.

"Also," He continued. "Since your monster just lost two of its Overlay Units, you take 500 points of damage for each one. That means you take a total of 1000 points of damage!"

After the glow that was radiating off of Utopia started to fade away, Takashi's Number soon turned its attention towards Kuromu and proceeded to blast two laser beams from its eyes. When the beams struck the Shadow Duelist, he fell to one knee just as his Life Points started to drop.

**Kuromu: 3000 LP**

"Now," Takashi said, not even letting Kuromu have the opportunity to get back to his feet. "With that taken care of, Bright Star Dragon can now attack your Heart-Earth!"

Bright Star Dragon complied with Takashi's orders and quickly made its way towards Heart-Earth. However, as it did so, a lot of the dragon's power was absorbed into the Number Card, causing it to grow not only stronger, but larger as well. When this process came to an end, Heart-Earth was now two times the size of Bright Star Dragon.

"Did you forget?" Kuromu questioned. "When you attack my Heart-Earth, its Special Ability activates! It now gains Attack Points equal to that of your Bright Star Dragon until the End Phase of the turn!"

**Number 53 – Heart-Earth: ATK 2000**

After Kuromu finished explaining the effects of his Number, everyone in the stadium watched as Bright Star Dragon continued on with its attack. If this kept going, Takashi's monster would be destroyed and he would take damage equal to the difference of their Attack Points. However, already knowing what could happen, Takashi put the next phase of his plan into action.

"I didn't forget anything!" He told his opponent. "That's why I'm activating Utopia's Special Ability! I use one Overlay Unit in order to negate Bright Star Dragon's attack!"

Number 39: Utopia complied with Takashi's instructions and proceeded to absorb one of its Overlay Units. Once it did that, the Number grabbed Bright Star Dragon and pulled it back their master's side of the field. After that happened, Utopia turned its attention towards Heart-Earth, prepared to finish what Bright Star Dragon started.

"It's time to say goodbye to your precious Heart-Earth," Takashi told Kuromu. "Utopia, attack Bright Star Dragon…Rising Sun Slash!"

Once Takashi announced his next attack, he watched as Utopia pulled out one of its swords from its side. After that, the Number quickly made its way towards Heart-Earth. If this attack managed to connect, then not only Takashi would have destroyed Heart-Earth, but also prevent its other Special Ability from activating. Just the thought of that brought a huge smile on his face, knowing that his actions will bring him one step closer to victory. Unfortunately, Kuromu have other plans.

"You're right, Takashi," He said. "It is time to say goodbye to my Heart-Earth. So, in order to make sure that happens, I'm activating the Trap Card: Negative Blast! With it, since a Dark Attribute monster I control is about to be attacked, I can destroy Heart-Earth in order negate Utopia's attack and end the Battle Phase!"

Takashi's eyes widen upon hearing Kuromu explain the effect of his Trap Card, as he didn't think he would destroy his own monster. He then watched as Heart-Earth suddenly exploded just as Utopia was about to attack it. The force of the blast forced Takashi's Number back to his side of the field, preventing him from using it in battle again. However, that was just the least of the Signer's problems.

After the blast explosion cleared up, everyone in the stadium watched as darkness suddenly started to cover Kuromu's side of the field. Inside that darkness was the soul of Heart-Earth, which has now transformed into a purple Overlay Unit. As soon as Kuromu saw the unit, the Shadow Duelist started smiling to himself as he pulled a card from his Extra Deck.

"Now, since Heart-Earth was destroyed by an effect while it had no Overlay Units, its final Special Ability activates! I can now use Heart-Earth as an Overlay Unit and bring forth its true form…Number 92: Heart-Earth Dragon!"

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 0 DEF 0 Rank 9**

Kuromu placed the card that he was holding onto his Duel Disk and watched as the darkness that was covering his field begin to take shape. Soon, it transformed into a giant and menacing dragon that looked like it came from the depths of Hell. Once the transformation came to an end, Heart-Earth Dragon started roaring at the top of its lungs, just its single Overlay Unit started circling its body.

As Takashi stared at the dragon, the young man started cursing himself for not being able to see through Kuromu's tactics. He should've discovered earlier that Kuromu could destroy his own monster in order to bring forth Heart-Earth Dragon. However, because he failed to realize that in time, Takashi now had bigger problems to deal with.

In order to make up for his failure, and to prevent Heart-Earth from dealing him any harm, Takashi grabbed one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as his card appeared materialized onto his side of the field, just behind his Utopia. With that card, along with Utopia's Special Abilities, Takashi believed that he could get through Kuromu's next turn without much trouble. As a result, he decided to hand things over to him.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "I end my turn."

"…Thank you," Kuromu replied. "Now I can activate Heart-Earth Dragon's Special Ability!"

Takashi's eyes widen some more as he couldn't believe what he just heard. He just ended his turn, and yet Heart-Earth Dragon was about to use another one of its powers. He then braced himself as he watched Kuromu's monstrosity eat the single Overlay Unit that was surrounding its body.

"By using one Overlay Unit," Kuromu continued. "Heart-Earth Dragon can banish all the cards that my opponent Normal Summoned, Special Summoned, or set on the End Phase of their turn!"

Heart-Earth Dragon started roaring as loud as it possibly could after it eat its Overlay Unit. As it did that, the Number released special sound waves that were having an adverse effect on all of Takashi's cards. Soon, Takashi watched in horror as Utopia, Bright Star Dragon, and his face-down card suddenly disappeared, never to be seen again.

As fear started to appear in his opponent's eyes, Kuromu could do nothing but start laughing to himself. After everything Takashi tried to do, after his planning, his efforts were all for naught. Now he was left completely defenseless while Kuromu was about to begin his turn with his ultimate monster on the field. It was just so amusing to the Shadow Duelist that he just couldn't help but laugh. He soon turned his attention towards Takashi and continued to laugh at him as a black aura covered his body.

"Don't be upset, Takashi," He said to him. "The fun is only getting started."

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As the Final Duel of the Fortune Cup continues, Takashi is completely on the defensive as he tries to deal with Kuromu and his powerful Heart-Earth Dragon. Can he find a way to bring down this horrible creature or will he become his next victim?_

_Also, the reason behind Kuromu's madness is finally revealed._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 88: The Power of Chaos – Part 2_


	88. Chapter 88

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 88: **_The Power of Chaos – Part 2_

* * *

><p><strong>Takashi: 4000 LP<strong>

**Kuromu: 3000 LP**

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 0 DEF 0 Rank 9**

"This…this is some…bulls**t!"

In the nearly 19 he's been alive, Takashi Nakamura has seen some things that he just couldn't believe at first. Although his teacher, Izumi, has taught him that there are some things in this world that are simply beyond human comprehension, Takashi ignored her words and chose to believe that everything that he's seen or done could be understood. Whether those things be something normal, like why some adults would lie to their kids back when they were young, like Klaus told Takashi that Santa Claus was real even though he wasn't. Or when Alex explained the origins of the Crimson Dragon to Takashi, even though the Signer is very skeptical about the existences of Gods. No matter how crazy or insane things were, Takashi believed everything could be understood. At least…that's what he believed at first.

As the Duel between himself and the man he hated the most, Kuromu Nesara, continued, Takashi was beginning to wonder if his master was right all along. After watching all of the Duels that Kuromu participated in up to this point, Takashi believed that he discovered a way to get around his Heart-Earth monsters and finally defeat him. However, despite all of his careful planning and strategies, the Signer quickly realized that he couldn't have been more wrong.

The powers of Heart-Earth and by extension, Kuromu himself, were simply out of this world. Takashi believed that if he managed to get around the Number by destroying it through battle instead of by an effect, he could get rid of it and prevent Kuromu from bringing out its true form, Heart-Earth Dragon. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all as Kuromu was already prepared for such a strategy.

Because of his overall personality, people generally underestimate Kuromu due to the fact that he's a psychotic sociopath. However, although he's indeed insane, Kuromu can also be considered a genius. Like Takashi, the Shadow Duelist's strength comes from his reliance on reading an opponent's moves and reacting to their strategies before they could completely form them. By doing that, he can trip up his foes and make them do things that they normally wouldn't do in a Duel. Also, even if he can't trick his opponents, Kuromu can mix them up by doing things that they wouldn't expect, like what he just did a few moments ago.

During Takashi's last turn, the Signer attempted to get rid of Kuromu's Heart-Earth before he had a chance to evolve it into Heart-Earth Dragon. In order to accomplish that, he made sure that Number 53 didn't have any Overlay Units, effectively ridding it of its invincibility. Once that was done, he had two different monsters attack Heart-Earth, knowing that the Number can only absorb the Attack Points of one of them. Takashi believed that his strategy was good enough to rid himself of his greatest problem, but he would quickly realize that he was wrong.

In an unpredictable move, Kuromu used a Trap Card to destroy Heart-Earth before Takashi's own Number, Number 39: Utopia, could reach it. By doing that, not only did Kuromu negate Utopia's attack, but he also triggered the summoning of his true Ace Monster, Heart-Earth Dragon. The sight of this incredible beast shook Takashi to his core, but he still felt that he could overcome it by using Utopia's Special Ability and a face-down card that he set at the end of his turn. However, Kuromu was also prepared for that as well.

At the end of Takashi's turn, the Shadow Duelist activated the Special Ability of his ultimate monster. By using the only Overlay Unit in its possession, Heart-Earth Dragon was able to banish all the cards that Takashi placed on his field during his turn. This act effectively wiped Takashi's field clean as all the cards, including Utopia, that he had were placed on the field during his last turn. With no monsters, Spells nor Traps to defend himself with, Takashi was left totally alone as Kuromu prepared to begin his next turn. It was at that moment that the Signer was beginning to believe that Heart-Earth Dragon was invincible…a thought he not believed to be impossible, but incomprehensible as well.

As Takashi attempted to make sense of the situation that he was currently in, Kuromu simply looked at him with a psychotic smile on his face. The fact that he was able to dash Takashi hopes like that was almost euphoric for the Shadow Duelist. After all of Takashi's talk and his vow to win, it was now him on the defensive while Kuromu was clearly on the offensive. Kuromu then decided to slowly break down Takashi's will and prologue his suffering. After all, if he just finished him off right now then this wouldn't be fun for him at all. He wanted to savor this for as long as he could, before finally bringing an end to Takashi's life.

While all of this was going on, Sona, Enoch, Madas, and Tem were all observing the Duel from the stands. Like Takashi, all of them were shocked by Kuromu's strategy and the Special Ability of his Heart-Earth Dragon. The powers of this Number Card seemed almost otherworldly to the four of them as even if they managed to get pass one, Heart-Earth Dragon will have another power to counter it. Such a card, regardless of how rare or valuable it is shouldn't exist, as all Duel Monsters cards have some type of weakness.

However, despite the odds that he was currently facing, all of them believed that Takashi would somehow turn things around. Throughout this entire tournament, Takashi has faced opponents that a lot of people believed that he should have lost too. However, despite what those people might have thought, Takashi did win those Duels. Whenever the deck was stacked against him, this young man found the strength to continue fighting. It was through this incredible will that this young man not only touched the hearts of his opponents, but other people as well. It's for that reason why his friends continued to have faith in him and believed that he would turn things around, despite how impossible that might be.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Kaiba Dome, there was another one who also believed in Takashi. That individual is none other than Rex Goodwin, the man who Takashi considers to be his greatest enemy. Unlike his other opponents, who believed that he didn't stand a chance against them, like Sayer and Sasuke respectively, Goodwin truly believes in Takashi's strength. The reason why he believes in him so much is because the Director knows about the power that sleeps inside the Signer.

Because Goodwin was well acquainted with Minato, Takashi's father, it's obvious that he would know about Takashi as well. He's known the boy since the day he was born and as a result, he knows the circumstances behind his birth. Goodwin is one of the few people on this planet that's aware of Takashi's hidden power, which has slowly beginning to awaken ever since the Signer first arrived in New Domino City. It's because of his strength that Goodwin believes in him so much and why he knows he'll win, despite the odds that he was facing.

For Goodwin, this Duel was much more than a match to determine who would face Alistair for his title of Duel King. It was also a test to truly test Takashi's skills. The leader of the Signers, the one who wields the mark of the Crimson Dragon's Head, must have the strength to overcome all the obstacles that he's presented with. Goodwin believed that to be true, since he knows everything regarding the legend of the Crimson Dragon. Because of that and because of the power that Takashi wields, the Director had absolute faith in the boy's victory.

Unfortunately, despite the number of people who believed in Takashi's victory, there was one person, other than Kuromu Nesara, who didn't feel the same way. That person was Alistair Miles, the Duel King of all of Japan. Due to the hatred and jealously that he feels towards Takashi, Alistair didn't share the beliefs that the others had. In fact, due to the situation that Takashi was currently in, the Duel King believed that Kuromu would be the one facing Takashi in the Title Duel. Because of that, he got up from his seat and prepared to leave.

As Alistair began to leave however, Goodwin got a good glimpse at his chosen Duel King and started smiling as a result. When Alistair saw that smile, he became irritated and stopped himself from leaving the room. He then turned himself around and faced the Director, who promptly returned his attention back towards the Duel. Seeing Goodwin do that irritated Alistair even more, causing him to bring out his red aura.

"Now, now…don't be upset Alistair," Goodwin told him. "You can leave if you want. I'll make sure to tell Takashi that you stopped by."

"What makes you think he's going to win?" Alistair questioned. "From what I saw, it looks like Nakamura is about to get his ass kicked."

"…I may seem that way," Goodwin replied. "However, I know for a fact that this Duel is just getting started. Even so…you can leave if you want. You'll all the time you can get if you want to be a match for Takashi when he faces you for your title."

Goodwin's words caused Alistair's anger to intensify even further, making the aura that was surrounding his body to glow even brighter. The Duel King wanted nothing more than to punch the arrogance out of Goodwin, but he knew that it wouldn't be that easy. For some reason, the Director is able to temporarily negate his powers, making it impossible for Alistair to harm him. Because of that, Alistair was force to grit his teeth and continue to listen as Goodwin poke at his already damaged pride.

Eventually, Alistair changed his mind about leaving and decided to stick around. If Takashi is as good as Goodwin was portraying him to be, then the Duel King wanted to see how he would get out of this situation. Even if he couldn't escape it, Alistair would be amused by the sight of seeing Takashi lose at the hands of Kuromu. The Duel King found this to be a win-win situation and stuck around in order to discover the outcome of this Final Duel. However, while Alistair wouldn't say it out loud, Goodwin knew the real reason why he was sticking around.

Because Alistair has an ego the size of Asia, the Director of Sector Security knew that his Duel King believed he was the best. However, once Takashi came into the picture, Alistair was beginning to see that he wasn't as good as he thought himself to be. The reason why Alistair was sticking around was so that he could discover the full extent of Takashi's abilities and determine how strong he really was. Once he did that, Alistair could take his measure and see if Takashi was truly worth his time or just another insect that he needed to crush.

Goodwin knew this really well, which is why he decided to keep messing with Alistair like he has. He knew that the more Alistair got angry, the more his already massive power would increase. He needed his Duel King to be the level required in order to put the next part of his plan into motion. Once that happens, Goodwin could finally move on to the next step and prepare himself for the event that was going to take place very soon. It's been almost 20 years since he first started his plan and all the pieces were finally falling into place. All that was left was for Takashi to win this Duel, which Goodwin believed that he was going to do.

Back at the stadium floor, Kuromu was still grinning rather evilly at Takashi as he watched him look on in disbelief. There were so many different ways that he could torture him and a part of him wanted to take the time to try them all out. In the end though, Kuromu decided that he would prologue his opponents suffering for as long as he could. However, before he could do that, there was something else that he had to do first. To that end, the Shadow Duelist placed his hand upon his deck and got ready to draw a card.

"It's my turn," He said with a sinister look on his face. "Draw!"

After drawing the card, Kuromu looked at it for a moment before placing it into his hand. Once he did that, he then took the card that was at the far end of his hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, he watched as a dark smoke appeared and started circling around his Heart-Earth Dragon.

"Alright Takashi…I think it's time for the real festivities to begin. So, I'm equipping my Heart-Earth Dragon with the Spell Card: Shadow Miasma!"

"Shadow…Miasma…?" Takashi questioned.

"That's correct," Kuromu confirmed. "With the power of this card, my Heart-Earth Dragon gains a unique effect. Now, as you know, my Heart-Earth Dragon currently has no Overlay Units, since it used its only one to banish all of your cards. However, that won't be the case for long. Thanks to my Shadow Miasma, Heart-Earth Dragon will gain one Overlay Unit for every card that it banished due to its effect at the end of each of my turns. As of right now, my dragon banished 3 of your cards. That means Heart-Earth Dragon will gain 3 Overlay Units once my turn ends!"

Takashi's eyes widen once he heard this revelation. Just when his situation couldn't get any worse, Kuromu pulls out a Spell Card that guarantees that his dragon can use its ability every turn. That means whenever Takashi puts a card on his field, he'll have to destroy Heart-Earth Dragon with it. If he can't, then the card will be banished and out of his reach. The situation seemed almost hopeless for him, but Kuromu wasn't about to end his turn with just this move.

"Alright," He said as grabbed one card from his hand and placed it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. "Next, I Normal Summon: Garbage Ogre, in Attack Mode!"

**Garbage Ogre: ATK 800 DEF 1300 LVL 3**

Upon placing his card on his Duel Disk, Kuromu watched as a dark light appeared onto his side of the field. From that light, his Garbage Ogre appeared and started standing next to Heart-Earth Dragon. Once it was out, Kuromu smiled as he pointed his right index finger towards Takashi.

"Go my Ogre!" He said. "Attack his Life Points Directly!"

Garbage Ogre nodded its head in compliance and proceeded to make its way towards Takashi. Once it got close enough, the monster prepared to smash Takashi's head with its spiked bat. In order to prevent himself from getting seriously injured, Takashi raised his arms so that he could block the blow. However, in doing so, this left his midsection completely open. This gave Garbage Ogre to slam its bat into the Signer's stomach, sending him flying as his Life Points started to drop.

**Takashi: 3200 LP**

After he was struck by the bat and sent flying backwards, Takashi held on to his stomach as he started coughing up blood. When the people sitting in the stands saw this, they wondered what was going on. However, most of them came to the conclusion that this was part of the Augmented Reality, which made things even more real than it actually was. As a result, all of them started congratulating Kuromu for his excellent move, much to the disgust of Takashi's friends.

Eventually, after taking a moment to life at his accomplishment, Kuromu watched as Takashi slowly rose to his feet. Seeing the Signer do that made him smile, as he wanted to torture him some more before he killed him. Soon, Kuromu decided to conclude his turn by taking one more card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, the Shadow Duelist watched as a face-down card appeared behind both of his monsters.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Now…behold as the effect of my Shadow Miasma activates!"

Just as Kuromu finished saying that, Takashi watched as a dark and poisonous cloud started appearing around him. As he covered his mouth in order to prevent himself from inhaling the smoke, the young man watched as cloud-like images of his Bright Star Dragon, Number 39: Utopia, and his previous face-down card appeared. The images soon turned into purple-colored Overlay Units, all of which began making their way towards Heart-Earth Dragon. Once they were there, the Units circled around the beast, much to Takashi's frustration.

"What's wrong?" Kuromu questioned. "Don't tell me that you're going to give up?"

"Sh…Shut Up!" Takashi shouted as he stood up and gently placed his hand upon his deck. "I'm nowhere near finished! It's my turn…Draw!"

After drawing the top card of his deck, Takashi looked at it and saw that he needed to play it right away if he wanted any chance of winning. So, without wasting anytime, Takashi took the card that he drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, he proceeded to place his hand back on top of his deck.

"I activate the Spell Card: Pot of Greed!" He said. "With it, I can draw 2 cards from my deck!"

Takashi swiftly drew the top two cards from his deck and looked at them for a moment. As he did that, the young man saw that one of the cards was special. He then looked at the other cards that were in his hand and saw that he had all the pieces needed in order to defeat Kuromu on this one turn. All he had to do was play the cards he had in the correct order. In order to do that, Takashi closed his eyes and cleared his thoughts of any distractions.

Once his mind was clear, Takashi pictured a flow chart that had all the cards that was in his hand. He then watched as electricity started running through the lines of each card. This act was his way of telling himself which card he should play first and how he should play it. Once the flow chart finished telling him what he should do, a giant flash of light flashed inside Takashi's mind. From that light, an image of Takashi's first Ace Monster, Stardust Dragon, appeared, causing him to smile.

Once he reopened his eyes, Takashi continued on with his turn by taking one of the cards that he just drew and placing it onto his Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as a small flash of light started shining across his side of the field.

"When I draw this card via an effect, I can Special Summon it onto the field!" He explained. "Appear now, Watapon!"

**Watapon: ATK 200 DEF 300 LVL 1**

When the monster that Takashi just summoned finally finished materializing, he watched as his Watapon appeared onto his side of the field. In comparison to his opponent's creatures, Watapon didn't seem like it would be much help. However, this was not the case at all. For Takashi, Watapon's purpose was to just get on the field without him having to use a regular Normal Summon. With that now the case, Takashi simply took Watapon's card and placed it into his card Graveyard. He then took another card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I sacrifice my Watapon in order to Advance Summon: Salvage Warrior, in Attack Mode!"

**Salvage Warrior: ATK 1900 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

After shouting the name of his monster, Takashi watched as another flash of light shined across his side of the field. From that light, his Salvage Warrior appeared and took the place of Watapon, who vanished when the light faded away. Once this new monster was fully materialized onto the field, Takashi grabbed a card from his Graveyard and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, Salvage Warrior took one of the steel chains that was around its body and threw it into a portal that it created.

"When Salvage Warrior is successfully Advanced Summoned, its Special Ability activates!" He explained. "I can now Special Summon a Tuner Monster from either my hand or Graveyard. I Special Summon: Spiria the Sky Spirit, who placed in the Graveyard back when I played my Graceful Charity Spell!"

**Spiria the Sky Spirit: ATK 0 DEF 1400 LVL 3**

One last flash of light shined across Takashi's field as a brand new monster that he's never summoned before made its presence known to everyone watching. When the light faded away, the people watching the Duel got their first look at his new monster, Spiria the Sky Spirit. It was a beautiful Fairy-Type Monster with indigo colored hair, blue eyes, and full lips. She also had a set of white wings on her back and was wearing roman styled clothing.

After Spiria arrived onto the field and stood next to Salvage Warrior, Takashi got ready to make his move. As he prepared to do so, his Signer Mark started glowing extremely bright as a result. When Kuromu saw that, he knew that something big was coming and although he believed that Takashi's strategy wouldn't mean much, he still decided to be cautious. It's for that reason that the Shadow Duelist prepared himself to play his face-down card, once the opportunity presented itself to him.

"Alright," Takashi said as he raised his right arm high into the air. "Let's get this started! I Tune my Level 5 Salvage Warrior with my Level 3 Spiria!"

The two monsters nodded their heads once they heard their master's command and started flying high into the air as a result. As they did that, both of them prepared themselves to conduct the process for a Synchro Summoning. While they did that, Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and pulled it out. He then stared at the card for a moment before placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Once the Synchro ritual came to an end, a large flash of light shined across the entire stadium. As this light blinded almost everyone who was watching the Duel, thousands upon thousands of stars rained down on the field. These stars piled together and quickly started to take the shape of a giant beast. Eventually, the stars finished building together and took the shape of Stardust Dragon, one of Takashi's most trusted monsters.

Upon arriving onto the field, Stardust released an earth-shattering roar that shook up the entire stadium. Upon doing that, the Signer Dragon turned its attention towards Heart-Earth Dragon and soon started growling at it. This act prompted Heart-Earth Dragon to growl back at Stardust and soon released a powerful roar of its own. The sight of the two beasts frightened a lot of people, but they stayed around just to see which of them would win; Stardust Dragon or Heart-Earth Dragon.

As the dragons continued staring each other down, Takashi took the time to stare at Heart-Earth Dragon. Normally, when going up against an opponent's Ace Monster, Takashi would try and take it down in order to win. However, because of the Special Abilities of this particular Number, the young man couldn't do that. Fortunately for him though, he had another way to win and he had to thank his opponent for that.

Because Kuromu summoned his Garbage Ogre, that gave Takashi the opportunity to target it for an attack and deal massive damage to his foe. Not only that, but due to one of the abilities of Spiria the Sky Spirit, he could deal Kuromu damage equal to twice of Garbage Ogre's Attack Points, since the Tuner was used to Synchro Summon a Wind Attribute Monster. If this was successful, Kuromu would take 3300 points of damage, more than enough to take him down. The thought of that was almost too much to take and so Takashi decided to make his move and end this match once and for all.

"Stardust," He said. "Let's end this right now! Attack his Garbage Ogre…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust Dragon complied with Takashi's request and quickly started gathering cosmic energy from inside its body. As it built up strength, the dragon's body started shining like a giant star. Eventually, once it gathered enough strength, Stardust released a powerful blast of energy and directed it towards Garbage Ogre. However, as the blast made its way towards the monster, Kuromu started chuckling to himself, much to Takashi's confusion.

"What's so funny?!" He questioned. "Does your monster's destruction amuse you?"

"You fool," Kuromu said as he continued laughing. "That's not why I'm laughing. I'm laughing…because you fell right into my trap!"

Takashi's eyes widen as he confused by Kuromu's words. He then watched as his opponent activated the face-down card that he set on his last turn. When he did, everyone watched as Stardust Dragon's attack changed targets. The Cosmic Flare was now making it way towards Heart-Earth Dragon instead of Garbage Ogre, much to the surprise of everyone present.

"I activated the Trap Card; Shift!" Kuromu explained. "With it, I was able to change the target of your dragon's attack from my Garbage Ogre to my Heart-Earth Dragon!"

Stardust's attack struck Heart-Earth Dragon head on. However, because of the Number's Special Ability, it wasn't destroyed and Kuromu took no Battle Damage. Such a sigh scared Takashi to no end, but unfortunately for him, there was more on the way.

"Now, as I'm sure you're aware, I take no damage from your puny attack and my dragon's safe as well! However, I can't say the same for you, since my dragon's second effect deals you damage equal to Stardust Dragon's Attack Points!"

Heart-Earth Dragon released another powerful roar as it started gathering the energy that it absorbed from Stardust Dragon and converted it into negative energy. Once it gathered up enough power, Heart-Earth Dragon fired a powerful Dragon Cannon Blast towards Takashi. When the attack struck him, the young man started screaming in agony as clothes and body were beginning to tear themselves apart. When the attack finally ended, a bloody Takashi fell to the ground just as his Life Points started to drop again.

**Takashi: 700 LP**

As Takashi tried his best to keep himself from dying, the young man slowly lifted his head up and saw Kuromu laughing like some kind of madman. However, instead of getting mad at him, the only person Takashi could be mad at was himself. He failed to realize what Kuromu was up too and he suffered as a result. There was no one else that he could blame and nothing else that he could do this turn. So, as he looked at Stardust Dragon and thought about what was going to happen to his friend, Takashi could only cry as he spoke the following words.

"…I end my turn,"

"Excellent," Kuromu said as he continued to smile. "That means my Heart-Earth Dragon's third Special Ability activates. By using one Overlay Unit, I can banish your Stardust Dragon since it was placed on the field this turn!"

As Heart-Earth Dragon devoured one of the Overlay Units that was surrounding its body, it released a deafening roar that created a portal to another dimension. The power that was coming from the portal was too much for Stardust Dragon to withstand, causing it fly into the vortex. Once it was inside, the portal closed and trapped Stardust on the other side.

When Takashi saw that, the young man slammed both of his fists into ground as he continued to berate himself. Now his situation was even worse than before. He has no cards on the field and had only 700 Life Points left. Just one attack would be enough to finish him. If that happen not only would his life come to an end, but the lives of all of his friends could end as well. Takashi had to think of something, but the desperate situation that he was in prevented him from thinking straight.

Meanwhile, as for Kuromu, the only thing that was on his mind was what to do next. Since his Garbage Ogre had the strength necessary to defeat Takashi, the Shadow Duelist wondered if he should just end the boy's suffering right here and now. While thinking about it, Kuromu looked towards Takashi and saw that his eyes were not the one who's given up. Seeing that expression irritated him somewhat, causing to decide to kill Takashi right now. Even though he wanted to torture him some more, he had other pressing matters to attend to and he couldn't waste his time playing around with Takashi.

"It's time to end this," He said as he drew a card, signaling the start of his turn. "Garbage Ogre…split that fool's skull and put an end to this farce!"

Garbage Ogre nodded its head and prepared to land the final blow against Takashi. As it prepared to do that, Takashi was busy trying to come up with a way to block the attack. The young checked his cards over and over again, hoping to find something that would allow him to survive, at least for one more turn. Eventually, as he continued to search, the young man found a card that could allow him to black Kuromu's attack. So, without even thinking, Takashi took the card and placed it into his Graveyard.

"I activate the Special Ability of my Kuriboh!" He shouted. "By sending to the Graveyard, I can reduce the damage of your attack to 0!"

Kuromu's eyes widen a little as he watched a giant Kuromu appear in front of Takashi. He then observed as his Garbage Ogre attempted to bash its way through the creature, but was unable to do so. By the time Garbage Ogre managed to destroy Kuriboh, it was far too exhausted to deal with Takashi and thus made its way back towards its master's side.

Upon seeing that happen, Kuromu's anger towards Takashi started to increase a little bit more. He couldn't stand the fact that worm such as him would want to continue fighting, despite the fact that he was clearly outmatched. Eventually, the Shadow Duelist decided to make his opponent suffer even more for his decision to continue. To that end, Kuromu grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Fine," He said as he glared at his injured foe. "You want to play it like that…then I'm activating the Quick-Play Spell Card: Shadow Ball! With it, you now take 500 points of damage since my Garbage Ogre attacked, but failed to deal you any harm!"

Once Kuromu finished explaining the effect of his Spell, he watched as an orb of negative energy started forming right in front of him. When the orb finished forming, the Shadow Duelist launched it towards his opponent. Although Takashi tried his best to evade it, his previous injuries made it impossible for him to get out of the way. As a result, the young man was hit right in the gut and sent flying back again. Upon hitting the ground, Takashi started coughing up some more blood as his Life Points started to drop some more.

**Takashi: 200 LP**

"With that…I end my turn," Kuromu said as he looked down at his fallen opponent. "Now, the effect of my Shadow Miasma Spell activates. Heart-Earth Dragon gains 4 more Overlay Units, due to the 4 cards that it banished."

The poisonous cloud that appeared before Takashi before appear once again. As he looked at the cloud, Takashi watched as the images of all the banished cards began making its way towards Heart-Earth Dragon, one of them being his banished Stardust Dragon. Once the images reached a certain length, all of them transformed into Overlay Units and soon started circling around Heart-Earth Dragon. This brought the Number's currently total from 2 Overlay Units to 6.

As he contemplated the situation that he was in, Takashi's body was quickly getting cold due to the blood that he was losing. Normally, the Signer would use the power of his blue aura in order heal himself a little and stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, due to the state that he was in, Takashi didn't have the strength to do that. All he could do was lie there and wait until he finally succumbs to his injuries.

While that was going on, all of Takashi's friends who were watching the Duel at Poppo Time were pleading for him to get back up. Toru was shaking the TV repeatedly while he encouraged his little brother. Lilly managed to calm him down and get him away from the television, but the young women knew how he felt and wanted to do something too. However, she also knew that even if she managed to get over to the Kaiba Dome, she probably still wouldn't make it. All Lilly could do was hope that Takashi would find the strength to get up and keep fighting.

As she hoped for that, Lilly turned her head for a moment and noticed that Akiza was staring intently at the TV as she clasps her hands together. Eventually, the Psychic Duelist closed her eyes and started concentrating as hard as she could. This caused Akiza's Signer's Mark to glow brightly, which in turn caused Takashi's Signer Mark to glow in return. When Lilly saw this, the young woman realized that something was about to happen and turned his attention back towards the TV in order to see what was going to take place.

Back at the Kaiba Dome, Takashi was still lying on the ground, trying to keep himself from falling asleep, because he knew that he would never wake up if he did. As he did, the Signer felt the glow coming from his Dragon Mark and slowly turned his attention towards it. As he looked at it, Takashi started to feel some strength return to his body. He didn't know why he was feeling this strength, but he soon figured it out when he closed his eyes and heard a voice speaking to him.

_You can do this Takashi…I believe in you._

"A…Akiza…"

Upon hearing and saying the name of the woman his loved, Takashi reopened his eyes as more strength started flowing back into him. He remembered that he wasn't just fighting this Duel for himself. He was also fighting it for Akiza and all the other people that Kuromu hurt. He had to defeat him so that no one else would suffer like they did. So, after gathering all of his newly obtained strength, Takashi slowly rose back to his feet.

Once he did that, the Signer glared at Kuromu as his blue aura started to surround his body. When the Shadow Duelist saw this he wondered where his opponent was getting all of this power from. However, before he could ponder about this further, Kuromu watched as Takashi tugged his burgundy colored scarf before placing his hand upon his deck.

"It's…it's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Using all the strength that he could muster, Takashi swiftly drew the top card from his deck. After taking a look at it, the young man nodded his head for a second before inserting the card into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, a small flash of light shined on top of both Takashi's and Kuromu's respective decks.

"I activate the Spell Card: Card of Sanctity! With it, we both have to draw until we each have 6 cards in our hands!"

When Kuromu heard Takashi explain the effect of his Spell Card, the Shadow Duelist pondered what he was up too. Eventually, he decided to think nothing of it as no matter what he did, Takashi still wouldn't be able to win. To that end, he proceeded to draw until he had six cards in his hand. Once he did that, Kuromu watched as Takashi did the same thing. When he finished, the Shadow Duelist then watched as took one of the cards that he drew and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Alright," Takashi said. "Now I Normal Summon: King's Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**King's Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

After Takashi placed the card onto his Duel Disk, he watched as his King's Knight appeared before him, prepared for battle. However, despite the look that his noble knight was displaying, Takashi had no intention of having it battle. Instead, the young man continued his turn by taking another one of the cards he recently drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell: Monster Reborn, in order to revive my Spiria from the Graveyard!"

A bright flash if light shined beneath Takashi once he finished explaining the effect of his Monster Reborn. From that light, his Spiria the Sky Spirit returned to the field and stood next to his King's Knight. After that took place, Takashi then grabbed a card from his Graveyard and proceeded to put it in his pocket.

"When Spiria is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, its Special Ability activates!" He explained. "I can now banish a Spell Card from my Graveyard in order to activate its effect! The Spell I choose is my Overtake Summon, which allows me to detach an Overlay Unit from your Heart-Earth Dragon in order to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand!"

Like when he used Overtake Summon for the first time, one of Heart-Earth Dragon's Overlay Units left its side and quickly began making its way towards Takashi. As it did so, the young man pulled out another card from his hand and stuck it out in front of him. He then watched as the Overlay Unit went inside of the card, causing a bright light to shine across his side of the field. It was at that moment that Takashi went on to place the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Here I go. I Special Summon: Blue Rose Dragon!"

**Blue Rose Dragon: 1600 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

After placed Takashi placed the card onto his Duel Disk, he and everyone else in the Kaiba Dome watched as another flash of light shined across his field. From that light, a new monster appeared before him. This one looked very similar to Akiza's Black Rose Dragon, with the exception that it was much smaller and its body was blue instead of red. Once it finished materializing onto the field, Blue Rose Dragon released a powerful roar as it prepared itself for battle.

As everyone in the stadium wondered where Takashi obtained such a card, Sona looked at him from the stand and figured out what his plan was. The Psychic Duelist then looked up towards the sky and smiled for a moment, knowing that Akiza had a hand in this plan. As a result, Sona silently thanked her before turning her attention back towards the Duel, where she watched Takashi continue on with his plan.

"I Tune my Level 4 King's Knight with my Level 3 Spiria the Sky Spirit!" He declared.

Both of Takashi's monsters complied with his instructions and proceeded to fly high into the air. As they did that, the two of them prepared to conduct the process for a Synchro Summoning. It was at that moment that Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck. It was the same card that Akiza gave to him the other night, the one she believed that could help him win. Just looking at it made him feel that Akiza was right here, fighting by his side. That thought brought a smile upon Takashi's face and he soon placed Akiza's card onto his Monster Card Zone so that he could bring it onto the field.

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the ritual between King's Knight and Spiria came to an end, a giant pillar of purple light appeared behind Takashi. From that light came Black Rose Dragon, who released a powerful roar that shook the entire stadium to its very foundation. Everyone who was watching the Duel was surprised to see this beast, even those who watching it from their television screens. Only one person was calm during this entire situation and it person who gave Takashi Black Rose Dragon, Akiza Izinski herself.

As the Rose Duelist watched the Duel from her home in Poppo Time, a small smile appeared on her face when she saw her Black Rose Dragon appeared onto the battlefield. Having Duel Kuromu before, Akiza had an idea how to beat him, but lacked the strength and the cards needed to win. Knowing that Takashi would suffer the same problem, the young woman gave him her Black Rose Dragon, believing that he could use it in a way that she could not. Soon, as she continued watching the Duel, a small smile appeared on Akiza's face as she realized that her belief was properly validated.

Back at the Kaiba Dome, Kuromu, for the first time since he first appeared in the tournament, was shocked by what he was seeing. The sight of Black Rose Dragon reminded how Akiza injured him with it during their Duel. The wounds from those injuries have not fully healed yet, which makes them a constant reminder of that incident. So, the fact that he's facing that beast again upset Kuromu greatly, but he couldn't do anything about it and simply watched as Takashi activated the dragon's powers.

"Alright, Black Rose Dragon," Takashi said to it. "Let's make Akiza proud. I activate your Special Ability! Since you were successfully summoned, you can take out all the cards on the field! Go…Black Rose Gale!"

Believing that Takashi was just as worthy of wielding its power as Akiza is, Black Rose Dragon followed his instructions without question and released a massive blast of poisonous rose petals from its body. As each of the petals spread throughout the entire field, all the cards that were there were having a negative effect by the petals. This including Heart-Earth Dragon, Garbage Ogre, and Kuromu's Equip Spell: Shadow Miasma, along with Blue Rose Dragon and Black Rose Dragon itself. No one was spared and as a result, all 5 cards were destroyed.

Once the field was clear, Kuromu couldn't believe what just happened. No one has been able to destroy his Heart-Earth Dragon before, so this was something that he just couldn't comprehend. When Takashi saw the expression that was on his opponent's face, he was slightly shocked to see Kuromu so confused. However, after remembering what he did to his friends, Takashi snapped out it and decided to bring his foe back to reality. In order to accomplish that, the Signer grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Don't think this is the end," He told him. "I'm just getting started. I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Backlash Wave! With it, since cards on the field were destroyed by an effect, you take 300 Points of damage for each one. Just now, 5 cards were destroyed by Black Rose Dragon's Special Ability. That means you take 1500 points of damage!"

After he finished explaining the effect of his Spell, Takashi watched as 5 small cyclones began making their way towards Kuromu. As they approached the Shadow Duelist, the cyclones combined into one giant vortex that completely swallowed Kuromu. The psychotic Duelist was swung in multiple directions and when the cyclone finally dissipated, he fell back-first onto the ground.

**Kuromu: 1500 LP**

When Kuromu first hit the ground, he didn't do anything as his mind was still stuck on the fact that Heart-Earth Dragon was destroyed. However, when the pain of injuries finally kicked in, the Shadow Duelist suddenly started coughing up a lot of blood. When he recovered a little, he lifted his head and glared at Takashi as the Signer pulled a card from his Graveyard and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next I activate the effect of my Blue Rose Dragon!" He continued. "When it's destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card back to the field. Return to battle…Black Rose Dragon!"

Another purple pillar of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as the cries of Black Rose Dragon could be heard throughout the stadium. When it beast emerged from the pillar, almost everyone was cheering at the top of their lungs. The only one who wasn't happy was Kuromu, who still couldn't accept what was happening. For him, it was like the moment of Heart-Earth Dragon's destruction was replaying in his mind over and over again, preventing him from thinking clearly. Also, the Number's destruction brought up unpleasant memories from his past, memories that drove him to become the person he is now. As a result of all of that, Kuromu's confusion quickly transformed itself into hatred.

Meanwhile, on Takashi's side of the field, the Signer was simply looking at his opponent and thinking about what was about to happen. After everything Kuromu has done up to this point, he was now about to pay for his crime. All Takashi needed to do was have Black Rose Dragon attack and it would be over. However, before he could do that, there was something that was on his mind. It's been on his mind ever since he met Kuromu and Takashi knew that without an answer, he couldn't bring closure to this affair. So, as he looked down at his foe, the young man asked him his question.

"Before I finally put an end to your terror…there's one thing I have to know," He told him. "How…how do you become like this? Tell me why you're so obsessed with hurting other people?! What did they do to you that made you like this?"

Kuromu glared at Takashi, the Shadow Duelist recognized the look that was on the Signer's face. It was a looked that almost resembled sympathy. It was almost like Takashi was willing to forgive him if he discovered that his actions were not entirely his own. Just seeing that look made him sick and Kuromu decided to tell Takashi the truth, in order to prove that his insane attitude was indeed his own choice.

"…I lost everything," Kuromu answered. "And I want others to know the same pain I've felt."

* * *

><p><em>12 years ago.<em>

_Kuromu: Age 10_

Ever since the first humans walked upon the Earth, the world has slowly been progressing into the future. Things that people found extremely difficult in the beginning, like trying to create a fire, gradually grew easier as time passed by. A part of the reason for this is because of humanities ability to adjust while another part is the technology that that was created at the time. Regardless of how it turned out in the end, humanity moved on and the world quickly transformed into what it is today. However…while the world moved forward, some people chose to stay put.

The reason for that decision is because humans have a hard time accepting change. When they become so accustomed to something, it's usually very hard for them to adapt. While it is easier for some to overcome this particular problem, others can find it to be very challenging. It's for this reason why some people dislike the growing change of the future, believing that it tarnishes the traditions that they've built up to that point.

This problem has had an effect on all sorts of people throughout the ages, but none runs more prominent than the small village of Sindria. With a population of just under 1000, the people of this small village have lived with their ancient customs for thousands of years. However, by doing that, they've completely isolated themselves from the outside world. The reason why they've done this is because they believe that the world has forgotten the way of the world, especially now in the modern age.

At first, the people of Sindria would try and convince those who lived for the future to abandon their ideals and remember the customs that were lost. However, despite their best efforts, their words weren't able to reach those people. What's worst, the more enticing lifestyle of the future would sometimes seduce others of the village to switch sides. Eventually, the traitors and the world's ignorance eventually caused Sindria to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. They believed that what they've done was the right choice for all of them. Unfortunately for the people of Sindria, they unintentionally sealed the fate, as well as the fate of a young boy, with their decision.

One day, as the sun shined brightly on the small desert village, a certain event was taking a place. The village chief, Kaito Nesara, was currently making his way towards a statue that was placed in the middle of his home. With him was a young 10-year-old boy with black hair and eyes of the same color. That boy is none other than Kuromu Nesara, his adopted son.

Kuromu first arrived in the village back when he was just an infant, when his real parents were traveling the world on an expedition. During their trek, an accident took place that ending up killing both of Kuromu's parents in an instant. Fortunately for the young boy, he was saved by Kaito, who happened to be in the area at the time. Despite knowing that Kuromu was originally an outsider, Kaito raised regardless and embedded the teachings of the village of Sindria into his adopted son. Eventually, after years of teaching, Kuromu came to see the village as his home and dedicated himself to its safety and prosperity.

Upon reaching the statue with his step-dad, Kuromu examined it with great interest. He's always observed it from afar, but this was the first time that he's got a good look at it from up close. The statue's image had the appearance of some type of creature. It had a somewhat demonic look to it, which caused Kuromu to step back a little. However, as he continued to look at it, the young boy felt a connection with the statue, although he wasn't quite sure why.

"Hey dad," He called. "What…what is this?"

"This is our village's guardian deity," Kaito explained. "Its name is…Heart-Earth."

"Heart…Earth…?"

As he continued to look at the statue, Kuromu once again felt a strange connection with it. This was strange to him as he never felt this way before. For some reason, it was like the statue was making his body extremely cold. Also, for some reason that he couldn't completely explain, he felt angry for some reason. Kuromu was puzzled by the feelings that he was having and wondered what was going on. However, before he could ponder it any further, his father started to explain the legend behind the statue of Heart-Earth.

"For thousands of years, our guardian spirit, Heart-Earth, has protected Sindria from those who would plague it," Kaito explained. "Legends say that it would absorb the negative energy of the village and purify it within its own body. However, as the centuries passed and the world began to abandon the old ways, the amount of negative energy that was created was too much for our great spirit to withstand. As a result, it became corrupted and transformed into the image that you see before you."

Kaito stared at the demonic statute of Heart-Earth before turning his attention towards his step-son. He then remembered the day he found him and how the other villages were apprehensive about letting him stay, since he not only an outsider, but a part of the modern world as well. Eventually, it was Kaito's kindness that convinced the villagers to let him keep Kuromu. Since that day, Kaito hasn't regretted his decision. However, he was worried for his step-son and brought him to the statue of Heart-Earth in order to teach him an important lesson.

"Listen, my son," He said.

"Huh…? What is it dad?" Kuromu asked.

"It's said that when Heart-Earth first became corrupted by the negative energy of the others, it would also corrupt other people, filling them with a mysterious power known simply as Chaos. No one knows why Heart-Earth would do this, but the legends state that it changes those who are filled with anger and regret. Always remember this, my son. Don't let yourself be consumed by power. Hold on to your beliefs, lest you become a victim of the Chaos, just like Heart-Earth was."

Kuromu nodded his head towards his father before turning his attention back towards the statue. He understood the reason why his dad brought him to the statue of Heart-Earth. He needed to learn the important lesson of being able to resist corruption and holding on to your beliefs. From what he was told, the people of the outside world failed to do that and abandoned the proper ways of the world. Despite the fact that he was originally an outsider, Kuromu didn't want to take the same path as them. He wanted to hold onto his beliefs until the very end. Unfortunately for Kuromu, a darker path was being forged for him, one that would forever change his way of life.

The makings of that dark path started immediately as both Kaito and Kuromu noticed something was making its way towards their small village. As they walked over towards it, the two of them saw that it was a bunch of black trucks. When the other villagers of Sindria saw this, almost all of them started yelling at the trucks, since an object such as that was part of the modern world. Kuromu wanted to join in the altercation, but Kaito calmed him down before things could get out of hand. The two of them then watched the trucks stopped in front of village and a group of men in black began making their way to the villagers. Soon, one member of both sides step in front of the two groups and faced one another.

"What brings you back here," Said Genryusai, Sindria's village chief. "I thought I told you to never come back."

"And I thought I told you," The man in back said. "We need you and your villagers to leave this area. If you don't…then I can't guarantee your safety. This is your last chance. Please, I don't want to see any of you get hurt."

Kuromu was confused by the man's words, but snapped out of it when several of the other villagers started screaming in defiance. Soon, he watched as Genryusai punched the man in black, causing him to fall to ground. When the other men in black saw this act, they prepared themselves to fight and each of them pulled out a gun as a result. However, before they could retaliate, their leader stopped them. He then rose to feet and listened as Genryusai spoke again.

"Listen to me, you fools," He started. "We, the people of Sindria, have remained in this spot for the last 5000 years in order to separate ourselves from the outside world. Do you really think that we'll move, just because you told us too?! Don't be so foolish! If you truly want us to leave…then you'll have to kill us!"

The rest of the villagers all yelled in agreement with their leader's words. All of them have stayed in Sindria ever since they could walk and they had no intention of leaving now. They were going to stay right where they were and fight for what was theirs. If they backed away then it would mean throwing away all of the teachings that they were taught to believe in. That was something that they not only could not do, but also refused to do.

When the men in black saw their defiance, all of them realized that their words wouldn't work anymore. To that end, they decided to leave the area and return back to civilization. However, as they made their way back towards their trucks, the leader of the men in black stopped and looked back towards the villagers. He then glared at them as he spoke the following words.

"Fine then," He said. "We'll leave. Just remember this. What happens next…is entirely on your heads."

After saying that, he looked towards all of the villagers in order to see if they got his point. As he looked around, he noticed Kuromu standing with his father. He proceeded to grin menacingly at the young boy before turning around and making his leave. Once all the men in black were gone, Kuromu wondered what he meant when he said those words. However, the young boy simply thought nothing of it and returned home with his father.

After a few days had passed, Kuromu forgot about the warning that the men in black gave to him and the remaining villagers. However, that warning was one he should have remembered as it could have prevented the tragedy that was about to come. One night, while he was sleeping peacefully in his room, Kaito suddenly came in and woke him up. Kuromu didn't understand why his step-father wanted him up, but when they made their way outside, he realized his intentions.

Once he was outside, Kuromu looked on as all of Sindria was on fire. The men in black that came a few days ago were attacking all the villagers, kidnapping some while killing the rest. The cries of their screams and the sight of their blood shocked Kuromu greatly and he wondered just what the hell was going on. However, before he could ponder it any further, Kaito grabbed his step-son and proceeded to take him somewhere safe.

Soon, after running through the nearly destroyed village, Kaito found a place where he could place his son. Although he wanted to find an even more secure place, Kaito didn't have the time to complain. For that reason he brought Kuromu to that secure area and placed him there for his own protection. Once he did that, Kaito prepared to leave in order to try and save some of the surviving villagers. However, before he could, Kuromu grabbed his step-father's hand, stopping him.

"What's going on dad?" He questioned. "What…what is all this?"

Kaito looked down at his son and saw the scared and confused look that was on his face. Seeing that expression made his heart ache, especially since he didn't quite know how to answer that question. All Kaito could do was comfort Kuromu and give him some advice, since likelihood that he'll be back for him will be very slim. To that end, Kaito hugged Kuromu for a moment before speaking to him.

"My son," He said. "Never forget what I told you. No matter what happens, don't let yourself become consumed with hatred and chaos. Hold on to your beliefs and stay true to yourself…no matter what."

With that said, Kaito left Kuromu and didn't look back. Although the young boy was afraid and wanted to go with his father, he decided to do what he said and stayed put as a result. However, by doing that, Kuromu was forced to watch as more and more villagers were killed by the men in black.

As he continued to look on at this scene, Kuromu saw the man who talked to the village chief. He was busy looking at the statue of Heart-Earth and wondered what he was doing. When he decided to get a closer look of him though, Kuromu accidently knocked over a large piece of wood that was being used to hide him. When the wood hit the ground, the noise it created gave away his location, allowing the man to find out where he was. However, instead of going after Kuromu and killing him, the man simply smiled at him before using a strange power to knock him out. He then proceeded to walk away as Kuromu continued to sleep.

Soon, as the hours passed and night changed back into day, Kuromu slowly began to regain consciousness. As he rose to his feet, the young 10-year-old looked on in horror at the damage that the men in black caused. All the village houses were destroyed, with most of the villagers lying dead on the ground. While he walked around, Kuromu saw his step-father lying near the statue of Heart-Earth. He had hoped that he was okay, but as he made his way over to him, Kuromu was upset to see that he was dead too. The sight of that brought him to his knees as tears fell from his face.

As Kuromu continued to cry, he looked up towards the statue of Heart-Earth for a moment and started to remember the story that his father told him. He especially recalled the part in which Heart-Earth was a creature that protected the village before it became corrupted. Remembering that part of the story made him wonder why it didn't come and help, despite already knowing why that was the case. Eventually, Kuromu clinched his fist in anger and cursed those who did this to his adopted home.

"I'll find out who did this…" He said as anger filled his very soul. "I'll find out…no matter what the cost!"

…_If you truly mean that, then allow me to help you._

Upon hearing a mysterious voice speak to him within his own thoughts, Kuromu sat up and wonder just who was speaking to him. However, as he looked around, he saw that nobody was around. The only thing that was there, beside from dead bodies, was the statue of Heart-Earth. As he looked at the statue, he noticed that a strange purple aura was covering its body. Not only that, but the young boy felt the strange feeling that he felt when he first saw the statue. It was at that moment that Kuromu realized that Heart-Earth was the one talking to him.

"What…what do you mean?" Kuromu questioned.

_Exactly what I just told you. I can give you the power to find the people who did this to your own. In exchange…you'll have to give me your soul._

"My…soul…?"

_That's right. Kuromu Nesara, give me your soul and in return, I'll give you the power necessary to achieve your desires._

After listening to Heart-Earth's proposal, Kuromu took a moment to think about it. If he gave his soul to the spirit, then the chances of him avenging his village would go up significantly. However, by doing so, it would effectively betray the final lesson that his step-dad tried to convey to him. No matter how it's looked act, the decision wasn't an easy one to make, especially for a 10-year-old. As a result, Kuromu couldn't answer Heart-Earth's proposal right away and needed more time to think about it.

As he did so, the young boy looked down at the corpse of his dead father. He then remembered all the good times he had with him and how he raised him after his birth parents were killed. All of those happy memories not only made Kuromu even sadder, but also made him very angry as well. He couldn't allow this injustice to stand. Kuromu wanted to find the killers who took his step-dad away from him and there was only one way to do that. To that end, he looked up towards Heart-Earth's statue.

"Go ahead," He said. "You can have my body, mind and soul! Just keep your promise…and give me the power to make this right!"

Once Heart-Earth heard Kuromu make his decision, the spirit wasted no time fulfilling his request. It soon materialized from the statue that the people of Sindria created for it and immediately placed itself into Kuromu's body. When that happened, Kuromu started screaming at the stop of his lungs as the negative energy that made up Heart-Earth was consuming his very existence. Once the transfer was complete, Heart-Earth had completely devoured Kuromu's soul and was now resting within the young boy's body.

As for Kuromu himself, the kind boy that he once was no longer existed. What remained was a boy, completely devoid of any kindness or sympathy. He was filled with a never ending amount of hatred and a burning desire for revenge. Because of that, Kuromu had no problem stepping on his step-father's body and setting the village of Sindria ablaze with his newly acquired shadow powers. Once he did that, Kuromu left his home and didn't look back.

"I'll get my revenge," He said silently to himself. "Even if it means…destroying the entire world."

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

"What…what the hell…?"

Upon listening to Kuromu's story, Takashi had a hard time believing what he just learned. Although he believed something tragic happened to Kuromu that caused him to act this way, he never expected this. His story indicated that he choose the path to darkness willingly. As long as he could get his revenge, he didn't care what happened to him or the rest of the world. All that matter to Kuromu…was achieving his goal.

As for Kuromu himself, the Shadow Duelist had absolutely no regrets in his black heart. Giving Heart-Earth his soul was something that he chose to do. No one forced him to do anything. Because of that, he roamed the world for the last 12 years, content with everything that he's done up until now. It was just like he said when he left Sindria so long ago. He had every intention of achieving his revenge. Even if it meant destroying everyone and everything in order to do it.

"…Listen to me Kuromu," Takashi said to him. "I understand how you feel. But if you-"

"Shut up, Nakamura!" Kuromu shouted. "You have no idea how I feel! No one on this planet does! But that's just fine. It doesn't matter if you understand my pain or not! It's inconsequential at this point. I've chosen the path to Darkness and Chaos and very…everyone in the world will experience it as well."

Kuromu started laughing to himself like some kind of deranged lunatic. Takashi was starting to wonder if Kuromu was truly being driven by his revenge anymore. The way he's acting now is similar to that of a madman. Kuromu no longer cared about avenging the people of his adopted home. All that matter was showering the world in his madness, so that everyone can experience what he's feeling.

As Kuromu to laugh hysterically, the dark aura that was covered his body before suddenly reappeared. However, unlike before, this time the power of aura was several times greater. It erupted from Kuromu's body, almost like how lava erupts from a volcano. When those sitting in the stands saw this, none of them understood what was happening. But, upon seeing the aura spread over to one of the fans, most of them got a gruesome look at what was going on.

When the dark aura came into contact with that fan, he quickly noticed that his body was beginning to dissolve. The sight of that shocked him immensely, but he didn't have time to ask for help. Soon, as he turned himself around, the dark aura covered his body entirely. This caused the fan to melt away completely, effectively killing him. Once the other spectators saw that, all of started to quickly leave the Kaiba Dome, fearing for their lives.

Only those with unique abilities, as well as those closest to them, were able to withstand the power of Kuromu's shadow aura. This included Takashi, who was protected by his Signer Mark, as well as Sona and Enoch, who created a shield with their Psychic Powers. Madas and Tem were also able to withstand it, due to them being near their Psychic friends at the time. Also, Goodwin and those sitting with him in the control room were able to survive it as well, due to the control room's shield. The only one who was able to survive without being protected was the MC, but that was because he was above the aura's range and thus wasn't affected by it.

Those watching the Duel on TV was confused by the whole ordeal and changed the channel in order avoid watching so frightening. The only ones who continued watching the Final Duel was Akiza and the others. Though all of them were just as confused as everyone else, they kept on watching regardless. They were going to support Takashi through thick and thin, no matter what may happen.

Back at the stadium floor, Takashi continued watching as more of Kuromu's deathly aura shot from his body. As he continued to look, the Signer noticed something else as well. He saw that a shadowy image of Heart-Earth Dragon was appearing just above Kuromu's body. When he saw that, Takashi had no idea what was going on, especially since his recent combo with Black Rose Dragon should have destroyed it. However, before he could ponder it even further, Takashi witnessed something even more terrifying.

He watched as the shadow Heart-Earth Dragon completely enveloped Kuromu. Once that happened, the Shadow Duelist took on a completely demonic appearance. He was now wearing devil-like armor, had deathly-red eyes, sharp fangs, bat wings, and was now equipped with a completely black Duel Disk. When the transformation finally came to an end, Kuromu smiled at the surprised Takashi as he pulled a card from his Graveyard.

"You've done well up until now, Takashi Nakamura," He said in a distorted tone of voice. "As a result…I think it's only appropriate that I reward you."

"Reward…?" Takashi questioned. "Reward me with what?"

"A demonstration," Kuromu answered. "I'm going to show you not only the true strength of my Heart-Earth Dragon…but also the power that lies within me, the power of darkness and chaos!"

Kuromu placed the card he pulled onto his black Duel Disk. When he did so, a dark electricity started covering his side of the field. Soon, the portal to the Graveyard opened up in front of him and from it, Heart-Earth Dragon emerged. Takashi was shocked beyond words when he saw the Number Card. His mind couldn't comprehend what was going on as he was sure that he killed it. It wasn't until Kuromu explained to him what was going on that the Signer finally understood the situation.

"Takashi Nakamura," Kuromu started off. "By destroying Heart-Earth Dragon while it had an Overlay Unit, you've activated its final Special Ability. It can be brought back one final time. Not only that, but Heart-Earth gains 1000 Attack Points for every card that's currently banished. As of this moment, there are 5 banished cards, 4 of which were removed by Heart-Earth Dragon while 1 was removed by you. This results in Heart-Earth Dragon gaining a total of…5000 ATTACK POINTS!"

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 5000**

A massive of amount of energy started entering Heart-Earth Dragon's body as it Attack Points increased all the way to 5000. As he looked on, Takashi was awestruck by what he was seeing. Now the problem that he was facing was even greater than before. Not only does he have to once again contend with a beast that can't be destroyed through battle and transfer any damage that Kuromu receives to him, but its power far exceeds any of his monsters. The odds of him winning now seemed hopeless. However, that didn't mean that he was going to give up.

Despite the odds being stacked against him, Takashi refused to let this be the end. After how he saw Kuromu's power kill some of the audience members, the Signer realized at that moment that this was a Duel that couldn't afford to lose. He had to keep fighting, even if it cost him everything in the end. It's for this reason that Takashi calmed himself and prepared to take anything that Kuromu had to throw at him.

To that end, Takashi looked his hand and pondered how he should conclude his turn. He only had a few cards left, so his options were limited. Fortunately, despite that fact, Takashi still had a means of making through Kuromu's next turn. So, without wasting another second, Takashi took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the young man watched as a card appeared face-down on his field, right behind Black Rose Dragon.

"I set one card face-down," He said, preparing himself for what was to come. "I end my turn."

"Excellent," Kuromu replied with a demonic grin on his face. "Now I can finally end this sorry affair! I Draw!"

Swiftly, Kuromu drew the top card from his deck and placed it into his hand without even looking at it. He then unleashes another wave of black aura from his body, forcing Takashi to bring forth his blue aura in order to protect himself. However, since Kuromu's powers were far superior, Takashi still had an extremely hard time withstanding it. When Kuromu saw this, he simply smiled as he prepared to launch the final blow.

"Well Nakamura," He said. "It's was fun…but now it's over. Heart-Earth Dragon, attack Black Rose Dragon…Dragon Cannon Blast!"

Heart-Earth Dragon released an earth shattering roar as it prepared itself to fire the finishing blow against both Black Rose Dragon and Takashi. Once it finished gathering up energy, the powerful Number released a powerful blast of energy towards the Signer Dragon. Though Black Rose Dragon attempted to block the attack with its Black Rose Flare technique, it simply didn't have enough power to withstand it. Upon seeing that, Takashi acted swiftly by activating his face-down card.

"I activate the Trap: Iron Resolve!" He declared. "With it, by cutting my Life Points in half, I don't take any Battle Damage this turn!"

After explaining the effect of his Trap Card, Takashi looked back towards Black Rose Dragon and apologized to it before watching get destroyed by Heart-Earth Dragon. Once that happened, the Signer braced himself as a powerful explosion completely covered his body. The force of the blast sent him flying back, causing him to cough up some more blood when hitting the ground. Fortunately, thanks to the Iron Resolve Trap, Takashi only lost 100 of his Life Points instead of all of them.

**Takashi: 100 LP**

Once Heart-Earth Dragon's attack came to an end, Kuromu look at Takashi and watched as he struggled to get back to his feet. As he watched him agonize in pain, the Shadow Duelist was becoming irritated by the boy's defiance. He had no cards on his field and only a few cards left in his hand. No matter how it was looked at, even a simpleton would realize that the chances of Takashi winning this Duel were nonexistent.

Despite that though, Takashi's eyes still didn't show any sign of surrender. Somewhere deep within his heart he held to the belief that he was going to win. Seeing that look irritated Kuromu even more and thus caused him to release even more of his black aura. He then surrounded the aura around Takashi body, preparing himself to kill him with his dark power.

"I've had just about enough of you!" He said as his body took on more demonic features. "Why do you keep fighting? Why won't you just give up? Why…why won't you just die?!"

Takashi didn't answer Kuromu's question right away as the massive amount of pain that his body was in made it hard for him to speak. Not only that, but because he was in such a weaken state, the boy's Signer's powers were beginning to fluctuate. As a result, he was beginning to feel the effects of Kuromu's dark aura, which was slowly beginning to kill him.

However, although he was on the verge of death, Takashi refused to let this be the end of him. There was simply too much on the line in this Duel and he just couldn't afford to give up. It was at that moment that Takashi knew the answer to Kuromu's question and slowly started rising to his feet as a result. Once he was up, Takashi grinned at his opponent as a confident expression appeared on his face.

"That's simple," He said. "It's…because of my friends. They're counting on me to win. That's why I keep fighting…no matter what."

Takashi looked down towards his right arm and saw that his Signer Mark was still glowing brightly, despite the amount of pain that he was in. After he did that, he turned his attention back towards Kuromu and glared at his opponent as started to clinch both of his fists.

"You hear me, you bastard! No matter what you say or do, I'm not going to give up! So go ahead and try to kill me….C'mon, give it your best shot! I'M STANDING RIGHT HERE!

Takashi defiant scream of confidence brought Kuromu over the edge and the Shadow Duelist decided to fulfill his opponent's request. So, without wasting any time, Kuromu took the dark aura that was surrounding Takashi and completely enveloped him in it. Once he did that, Kuromu then surrounded even more of his dark power around Takashi, until he was trapped in a giant black sphere. After he finished, Kuromu started laughing to himself as he believed that he finally killed Takashi.

Back in Poppo Time, all of Takashi friends were deathly concerned about his safety after seeing him get trapped in the black sphere. None of them knew what to do at first, especially since they've never seen anything like that before. However, despite how worried all of them felt, none of them believed that this was the end for their friend. It's because of that shared belief that Lilly's, Crow's, and Akiza's Signer Marks started resonating all at the same time.

When the three Signers saw that, none of them knew what to make of that before. But, after thinking about it, each of them figured out what their respective marks wanted them to do. As a result, they placed their hands on top of one another, hoping that their combined powers would be enough to reach Takashi within the black sphere. Soon, the three of them were joined by Toru and Misaki, who wanted to join in too, despite the fact that the two of them didn't have any powers.

"…Takashi," Misaki thought as tried to channel her will to him. "I know that I've known you the least out of everyone…but I still consider you as one of my closest friends. Your never give up attitude is very inspiring. I know that you can win this…I just know it."

"Takashi…" Crow thought to himself. "You have the strength to pull this off! I've seen you come back from plenty of hard times and this is no different. Just keep fighting and prove to that bastard that he never had a chance!"

"Takashi," Lilly thought. "When I was on the brink of despair, it was you who helped me see that I should keep going. It was at that moment that I knew that you were a true friend. I can't call myself your friend unless I do the same for you. So…keep going, Takashi. Keep going and don't stop."

"Takashi," Toru thought quietly. "Since our days in Crash Town, I've seen you grow up from a little kid into the powerful young man that I see now. You're the best little brother a person can have…and I know you'll make all of us proud."

"…No one has touched my heart the way you have, Takashi," Akiza thought as she closed her eyes. "I've watched you enjoy victory and suffer defeat. However, no matter what the outcome, persevered in the end. You have to do that now, my love. Just remember what I told you…and keep going."

As the five of them continued giving Takashi their support, Akiza's, Lilly's, and Crow's Signer Marks started glowing even brighter. This caused the resonance between them to grow even stronger than before. It was this combined power that allowed Takashi to hear his friends kind words, despite being trapped in the darkness of Kuromu's powers.

While he listened to his friends talking to him within the dark void, Takashi started smiling to himself. He then watched as an image of each of them appeared in front of him, all of whom were smiling. Upon seeing that, Takashi's strength started to return and soon felt even stronger than ever. From this new strength a power quickly started to emerge from him, one so powerful that it started to destroy the sphere that he was trapped in.

"…All of my friends believe in me," He said as he body was being covered by a golden aura. "They all believe that I can win. That means…I have to continue believing in myself, so that their belief isn't for nothing! It's just like Akiza told me…I must believe in the Takashi Nakamura that believes in me!"

With that said, the golden aura that was covering Takashi's body erupted, freeing him from Kuromu's prison. However, that wasn't the only thing it did. The power also changed Takashi's appearance. Now, instead of his hair being completely golden, it was now gold with white highlights. Not only that, but Takashi's eyes changed colors too. One of them was now gold while the other one was red. Also, he wearing a blue and white armor, equipped with a green Duel Gazer, and was now wielding a highly advanced Duel Disk.

When Alistair and Goodwin saw this transformation from the control room, the former was confused by what was going on while the latter simply smiled to himself. Goodwin soon walked towards the glass window so that he could get a better look at Takashi. When Alistair saw that, he realized that the Director knew what was going on and proceeded to question him about it.

"Goodwin," He started off. "What the hell is that?!"

"It's Takashi's true power," Goodwin answered. "Behold Alistair, this is Zexal…a power that only one in a million can achieve."

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Just what is this Zexal power that Goodwin spoke of and where does it originate from? Also, even with his true power at his disposal, can Takashi successfully use it to defeat Kuromu? One way or another…the Duel between them is about to come to an end._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 89: The Power of Chaos – Part 3_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, it's Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to apologize for not updating sooner. My college midterms are coming up and really need to prepare for them. I'll try to do better in the future._

_Second, I want talk about something that's been on my mind for quite a while. During the last month, an individual has been blasting me and my story in his reviews. I won't mention his name, but if you checked the reviews for this story then it shouldn't be too hard to tell. I want to tell him, as well as everyone else, that I really don't mind if you berate me or my work. Everyone has their own opinion and you have the right to tell me how you really feel. Just know that no matter how much you don't like how I do things, I'm still going to keep writing. I'm not going to change the way I do things just because one or two people tell me that I suck. I love working on this story and nothing will change that._

_Lastly, I want to inform all of you that a new Yu-Gi-Oh! series is about to premier soon. It's called Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V. Please take the time to check it out and tell me how you feel about it. It's due to air on April 6, 2014._

_Well, that's all for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	89. Chapter 89

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 89: **_The Power of Chaos – Part 3_

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><p><strong>Takashi: 100 LP<strong>

**Kuromu: 1500 LP**

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 5000 DEF 0 Rank 9**

Ever since he first arrived in New Domino City, almost one year ago, a massive power has been beginning to awaken within Takashi Nakamura. With every Duel and fight he's competed in, regardless of whether he won or lost, the power was manifesting at an alarming rate. When the power did make itself known, the people who were there to witness it couldn't believe what they were seeing and were left awestruck. However, like an explosion, the power that Takashi would bring forth would always vanish, as he wasn't able to control it.

The first real indication of this was during his Duel against Sayer. In that match, Takashi was angered by Sayer's treatment of Akiza, seeing her as tool that will be thrown away when it stops be useful to him. Eventually, all of Takashi's pent up anger exploded and he was able to use his unlocked power to deal Sayer a blow that nearly destroyed him. However, once his anger subsided, the power quickly faded away.

The second indication of this was during his confrontation against Sasuke. After seeing him attack and nearly kill his friends, Takashi's rage once again got the better of him and he quickly brought forth his inner power. He then attacked Sasuke with the intent of killing, not caring if he had to die in order to accomplish his goals. Unfortunately, Sasuke's superior strength and his inexperience cost Takashi and he ended up becoming another victim. However, despite the fact that he lost, Takashi's power was able to deal a massive blow to Sasuke, weakening him enough for Lilly to deal the final blow.

Whenever Takashi's friends saw him unleash this power of his, all of them noticed that he would have no recollection of it afterwards. The only thing that Takashi did remember was feeling extremely mad and having an intense sensation around his body, almost like he was on fire. Although no one knew why that was the case, the reason for that is because Takashi wasn't using the power correctly. It was incomplete and as a result, he was doing more harm to his body than good. Alex McQueen noticed this during his Duel with Takashi and made it goal to train Takashi so that he could use his new found power correctly. However, despite his efforts, Alex failed.

The Underground Duel King did everything within his power to help Takashi proper use his inner power, pushing him far beyond his normal limits. But, no matter how many times he believed he got there, Alex still wasn't able to get the job done. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that the only one capable of properly unlocking Takashi's inner power was Takashi himself. It was his talent and thus only he would know how to use it. It was simple as that. All Takashi needed was the proper opponent and the proper motivation in order to show him the way.

Eventually, both things arrived in the form of Kuromu Nesara, Takashi's opponent in the Final Duel of the Fortune Cup competition. The powerful Shadow Duelist, who willingly sold his soul to an evil spirit for more power, had pushed Takashi to the limits of his strength. However, despite the odds being stacked against him, Takashi refused to let Kuromu scare him as he had the strength and belief of his friends on his side. It was because of them that allowed the Signer to unlock and bring forth his true power for the first time. The overwhelming power…of Zexal.

As the beautiful radiance of Takashi's Zexal form shined across the entire Kaiba Dome, two individuals were busy looking on intently from afar. The first was Alistair Miles, Japan's Duel King and the one who will face the winner of this Duel between Takashi and Kuromu. The second was Rex Goodwin, the Director of Sector Security and the true mastermind behind the entire Fortune Cup competition. Both of them were amazed by the power that Takashi was bringing forth, especially Goodwin, who always knew that Takashi held the power of Zexal within hm.

While Goodwin looked at Takashi with a smile on his face, Alistair wasn't too happy. In fact, the Duel King was quite upset. Goodwin told him about the inner power that was sleeping within Takashi and now that's seeing it in person, Alistair believed that his fellow Signer was showing him up. For Alistair, such an act was unacceptable and soon started clinching his fists in anger as a result. He then turned his attention towards Goodwin, deciding to question the Director about what he knows about Zexal.

"Explain yourself, Goodwin!" Alistair demanded. "Just what is this Zexal power and what do you mean that only one in a million people can use it?!"

Goodwin turned his attention towards Alistair for a second before looking back towards Takashi. As he watched him from his control room, Goodwin examined the change that the Signer has gone through. The change of his hair, eyes, Duel Disk, and even his armor was the truest signs that Takashi had properly unlocked his Zexal powers. Seeing all that made him smile again, as it proved that Goodwin's belief in Takashi's skills were validated and that he was truly worthy of bearing the mark of the Crimson Dragon's Head.

"As I told you before," Goodwin started off. "Zexal is a legendary power that only one in a million people in the world can achieve. It originates from another power known as Chaos. In the past, Chaos was said to be the power created oneself and a force that drove primitive life to keep on living, to protect others, as well as the heart's ability to keep on hoping. As a result, it's typically found in humans. However…the power of Chaos also creates malice and hatred and it can corrupt those who use it incorrectly or abuse it. Akiza Izinski can be used as an example…as she possess the power of Chaos within her."

"Izinski has the Chaos power too?" Alistair questioned.

"Yes," Goodwin confirmed. "In fact, Akiza's split personality, the Black Rose, is in fact the manifestation of her Chaos power. However, because the anger she had for the world blinded her, Akiza constantly used Chaos and thus was corrupted by it. It wasn't until Takashi and the rest of his group help her that Akiza managed to overcome the corrupting effects of Chaos. However…since you abandoned your friends, I had to take a different approach when it came to your Chaos powers, Alistair."

Goodwin paused for a moment as he thought back to Alistair's training. Although the Director did train his Duel King so that he would become stronger, there was also another reason. Because of Alistair's anger issues, his Chaos power would usually corrupt him, causing him to lose control. Goodwin realized that Alistair's anger was a problem that he would have to fix on his own. Because of that, the Director simply trained him to direct his anger towards his opponent. That way, even if Alistair was corrupted by his power, he would focus it on his opponent and thus not interfere with Goodwin's plans.

"Whatever the case," Goodwin continued. "You, Akiza, and Takashi are the only Signers that have the power of Chaos. However, of the three of you, only Takashi possesses the Zexal power."

"And why is that?!" Alistair asked, angered by the fact that Takashi has a power that he doesn't. "What makes Nakamura so special?!"

"There are plenty of reasons," Goodwin explained. "However, telling you about them no would take too long to explain. What I will say however is that, unlike you and Akiza, Takashi was able to overcome the corrupting qualities of Chaos. As a result, his Chaos power evolved until it transformed into what you see now…Zexal."

Alistair looked back towards the Duel Field and watched as Takashi's Zexal powers continue to shine across the entire stadium. Seeing the radiance coming off his body annoyed the Duel King to know end. He just couldn't stand why Takashi, an individual raised in the boonies, could achieve such a power while he couldn't. In the end, Alistair didn't know the answer and that fact only annoyed him even further. Soon, the Duel King brought forth his red aura in an attempted to prove to himself how powerful he is, only to know that Takashi still upstaged him.

When Goodwin saw Alistair's failed attempt to prove his strength, the Director could only chuckle silently to himself. Although Goodwin told him before they began his training that Alistair would obtain the power to utterly crush Takashi, the truth was he was actually lying. Goodwin believed that Alistair's potential rivaled that of Takashi's, but he couldn't beat him as he was now. The only reason why he trained him was so that he could reached the level needed to summon the Crimson Dragon completely. However, Goodwin knew that if he told Alistair that, his anger would be directed towards him instead of Takashi and that couldn't happen…at least, not yet.

Meanwhile, on the stands of the Kaiba Dome, Sona and the others were busy watching the Duel while being shielded by her and Enoch's Psychic Shield. While they watched the Duel, Sona recognized Takashi's Zexal form and explained to others about what it was and how he was able to bring it forth. Naturally, Madas, Tem, and Enoch were all surprised by this news as they never seen such a transformation before. However, at the same time, Madas and Tem were amazed by Takashi's powers and believed that it would be the key for him to win this Duel. Unfortunately, Enoch wasn't so sure.

"This Duel is still too close to call," Enoch said.

"What are you talking about?" Tem questioned.

"Yeah," Madas agreed. "Don't you see the power Takashi's giving off? There's no way he's not going to win this. What makes you think otherwise?"

Enoch listened as Madas and Tem questions, but didn't answer him right away. All he did was keep his eyes focused on Takashi and his Zexal form. Although his powers looked incredible, Enoch that this was the first time that Takashi was wielding so much power before. As a result, the Psychic Duelist was worried that his friend would have a hard time controlling the power. Because of his worries, Enoch said the following to Madas and Tem.

"All I'm saying is that Takashi is still going to have a hard time," He told them. "Kuromu is a difficult opponent and his Heart-Earth Dragon is a monster that almost seems unbeatable."

"…I agree," Sona followed. "Alex told me about the power of Zexal before. He said that it was a guiding force, a power that can help guide the user to victory, but can't achieve it for him. In other words, even with this power now in his possession, it will be up to Takashi to control it properly and use it to win the Duel. We just have to hope that he can."

After finishing her explanation, Sona turned her complete attention back towards the Duel. While she looked on, the Psychic Duelist recalled Takashi's training with her and Alex. During that time, Sona watched Takashi achieve his imperfect Zexal form, otherwise known as the manifestation of his Chaos powers, several times. However, during each of those times, he wasn't able to maintain it for very long. Because of that, although she was glad that he was finally able to achieve his Zexal form, Sona was still worried as she knew that the Duel wasn't over yet.

However, despite the doubts that Sona and Enoch were having, Madas and Tem still held on to their faith. The way Takashi has been fighting back, despite everything Kuromu threw at him, was the biggest indication of that. The Signer's strength and bravery touched their hearts and as a result, both Madas and Tem believed that everything was going to be alright. Takashi's going to use the power of Zexal to defeat Kuromu. That's what they believe and would continue to believe until proven otherwise.

Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, Takashi was busy marveling over the appearance of his Zexal form. In the past, back when he used the powers incorrectly, he relied on his angered when using them, resulting in being blinded by the power of Chaos. However, now that he's overcome the negative qualities of Chaos and transformed it into Zexal, Takashi didn't have to rely on his anger and thus retain his memories of the transformation.

Since was the first time he was able to bring forth the power and be able to remember doing so, Takashi was amazed by what he'd accomplished. The power that was flowing through his body was something that he had a hard time comprehending. He's never felt that type of strength before and, for a brief moment, even thought that what was happening was only a dream. However, after pinching himself with his right hand and feeling the pain, Takashi realized that what was happening really was the real thing. Also, upon getting a look at his right hand, Takashi noticed something else that showed him that this was real, his Signer Mark.

Although his body was completely covered by the radiance of his Zexal Powers, Takashi saw that his Signer Mark was still glowing as bright as ever. The only difference about the mark is that it was glowing Stardust blue instead of Crimson red. Seeing it do that made him look at his Zexal armor and he saw that it was same color. It was at that moment that he came to the conclusion that his Signer Powers and his Zexal Powers are reacting to one another, meaning that they're not connected.

The two sets of powers that Takashi wields aren't from the same source. His Signer Powers stem from his Signer Mark, which was given to him by the will of the Crimson Dragon. His Zexal Powers however was his own power and thus had no connection to the mystical dragon in anyway. It's because they're not related to one another that the two powers were reacting the way they were. That's what Takashi believed anyway as he continued to look at his new form. Eventually, as he continued to feel the energy from both sets of power, Takashi believed that the Duel between himself and Kuromu was about to turn around.

As for Kuromu himself, the Shadow Duelist had a hard time understanding what was going on. He had believed that he killed Takashi when he enveloped him in his sphere of darkness. However, that wasn't the case at all as the Signer broke free with the help of his Zexal Powers. The sight of his new set of powers confused the demonic Kuromu immensely, but he still believed that the power that he obtained from selling his soul to the spirit of Heart-Earth was still greater. Because of that, he unleashed his dark power towards Takashi with the intently of killing him with it.

Upon seeing Kuromu's power making its way towards him, Takashi wondered what he should at first. However, after getting another look at the radiance of his Zexal form, the Signer realized how he should deal with this situation and promptly placed his arm in front of him as a realized. Once he did that, the young man unconsciously created a barrier of light that not only protected him from Kuromu's darkness, but caused it to disappear as well, surprising Kuromu even further.

"What the hell is going on here?" The Shadow Duelist questioned as his demonic features continued to take shape. "What is this power you're wielding?"

"…I wasn't sure at first," Takashi answered after taking a moment to think. "However, I think I understand now. From what Alex told me during my training, this power is called Zexal…and it has the ability to transform Chaos into Light!"

"Transform Chaos into Light…?" Kuromu pondered. "What kind of nonsense is that? The power of Chaos is the power of darkness and hatred. There are no two greater components than that. There's no way that Chaos and transform into to Light…it simply cannot be done."

"We'll see…"

Kuromu glared at Takashi as he continued to watched the golden aura radiate from his opponent's body. Seeing such a glow annoyed him to no end and it caused his demonic features to become more demonic as a result. Soon, the corrupt Shadow Duelist decided to prove Takashi wrong by continuing on with the Duel and showing him the true power of Chaos. To that end, he pulled a card from his hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, he watched as the card appeared face-down on his field, right behind his Heart-Earth Dragon.

"I set one card face-down," He said as a dark aura covered his body. "With that, I end my turn."

Once Kuromu ended his turn, Takashi turned his attention towards his Zexal Duel Disk and saw that nothing was on it. There were no cards on his Monster Card Zone nor were they any inserted into his Spell/Trap Zone. It was completely empty and that wasn't good as he needed to deal with Kuromu's powerful Heart-Earth Dragon and its 5000 Attack Points. Once again, the fate of this Duel depended his next draw, but for some reason, Takashi wasn't scared at all.

For some reason, the Signer didn't feel any fear within his heart. In fact, a part of him was actually excited that he was in a desperate situation. At first, he believed that he was going insane, but after thinking about for a moment, Takashi realized that wasn't it at all. In truth, he was having fun. Despite the stakes that he was facing, he still found himself enjoying this Duel. He loved the thrill of being pushed into a corner, only to be able to overcome the odds at the very end. Because of that, Takashi wasn't afraid and was able to face this challenge head on.

"Alright," He said with smile on his face. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After swiftly placing his hand upon his deck and drawing the top card from it, Takashi looked at it and saw that it was precisely the card he needed right now. He then turned his attention toward the other cards that were in his hand and saw that he could use them too. If he used all of these cards carefully, Takashi knew that he could take out Heart-Earth Dragon this turn. Although it wouldn't bring down his opponent's Life Points, the Signer believed he could deal with that later. To that end, he started his turn by taking one of his cards and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Okay," He started off. "From my hand, I activate the Spell Card: Xyz Return! With it, I can Special Summon a banished Xyz Monster until the End Phase of the turn!"

Once he finished explaining the effect of his Spell, Takashi went into his pocket and pulled out the only Xyz Monster that was banished during this Duel. He then looked at it for a moment before placing it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. As soon as he did that, the Signer watched as a large flash of light enveloped the entire stadium for a moment.

"Return to battle, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

When the flash of light that was covering his field slowly began to fade away, Takashi watched as his Utopia returned to his side. However, the sight of his Number wasn't the only thing that he noticed. Takashi also saw Heart-Earth Dragon release an agonizing roar, almost like it was in pain. Upon seeing that, the young man realized that it was because he brought Utopia back to field and soon started smiling as a result.

"Now I see," He said. "Your Heart-Earth Dragon gains 1000 Attack Points for every card that's currently banished. However, since I brought back one of those banished cards, your dragon loses 1000 of its Attack Points!"

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 4000**

Upon seeing his dragon's Attack Points decrease, Kuromu gritted his teeth in frustration and cursed Takashi for finding Heart-Earth Dragon's only weakness. However, the Shadow Duelist quickly got over his anger as he knew that despite bringing back Utopia, Takashi was still at a disadvantage. Also, once his turn comes to an end, the effect of Xyz Return would also end as well, banishing Utopia again and giving back Heart-Earth Dragon's Attack Points. Because of that fact, Kuromu simply looked on and waited for Takashi to end his turn.

"Okay," Takashi said as pulled a card from his Graveyard and placed it under Utopia's card. "Next, I activate the Special Ability of my Xyz Agent, which I discarded to the Graveyard back when I played Graceful Charity. With it, since Utopia is on my field, Xyz Agent can be used as an Overlay Unit for it."

A flash of light appeared just below Takashi as his Xyz Agent materialized onto the field. He then watched as the small monster opened its black briefcase, releasing a single Overlay Unit from it. Once it did that, Xyz Agent disappeared and Takashi watched as its Overlay Unit started flying around Utopia's body.

As soon as that was settled, Takashi glared at his opponent and noticed that Kuromu was doing the same thing. The two of them were complete opposites and it was only natural that they would despise one another. It's because of that reason why Takashi had to fight him. Not just because he knew that if he lost, Kuromu would cause even more trouble, but also to prove him wrong as well. The power of Chaos wasn't a force that can only be used for darkness. Takashi believed it could also be a force for the light and decided to show Kuromu just that.

Because of his desire to prove that his way was the correct one, a powerful glow started to emit from his Extra Deck. When he opened it, the young man saw that the glow was coming from a single card, one that he never saw before. After examining the card, Takashi realized that it was created from a combination of his resolve and his Zexal powers. He then decided to put the card to good use and proudly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone, just on top of Utopia's card.

"You said that the power of Chaos couldn't transform into light," He told Kuromu. "However…it's time to prove you wrong! I rebuild the Overlay Network with Number 39: Utopia!"

"You what?!" Kuromu questioned in shock.

A beautiful golden light covered Takashi's Utopia as the portal to the Overlay Network appeared on his side of the field. Once the portal was fully materialized onto the field, Utopia started to transform. Its limbs were pushed into its chest until it took the shape of a giant key. As soon as it finished its transformation, Utopia placed itself into the Overlay Network, causing a massive explosion to occur.

"Go, Chaos Xyz Evolution! Appear now, the envoy that transforms Darkness into Light, Chaos Number 39: Utopia Ray!"

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

As the power of the Overlay Network continued to erupt, the key that Utopia turned into remerged. However, the white area that used the cover its body was now black. Once it was out, the key transformed into a new Utopia, one that incorporated of both Chaos and Light. When Kuromu saw this, he couldn't believe what he was seeing as he never heard of a Chaos Number before. He didn't know what to expect from this card so he braced himself just in case something happened.

As for Takashi, the Signer marveled at the sight of his newest monster. This was the first time that he conducted a Chaos Xyz Evolution and thus brought out a Chaos Number, so this was a new experience for him. He could feel the power radiating from Utopia Ray and new that despite its darker appearance, it was still a force to be used for the light. He then decided to prove that point by activating Utopia Ray's powers.

"Let's do this Utopia Ray," He said to it. "I activate your Special Ability! By using any number of your Overlay Units, you get a 500 Attack Point power up until the End Phase of the turn! I use both of your Overlay Units, increasing your Attack Points by 1000! Go…Overlay Charge!"

Utopia Ray complied with Takashi's instructions and proceeded to use the Overlay Units that it was given from Xyz Agent and Utopia's normal form by inserting them into its body. By doing that, the light energy from the units charged Utopia Ray's body, causing the black area of its body to change to white, illustrating Takashi's belief that darkness can change into light.

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 3500**

"What's the point of doing that?!" Kuromu questioned as he looked at Utopia Ray. "Even with your monster's increased Attack Points, it's still not enough to take down my Heart-Earth Dragon."

"…Don't be so sure," Takashi replied.

"What…?"

"When Utopia Ray successfully uses Overlay Charge, its second ability activates!" Takashi explained. "Now, one of your monsters loses 1000 Attack Points for every Overlay Unit my Chaos Number used. Utopia Ray used 2 Overlay Units, causing your Heart-Earth Dragon to lose 2000 Attack Points!"

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 2000**

Utopia Ray's powers caused a bright golden aura to cover Heart-Earth Dragon's body, weakening it to the point that the Chaos Number could destroy it. Once Takashi saw that, the young Zexal user smiled as he prepared to conduct the final blow to Heart-Earth Dragon. To that end, he proceeded to make his move.

"Go Utopia Ray," He called. "Attack Heart-Earth Dragon…Rising Sun Chaos Slash!"

Once again, Utopia Ray obeyed Takashi's instructions and quickly pulled a large sword from its back. After it did that, the Chaos Number soon made its way towards Heart-Earth Dragon.

"You fool!" Kuromu commented. "Even if you drained my dragon's Attack Points this turn, it's other Special Ability makes it immune to destruction through battle and any damage that I would take gets transferred to you instead!"

"You're the fool here!" Takashi fought back as he inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Light of Judgment! With it, since a Light Attribute Monster I control is doing battle, this card negates your dragon's destruction effect! In exchange though, you don't take any Battle Damage this turn. However…that works in my favor since any damage you take would be reflected back towards me!"

After explaining the effect of his Quick-Play Spell, Takashi watched as a bright light started to radiate from Utopia Ray's sword. He then looked on in anticipation as his Chaos Number was about to launch a powerful blast of energy from its sword, one powerful enough to destroy Heart-Earth Dragon once and for all. However, just before the blast made contact, something happened that prevented Utopia Ray's attack from working.

Somehow, a giant vortex appeared in between Heart-Earth Dragon and Utopia Ray's sword blast. The vortex proceeded to suck in the energy, sending it to another dimension and protecting Kuromu's monster from harm. When Takashi saw that, the young man was shocked and wondered what just happened. But, after looking at his opponent's side of the field and seeing a revealed face-down card, he was able to put the pieces together.

"I don't think so," Kuromu said with a devilish smile on his face. "I activate the Trap Card: Negate Attack. With it, I was able to negate your monster's attack and end your Battle Phase. Sorry…but your plan, just like your hopes, has failed you."

Takashi gritted his teeth in frustration as he watched the portal that was protecting Heart-Earth Dragon fade away. He then looked back towards his hand and saw that he only had one card left. Unfortunately, the card he was holding wasn't going to be useful if he left it in his hand or if he placed it face down. He had to play it and hope that its powers would give him some better results. With that, he inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell: Xyz Treasure!" He declared. "With it, I can draw a card for every Xyz Monster that's currently on the field. Right now there are 2 Xyz Monsters, Utopia Ray and Heart-Earth Dragon. That means I can draw 2 cards from my deck!"

Swiftly complying with the effect of his Spell Card, Takashi drew two cards from his deck. When he saw what they were, the Signer was pleased to see that they were good enough to at least get him through Kuromu's next turn. As a result, he wasted no time and inserted them both into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, he watched as both cards appeared face-down on the field, just below his Utopia Ray.

"I set both cards face-down and end my turn," He said. "At that moment, the effect of Utopia Ray comes to an end and its Attack Points, as well as Heart-Earth Dragon's, return to normal."

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 2500**

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 4000**

"That is good," Kuromu said as the smile on his face grew bigger. "Now I can end this farce. It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing the top card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Kuromu suddenly released another blast of black aura from his body. As the poisonous aura spread throughout the entire failed, Takashi used the protective properties of his Zexal aura to shield him from it. The Signer then braced himself as he watched Heart-Earth Dragon take aim at Utopia Ray, preparing to finish it off once and for all.

"It's time for you to die!" Kuromu shouted. "Heart-Earth Dragon, attack Utopia Ray…Dragon Cannon Blast!"

"You might want to see your other options first!" Takashi pointed out as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate the Trap Card: Return from the Different Dimension! By cutting my Life Points in half, I can Special Summon the monsters that your Heart-Earth Dragon banished earlier until the End Phase of the turn. Return to battle, Bright Star Dragon and Stardust Dragon!"

**Takashi: 50 LP**

**Bright Star Dragon: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Takashi raised his right arm into air and watched as he released a powerful light from his Signer Mark. Once he did that, a giant portal from another dimension suddenly appeared on his side of the field. From this portal, Bright Star Dragon and Stardust Dragon appeared and promptly stood by Utopia Ray's side. After they arrived, Stardust released a powerful roar as it managed to intimidate Heart-Earth Dragon enough to stop it from launching its attack.

When Kuromu saw the arrival of Takashi's two other monsters, he instantly looked toward his Heart-Earth Dragon saw that it was screaming in pain. Since two more cards have returned from being banished, Heart-Earth Dragon was quickly growing weaker, losing 2000 more of its Attack Points.

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 2000**

"You bastard," He said as he gritted his sharp teeth. "Do you think that will stop me?! Don't forget, my dragon can't be destroyed through battle and any Battle Damage I take is instead redirected to you. So…in other words, you move was pointless! Heart-Earth Dragon…continued your attack!"

Heart-Earth Dragon complied with Kuromu's orders and once again prepared itself to attack Utopia Ray. However, just as the beast launched a powerful blast of energy from its mouth, Takashi saw that this was right moment to activate his other face-down card. To that end, he pressed a button on his Duel Disk and watched as several silver pillars suddenly appeared and protected his monsters from harm. Once Heart-Earth Dragon's attack ended and the pillars disappeared, Takashi proceeded to explain to the confused Kuromu about what just happened.

"Sorry, but I'll have to cancel my defeat," He started off. "I just activated another Trap Card: Amorphous Barrier! With its power, since I have 3 monsters on the field, I was able to negate your dragon's attack and end your Battle Phase! So…how does it feel to have a taste of your own medicine?!"

Kuromu fiercely glared at Takashi as he was upset that the Signer once again managed to survive another one of his turns. The Shadow Duelist how could this be happening, especially since he's been dominating most of the Duel. It just didn't make any sense and that was causing his anger to increase even more than before.

Soon though, as he continued to glare at Takashi, Kuromu realized that although he wasn't able to defeat Takashi, the Signer wasn't able to defeat him either. The two were evenly matched and thus locked in a deadlock, with no side gaining any ground over the other. It's because of the fact that they were in a deadlock that Kuromu managed to calm down a little. He knew that in this situation, he would still have the advantage, since he had a superior monster out and his monster currently had no cards in his hand. Because of that, he decided to end his turn, knowing that it was the right move to make.

"I end my turn," He said. "However, at that moment, the effect of your Return to the Different Dimension ends. Now Stardust Dragon and Bright Star Dragon are banished again and my Heart-Earth Dragon regains the Attack Points that it lost!"

Just as Kuromu said those words, the portal that previously appeared on Takashi's field suddenly reappeared again. The portal sucked in Bright Star Dragon and Stardust Dragon again, returning them to the other dimension. Once the portal closed, Heart-Earth Dragon's power returned to it, restoring the Number's attack power.

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 4000**

Once that happened, Takashi stared intently at Heart-Earth Dragon as he prepared to begin his next turn. With no cards in his hand, everything was riding on this final draw. If he didn't draw a card that would allow him to turn this situation around, he would lost the Duel and let down everyone who's counting on him. It was a lot of pressure for one person to bear, but for some reason somewhere deep inside his heart, Takashi wasn't worried at all.

The energy that his Zexal powers were giving him also built up Takashi's confidence as well. Not only that, but when he first awaken it, he felt that his friends were all standing with him, even though they weren't. It was for these reasons why he wasn't scared, even though the odds clearly weren't in his favor.

"Let's do this," He said to himself. "It's my turn!"

"Do what?!" Kuromu questioned. "There's no hope left for you! You have no cards in your hand and a Xyz Monster with no Overlay Units. No matter how much you want to delude yourself…there's no hope left for you!"

"That's where you're wrong, Kuromu!" Takashi told him. "That's your problem. You've spent so much time consumed with hating that you've forgot how to hope. However…that's not the case with me. I still have hope and I still have faith. It's because of them that I'm strong and why you're going to lose!"

With his resolve even stronger than before, Takashi raised his right arm into the air and proceeded to channel his Zexal powers into his hand. By doing that, his hand started shining with a powerful golden glow. As soon as that happened, the Signer glared at his opponent as he placed his hand upon his deck.

"A truly powerful Duelist can shape the outcome of a Duel. He can even generate the very card that he needs to draw! Go…Shining Draw!"

Takashi pulled the top card from his deck and transferred his Zexal energy into it. Once he did that, the young man looked at the card and saw that it transformed into a card that he's never seen before. However, despite the fact that the card was new to him, Takashi knew right away that it was the key to his victory. Because of that, a small smile appeared on his face as he went on to place the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Special Ability…of Zexal Weapon – Unicorn Spear!"

**ZW – Unicorn Spear: ATK 1900 DEF 0 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as the powerful cry of a unicorn could be heard throughout the stadium. Soon, a golden unicorn appeared before Takashi and Utopia Ray and it was the most beautiful unicorn that he's ever seen before. It was at that moment that he realized that Unicorn Spear was the true manifestation of his Zexal powers, a monster created for the sole purpose of helping him win this Duel.

"This special monster can be equipped to Utopia Ray," He continued. "Not only that, but Unicorn Spear's Attack Points are transferred to my Number's, increasing its power by 1900 points!"

Unicorn Spear started changing shape once Takashi finished explaining its Special Ability. Soon, it took the shape of a powerful spear and Utopia Ray wasted no time in grabbing it. Once it did that, the Chaos Number absorbed the power from Unicorn Spear, increasing its Attack Points and effectively making it stronger than Heart-Earth Dragon.

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 4400**

"Now, take aim Utopia Ray!" He declared. "Attack Heart-Earth Dragon…Shining Unicorn Blast!"

Utopia Ray nodded its head and proceeded to launch Unicorn Spear towards Heart-Earth Dragon. However, instead of being frightened by this sight, Kuromu could only laugh.

"You fool!" He said. "I've already told you this a thousand times! Even if your monster is stronger than my dragon, its Special Ability prevents it from being destroyed through battle! And…in case you've already forgotten, the Battle Damage that I would take would be transferred to you instead!"

"You're the fool here, Kuromu!" Takashi shouted back. "When Utopia Ray is equipped with Unicorn Spear…the Special Abilities of the monsters it battles are negated!"

Kuromu's eyes widen in disbelief as he watched Utopia's Unicorn Spear get stuck in Heart-Earth Dragon's chest. Once that happened, the power of the Zexal Weapon drained all of Number 92's powers, removing its invincibility and draining its Attack Points all the way back down to 0.

**Number 92 – Heart-Earth Dragon: ATK 0**

Once the Number lost all of its powers, Utopia Ray proceeded to launch the final blow against it. To that end, it pulled out its sword one last time and went on to cut Heart-Earth Dragon in half. Once that happened, a powerful explosion erupted on Kuromu's side of the field and the overall force of the blast sent the Shadow Duelist flying as his Life Points started to drop.

**Kuromu: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As the explosion from Utopia Ray's final attack continue to cover the entire battlefield, Takashi took the time to look at his Chaos Number and watched as it looked down at him. Although no words were spoken between the two, both of them knew what the other was thinking at that moment. The reason for this is because Utopia Ray, along with its normal form, Number 39: Utopia, is an extension of Takashi and thus, his inner most self. So, even though the two of them remained silent, the connection between Takashi and Utopia allowed them to understand what they were thinking. Because of that, Takashi simply smiled at Utopia Ray as it disappeared from the field.<p>

Once that happened, the young turned his attention towards Kuromu and watched as his demonic features began to fade away. However, as it did that, a powerful black smoke started too emerged from his body. Soon the smoke merged together and took the form of Heart-Earth Dragon. When Takashi first saw the beast again, he was shocked and wondered what was going on. However, after recalling Kuromu's story, he remembered that the Shadow Duelist sold his soul to spirit of Heart-Earth in order to receive more power. Now that he lost the Duel, it was only natural that Heart-Earth would leave Kuromu, seeing no more value in him.

_I should've seen this coming. There was no way that a normal human could become my vessel. I'll have to find a more suitable host. Fortunately…I won't have to search for long._

Heart-Earth turned its attention towards Takashi and decided that he would be the perfect candidate to be its new host. By taking control of his body and wielding his Signer and Zexal powers, Heart-Earth believed that there was no way it would suffer defeat again. To that end, the powerful spirit made its way over to Takashi, preparing itself to corrupt him in the same way that it corrupted Kuromu. Unfortunately for Heart-Earth however, Takashi Nakamura was no Kuromu.

When Takashi saw what Heart-Earth was doing, the Signer quickly understood what the spirit was trying to do. Because of that, he immediate grabbed his sword and started to pour his Zexal powers into it. Soon, his trusty weapon took the form of Zexal Weapon – Unicorn Spear and he proceeded to throw it towards Heart-Earth. Once that happened, a powerful light covered the spirit as it started to scream in agony.

"You've hurt too many innocent people, Heart-Earth!" Takashi told the spirit. "It's time for you to disappear…once and for all!"

The power from Zexal Weapon – Unicorn Spear continued to cause Heart-Earth intense pain until finally, the spirit succumbed to it. Once that happened, the light that was covering its body completely enveloped it, causing it to disappear forever. As soon as that happened, Unicorn Spear reverted back to its sword form and went to fall to the ground, along with two Duel Monster Cards.

When Takashi walked over towards his weapon and placed it back into its sheath, the young man picked up the cards and examined them. He saw that they were the card versions of Number 53: Heart-Earth and Number 92: Heart-Earth Dragon. With the spirit of Heart-Earth no gone, the two cards were simply pieces of paper with no power. However, not wanting to take that chance, Takashi reluctantly put the two cards into his Extra Deck, believing that he could put them to better use than Kuromu.

Once he did that, Takashi walked over towards Kuromu, who was still lying on the ground. When he reached him, the young man saw that the Shadow Duelist was extremely weak and on the verge of death. Although he despised him for what he did to him and his friends, Takashi couldn't just stand there and watch him die. To that end, he knelt down beside Kuromu and did what he could for him. However, before he could do much, Kuromu stopped him and shook his head in disapproval.

"…No…" The weaken Shadow Duelist said. "It's…better…this way…"

"But you'll die," Takashi pointed out. "Don't you see that?"

"I know…and it's for the best," Kuromu closed his eyes and thought about all the terrible things he's done while under Heart-Earth's influence. "What I've done is…unforgivable. I deserve to die. Besides…it's too late for me anyway. I've spent so many years bonded with Heart-Earth…that I can no longer survive without it. So when you destroyed it…you've destroyed me as well. But that's…okay."

Takashi placed his head down as he thought about what Kuromu just said to him. All he wanted to do was to help Kuromu now, but his previous actions prevented him from doing even that. The young man felt terrible about what he did, but a small part of him felt better when he saw that Kuromu wasn't upset with him at all. He saw from the look in his eyes that despite how felt, his action was the correct one. He saved Kuromu, even though he killed him in order to do it.

Soon, as the life faded from Kuromu's eyes, the former Shadow Duelist gathered all of its remaining strength and turned his attention towards the control room building. He then glared at it before turning back towards Takashi. As he watched the Signer undo his Zexal transformation and turn back to his normal form, Kuromu decided to say one last thing to him.

"Ta…Takashi Naka…mura," He stuttered. "Please…I have…one last request…"

"What is it?" Takashi asked.

"You have to…take care of the one…who destroyed…my home," Kuromu started coughing up blood as he quickly grew even weaker. "His name is…Good…win,"

As Takashi's eyes widen from this revelation, Kuromu finally fell to his injuries and died. Once he did, his body turned the smoke and vanished. The only thing that was left behind was his other Ace Card, Number 54: Lion Heart. Upon seeing it, Takashi also placed it into his Extra Deck before standing up and turning his attention towards the control room where Goodwin was. He then continued to stare at it as the Director of Sector Security continued to look down towards him.

While that was going on, the MC looked down at the stadium floor and noticed that Takashi was the only one there. He wondered what happened, but quickly snapped out of it when he saw that he still had 50 of his Life Points. Upon seeing that, the MC slowly grabbed his microphone and went on to place it by his mouth.

"_It's over!" _He shouted. _"The winner…and Fortune Cup Champion is Takashi Nakamura! He will face Alistair Miles for title of Duel King of Japan!"_

Once the MC finished his declaration, he passed out from the fear and excitement that he witnessed during the Duel. However, his words didn't really mean much since almost all of the audience already ran away earlier. Besides, even if they were here cheering for Takashi, the Signer wouldn't really care. There was only one thing on his mind right now and that was Rex Goodwin. Now that he knows that he was the one behind Kuromu's actions, the only thing the Signer wanted was to ring the Director's neck and that was exactly what he planned on doing.

To that end, Takashi transformed into his imperfect Zexal form and proceeded to rush towards the control room. When Madas and the others saw him do that, most of them wanted to go with him. However, before they could do so, Sona stopped them. The Psychic Duelist had a pretty good idea what Takashi was going to do and how the end result would be. As a result, she led the others outside the stadium so that they could wait for Takashi over there.

Meanwhile, as for Takashi, the Signer was quickly closing in on his target. Nothing was going to stand in between him and Goodwin and this was proven when several Sector Security officers appeared before him. Despite them having the numbers advantage, Takashi was able to easily take them out with his enhance strength, thanks to a combination of his martial arts skills and his Zexal powers. With them, it didn't take him long to reach the room where Goodwin was.

"GOODWIN!"

Anger was seething from Takashi's entire being as he watched Goodwin stare out the window, almost like he wasn't aware that one of the Signers just entered his control room. When Goodwin finally did turn himself around, he simply smiled at Takashi. Just the sight of the smile irritated Takashi even more than before, as he couldn't stand how carefree the Director was being, especially after what just happened.

As the two of them looked at one another, Alistair took a moment to glare at Takashi. He noticed that he was in his imperfect Zexal form, the same form that Takashi used when they had their Turbo Duel a few months back. The sight of that form bothered the Duel King to no end and the fact that it wasn't it full form only irritated him even more. He was about to walk up towards Takashi and say something to him, but stopped when the leader of the Signers pulled out his sword and pointed it towards Goodwin's head.

"What's wrong, Takashi?" Goodwin asked, still smiling at him. "You look upset."

"Shut up!" Takashi shouted. "You know damn well why I'm upset! It's because of you and your plans that a lot of people got hurt! It's time for you to pay…GOODWIN!"

Tired of talking, Takashi rushed over towards Goodwin with the intent of cutting him down and ending his ambitions once and for all. However, before he could even get close, several Sector Security officers entered the control room and surrounding Goodwin. However, unlike the ones that Takashi dealt with earlier, these officers were all Psychic Duelists and all of them fired several blasts at the Signer. Not wanting to get hit, Takashi started jumping out of the way.

As Takashi avoided each of the blasts, Goodwin looked on and was impressed by the boy's agility. It was clear that he was trained well, but the Director could also tell that the Signer was also being blinded by his anger. Although he managed to achieve his Zexal form, he could only utilize it when in a calm state of mind. Now that anger is driving him, Takashi couldn't achieve Zexal and the power of Chaos that was running through him was affecting him negatively. Because of that, Goodwin was able to active a switch without Takashi's knowledge.

The switch Goodwin pressed was to a trap door that was just behind Takashi. When the Signer noticed it, he managed to stop himself from falling in. Unfortunately, by doing that, he was quickly bombarded by a barrage of blasts from the Psychic Duelists. Each blast of incredibly painful and the wounds that Takashi received earlier didn't make things any better for him. Eventually, the force of one of the blasts knocked Takashi into the trap door, but he managed to grab the edge before falling in.

Takashi tried his best to keep himself from falling into the trap door, but the pain from his injuries kept him from utilizing his full strength. In fact, his wounds were so bad that he couldn't maintain his imperfect Zexal form anymore and simply reverted back to normal. Once that happened, Goodwin walked over towards Takashi.

"I'm impressed with your skills, Takashi," He said. "I can tell that the Crimson Dragon made an excellent choice in choosing you to become the leader of the Signers. However, now is not the time to have our conversation. Come to the main Sector Security Building in a couple days. I'm confident that we can have our talk there. So…what do you say?"

Goodwin smiled at Takashi again as he watched the discontent in his eyes increase in strength. Soon, Takashi was fed up with the Director's words and decided that he had to end this right now. To that end, he utilized his Signer Powers and brought forth his bright blue aura. Once he did that, Takashi attempted to attack Goodwin.

"Screw you…BASTA-"

Just before Takashi could call Goodwin a bastard, Alistair stopped him by pressing his boot against his face. The force of the blow knocked Takashi back, but he once again caught himself before he fell in the trap door. When Alistair saw that, the Duel King once again pressed his book against Takashi's face.

"Don't concern yourself with him, Nakamura!" Alistair said as his red aura completely covered his body. "You have bigger things to worry about. So enjoy victory for as long as you can. Because when it's finally time for us to Duel…I'm going to make you wish that you never came to New Domino City. Do you hear me…you conceited asshole!"

With that said, Alistair kicked Takashi in the face one last time, causing him to fall into the trap door. Once he was gone and the door was closed, the Duel King clinched his fist in anger before leaving the control room. When Goodwin saw that, all the Director could do was laugh. Everything was falling so perfectly that it was almost funny to him. By the time he finally calmed himself down, Goodwin was still smiling to himself.

"Perfect…," He said to himself. "It's almost time."

As Takashi continued falling down the hole that he was pushed into, the Signer tried his best to slow himself down by inserting his sword into the wall. However, this did very little as the only thing this did was create a lot of sparks. Fortunately, his trip through this trap wasn't a long one as Takashi was soon ejected outside the Kaiba Dome. When he finally regained himself, Takashi noticed that he was by his Duel Runner and Sona, Enoch, Madas, and Tem were with him as well.

"See," Sona said as she looked at him. "I told you he would show up if we waited."

"Wow…," Madas followed, astonished that Sona was right. "Who would've thought?"

Takashi was surprised to see that his friends were all here, but quickly became annoyed with them as they continued talking about this particular matter. However, before he could comment about this, he quickly fell to the ground, his wounds beginning to bother him again. When Sona saw this, the Psychic Duelist decided to drop the subject and use her powers to heal Takashi's injuries.

While this was going on, Takashi explained to everyone what he learned from Kuromu before he died and what Goodwin said to him before he was ejected. After he finished his story, Madas and Tem were shocked by this news, mostly because they were still new to this sort of thing. As for Sona and Enoch, the two of them weren't that surprised. This was especially true for the former, who was already informed by Alex about most of this stuff.

"So…what now?" Tem asked. "What should be our next stage of attack?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Takashi said, slowly rising up to his feet. "We assault the Sector Security Building! I don't care what Alex said…I'm not going to just stand here and let Goodwin do what he wants!"

Takashi was firm with his statement, as he was tired of letting someone like Goodwin get away with anything that he wants. Unfortunately, not everyone felt the same way as him. This was proven when Sona walked over towards him and slapped the Signer upside the head. Once she did that, the Psychic Duelist simply looked at him as Takashi turned himself around and glared at her.

"What the hell was that for?!" He asked.

"For being an idiot," Sona answered calmly. "Going to confront Goodwin is exactly what he wants. I don't care if you are upset with what he's done, you can't beat him, even with the powers of Zexal."

Takashi continued glaring at Sona as he didn't want to accept what she just told him. However, no matter how much he didn't want to accept it, the young man knew that she was right. As a result, he could only sigh in disappointment. No matter how much he didn't want too, he had to wait and get even stronger before he could launch a frontal attack against Goodwin and the rest of the Sector Security.

Soon after that was settled, Sona took a moment to look toward the control room where Goodwin was. She stared at it for about 2 minutes before turning herself around and looking back towards the others. Once she did that, the Psychic Duelist directed her attention towards both Madas and Tem.

"Listen you two," She said. "Enoch and I are going to inform everything that just happened today to Alex. I want the both of you to take Takashi back home and make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid. Do you understand?"

Madas and Tem looked at one another for a moment, unsure whether or not they should go along with Sona's request. Eventually, the both of them decided to go along with it and nodded their heads towards her accordingly. When Sona saw them do that, the young woman gently nodded her head as well before walking away with Enoch.

Once they were gone, Takashi turned his attention towards the control room and glared at it as he started to clinch his fists. Now that he knows that Goodwin was behind Kuromu's corruption, the Signer wasn't going to rest until he was stopped. The Director of Sector Security has already caused too much pain and suffering and he had to be stopped…one way or another.

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><p>Back at Poppo Time, Lilly and the others were still waiting in the living room for Takashi to come back home. Although all of them were happy that he managed to defeat Kuromu, they noticed that he was very upset and saw him leave to go do something. This moment, although not known to them, was the time when Takashi left to go confront Goodwin. The group was worried about their friend and hoped that he would come back soon so that he could explain what just happened.<p>

Eventually, after about another 10 minutes of waiting, all of them heard the door begin to open. All of them quickly turned their attention towards it and saw Tem, Madas, and eventually Takashi come inside. Upon seeing them, the group let out a collective sigh of relief and began making their way towards all of them. However, before Takashi could greet them all, the young man made his way towards Akiza, who busy sitting on the couch.

Once he before her, Takashi looked at her for a moments before turning his attention towards the ground. As he did that, Akiza looked at him and saw all the bandages that Sona placed on Takashi before she left. Seeing him like that showed how much pain and suffering he went through during his Duel against Kuromu. Akiza soon decided to get up, just as Takashi was about to speak to her.

"Akiza…I-"

Before Takashi could say anything to her, Akiza quickly wrapped her arms around him and embraced him very closely. She then started crying softly to herself as she started talking to him.

"You don't have to say anything," She told him. "I'm just glad you're okay."

As Akiza continued to embrace him, Takashi looked down towards her and noticed that she's been through a lot. It wasn't easy staying here and watching him face Kuromu alone and her actions right now proved that. Takashi was sorry for worrying her so much, but felt that was the only way to protect her, especially since she was still weak from her own Duel against Kuromu. He soon decided to embrace Akiza, hoping this would make her feel better.

While the two of them hugged, the others watched them from afar and smiled. They soon decided to join in and congratulate Takashi on his victory today. When he heard his friends praise him, a small smile appeared on Takashi's face. He was happy that he made his friends proud and swore that he wouldn't let them down when the time finally came for him to face Alistair for his title of Duel King.

Soon, after everyone finished, Takashi decided that the time was now for them to get serious and proceeded to conduct a meeting. During their talk, he explained to them what he learned during his Duel against Kuromu and what happened afterwards. Naturally, the others were shocked by this news as none of them saw this coming. However, the more Takashi explained things to them, the more it made sense. Eventually, once he finished talking, the entire group understood what happened and what their current situation was.

"So…what's next?" Toru asked. "How should we deal with this?"

"….That's what I'm trying to figure out," Takashi said, placing his hands together. "A part of me wants to listen to Alex and not do anything until we're properly prepared. However…another part of me wants to go ahead and bring down Goodwin now. If he's not stopped now then there's no telling what he'll do next."

Takashi started shaking his hands together as it was becoming very difficult keeping his anger under control. When Akiza saw him doing that, the young woman became extremely worried and gently placed one of her hands on his in order to calm him down. It didn't take her long for her plan to work and as a result, Takashi was able to keep his emotions under control.

"Listen Takashi," Lilly said, speaking up to him. "I know how you feel, but trust me, I want to get a piece of Goodwin too. However…you won't be able to do anything until your wounds are completely healed."

"She's right, man," Tem agreed. "You can't win a battle if you're half dead. Give yourself some time to rest before making any moves."

The others shook their heads in agreement, also believing that the time wasn't right to make a move against Goodwin. Upon seeing them do that, Takashi gave in to his friends wishes and decided to stay put. Whether he liked it or not, they were right. He needed to get back to 100% before doing anything else and that would take some time. Because of that, he nodded his head as well before smiling at all of them.

Once the meeting was over, the entire group wondered what to do now. Although Takashi needed some rest, he wasn't so injured that he couldn't do anything. Because of that, the others decided to throw a small party for him as a reward for winning the Fortune Cup and becoming the Number 1 Contender for Alistair's title. Takashi, although he believed that he doesn't deserve such a reward, allowed his friends to do this for him.

Some of the things that they did was play video games, which was something that Takashi sucked at and watch movies. They even went on to play a classic game of Old Maid and tell each other silly stories about their pasts. It wasn't a big event, but it didn't have to be. All of them knew that being with each other was what truly mattered. As long as they had that then even the smallest event could be big in their eyes.

Soon, after several hours of partying around, most of the group got tired and fell asleep in the living room. The only were who were awake was Takashi and Akiza. Both of them were busy sitting on the couch, talking about a variety of things. They even played a video game all by themselves. However, Akiza defeated Takashi rather easily, cementing the fact that Takashi sucked when it came to stuff like that. Fortunately, he didn't let it bother him for long as he was just happy having fun with Akiza.

After about an hour of this, the two of them stopped and Takashi proceeded to pull out his deck. He then looked through all of his cards for a moment before finally retrieving Black Rose Dragon and Blue Rose Dragon. Once he had them, the young man looked at both cards for a moment before handing them over to Akiza.

"Thank you," He said to her. "I couldn't have won without these cards."

Akiza smiled gently at Takashi as she took the cards from him. The young woman then took a moment to look at the both of them, especially the Blue Rose Dragon card. Unlike Black Rose Dragon, Blue Rose Dragon wasn't a monster that Akiza owned as it belonged to Takashi. She questioned him about this, but Takashi assured her that it was okay, believing that she could put the monster to better use than him. Because of that, Akiza nodded her head and thank Takashi before putting her two cards away.

Once that was done, Takashi let out a loud yawn. After everything that he went through today, he was very tired and wanted to get some sleep. When Akiza saw that, the Psychic Duelist was ready to let him do just that, but it was at that moment that she remembered something. It was something that's been on her mind for a while and she wanted to see it before Takashi fell asleep. To that end, she gently tugged his shirt, grabbing his attention.

"Wait," She said. "Before you head to bed could you…show me that form of yours?"

"That form?" Takashi pondered. "You mean Zexal?"

"Yeah," Akiza nodded her head. "Although I saw you do on TV, Kuromu's dark aura made it hard to see at times. I would really like to have a nice look at it up-close. I mean…if you want too."

Takashi looked at Akiza and saw that she really wanted to see him in his Zexal form. Although he was tired and unsure if he could do it in his weaken state, the young man couldn't say no to her. Also, because he needed to practice bringing this form forth at any time, Takashi decided to fulfill Akiza's request and show her his Zexal form.

So, after getting up from the couch and standing in front of her, Takashi gathered all the Reiyoku from within his body and used it to bring out his imperfect Zexal form. Once he did that, the young man manipulated the Chaos that was surrounding his body and transformed it into the power of Zexal. By doing that, his blue and white armor appeared around his body and his hair changed from black and blue to gold and white. Also, even though he didn't have his Duel Gazer on, a green one appeared and covered his left eye.

Once Takashi finished his transformation, Akiza looked on at him and marveled at the sight that she was seeing. In her eyes, Takashi Zexal form was the most beautiful thing that she's ever seen before. Also, the golden aura radiating from Takashi's body brought a warm and comforting feeling to Akiza. She felt that as long as she was near him, nothing could go wrong and that everything would be fine. Because of that, Akiza smiled and thanked Takashi for doing this for her.

Takashi smiled upon seeing Akiza smile and soon returned to his normal form. However, once he did that, the young man felt extremely tired and started falling forward. When Akiza saw this, she was extremely worried and quickly caught Takashi before he hit the ground. She then placed him on the couch and watched as he tried to stay awake.

"Sorry…" He said, struggling to keep his eyes opened. "But I'm so tired. I'm going to head to sleep now."

"Alright," Akiza said with a small smile on her face. "Goodnight Takashi. I'll make sure to have a big breakfast for your tomorrow."

Takashi smiled at Akiza one more time before closing his eyes and falling asleep. Once he did that, Akiza took a moment to stare at him before taking her hand and gently rubbing his cheek. His body still felt very warm after using his Zexal powers and the Psychic Duelist wondered if Takashi always feels this way when utilizing that power. She soon wondered if he could use the power of Zexal too, but quickly believed that to be impossible and soon pushed that thought aside.

Once that happened, Akiza looked out towards the window for a moment and stared at the stars that twinkled in the night. As she did that, she noticed a shooting star and quickly made a wish. After she did that, the young woman looked down towards Takashi again and let out another small smile. She then slowly made her way up to him and gently kissed him on the lips.

"I wish…for Takashi and I to be together…forever."

After she finished thinking about her wish, Akiza gently broke her kiss and laid her head on Takashi's chest. She then laid a blanket over the both of them before closing her eyes and falling asleep. Today was a long day for the both of them, but now that it was over, things could go back to the way it was before. Although they knew that their battles were just beginning, this small moment gave both of them a sense of peace. Takashi and Akiza both knew that they could get through this as long as they had their friends…as well as each other.

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_A few days have passed since the battle against Kuromu came to an end and although Takashi should be preparing for his title match against Alistair, he's still bothered by Goodwin's actions. Will Takashi listen to Alex and Sona's advice and stay put or will his desire to make the Director pay be too much for him to overcome?_

_Next Time of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 90: Breaking and Entering_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to inform all of you that there won't be another chapter of Over the Nexus until April. Spring Break is coming up for me and I want to spend it relaxing and gathering future ideas. I'll try to have the next chapter of Over the Nexus out by the first weekend of April so please be patient. _

_Second, I want to tell you guys that I'm closing OCs for an indefinite amount of time. I'll let you know when I'll open it up again._

_Third, I would like to make a request when you're posting reviews. When you do, please keep personal matters out it. I'm not a fan of reviews berating other reviews. For me, that's a waste of a review. Everyone as the right to say what they want about my story so please don't be angry if you find something offensive. Just mind your own business and focus on what you feel about my work. _

_Also, when writing reviews, try and keep the subject on just that. Don't talk about things like SOPA or some other mess like that. You're just scaring other reviewers and I don't want that. _

_Lastly, I would very much appreciate it if you guys wish me a Happy Birthday. I turn 21 on March 20__th__ and I would like to here for all of you._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off. _


	90. Chapter 90

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 90: **_Breaking and Entering_

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><p>It's beautiful summer morning in New Domino City as the sun slowly started to rise over the horizon. As the citizens went about their daily lives, a certain sense of peace could be felt by each of them. For those people, all of them believed that nothing could go wrong and that this day would be the best one ever. However, out of millions of people who reside in New Domino, there was one who could feel a dark shadow creeping over the area. That individual was none other than Takashi Nakamura, the number one contender for the title of Japan's Duel King.<p>

Ever since he first arrived in New Domino City nearly one year ago, Takashi has been involved in several battles that forced him to put his life on the line. Although he managed to overcome them with the help of his friends, the peace that they've created never lasted for very long. Sooner or later a new threat would appear and they would have to try and stop it. This process would continue in what seemed, at least to Takashi, to a never ending cycle.

Because of the vow that he made when he was younger, Takashi didn't complain too much about the responsibilities that he was taking upon himself. In fact, the young man liked the fact that he was a Signer, as it not only gave him a sense of purpose, but his new powers also gave him the ability to help more people. However, in recent months, Takashi been feeling that he and his friends efforts have been in vain. This feeling only grew worse during his time competing in the Fortune Cup.

During the tournament, Takashi was hoping that the competition would allow him to not only find out about the other evil that his mentor, Alex McQueen, told him about, but Rex Goodwin's plans as well. However, his objective got delayed due to the problems that Kuromu Nesara was causing him and his friends. In the end, the leader of the Signers managed to defeat Kuromu, who was revealed to be possessed by the spirit of Heart-Earth, and prevent him from hurting anymore people. Unfortunately, much to his horror and anger, Takashi found out that the reason why Kuromu did the things he did was because of Goodwin.

Realizing that the Director of Sector Security was responsible for not only the deaths that Kuromu caused, but the destruction of the boy's village as well, Takashi swore to make him pay. However, before he could accomplish that goal, he was stopped by Sector Security and his next opponent, Alistair Miles, the current Duel King. Before he was ejected though, Goodwin told Takashi that the time wasn't right for them to meet, indicating that he knows something that the Signer doesn't. Takashi didn't know whether or not Goodwin really did know something, but the Director's words were beginning to eat at him from the inside.

As the sun continues to rise above the sky, Takashi was busy trying to meditate on top of Poppo Time's roof. By clearing his mind of all directions, the young man was able to hear the faintest of sounds and feel the slight changes in the wind. Although meditation may seem easy, it takes a lot of years for it to be done correctly. Fortunately, thanks to his years training under his master, Izumi, Takashi was able to perfect it.

While he attempted to clear most of his thoughts, Takashi accidently to started to recall some news that he and his friends heard the other day. On the news, they heard a report regarding the incident that took place during his match against Kuromu a few days ago. From what they gathered, the Fortune Cup Committee covered up all the deaths that the Shadow Duelist caused, stating that it was just an act in order to create more suspense. Also, the powers that both Duelists were displaying was also something that the committee set up as well, in order to drive away suspicion.

When Takashi heard about this, the young man was extremely upset about it since he knew that Goodwin was behind the committee's actions. The Director of Sector Security was also in charge of the Fortune Cup Committee and thus, was able to make any rule excuse that he wanted. Takashi wanted to do something about this problem by confronting Goodwin directly, but orders from Alex prevented him from acting. Naturally, this news upset Takashi even more.

As he continued to think about that, Takashi was quickly beginning to lose his focus and was forced out his meditative state. Once he returned to reality, the Signer took a moment to stare at his Signer Mark before sitting up and walking towards the edge of the roof. He then, while gripping the sheath of sword, stared out towards New Domino City and watch as the people went about their daily lives.

"When Hikari died, I made a promise to protect everyone so that they wouldn't suffer her fate," He thought quietly to himself. He then pulled his sword from his sheath and lifted it into the air. "I don't care what Goodwin is planning…but I will stop it!"

With that declaration, Takashi placed his sword back into its sheath and soon began to make his way inside of his home. Once he did, the Signer took a quick shower before putting on some fresh clothes. After that was done, the young man made his way towards the kitchen and started pulling stuff out of the refrigerator. Takashi then started making himself some lunch, just as he heard someone coming from behind. When he turned his head, he saw that it was Akiza, who just got up and was still in his evening clothes.

"Morning…" The Psychic Duelist said, trying her best to wake up completely.

"Morning Akiza," Takashi replied. "Wants some breakfast?"

"…Sure…"

After hearing her say that she wanted something to eat, Takashi wasted no time in preparing something for his crush. As he cooked, Akiza was able to smell the delicious food, effectively waking her up completely. She then waited as Takashi finished putting the final touches on his meal. Once he was done, the young man placed Akiza's food on a plate and presented it to her.

When she got a good look at her breakfast, Akiza was very surprised at how amazing it looked. However, upon taking the first bite, the young woman was even more surprised by how delicious her breakfast was. Although she's seen Takashi cook before, Akiza never knew that he was this good at it. In her mind, the Psychic Duelist believed that if her love were to sell his cooking, he would make one heck of a profit.

"So…" Takashi said as he put his portion of the meal on his plate. "How is it?"

"How is it?" Akiza asked, baffled by what he just said. "It's great? It's the best thing I've had in my life."

Takashi smiled a bit as a small blush appeared on his face. He then watched as Akiza continued eating more of her food. He was happy that he was able to please her with his cooking skill, especially since he doesn't usually display it in front of other people. He soon decided to try bit of his own food. When he did, Takashi did enjoy it, but also believed that it needed something else to go with it. Because of that, the Signer took some time to put some salt on his meal.

As time passed, Akiza started to notice that there was something bothering Takashi and it wasn't just the food. The way he just stared into space, not really caring about his food was really off putting to her. However, there was more to it than just that. Because of the powerful bond that she had with him, Akiza's Psychic Powers enable her to sense whatever feelings that Takashi may be having. It's because of that ability of hers that Akiza sometimes becomes worried when Takashi isn't act like his usual life.

"Um…Takashi," She said, trying to grab his attention. "Are you okay?"

Upon hearing her speak to him, Takashi glanced at Akiza for a short moment before looking back down towards his food. As he took a small bite, the young man tried his best to come up with something to say. He was well aware of the bond he has with Akiza and how it allows her to sense what he's feeling. In particular, Takashi knew that Akiza's ability allowed her to know if he was lying to her or not.

In past, whenever something was eating up at him, Takashi would play it off as nothing in order to avoid worrying other. Normally, this plan worked and he was allowed to deal with his business on his own. Unfortunately, that was not the case with Akiza. Since she could tell whether or not he was lying, this made dealing with her somewhat more difficult. Although Takashi didn't like trying to lie to her, the young man cared about her safety more and thus decided to dodge her question.

"Nothing's wrong, Akiza," He answered. "I'm fine."

Right away, Akiza knew that Takashi was lying to her, which irritated the Psychic Duelist to some extent. She then sighed quietly to herself before getting up from her seat and beginning making her way towards him. When Takashi saw how close she was getting, he starting to feel a little bit nervous.

"Are you sure nothing is wrong?" She asked him again. "You can tell me anything, you know."

"I…I know…" Takashi replied. "But…nothing is wrong."

Akiza continued to close the distance between her and Takashi, forcing the later to step back. As they walked, Akiza stared at him in a way that made Takashi very nervous. He initially believed that she would simply get mad him for lying, but that wasn't the case. Instead, Akiza was just staring at him, which was beginning to scare him a little.

Eventually, Takashi soon found himself backed into a corner with nowhere else to go. As he watched Akiza come closer to him, the Signer wondered what he should do. If he wanted to, he could use his athletic ability to jump over her and escape, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. As a result, Takashi could only watch as Akiza continued to make her way up to him. Once she got close enough, the young woman looked at him dead in the eyes.

"Please Takashi…" She said in a soft tone of voice. "Don't shut me out. If there's something wrong then let me help."

Akiza looked down towards the ground for a moment, her mind flashing back to all the times that Takashi helped not only her, but other people as well. Once she finished doing that, the Psychic Duelist looked back up towards the man she loved. As she did that, Takashi noticed that Akiza's eyes were beginning to water a little bit. Seeing her on the verge of crying made his heart ache a little, which in turn caused him to give in to her wishes.

"Alright," He said as she gently wiped her tears away. "I'll tell you."

Akiza smiled a little as Takashi continued to touch her face. She was pleased that she was able to get Takashi to admit that he was lying and that he was going to tell her what was bothering him. However, a part of her was also scared since whenever Takashi opened up to her about his inner most thoughts, it was usually something that either shocked her or did not like. Despite that though, Akiza proceeded to put on a brave front and she began to listen as Takashi explained to her what he was thinking about earlier.

"I've…" He started off. "I've been thinking about Goodwin…and all the problems he's been causing."

"I see," Akiza said as she nodded her head. "That's understandable. He is our enemy after all."

"It's more than that, Akiza. Recently…Goodwin's words have been getting into my head."

Takashi looked up towards the ceiling for a moment as he remembered what Goodwin said to him. He then sighed quietly to himself before walking pass Akiza and making his way towards the living room. Wanting to continue to conversation, Akiza followed Takashi.

"I know Alex told me not to take any actions against him until the time was right," Takashi continued. "…But I can't just sit here anymore. Every second that's spent here is another moment in which Goodwin's influence is corrupting the lives of others. I just…have to do something."

As he continued to reveal his inner most thoughts, Takashi looked down towards his Signer Mark and proceeded to glare at it slightly. He then took his left hand and clinched the section of his right arm where his mark was. While he did that, the young man closed his eyes and started to remember the time in which Alex told him about the legend of the Crimson Dragon and his responsibility as leader of the 5 Signers.

"If I'm really the leader of this group…then I should be doing more. But instead…I'm just sitting on my ass. It's so frustrating."

Takashi kept clinching his arm for a few more moments before feeling someone hugging him from behind. He knew right away that it was Akiza, who didn't want to see him blame himself anymore. She then continued to hold Takashi close to her for a few more moment before taking her hands and using them to separate Takashi's. Once she did that, the beautiful Psychic Duelist turned Takashi around so that the two of them were facing each other.

"Takashi…" She said. "If you truly feel that you need to confront Goodwin…then do so."

"…Akiza," Takashi softly replied. "You…"

"I can understand why Alex wants us to stay put and wait until the time is right. However…I can also understand your side of the issue too. Rex Goodwin has been causing so much suffering for a lot of people and he's not going to stop unless someone does something. I don't want that to happen and I know for sure that you don't want that to happen either. So go ahead and confront him. Just…just make sure that you come back here…to me."

Akiza placed her head down for a moment and started thinking about what she just said. Although she meant every word, the young woman was worried that Takashi could end up seriously hurt or worse if he did confront Goodwin. Despite that though, Akiza felt that regardless if she said anything, Takashi would go and face Goodwin anyway. At the very least, she could give him so words of encouragement so that he could have a reason to come back to her safely. Akiza had no idea whether her plan would work, but she felt she had to say something.

As she waited for him to reply, Takashi took a quick moment to recall all the times that Akiza supported him during these last couple of months. Even though he did some things that worried her greatly, she still stuck by him regardless. Never in his life has Takashi seen someone so devoted to him and the things he does for other people. Its Akiza endless support of him that gives Takashi the strength to keep going when feels he has nothing left to give. Because of that, he gently touched her shoulder in order to get her attention. When she looked up at him, Akiza watched as Takashi smiled at her.

"Thank you, Akiza," He said to her. "Don't worry…I'll come back."

Upon hearing Takashi say that to her, a small smile appeared on Akiza's face as a single tear fell from one of her eyes. She then held him close, wanting to feel his embrace one last time before he left to do what he had to do. As the two of them hugged one another, Lilly and others walked into the living room. Joining them was Madas, who came earlier this morning in order to help repair Crow's Duel Runner.

"Hold on Takashi," Crow said as he walked towards him. "You're not going anywhere…at least not without me."

Takashi's eyes widen a little, shocked that Crow would want to join him on his crusade to face Goodwin and stop his ambitions. However, he soon calmed himself down and smiled at his friend, knowing that he held the same desire to help other people that he does. The two of them then shook hands, agreeing to work together in order to stop Goodwin once and for all.

Just as the two of them did that though, a third hand appeared and placed itself on top of theirs. When Takashi and Crow turned their heads, the two of them noticed that it was Madas' hand. They then watched as Madas nodded his head at the both of them.

"I know I promise Sona that I wouldn't let you go after Goodwin, but after learning everything he's been doing, I want to help you guys stop him," He explained. "So…count me in too."

Takashi and Crow looked at Madas for a moment before nodding their heads and agreeing to let him come along. Although both of them were a bit concerned for his safety, the two Signers both knew that Madas is a powerful Duelist, one who has the skills needed to take care of himself. Also, on a mission of this importance, it's good to have another powerful ally on their side if they want of chance of succeeding.

With that settle, Takashi turned to his attention towards everyone else and watched as each of them gave him their support. Once he saw them do that, the young man smiled at each of them before turning towards a window and looking out towards the sky. As he looked out, Takashi started thinking quietly to himself.

"I'm sorry Alex," He said. "But…this is something that I just have to do."

Meanwhile, just as Takashi and his group decided what they were going to do, Alex was busy in his underground hideout. With Takashi's victory over Kuromu, Alex knew that his friend had earned the right to face Alistair for the title of Duel King. However, although he was happy that Takashi was going to Duel for a prestigious title, the Dragunity Knight knew that bigger things were fast approaching. Of those things was the next move that Rex Goodwin was going to make.

Although Alex knew Goodwin's plans to some extent, the young man was still in the dark about a lot of things as well. Also, the fact that he can't afford to leave his hideout made things hard for him as well. If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Alex would prefer to handle this himself so that the Signers wouldn't be troubled by all of this. After all, it's the role of a Dragunity to support and protect the Signers. Unfortunately, that simply couldn't happen.

Whether he liked it or not, Alex was well aware of the destiny that awaited each of the 5 Signers. It was something that they couldn't escape from, even if they really wanted too. Because of that fact, Alex decided that he would do anything that he could possibly do in order to help the Signers in their mission to protect the world. It's for that reason why he decided to train Takashi, so that he could get a better understanding of his abilities and be able to use them properly. Alex was very confident in the young Signer, but he was also very worried about him as well.

For reasons that only he knew, Alex was aware about things that Takashi was unaware of, like the secret behind his heritage and those related to him. However, instead of telling him about this, the Dragunity Knight chose to keep this a secret from Takashi. He didn't want to burden him with the knowledge and him to focus completely on the task at hand. Alex wasn't sure whether his choice was the right one, but felt it was the only way to protect Takashi from the secrets of his past. Alex felt that he wasn't ready for that knowledge yet and chose to keep it to himself until the time was right.

As he continued to ponder about this, along with some other things, Alex noticed that Sona and Enoch had just entered the room. Looking at the two of them, he noticed that Sona had a serious expression on her face. Seeing that worried him a little and Alex was about to question her about what was the matter. However, before he could do so, he watched as Sona walked away in order to get something to drink. As she did that, Enoch made his way towards Alex.

"Alex," The Psychic started off. "I have a question."

"…What is it, Enoch?" Alex asked, dividing his attention between him and Sona.

"When should we make our move and gather the rest of the Dragunity Knights? With Takashi now in the title match against Alistair, it's only a matter of time before we're forced to move to the next phase. We should prepare and gather them now while we still have the time."

Alex took a moment to ponder what Enoch just suggested to him and realized right away that it made a lot of sense. Because of the approaching threat that will appear in the near future, Alex believed that gathered the rest of the Dragunity Knights was indeed a smart move. However, the young man also knew that such a plan would take time, especially because of one Dragunity Knight in particular.

"I understand, Enoch," He replied. "However…I'm sure you're well aware that the fifth Dragunity Knights currently resides in the Satellite Sector. We'll need to get her and bring her here before we can do anything else."

"I see," Enoch said, nodding his head. "So…should I go to the satellite and retrieve her."

"Not yet. Let's wait until after Takashi's Duel against Alistair before we do that. Besides…since the fifth Knight knows the Signers, it will be easier to recruit her if one of them goes with you."

"I understand,"

Enoch once again nodded his head towards Alex, understanding his point and deciding to wait until the time was right to get the fifth Dragunity Knight. Once that was settled, Alex soon made his way over to where Sona was. He could tell that something was on her mind and he wanted to see what was wrong. So, after getting himself a glass of water, the young man proceeded to talk to his childhood friend.

"Hey…" He said. "What's the matter?"

"…I have a bad feeling that Takashi is going to do something really stupid," Sona said as she looked up towards the ceiling. "I should've stayed with his group."

Sona started tapping her foot on the ground repeatedly, wondering what kind of nonsense Takashi could be planning and how it could possibly jeopardize the plans that she and her friends carefully set up. Not wanting her hard work to be in vain, Sona decided that her group needed to take action before things get out of hand.

"Enoch," She said, turning her attention toward her fellow Psychic Duelist. "Go to Poppo Time and keep an eye of Takashi and the others. Make sure they don't leave their home."

"Are you sure?" Enoch questioned. "I mean, Takashi wouldn't do anything that would cause problems for our plans. Besides…didn't you have Tem and Madas keep an eye of him so that he wouldn't do anything foolish."

"…Takashi Nakamura is the type of individual who will do the exact opposite of what he's told," Sona told him. She then turned her head towards Alex. "It's in his blood."

Alex looked at Sona for a moment before turning his head away from her. Upon seeing him do that, Sona turned back towards Enoch and waited for his response. After about a minute, Enoch agreed to go to Poppo Time and left the apartment complex right away. Once he was gone, both Sona and Alex were now alone.

"…Can I ask you a question?" She asked him. "Why didn't tell Takashi the truth about his family? It's clear that Goodwin is going to tell if they happen to meet up."

Alex glared at Sona for a moment before looking down towards the ground and sighing. He then clinched his fist in frustration as he took a moment to think about his past and all the hardships that he had to go through. Once he finished, Alex looked back up towards Sona.

"It's because…I made a promise to protect him," He explained. "And the best way for me to do that…is to keep him from knowing who his family is."

* * *

><p>After several hours of waiting and planning, Takashi and his group decided that the time was right for them to put their plan into action and confront Rex Goodwin. In order to accomplish that goal, they split into two smaller groups. While Takashi, Crow, and Madas make their way to the man Sector Security building, Lilly and the others stayed behind in Poppo Time in order to conduct operations over there. It was a plan on two fronts and everyone knew exactly what they had to do.<p>

As they light of the moon was shining above the entire city, Takashi and his group managed to keep in contact with the others with the help of a two-way communication system that Misaki built. All of them were busy going over the plan, making sure that nothing was out of place and that nothing was wrong. As they did that, Misaki was also busy conducting some business on her laptop.

Knowing very well that sneaking into the Sector Security building would be easier said than done, Misaki used her incredible hacking skills to bring up a blueprint of the entire complex. However, as she examined it, the young woman noticed that the blueprint was about 2 years out of date. She tried to bring up a more recent copy, but she wasn't able to do so. Somehow, Security tightened up their safety walls, making it much harder for her to bring up the more recent information. If she had enough time, Misaki felt that she could get the information she needed, but since she didn't, she had to make do with what she had.

"Alright guys," She said over her side of the communicator. "You'll be at the building in a couple of minutes. Do you all know what to do?"

"You bet," Crow replied in an excited tone of voice. "Once the three of us get inside the building, you guys will direct us to one of the computers rooms."

"Once we're there, we'll take the flash drive that you gave us and download all the incriminating things that Goodwin been up to over the years," Madas followed. "When the public gets a look at it, they'll know how corrupt the Security here really is and once that happens, Goodwin is going on a one-way trip straight to the Facility."

As Crow and Madas both smiled at what their efforts could possibly lead, Takashi remained silent throughout it all. Although the young man had every intention of making those things happen, he also wanted to face Goodwin directly. The Director told him before that the time for their conversation would come soon. Realizing that he knows something that he doesn't, Takashi vowed to get to the bottom of it. Because of that, the Signer would make sure that he and his team would face Goodwin before this night ends.

While he and his group continue to make their way over to the Director's headquarters, Takashi also started thinking about what could happen if they should fail in their mission. Knowing that not only their lives, but the lives of those waiting at Poppo Time are also on the line, Takashi decided to relay one last thing to his friends.

"Misaki…" He started off.

"Yes?" She replied. "What is it?"

"I want all of you to be careful while we're out. Also…in the case that something happens to us, I want you to make preparations so that this event cannot be leaked to you and the others. Do you understand?"

Misaki remained silent as she thought about what Takashi just said to her. She soon turned her attention towards Lilly, Akiza, and Toru and examined the expressions on each of their faces. All of them disagreed with Takashi's instructions as they didn't want to hide in fear just case things went bad. They all chose to fight and upon seeing the resolve that each of them showed, Misaki promptly gave her reply to Takashi.

"Very well," She said, lying to him. "I'll start right away."

"…Thank you," Takashi replied back.

Once that conversation came to an end, Takashi continued on his way to the Sector Security building along with Crow and Madas. Eventually, after about 10 of driving, the group finally managed to reach their destination. However, instead of parking out in front like a bunch of careless fools, the group made their way behind the building, in an area where they couldn't be soon. As soon as they parked their respective Duel Runners, the three boys slowly made their up towards the building.

"We're here," Madas said.

"…Yeah," Takashi followed.

As Takashi stared at the building, the Signer started clinching his fists in anger as he thought about the person waiting inside. However, before he could give in to his anger, Takashi managed to calm himself down by using a combination of his Signer Powers and some deep meditation. After he did that, Takashi slowly stepped forward while his eyes remained fixated on the building.

"I'm here Goodwin," He said quietly. "So you better prepare yourself."

With that said, Takashi promptly led his group towards the building. Following Misaki's instructions, the three of them located a back entrance that hasn't been used in quite some time. Knowing that the entrance was the best way to enter undetected, the group opened the door and quickly made their way inside. Once they did that, all of them followed the path that was presented to them.

Unbeknownst to all of them however, Goodwin was well aware of what they were doing as both he and Lazar were watching them from inside the building's control room. As the two of them watched, the Director of Sector Security had his eyes solely on Takashi. He could tell right away that something was troubling the young man and knew what the cause was. However, Goodwin simply smiled as he was aware that he was the source of the Signer's troubles.

"It was only a matter of time Takashi," He thought as he looked at him. "You're just like your mother, rushing in without pondering the full depth of the situation. But that's okay. We'll have our talk very soon. But first…I think I'll take the time to gauge your current strength."

After he finished thinking, Goodwin made his towards another section of the room and prepared himself to press a button that was on a console. As he was about to press it, Lazar found out what he was about to do and became quite shocked as a result.

"Director Goodwin," He called out. "Are you sure you want to do that? All of them could die if you're not careful."

"…There's no need to be worried," Goodwin said, not even taking the time to face his Vice-Director. "Besides…if they can't get through this…then Takashi and Crow Hogan aren't fit to be Signers."

Once he finished saying that, Goodwin pressed the button and soon turned his attention back towards the viewing screen. He then watched as Takashi and his group continued walking, unaware of what was about to happen. Soon, the three of them noticed that a new path presented itself in front of them.

The group was shocked by the arrival of this new path and pondered whether or not they should walk down it. After some thought, they decided to take the chance since Misaki said that it still led to where they needed to go. This move, however, was the wrong one as the path also led him right into Goodwin's trap. This was proven when the group noticed that the pathway behind them suddenly closed, preventing them from going back the way they came.

"Hey…" Madas said as he slammed his fist against the newly formed wall. "What the hell is going on?"

As the Galaxy-Eyes user continued to slam his fist against the wall, both Takashi and Crow suddenly felt a powerful stinging sensation coming from their right arms. Upon looking down at them and seeing that their respective Signer Marks were glowing, the two of them noticed that the path in front of him suddenly closed off too. However, they didn't have time to worry about that as they soon watched as the walls were quickly closing in on them.

"Oh crap," Crow said as he watched the walks move in.

"Misaki…" Takashi said as he braced himself. "We have sort of a…problem."

"I'm on it!" Misaki answered over the microphone.

Realizing that something was wrong and that her friends were in danger, Misaki acted quickly and started typing on her laptop. As the others watched her work, the young woman hacked into the building's mainframe and noticed that a certain section of walls were beginning to close in on her friends. Misaki attempted to stop it, but she wasn't able to do much with just her laptop. Fortunately, Misaki had just the thing that could help her.

So, after giving her laptop to Lilly, Misaki quickly grabbed her main computer from inside her room and hooked it up back where the others were. Once she activated it, Misaki once again hacked into Sector Security's mainframe and was able to get past several firewalls thanks to her hacking skills and her computer's superior power. As she continued hacking into the mainframe, Lilly and the others observed what was going on through the laptop.

"Hurry Misaki," Akiza said as she noticed that the walls were getting dangerously close to enclosing on her friends. "Time is running out!"

"Don't worry," Misaki said as she continued typing. "I'm almost there."

Misaki started typing as fast as she possibly could, knowing that every second counted. As she continued to work, Takashi and his group watched as the walls were about to squeeze all of them to death. Seeing that reminded Takashi about his time in the satellite in which he and his friends were in a similar situation. However, upon remembering that, the young Signer realized what he needed to do in order to give Misaki enough to deactivate this trap.

So, without wasting another second, Takashi used his Signer Powers in order to bring forth his blue aura. Once he did that, he made his way towards one of the walls and tried his best in order to make it stop. When Crow saw him do that, the Blackwing Duelist decided that he should try and do that to. So, after gathering all the strength that was inside of him, Crow managed to bring forth a powerful black aura and watched as it surrounded his body. He then used the strength that aura provided him in order to stop the other wall.

With the combined strength of both Signers, Akiza and the others back at Poppo Time noticed that the walls were beginning to slow down. Seeing that gave them some relief as it meant that Misaki had more time to finish hacking into the system. However, all of them were aware that this wouldn't last forever and that they needed to make the most of the time they had left. Because of that, all of them encouraged Misaki to work faster.

Eventually, after getting past several firewalls and defensive traps, Misaki believed that she finally reached the area needed in order to stop the moving walls and save her friends. However, upon entering the section, the young woman realized that she still had one more obstacle that she had to overcome. Unlike the other ones though, this one would require more than just her hacking skills.

As she pondered how to go about this, Lilly noticed what was going on with her and decided to hand Misaki's laptop to Toru before walking over towards her. She then looked at Misaki's computer screen and noticed that the image she was looking at resemble those Dueling screens that's seen in video games. It was at that moment that Lilly figured out what was going on.

"It's an Endgame," She said.

"Precisely," Misaki said as she pulled out her Dueling deck. "However, unlike regular Endgames, I have to face the Security System in a complete Duel. If I win then I can enter the final area and stop the doors. However…if I fail…then…"

Misaki stopped herself from saying what would happen to the others if she failed, but Lilly already understood what she meant. However, instead of feeling worried, the young woman simply placed her hand upon Misaki's shoulder. She then smiled at her, displaying the upmost confidence on her Dueling abilities.

"Go to work Misaki," She said. "We know you can do this."

Misaki looked at the smile on Lilly's face before turning her attention toward Akiza and Toru. Upon seeing the smiles on their faces, Misaki decided to get to work. To that end, she placed her deck into a holster on her computer before swiftly typing on her keyboard. Once she finished, she watched as a holographic version of her appeared on the screen, wearing a Duel Disk on her arm. After that, Misaki listened as the Security System started talking to her.

"_Attention," _It started off. _"You're entering a secure area. In order to gain access you must defeat this system in a Duel. Do you accept?"_

Nodding her head in compliance, Misaki started typing on her keyboard, telling the Security System that she accepts the Duel. Once she was able to confirm that decision, the System decided to begin the match between Misaki and itself.

"_Very well…let the Duel begin!"_

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Misaki: 4000 LP**

**Security System: 4000 LP**

"_This I will make the first move," _The Security System stated. _"Draw!"_

After drawing a card from its database, the Security System quickly calculated all the possible opening moves that it could make. Once it came to a decision, the System placed a card onto the virtual field. Upon doing so, a monster started to take shape on its side of the field.

"_I Normal Summon: Crashbug X, in Attack Mode,"_

**Crashbug X: ATK 0 DEF 2000 LVL 3**

When the System summoned Crashbug X, Misaki got a good look at it and saw that the monster resembled a small child. The only difference was that it had a metal sphere for a head and had a robotic mouth. Once that happened, the System continued on with its turn by taking a card from its virtual hand and placing it onto its Spell/Trap Zone.

"_Next, I activate the Continuous Spell Card: Zerozerock!" _It continued. _"With this card, monsters with 0 Attack Points in Attack Mode cannot be targeted for attacks. With that, I end my turn."_

"Then it's my turn," Misaki said via her virtual counterpart. "Draw!"

Misaki draw a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. She then examined all six of her cards, pondering what she should do first. However, she had to be quick about it as for every second she wasted meant less time for her friends. Eventually, the young woman decided what she needed to do and soon started typing on her keyboard. Once she finished, Misaki watched as her computer self interested a card into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity!" She declared. "With it, I can draw three more cards from my deck at the cost of discarding two from my hand."

Quickly drawing three more cards from her hand, Misaki examined them very quickly before placing them into her hand. She then discarded two cards to the Graveyard before continuing her turn. Her next move involved having her virtual self take one of her cards and placing it on her Monster Card Zone.

"Now, I Normal Summon: Achacha Archer!"

**Achacha Archer: ATK 1200 DEF 600 LVL 3**

A bright flash of light appeared on Misaki's field as her Achacha Archer appeared before her virtual counterpart. Once it did, the monster pulled an arrow from its quiver and hoisted it on its bow. It then pulled the arrow back and the archer watched as the tip of the arrow suddenly caught on fire.

"When Achacha Archer is successfully summoned," Misaki continued. "It's Special Ability activates. It now deals you 500 points of damage!"

After she finished her explanation, Misaki watched as Achacha Archer launched its arrow towards the Security System's avatar. Once the arrow hit its target, the system started losing 500 of its Life Points.

**Security System: 3500 LP**

Once that was taken care of, Misaki continued on with her turn. Because of the Zerozerock Spell, she couldn't attack Crashbug X since it had 0 Attack Points. As a result, her moves were limited and she could only do so much this turn. To that end, Misaki type on her keyboard, instructing her virtual counterpart two set two cards on the field. When she finished, she watched two face-down cards appear behind her Archer.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn," She said. "It's your move."

"_Very well," _The Security System replied. _"It's my turn, Draw!"_

The Security System drew a card from its deck and once again took the time to analyze all the possible moves that it could make. However, unlike before, the System took much longer to make its move. This was bad as she knew that Takashi and the others were running out of time. As a result, Misaki started gritting her teeth in slight irritation as she continued to wait for the system to finish making up its mind. Once it did, she prepared herself as the computer made its move.

"_I Normal Summon: Crashbug Z," _It said.

**Crashbug Z: ATK 0 DEF 1500 LVL 3**

A small flash of light shined across the System's side of the field as new Crashbug monster appeared. This one looked very similar to Crashbug X, with the exception that it was much taller. Also, like how Crashbug X had an image of its letter on its shirt, Crashbug Z had an image of its letter on its shirt too. Once the monster finished materializing, the Security System continued on with its turn.

"_When Crashbug Z is successfully summoned while I have Crashbug X on the field, I can then Special Summon Crashbug Y from my deck."_

**Crashbug Y: ATK 1400 DEF 1600 LVL 3**

Another flash of light shined across the System's field again as a third Crashbug monster appeared. Unlike the other two, Crashbug Y didn't look like its counterparts as it had a triangle shape with red and pink stripes. It also had a long green stripe on its body as well. Misaki wondered what the System was going to do with these three monsters, but soon had a very good guess when she noticed that all three Crashbugs had the same Level.

"_I Overlay by Level 3 Crashbug X, Y, and Z! With these three monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"_

The three Crashbugs complied with the System's order and soon transformed into colorful orbs of light. They then started flying around the entire field for a few moments as the portal to the Overlay Network appeared. Once the portal was formed completely, the three orbs of light dove right into it, causing a giant explosion to occur. It was at that moment that the Security System placed a black card on the field.

"_Xyz Summon! Appear now, Number 34: Terror Byte!"_

**Number 34 – Terror-Byte: ATK 0 DEF 2900 Rank 3**

From the eruption of light that the Network was causing, a giant Number monster appeared and faced Misaki. It had the appearance of a blue and yellow mechanical lion, with a pink 34 painted on its side. As she looked at it, Misaki wondered what type of powers Terror-Byte might have and proceeded to brace herself for what was to come.

Meanwhile, as Misaki waited for the Security System to continue its turn, Takashi and his group continued their efforts to push back the walls. However, despite their combined efforts, the walls were still able to push them, bringing them ever closer to being crushed to death. Even Takashi and Crow's Signer powers weren't much help.

In last ditch efforts in order to give Misaki more time, Takashi unleashed the first stage of Zexal Powers in order to increase his strength. His plan worked to some extent as he was able to push the walls a little, giving Crow and Madas some more room. However, Takashi couldn't bring forth his full Zexal Powers as his mind wasn't focused enough to control the Chaos that was dwelling within him. As a result, Takashi had to hope that this level of strength would be enough to hold out until Misaki was finished.

Back at the Duel, Misaki continued to wait for the Security System to continue its turn. After waiting for about 3 minutes, the young woman came to the conclusion that the System was doing this on purpose since it knew what was happening with her friends. Because of that, Misaki became even more upset and decided to take action. To that end, she swiftly type on her keyboards, hoping to hack into the system again. Once she reached a certain point, Misaki watched noticed that the Security System was starting glitch, forcing to continue unless something happens to it.

"_I activate Terror-Byte's Special Ability," _It continued. _"By using one Overlay Unit, Terror-Byte is capable of taking control of one of your Level 4 of lower monsters until the End Phase of the turn."_

After the System finished its explanation, Terror-Byte quickly consumed one of the Overlay Units that was surrounding its body. Once it did that, the Number monster released a powerful roar that hypnotized Misaki's Achacha Archer, causing the monster to go to the System's side of the field.

"_Achacha Archer," _The Security System called. _"Attack her Life Points directly!"_

Achacha Archer nodded its head in compliance and prepared itself to attack its former master. When Misaki saw that, she quickly type on her keyboard, causing her virtual counterpart to pull a card from the Graveyard section of her Duel Disk.

"I activate the effect of my Electromagnetic Turtle, which I discarded via the effect of my Graceful Charity Spell," She stated. "By banishing my turtle from the Duel, I can automatically end the Battle Phase!"

Once Misaki finished explaining the effect of her monster, she watched as several electric sparks started covering the entire field. This prevented Achacha Archer from attacking and forcing the Security System to rethink its strategy. Fortunately, Misaki wouldn't have to wait long as she watched the system place a card face-down on its Spell/Trap Zone.

"_I set one card face-down," _The System said. _"With that, I end my turn."_

Once the Security System ended its turn, Misaki watched as her Achacha Archer snapped out of its trance. After it did, the monster returned to its master's side of the field and prepared itself as Misaki got ready to begin her next turn.

"Good," Misaki said as she quickly started typing on her keyboard. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Knowing that time was even more of a factor, Misaki quickly calculated what she needed to do before drawing a card from her deck. After she finished thinking, she typed on her keyboard again and had the virtual Misaki place a card on her Duel Disk. Once she did that, she watched as a bright flash of light shined across her side of the field.

"I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Morphtronic Scopen!"

**Morphtronic Scopen: ATK 800 DEF 1400 LVL 3**

As the flash of light continued to shine across her field, Misaki watched as her Morphtronic Scopen appeared in front of her virtual counterpart. After it materialized completely, the real Misaki continued on with her turn by swiftly typing on her keyboard again. This resulted in the virtual Misaki to activate the face-down card that was set on the previous turn.

"Next, I activate the Trap Card: No Entry! With it, all the monsters that are currently residing on the field in Attack Mode are now switched to Defense Mode!"

With the power of her Trap Card, Misaki watched as all three monsters that were on the field switched themselves to Defense Mode. After that happened, she continued her momentum by going on to activate the Special Abilities of one of her monsters.

"I now activate Scopen's effect!" She declared. "While it's in Defense Mode, its Level becomes 4!"

**Morphtronic Scopen: LVL 4**

"Let's go…I tune my Level 3 Achacha Archer with my Level 4 Morphtronic Scopen!"

Once stated her intentions, she watched as her Achacha Archer and Morphtronic Scopen jumped high into the air. Upon reaching a certain height, the two proceeded to begin the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. Once the ritual was completed, a bright flash of light shined across the entire battlefield. It was at that moment that the virtual Misaki placed another card onto her Duel Disk.

"Docking strength with courage to protect the world's peace! Synchro Summon! Envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!"

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 2300 DEF 2500 LVL 7**

As the light surrounding the battlefield started to fade away, Misaki watched as her trusty Power Tool Dragon appear on the display screen. However, she didn't have time to celebrate as she needed continue her assault. Because of that, she quickly type on her keyboard some more. Once she finished, she watched as her virtual self started pulling a card from her deck.

"I activate Power Tool Dragon's Special Ability!" She said. "Once per turn, I can take a random Equip Spell Card from my deck and place it into my hand!"

The virtual Misaki drew a card from her deck, allowing the real Misaki to see what the card was. Once she did, the young woman type on her keyboard again before watching the virtual Misaki take the card that she drew and insert it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now…it's time to turn up the power. I equip my Power Tool Dragon with the Spell Card: Double Tool C&D! With it, my dragon gains 1000 Attack Points."

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 3300 **

When Misaki played her Spell Card, both of Power Tool Dragon's arms lit up for a quick moment. After the light faded, the mechanical beast was now equipped with two powerful weapons; a drill and a power saw.

"Power Tool Dragon," Misaki called. "Attack Number 34: Terror-Byte!"

Power Tool Dragon complied with Misaki's order and quickly made its way over towards Terror-Byte. Since the Number Card was in Defense Mode instead of Attack Mode, the effect of the Security System's Zerozerock wasn't in play and thus Misaki's dragon could destroy it. This was proven when Power Tool Dragon managed destroy Terror-Byte with the help of its two new weapons.

As soon as that was settled, Misaki continued her turn by once again typing some keys on her keyboard. This act caused the virtual Misaki to press a button on her Duel Disk, which in turn activated one of her face-down cards.

"Now, I activate the Trap Card: Morphtronic Reactor! With this card, I can discard a Morphtronic monster from hand to the Graveyard since Machine-Type monster I control destroyed a monster through battle. You now take damage equal to the discarded monster's Attack Points!"

Misaki checked over the cards that were in her hand and saw that while she did have a few Morphtronic, none of them had a lot of Attack Points to deal damage to the Security System. Despite that though, Misaki decided that she still needed to deal the System some damage and proceeded to discard the Morphtronic with the highest Attack Points.

"I discard another one of my Morphtronic Scopens, which has 800 Attack Points! That means you take 800 Points of damage!"

After discarding her monster to the Graveyard, Misaki watched as a powerful beam of light shot itself over to the Security System's side of the field. The light struck the System's core, causing it to lose Life Points equal to Morphtronic Scopen's Attack Points!"

**Security System: 2500 LP**

"With that…I end my turn,"

"_Very well," _The System responded. _"It's my turn, Draw."_

Well aware that Misaki has taken the lead and that it wouldn't take her much longer to win if this continued, the Security System decided that the time was now if it to get serious. So, after drawing a card from its deck, the System used the full extent of its artificial intelligence in order to calculate the best possible move. Once it finished that, the Security System proceeded to place a card onto its Spell/Trap Zone.

"_I begin by activating the Spell Card: Monster Reborn. With it, I bring back my Terror-Byte and place it into Attack Mode."_

A bright flash of light shined across the System's side of the field as his Number Monster return to it, despite the fact that it no longer had any Overlay Units. However, because Terror-Byte was now in Attack Mode, the effect of Zerozerock once again protected it from being targeted for attacks, since it had 0 Attack Points. Once that was done, the Security System continued on with its turn.

"_I now banish my Crashbug X, Y, and Z from my Graveyard in order to Special Summon: Super Crashbug, in Defense Mode!"_

**Super Crashbug: ATK 0 DEF 3000 LVL 4**

When the Security System called out the name of the monster that it was going to Special Summon, Misaki watched as the spirits of Crashbug X, Y, and Z appeared onto the field. Once they appeared, the spirits soon merged together until they formed a giant computer-virus like monster. After it was formed, Super Crashbug took a defensive position as it stood next to Terror-Byte.

Upon seeing that, Misaki wondered why the Security System chose to place Super Crashbug in Defense Mode instead of Attack Mode. If it did the opposite then Crashbug would have the same protection that Terror-Byte has, since Zerozerock protects those monsters in Attack Mode who have no Attack Points. It was only when the Security System started explaining the effect of its newest monster that things started to make sense to her.

"_When Super Crashbug is successfully Special Summoned, its Special Ability activates," _The System explained. _"Now, the Attack and Defense Points of all monsters in Attack Mode are now switched."_

"What?!" Misaki said, shocked by what she just heard.

Super Crashbug placed both its hands out in front of itself and proceeded to send a powerful virus to both Terror-Byte and Power Tool Dragon. The power of the virus caused the Attack and Defense Points of the two Machine Type monsters to switch places, making one of them weaker while the other became stronger.

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 3300 **

**Number 34 – Terror-Byte: ATK 2900 DEF 0**

When Misaki saw the power Super Crashbug take effect, the young woman realized what the Security System was up too. Because it couldn't sure that Misaki wouldn't find a way around its Zerozerock Spell, the artificial intelligence needed Super Crashbug to be in Defense Mode in order to retain its defensive power. In exchange for that though, the monster was still able to make Power Tool Dragon weaker while also making Terror-Byte much stronger. Normally, such a situation would be bad, but the Security System was about to make it a whole lot worse for Misaki.

"_I now activate a Trap Card: Super Computer Virus. Since Super Crahsbug successfully used its Special Ability, this Trap Card now decreases the Attack Points of one of your monsters equal to the change of Attack of one of my monsters. Since Number 34: Terror-Byte gained 2900 Attack Points through Super Crashbugs effect, Power Tool Dragon loses 2900 Attack Points."_

At the very instant the Security System finished its explanation, a sudden burst of purple energy started covering Power Tool Dragon, causing it to suddenly lose all of its power. This caused the monster to fall to one knee, completely voided of any energy.

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 0**

"_Number 34: Terror Byte," _The System called. _"Attack Power Tool Dragon…Virus Cannon!"_

Terror-Byte nodded its head and soon started charging up its body in order to unleash a powerful attack. Once it built up enough energy, the Number monster unleashed a terrifying blast at Power Tool Dragon. When the attack struck it, a virtual explosion occurred, causing Misaki's computer screen to freeze up as her Life Points started to drop.

**Misaki: 1100 LP**

When her computer froze up, Misaki typed as fast as she could so that she could fix it and get back to the Duel. By the time she got it working again, she saw that her Power Tool Dragon was beginning to break apart. Knowing that she would need it if she wanted any chance of winning, Misaki promptly activated her dragon's Special Ability.

"Not so fast," She declared. "I activate my Power Tool Dragon's Special Ability! By removing Double Tool C&D from it, Power Tool Dragon is spared from your Number's attack!"

As Power Tool Dragon continued to be bombarded by Terror-Byte's attack, the dragon placed its weapons out in front of it so that they could be used as a shield. Although the weapons were destroyed as a result, Power Tool Dragon was saved and was to survive for a least another turn.

Upon seeing that Power Tool Dragon was still on the field, the Security System decided to rework its strategy in order compensate for the monster's survival. To that end, the System took one of the cards that were in its hand and placed it onto its Spell/Trap Zone. This caused the card to appear right behind Terror-Byte and Super Crashbug.

"_I set one card face-down. With that, I end my turn."_

Misaki nodded her head slightly and prepared itself to begin her next turn. However, before she did, she took a moment to look at the laptop that Toru was holding in order to check up on Takashi and the others. When she looked at the display screen, she noticed that the walls were getting really close to crushing her friends. The only thing that was preventing that from happening was the combined strength of Takashi's Zexal Powers and Crow's Signer Powers. However, even that wasn't enough has both boys were beginning to run out of energy. Because of that, Misaki decided to work harder and thus continued her Duel.

"Okay," She said to herself. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After declaring the start of her turn, Misaki type on her keyboard again in order to draw another card from her deck. Once she did, the young woman examined the cards that she had in her hand and saw that while some of them were good, none of them were good enough to get past the Security System's monsters. Because of that, Misaki had to change tactics a bit and had the virtual Misaki change the position of Power Tool Dragon's card from a vertical position to a horizontal one.

"I change Power Tool Dragon to Defense Mode,"

"_No you don't," _The Security System said in a robotic tone of voice. _"I now activate the Continuous Trap Card: Final Attack Orders. As this long as this card remains active, monsters on the field must remain in Attack Mode. In addition, Super Crashbug's Special Ability will now apply to itself, switching its Attack and Defense Points."_

**Super Crashbug: ATK 3000 DEF 0**

As Power Tool Dragon prepared itself to switch to Defense Mode, the power of the Security System's Trap Card stopped it and forced it back into Attack Mode. Once that happened, Super Crashbug switched itself to Attack Mode and quickly found its body being filled with energy, due to the effect of its Special Ability.

Upon seeing that, Misaki realized that her problems now just got a whole lot worse. She now had to deal with two monsters with over 2500 Attack Points with just her Power Tool Dragon, who currently has no Attack Points. Even if she played any of the cards that were currently in her hand, none of them would be enough to power up her monster. She knew that the only way out of this was with the help a card that's currently still her deck. There was only one way to get that card and because of that, Misaki placed her faith in her Power Tool Dragon.

"I activate my Power Tool Dragon's Special Ability!" She declared. "Like before, I can now take one random Equip Spell Card from my deck and add it to my hand!"

After typing on her keyboard for about a second, Misaki watched as her virtual counterpart drew a random Equip Card from her deck. Upon looking at the card, the real Misaki was relived as it was the card that she was hoping for. She then wasted no time and went on to have the virtual Misaki insert not only the card she drew, but also another card into her Duel Disk.

"I equip my Power Tool Dragon with two Spell Cards: Axe of Despair and Divine Shield! With the power of the Axe of Despair, my dragon gains 1000 Attack Points. At the same time, the power of the Divine Shield increases my dragon's Defense Points by 1000!"

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 3300**

Power Tool Dragon raised both of its arms high into the air again and watched as two more weapons appeared before it. Upon seeing the Axe of Despair and the Divine Shield, the powerful Synchro Monster grabbed them and proceeded to absorb their power. Once that happened, Misaki realized that she couldn't do anything else and thus hoped that her cards would allow her to get through the Security System's next turn with at least a couple of Life Points left.

"I end my turn,"

Once Misaki ended her turn, the Security System took a short moment to analyze what her plan could be. There were a large number of possibilities, some of which were better than others. Eventually, the System concluded that the best course of action that it could make was to attack and see what Misaki was up to.

"_It's my turn, Draw!" _The System declared as it drew a card. _"Super Crashbug now attacks your Power Tool Dragon."_

Super Crashbug nodded its head upon hearing the System's orders and prepared itself to face Power Tool Dragon. When Misaki saw what was about to happen, the young woman decided that the time was now for her to put her plan into motion.

"I activate the second effect of my Divine Shield!" She stated as she typed on her keyboard. "As long as my dragon is equipped to it, any Battle Damage that I take that involves Power Tool Dragon is cut in half!"

As Super Crashbug got ready to strike Power Tool Dragon down, the Synchro Monster raised its shield up and used it to block the attack. As though the shield wasn't strong enough to protect virtual Misaki entirely, the shield did do its job and reduced the damaged from Super Crashbug's attack in half.

**Misaki: 100 LP**

"Next, I activate my dragon's effect!" Misaki continued. "I discard the Axe of Despair from it so that Power Tool Dragon isn't destroyed during this battle!"

**Power Tool Dragon: ATK 0**

Just before Power Tool Dragon was destroyed by the overwhelming power of Super Crashbug, the Synchro monster tossed the Axe of Despair over towards it. Although this act cost Power Tool its 1000 Attack Points, it was worth it since it managed to drive its opponent back towards the Security System's side of the field. Once that was done, Power Tool Dragon braced itself as it knew that it still had one more battle left.

"_Number 34: Terror-Byte," _The System called. _"Destroy Power Tool Dragon…Virus Cannon!"_

Once again, Terror-Byte started gathering all the energy within its body in its attempt to destroy Power Tool Dragon. Misaki was well aware that even with the Divine Shield's powers, there was no way that she could survive this attack. Fortunately for her, the Divine Shield had one last power that could be used at this particular moment. Because of that, Misaki acted swiftly and activated after typing on her keyboard again.

"I activate the final effect of my Divine Shield!" She declared. "By removing it from my Power Tool Dragon, I can use the shield to not only prevent my dragon from being destroyed through battle, but also reduce the damage of this attack to 0!"

At the very instant Terror-Byte launched its powerful Virus Cannon towards Power Tool Dragon, Misaki's monster counter it by throwing its shield at the blast. Although this caused Power Tool to lose its 1000 extra Defense Points, its actions not only saved itself, but Misaki as well for at least one more turn.

**Power Tool Dragon: DEF 2300**

"…_I end my turn,"_

Misaki let out a small sigh of relief after hearing the Security System say that it has ended its turn. Now that it was her turn again, she now had the chance to finally put an end to this and save her friends from being killed. However, as she got ready to begin her turn, something started to turn within Misaki's soul. She wasn't quite aware what this feeling was, only that it felt very good. Given the situation that she was in, she didn't understand why she was feeling this way and thus tried to rid herself of it. However, the more she tried to fight it, the more it consumed her. This ultimately caused her to let out a euphoric smile as she prepared to draw.

"Let's go," She said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Once she declared the start of her turn, Misaki started typing so fast on her keyboard that it was nearly impossible to tell what she was doing. For her, it was like her brain was on fire as it felt like it was moving at the speed of a super computer. However, instead of feeling any pain from this experience, it instead made her even happier. When Toru saw this, the Scrap Duelist realized that Misaki was entering the state of mind in which she begins to truly enjoy the Duel. Once he saw that, Toru smiled as he knew that her victory was pretty much assured.

"To start things off, I'm activating the Spell Card: Cyber Space!" Misaki said as she watched her virtual counterpart insert a card into her Duel Disk. "With this, I can draw one card from my deck declare one type of card it is. If I'm right, then I can activate that card's effect right away. However, if I'm wrong, then I take 1000 points of damage!"

As the smile on her face started to grow a little bit more, Misaki started looking at her virtual counterpart and started to wonder why she was feeling this way. Her friends at the Sector Security building could die at any moment and she was putting their fate on a single draw. If it was anybody else, they would probably feel very scared. But for Misaki, she was just very excited. This type of thinking confused her a little, but the young woman soon found herself not caring about her inner thoughts anymore and just focused on what she had to do. To that end, she declared the card she was planning to draw.

"The card I choose…is a Trap Card!"

After she said that, Misaki started typing on her laptop again and watched as the virtual Misaki drew a card from her deck. Upon looking at it, she saw that it was indeed a Trap Card and thus was saved from being dealt damage. She then went on to activate the Trap and when Lilly and Akiza heard what type of Trap Card it was, both of them were left speechless.

"I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate! With it, I can sacrifice my Power Tool Dragon in order to Special Summon: Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 2800 DEF 3000 LVL 9**

Power Tool Dragon started roaring at the top of its mechanical lungs as a powerful light started covering its body. From that light, a new set of golden armor was being placed around it, increasing its Attack and Defense significantly. Once the transformation was completed, Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode glared at both Super Crashbug and Terror-Byte, preparing itself to do battle with them.

"I activate Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability!" Misaki continued. "Once per turn, I can take one Equip Spell Card from my deck and equip to Power Tool. The card I choose…is the Savage Sword, which increases my dragon's attack points by 500!"

**Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 3300**

After Misaki declared the name of her chosen Spell, Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode proceeded to raise its right arm high into the air. Once it did that, it watched as it transformed into a powerful sword that had lightning symbols engraved on it. As soon as the transformation was complete, Misaki started typing on her keyboard again and watched as Power Tool Dragon pointed its new weapon towards Super Crashbug.

"When Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode is successfully equipped with a Spell Card, its second Special Ability activates. It can now destroy one card on the field and the one I'm choosing…is Super Crashbug!"

When Misaki finished explaining the effect of her monster, she watched as Power Tool Dragon started gather power into its Savage Sword. Once it gathered enough power, the monster fired a concentrated blast of electricity toward Super Crashbug. When the blast connected, Super Crashbug was destroyed instantly with not even its ashes remaining. After that was taken care of, Misaki got ready to conduct her attack.

"Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode," She called. "Attack Number 34: Terror-Byte…Savage Slash!"

Firing up its jetpacks, Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode dashed over towards Terror-Byte at an incredible speed. Once it got close enough to its target, Power Tool took its sword and drove it right through Terror-Byte's chest, causing a massive explosion to occur that destroyed the Number instantly.

**Security System: 2100 LP**

"Don't think I'm finished yet, you stupid System!" Misaki said as she typed on her keyboard again. "I now activate the second effect of my Savage Sword. When the monster equipped to it successfully destroys one of your monsters through battle…you then take damage equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

Misaki let out her biggest smile as she watched her Power Tool Dragon Assault Mode begin to build up power within its Savage Sword again. After it built up enough strength, Power Tool fired another blast of electricity at the core of the Security System. This act caused another explosion to occur, causing the Security System to lose the rest of its Life Points.

**Security System: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>At the very instant Misaki's Duel with the Security System came to an end, the young woman suddenly felt all the enjoyment that she was feeling leave her body. This caused her to return to normal, more distant personality, which caused her to pause for a moment. However, upon realizing what was happening, the young woman managed to snap out of it. She then went on to enter the final area that she needed to go to and deactivate the walls that were nearly about to squeeze the life from out of her friends.<p>

Upon doing that, Akiza and the other all thanked Misaki for her hard work, knowing that it wasn't for her, the others back at the Sector Security Building would've lost their lives. Misaki was happy that she managed to save them, but was still confused about why she felt so euphoric back when she was Dueling the Security System. Eventually, she soon put her questions aside for the moment when she noticed something going on with her computer.

After taking a moment to look at it, Misaki watched as three cards proceeded to pop out from it. When she pulled them out and looked at them, she saw that two of the cards were ones that she used during the Duel; Assault Mode Activate and Power Tool Dragon/Assault Mode. The third card that she received was Number 34: Terror-Byte, which was the card that the System was using. Misaki wondered why she gained these cards, but her thoughts were suddenly stopped when she started hearing Takashi and the others starting to thank her.

"Thanks…for the help there…Misaki," Crow said over his communicator. "You really…saved are skins."

"…Yeah," Madas agreed. "We…we owe you one."

The two boys started laughing quietly as they were enjoying the fact that they managed to barely escape death. As they did that, Takashi was busy sitting on the ground, as he was the most exhausted out of the three of them. Having to use both his Signer and Zexal Powers was a tiring ordeal and it felt like all of his strength suddenly left his body for a moment. Because of that, he needed a moment to collect himself before continuing.

"Thanks a lot Misaki," He said as he continued to catch his breath. "You're incredible."

"Uh…no problem," Misaki replied over her communicator. "I'm just glad…you guys are alright."

After the trio gave their thanks to Misaki and relayed to the others that they were alright, Takashi, Crow and Madas took five more minutes to rest before continuing on their way. Upon following the path that they were on earlier, the group soon found a door that lead into the main entrance room of the building. They then took the time to examine it before asking Misaki where to go next.

"Okay guys," She said, taking her laptop from Toru and analyzing the data that was on it. "According to what I see here, you should head up. Goodwin's office should be on the top floor."

"Right," Takashi said, nodding in compliance. "We'll do that. In the meantime, you and the others need to keep an eye on our posit-"

Before he could finish the rest of his statement, Takashi watched as the lights suddenly shut off in the room that he was in. As he, Crow, and Madas started to wonder what was going on, all of them watched as a Solid Vision image of someone appeared before all of them. Upon recognizing who it was, Takashi started gritting his teeth in anger.

"Very good, you three," The individual said as he started clapping at them. "You managed to pass my first test."

"So that was your doing…Goodwin!"

When Misaki and the others heard the name of the person Takashi was talking too, all of them were shocked beyond words. None of them expect that they would face Goodwin so soon and thus, were unprepared for what he might be up too. As a result, everyone prepared themselves as Goodwin went to continue his conversation.

"I'm quite impressed with your abilities Takashi," Goodwin said with a smile on his face. "As I figured, your Zexal Powers are growing now that you finally have control over them. You're development is truly remarkable."

"Cut the crap, you bastard!" Crow shouted as he pointed his finger at the solid vision version of his enemy. "You just tried to kill us just now!"

"You shouldn't assume things, Crow Hogan." Goodwin turned his attention towards Crow and watched as the Blackwing Duelist started glaring at him. "I never had any intention of killing you. After all, both of and Takashi are Signers, protectors of the world. There's no way that I can let the two of you die."

Crow didn't believe Goodwin's words as he felt that the Director was just lying to him and his friends. All he wanted to do at the moment was give Goodwin exactly what he deserves, but knew that would pointless since the Goodwin he was looking at was just a hologram. He then started clinching his fists in anger as he watched Goodwin turn his attention back towards Takashi.

"I knew that you come here, Takashi. It was inevitable."

"Is that so," Takashi said as he placed his hand upon the hilt of his sword. "Well then…do you know what I'm going to do to you once I find you?"

"Yes," Goodwin answered. "However, I'm not really in the mood to wait around for you. So…why don't I just bring you to me?"

Takashi was confused by what Goodwin meant by that, but soon figured it out as he felt the ground beneath him begin to shift. As he looked down, the young man watched as the ground beneath him was beginning to open up. He then looked towards Crow and Madas and saw that they were in the situation. Knowing that he couldn't save them and save himself, Takashi did the only thing he could and thus pushed his friends away from that section of the floor. As he started to fall, Takashi was pleased that his efforts were enough to save Crow and Madas and thus gave them some final words before falling into the hole.

"You two continue the mission," He said. "I'll take of the rest!"

With that said, Takashi fell into the dark abyss that Goodwin sent him too. As the floor began to return to normal, both Madas and Crow tried to best to reach their friend before it was too late. However, both of them were not fast enough and thus they couldn't get to him. This caused Crow to slam his fist on the ground before turning his attention back towards Goodwin. Unfortunately, all the Blackwing Duelist could do was watch as the Solid Vision hologram quickly disappeared from his sight.

"God…Damn it!" He said as he violently gritted his teeth. "He took him."

"Took who Crow?" Misaki asked, wondering what's going on.

"…Takashi," Crow said as he once again slammed his fist into the ground. "That bastard took Takashi!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Although our heroes are upset that they've lost Takashi, they press on with their mission, knowing that he want them to continue. However, as they move forward, Goodwin puts his next plan into motion. His objective; test Crow's abilities!_

_As for Takashi, the young Signer finds himself separated from his friends. Can he find his way back to him or will his hatred of Goodwin make him do something foolish and go after the Director by himself?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 91: The Supreme Blackwing_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to apologize for the long delay. Instead of taking two weeks off like I wanted, I ended up taking a whole month off. I know that a lot of you have been waiting patiently for the new chapter and I want to thank you for doing so. I promise that I'll post them on their usual basis from now on, unless something comes up._

_Second, I want to once again tell you guys that OCs are closed for now. I'll inform you when I'll open them up again, but until then please be patient. _

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	91. Chapter 91

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 91: **_The Supreme Blackwing_

* * *

><p>"Damn it…this wasn't a part of the plan."<p>

When Takashi Nakamura first came up with the idea of infiltrating the main Sector Security building with his friends, he knew that it wasn't going to be easy. He expected that he would face some trials and that he might get hurt along the way. When you're dealing with someone like Rex Goodwin, all those things should not only be expected, but should also be common knowledge. However, despite knowing what was going to go down on this mission, what just happened was something that Takashi didn't count on.

When he, Crow, and Madas first entered the building from the back entrance, all three of them came across their first obstacle, in the form of some closing walls. All three of them were about to be crushed to death, but thanks to the efforts of their friend, Misaki, all of them were able to make past that trap with their lives. For a moment, the group believed that things would be easy for while. Unfortunately, all of them would soon realize that when it comes to something like this, nothing is ever easy.

Just as all of them made it to the main section of the Security building, they encountered a Solid Vision hologram of Goodwin. At first, the boys were surprised that their target would appear before them so soon, but they quickly realized that Goodwin's arrival was the beginning of his true objective; to bring Takashi to him.

As Takashi realized that, the young man saw that he was about to sucked down a trap door and sent somewhere else. Knowing that there was no hope left for him, he did the only thing that he could and proceeded to push both Crow and Madas out of the way so that they wouldn't suffer the same fate. He needed the two of them to continue their mission of gathering incriminating information against Goodwin and the rest of Sector Security. As long as that happened, Takashi didn't care what happened to him.

Now that he finally regained his senses after falling down the trap door, Takashi took a moment to analyze his current surroundings. He saw that he was in a small room with no windows and only one door. He also saw a desk and a couple of cheers, indicating to him that he was in some type of office. Takashi wondered what he doing in a room like this, but decided to put that thought in the back of his mind so that he could focus on what he had to do right now.

"Alright," He said as he slowly sat up. "Well for starters…let's see if I can get in contact with the others."

Knowing that he would need help getting out of this room, Takashi activated the communicator that Misaki gave him and tried to get in contact with her and the others back at Poppo Time. However, the only thing that he heard through the device was static. He tried tinkering with it for a few minutes, but he could still only hear static.

"What's going on?" He said to himself. "Why can't I contact the others?"

"…Simple, my young friend. It's because I'm jamming your device's frequency."

Takashi's suddenly widen as he recognized the voice that just spoke to him. He then started gritting his teeth in anger as he quickly placed his hand upon his sword. Once he did that, the young man turned himself around and watched as Rex Goodwin appeared right before him. He was sitting in one of the chairs with his legs crossed. Goodwin was also smiling at Takashi, pleased that he was able to separate him from his friends. However, while Goodwin was happy with himself, Takashi wasn't feeling the same way.

As he body started shaking in anger, Takashi really wanted to take his sword and use it so that he could slice Goodwin's body in half. However, the young man knew that such an act would be pointless. The Rex Goodwin that was sitting right in front of him was not the real thing. It was just another Solid Vision hologram. Because of that, Takashi was able to restrain himself a little, but still felt that he could lose it at any moment.

"You have a lot of anger inside you, Takashi," Goodwin said as he examined the young man's facial expressions. "I wondered how Akiza Izinski would feel if she saw you right now."

"Leave her out of this," Takashi told the Director. "You bring her up again and I swear…you won't live long enough to see the sun rise."

Goodwin simply smiled at Takashi's statement, which only ended up infuriating the Signer even more. Soon, Takashi's anger caused his Zexal Powers to awaken. As his eyes and hair started to change color, Goodwin took a moment to examine the young man's powers. Although the Chaos that was Zexal Power contained were beginning to blind Takashi, Goodwin was impressed by the Signer's self control. It was just another indication why he was chosen to bear the mark of the Crimson Dragon's Head and lead the Signers. However, Goodwin knew that it was more to it than that, but decided to keep that to himself for now.

"Why did you send me here, Goodwin?" Takashi asked. "What's your game?"

"It's like I told before," Goodwin answered. "Instead of waiting for you to come to me, I decided to speed things up a little. That way…we have our conversation a bit sooner. After all, I have the answers to all of your questions."

Takashi's eyes tilted a little after hearing Goodwin say that he had all the answers to his questions. He then started to wonder if the Director was telling the truth or not. For all Goodwin was concerned, everything that he was saying could lie just to win Takashi over to his side, just like what he did with Alistair. However, though he couldn't quite explain it, Takashi somehow believed that Goodwin was telling him the truth. For him, the Director seemed very familiar, he though he hardly knows him. It was because of this confusion, that Takashi unconsciously deactivated his Zexal Powers and returned to his normal form.

As Takashi continued to ponder whether or not Goodwin was telling the truth or not, the Director simply looked at him in silence. He could tell how confused Takashi was, which was very understandable. Having observed him for a long time, Goodwin was well aware of the secrets that people have been keeping from Takashi, believing that he ever discovered the truth, it would ultimately changed his way of thinking. Some people believed that to be a bad thing, but not Goodwin. For him, he believed that Takashi needed to hear the truth.

"Takashi," He said as he continued to look at the boy. "If you want to know the secrets of the past…then come find me. Once you do, I promise that everything will be revealed."

With that said, Goodwin chuckled a little before disappearing from Takashi's sight. Once he was gone, Takashi took a moment to think about what Goodwin just told him. He wondered what he really knew about his past and how he came to acquire such knowledge. In the end, Takashi decided that he would confront Goodwin directly in order to discover the truth. It was the only way he could be sure and be able to put all of his doubts to rest.

However, before he took a single step forward, Takashi needed to make sure that Crow and Madas were okay. Although he wanted to hurry up and find Goodwin, his friends safety meant more to him. To that end, the young man closed his eyes and tried his best to sense Crow's Reiatsu. After a few minutes, Takashi was able to sense Crow's Reiatsu and was able to determine that he and Madas were both okay. Upon realizing that and letting out a small sigh of relief, he soon turned his attention back to his own mission.

As if right on cue, Takashi watched as a single door started to open right in front of him. Although he was first confused by this event, he soon realized that it was Goodwin's doing. It made sense, especially since the Director was practically inviting Takashi to come and meet with him. Because of that, the young man decided to take the bait and walk through the door. Once he did, he walked down the path that Goodwin wanted him to go, as he was determined to find him and end this once and for all.

While this was going on, Goodwin was busy looking at Takashi from his office. It was from here that he created his two Solid Vision holograms, which he used in order to get Takashi to follow his path. With that now settled, the Director decided that the time was now for him to meet Takashi and begin their long awaited conversation. To that end, Goodwin stood up, pulled a Duel Disk from out of his desk, and prepared to leave the room.

Just as Goodwin was getting ready to leave, Goodwin watched as Mina suddenly entered to room. Seeing her here meant that she managed to accomplish the task that he had assigned to her earlier. Because of that, Goodwin decided to stick around for a moment and hear her report.

"Director Goodwin," Mina started off. "I managed to get the two individuals that you wanted. They're currently making their way to their respective areas."

"Good work, Mina," Goodwin said with a small smile of approval. "I'm pleased to say that my trust in you has not been wasted."

"You're welcome, sir. Also…I wanted to inform you that Alistair is currently training for his eventual title defense against Takashi Nakamura. According to Lazar, he should be able to pull off that maneuver before the match begins."

Goodwin nodded his head upon hearing this news and soon took a moment to think about Alistair and his role in his plans. Since the title match between Takashi and Goodwin would be critical in his attempt to bring forth the Crimson Dragon, Goodwin needed his Duel King to be in top form. The only problem with his plan is that, as of this moment, Takashi way stronger than Alistair, due to him achieving the power of Zexal. Since Alistair didn't have the potential to achieve that same level of power, Goodwin had to do the next best thing.

To that end, the Director used Alistair's overwhelming hatred of Takashi in an attempt for the Duel King to abuse his inner Chaos in order to obtain more power. By doing so, Alistair would obtain the strength needed to at least rival Takashi's skills, so that Goodwin's plan could continue without any problems. Now, with Mina telling him that Alistair is close to perfecting a new move, Goodwin was pleased that everything was going to way that he wanted it too.

"Excellent," He said to himself. "Mina…I want you take care of everything else over here. As for me, I'm going to have a talk with one of our honored guests. I am not to be disturbed, no matter what. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," Mina said as she nodded her head towards her boss. "I understand and will follow your orders without fail."

Once their conversation was over, Goodwin and Mina went their separate ways so that both of them could get back for work. As soon as she was alone, Mina walked over towards Goodwin's desk and proceeded to sit down before typing on his computer. After about a minute, the young woman pulled up a video screen which contained the images of both Crow and Madas. Once she was able to determine that they were still in the same location, Mina then pulled up another document, intending to record everything that she witnesses tonight.

As for Goodwin, the Director of Sector Security was currently making his way towards the location that he was making Takashi go to. He had already decided where he wanted them to go and believed that would be the best place for them to have their talk. After all, it was the place that connected the both of them to Takashi's father, Minato. It's because of Minato that both Takashi and Goodwin are here and the director believed that it was the will of Takashi's father that everything has transpired this way.

"The time is now, Minato," Goodwin thought as he continued on his way. "The time is now for your son…to finally realize the truth."

* * *

><p>"C'mon…open up!"<p>

Back in the main entrance section of the Sector Security Building, Crow and Madas were busy pounding the trap door the Takashi fell through, trying their best to open it up so that they could get to their friend. However, despite their best efforts, neither of them was able to get the door open. Even with the help of Crow's Signer Powers, which he only managed to use by the sheer force of his will, proved fruitless. Eventually, after spending about an hour trying to open it, both boys gave up and pondered what to do next.

As they did that, Lilly and the others back at Poppo Time were trying to do the same thing. Since they weren't there with their friends, the only thing that the four of them could do was talk to them with their communicators. However, when Takashi went down the trap door, the group lost contact with him and haven't been able to reestablish contact with him. Misaki tried her best to strengthen the signal, but it proved ineffective. As a result, the young woman didn't know what to do and just kept working, hoping that she would come up with something eventually.

While Misaki continued to work, Lilly decided to step up and take command of their mission while Takashi was mission. She tried to keep things together, but she found it to be very difficult, given the emotional state of everyone around her. Madas and Crow were upset, Misaki was too absorbed with her work, and both Toru and Akiza were very concerned with Takashi. This was especially true for the later, due to the romantic feelings that she has for him. Eventually, Lilly decided to check up on things on Crow's side in order to better access the situation.

"Talk to me guys," She said over her communicator. "What the hell is going on over there?"

"We…we don't know," Madas replied. "It's like this door is magnetically sealed. We can't get opened!"

Madas took a moment to look back at the Trap Door and tried to figure out how it was opened and why it can't reopen. Like he told Lilly, the young man believed that the door was magnetically sealed, with something underneath it causing the door to stay glued to the ground. However, the more he took the time to think about it, the more he started to believe that his theory didn't make much sense.

As she listened to his theory, Lilly started to believe the same thing. Although she wasn't as intelligent as Misaki, Lilly was very smart in her own right. She was well aware that something that's magnetic can't lose its magnetism that easily. There had to be something else to it, something that they weren't noticing. After some time, Lilly still couldn't come up with any real ideas. However, one question did pop up in her mind, one that she was wondering about ever since Takashi first fell through that trap door.

"Goodwin said that he and Takashi were going to talk," She said. "That means that he knows something about Takashi, or something related to him, that even he doesn't know about. The question is…what does Goodwin know?"

"…He knows the secrets of Takashi's past and his true destiny as a Signer,"

Lilly's eyes suddenly widen from shock as she recognized the voice that just answered her question. She then turned her head and saw that Enoch was standing near the door of her room. His appearance surprised her immensely, along with everyone else that was in the room and she wondered what he was doing here. However, before she could ask him that, Enoch simply walked into the room and looked at everyone present.

As he walked, Enoch gave everyone a disappointing look of disapproval. Just seeing them do what they were doing only proved that Sona was right and that Takashi did do the exact opposite of what he was told not to do. This irritated him greatly, but what bothered him even more was that Takashi had the audacity to get everyone else involved as well. His actions were beyond recklessness, it was straight up foolish.

While Enoch continued to walk around, Akiza stared at him a little and could tell right away that he was upset. She didn't know what to say to him, since she knew that everything that she did say would saw like an excuse to him. However, the young woman knew that she had to say something. Even if it didn't turn out well, Akiza believed that she could convince Enoch to somehow help them, given their past relationship.

"Uh…Enoch," She started off.

"Not now Akiza!" Enoch interrupted. He then turned his attention to Lilly and the others. "I can't believe what I'm seeing here. Why would all of you do something so foolish?! Don't you realize what you're doing?!"

"Of course we do," Lilly answered. "We're trying to stop Goodwin before he could do anymore harm. We won't let what happened to Kuromu, happen again!"

Upon hearing Lilly say that, Enoch's anger nearly caused him to punch Misaki's computer, but he managed to control himself at the last second. He then walked towards the Signer and stared right in the eyes. However, despite his intimidating expression, Lilly didn't back down at all. She wasn't afraid of Enoch and felt, if the situation required her to do so, that she could take him in a fight. Fortunately, before things could get that far, Akiza stepped in between the two of them.

"Stop it, Enoch," She requested. "I know you upset…by you have to understand…"

"I understand plenty, Akiza," Enoch answered, turning his anger towards her. "All of you decided that you wanted to play the hero…just like Takashi does. You figured that it would be easy to break into the Sector Security building, which is practically Goodwin's fortress, and get out in one piece. But…I guess your plan didn't turn out the way you wanted too!"

Enoch knew that he was being harsh on Akiza, but it was only because he cared about her. He truly believed what she and her friends were doing was insane. Not only have they put themselves at risk, but they also put the entire plan that Alex has been putting together in jeopardy. All Enoch wanted to do right now was stopping this whole operation and try and find a way to rescue the others at the Security building. However, before he could do that, something happened to Enoch. Akiza slapped him.

Being caught completely off guard, Enoch was sent reeling from the force of Akiza's slap. He then slowly turned his attention towards her and watched as the young woman started shaking her hand a little, indicating that she hurt herself when she hit him. Once she recovered, Akiza walked over towards Enoch and glared at him with a large amount of intensity.

"Listen to me," She told him. "I understand that you're angry. I understand that you want us to stop. And I understand that what we're doing doesn't seem to make a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things. However, there's something that you need to understand, Enoch. Unlike you and Alex…Takashi isn't going to wait around for something bad to happen! He knows what it's like when that happens and knows very well what the results are. That's why he did what he did and that's why were helping him! I'm sorry, Enoch…but we're going to continue our mission and you're not going to get in our way. But…we could use your help."

After Akiza finished her speech, Lilly and the others were quite surprised by what she just said and who she said it too. This was especially true for Lilly, who still remembers how introverted Akiza was when she first met her. This defiant stand only proved how far she's come to where she previously was. That made Lilly very happy and she soon found herself standing right next to Akiza in agreement. Once she did that, Toru and Misaki soon followed.

As he watched all four of them confront him, Enoch simply remained silent. Although he still believed that what they were doing was wrong, the Psychic Duelist just couldn't bring himself to disagree with them anymore. Perhaps it was their strong resolve or because of his own weakness. No matter what the case was, Enoch couldn't argue with them as he knew that anymore words would be pointless. As a result, Enoch did the only thing he could do.

"Alright…how can I help?"

Upon hearing him say that he'll help, Akiza let out a big smile and proceeded to give Enoch a big hug. This caused him to blush very deeply since he still had feelings for her, despite the fact the both of them decided to just stay friends. Once Akiza broke the hug, the others soon came in and thanked Enoch for his help. They believed that with him on board, they could finally turn things around and get back to work. With that, all of them prepared themselves to do just that.

However, before they did anything, Enoch discreetly placed his hands behind his back for a moment before pulling them out in front again. Unbeknownst to the others, this act allowed the Psychic Duelist to activate a device that he placed beneath his belt. The device was a transmitter, which he could use to contact either Alex or Sona in the case something didn't go as planned. Since he couldn't bring himself to stop the group, Enoch at least wanted to inform Alex about what was going on. That way, he could act before it was too late.

While Enoch prepared to help Akiza and her friends, Alex and Sona were busy waiting in the former's underground hideout for his reply. Eventually, Sona's cell phone started to beep, indicating to her that she just got a message from him. Grabbing it from her pocket, the young woman looked at her phone and read the message. As she did so however, Sona's expression quickly changed to a sour look.

"God damn it," She said under her teeth. "This is not good."

Alex watched Sona from a far and could tell right away that something was wrong. As a result, the Dragunity Knight decided that he needed to prepare himself and soon made his way over towards his Duel Runner. He then made sure that everything was in working order before asking his childhood friend what was wrong.

"Tell what happened?" He asked.

"I just got a message from Enoch," Sona replied as she put her phone away and walked towards him. "From what I could tell…Takashi is doing something pretty stupid. My guess is that he left to confront Goodwin."

"I see….That does sound like him."

Alex revved his Duel Runner a couple of times as he thought about Takashi for a moment. Like Sona implied a couple of hours ago, both he and Takashi are very similar. When it comes to authority, both of them don't like being told what to do and will usually do the exact opposite of what others want them to do. The only difference between them is that while Takashi does it out of defiance, Alex does it because he wise and knows when his way is right. It's because of that difference that Alex knew that he had to stop Takashi, before it was too late.

To that end, Alex quickly finished the adjustments to his Duel Runner and soon got on it. Once he did that, Sona soon followed suit. After that, Alex started up his Runner and quickly left his underground hideout. He then made his way over the main Sector Security building, knowing that was where Takashi was. As he made his way over there, he and Sona had a quick conversation.

"What's the plan?" Sona asked. "You know that it's not going to be simple to just go in there and get Takashi."

"I'm well aware of that," Alex replied as he continued to drive around the city. "However, we don't have a choice. We need to get Takashi out of there before Goodwin meets up with him!"

Sona noticed the slow change in attitude that Alex was showing on his face. Whenever Takashi and Goodwin are mentioned, especially in the same sentence, the Dragunity Knight gets very frustrated. She recalled the conversation she had with him earlier and how Alex believes that he's protecting Takashi from keeping his past away from him. That statement confused her a little as she didn't quite understand how that is. Because of that, Sona decided to press her friend for a clearer answer.

"Alex," She started off. "What did you mean when you said that you're protecting Takashi by keeping his past from him? I mean, doesn't he have the right to know."

"…Of course he does," Alex said as he firmly gripped the handles of his Duel Runner. "I wanted to tell him for a while, especially when we started training him. It's just that…"

"It's just what?" Sona inquired.

"It's just that…if Takashi ever discovers the truth now, I doubt he would take it well. It will hurt him…and I don't want that. I gave my word that I would always protect him and that's what I'm going to do. He may hate me for it…but I'm willing that take the hatred, if it means keeping him safe."

With that said, Alex stopped talking and focused all of his attention on getting to the Security Building as fast as he could. While he did that, Sona simply looked at him with a mixed expression on her face. The young woman could tell that there was still more to it than that. However, since she didn't know everything and didn't want to intrude anymore than she already has, Sona decided to keep quiet. For right, all that matter was getting Takashi away from Goodwin. As long as they did that…then nothing else mattered.

Meanwhile, back at the Sector Security building, both Crow and Madas were listening to Enoch as he talked to them through Misaki's communicator. As they did, Crow attempted the trap door one last time. Since he wasn't as skilled in the use of his Signer Powers like Takashi was, the Blackwing Duelist did what he could and was able to unconsciously bring forth the black aura that his Signer Mark provided. However, despite his increased strength, Crow couldn't get the door opened. As a result, he was reluctantly forced to give up.

"Damn it," He said, cursing himself. "I can't believe I let that happen. I'm so stupid!"

Blaming himself for what happened to his friend, Crow placed his hand upon his face and started squeezing it in frustration. As he squeezed harder, he started to flashback to when Takashi first fell down the trap door. He was right there when it happened, but he just couldn't do anything for him. To make matters worse, Takashi pushed him out of the way, since he didn't want both him and Madas to suffer the same fate. Crow didn't like that Takashi did that. When it comes to him and his friends, Crow would rather be captured himself instead of having others take his place. Because of that, he just started to feel worse and continued to blame himself for what happened to Takashi.

While this was going on, Madas was busy talking to the others while others looking at Crow. He also felt the same way that his friend did, but Madas was also aware that Takashi did what he did because it was his choice. He wouldn't have done that if it was any reason other than that. It's because of what Takashi did and what he said to them before he fell through the trap door that Madas decided to continue to mission. He was going to make sure that their quest was successfully. It's what Takashi would've wanted them to do.

"Alright guys," He said to them over his communicator. "What should we do?"

"…Well, according what the others told me," Enoch replied. "The two of you should head down. That's where the main computer is located. You can use it to get the incriminating information that you're looking for. Also…if you keep going down, you might be able to find Takashi. After all, you did say that he went down a trap door."

"Okay…well get right on that,"

Now aware about what he had to do, Madas nodded his head a little and soon looked around the main entrance for some type of elevator or a set of stairs. After about two minutes of looking around, the young man was able to find an elevator. After making sure that it was in working order and that it would take him where he needed to go, Madas quickly made his way over towards Crow.

"C'mon man," He said as he got him off the floor. "We need to keep moving. I know Takashi would want to continue the mission."

Crow took a moment to think about what Madas just said to him while also thinking about what Takashi said when he fell down the trap door. At the very instant Takashi fell down the hole, the young man told both Crow and Madas that the rest was up to them and that he'll take care of Goodwin. Although his problem meant that his friends would make things harder for his friends, Takashi had enough faith in them that they could keep going.

It's because of the faith that Takashi had in him that Crow managed to snap of his depression. He soon got up before looking down at the trap door again. He then remembered what Takashi said to him and decided to follow through with it. As a result, Crow turned his attention towards Alex and smiled.

"Alright," He said. "Let's get going."

With that said, the two boys quickly made their way towards the elevator. Once they were inside, Crow contacted Enoch and asked him which floor they should head too. When Enoch informed him that they should head to the 4th basement level, Crow nodded his head and proceeded to press the button that said B4. Once he did that, both he and Madas soon felt themselves heading down.

As the continuing down the elevator, Crow glanced over towards Madas for a second and noticed that he looked somewhat excited. Seeing that expression confused the Blackwing Duelist a little, especially since Madas was doing something that could potentially cost him his life. After spending some time thinking about it, the Blackwing Duelist decided to just ask his friend the question that's been on his mind.

"Hey Madas," He said.

"Huh?" Madas responded, just realizing that Crow was talking to him. "What is it, man?"

"Why did you decide to come with us on this mission? I mean, don't you know how dangerous this is going to be? There's a good chance that you might get hurt."

Upon listening to Crow's question, Madas was slightly surprised that he would ask him something like that. As a result, it took him a few moments to come up with a reasonable answer. However, the more he thought about his answer, the more Madas believed that it sounded stupid. As a result, the young man decided to just come out with it and tell Crow the real reason why he decided to help out.

"I fully aware of the risks," He started off. "However…I'm doing this because you and Takashi are my friends. I don't think there's any other reason better than that."

"…Alright," Crow said, accepting his friends answer with a slight nod. "That's all I wanted to know."

Crow truly did accept the answer that Madas gave him. Although the Galaxy-Eyes user lacks powers like him and the result of his friends, Crow believed that Madas possessed the same qualities that any of the Signers have. He also believed that if things turned out differently, Madas would've become a great Signer in his own right. It's because of that belief that Crow's resolve strengthened and soon found himself becoming even stronger than ever.

Shortly after that, the elevator stopped just as it reached section B4. Once the doors opened and the two boys walked out, both Crow and Madas took a moment to examine their surroundings. From what they could tell, B4 was just a single hallway that just kept going in one direction. Just seeing this confused the two of them a little, causing them to wonder whether or not they went the right way.

"Hey Enoch," Crow called over his communicator. "Is this the place? All I'm seeing is just one massive hallway."

"…It's the place," Enoch confirmed. "Just go down that hallway. It's a bit of a walk, but you should reach the main computer room eventually."

"Alright then…we'll head over there."

Once he received the confirmation from Enoch, Crow led Madas down the hallway so that they could reach their destination. As they walked, Crow gently placed his hand upon his pocket in order to determine that the flash drive that Misaki gave him was still there. Upon feeling it, the Blackwing Duelist nodded his head and continued on his way.

While Crow and Madas continued their journey, the others back at Poppo Time were busy doing their own thing. While Enoch, Lilly, Toru, and Akiza were busy tracking the boys movements from a laptop, Misaki was using the computer that she brought into Lilly's room in order download information from the Sector Security database. The young woman believed that if she dug deep enough, she would find something that would allow her to find Takashi or, at the very least, something that could lead her to him. However, despite her best efforts, Misaki couldn't find anything.

Realizing that she couldn't do things her usual way, Misaki decided to take a more creative approach. Having learned how to hack systems from her late father, Misaki was told that every computer system has a back door if you look hard enough. It took some time, but she managed to enter a secure area that she didn't notice earlier. After analyzing the data that was contained within, Misaki discovered something very interesting.

"Well, well…" She said to herself. "Look at what we have here."

"Huh…What is it?" Toru wondered.

After hearing that Misaki found something intriguing, Toru made his way over towards her and looked at the information that she pulled up. Upon looking at it, the Scrap Duelist saw that Sector Security had classified information about all of the Signers. It revealed how old they were, what type of decks do they use and what their powers are. They even had background information detailing about their childhoods.

Toru was shocked upon seeing this and realized that Sector Security has been spying on his friends longer than they initially thought. This worried him greatly and caused him to wonder what they were going to do about it. However, just as he thought about that, Toru watched as Misaki took out another flash drive that she had on her and used it to store the data she was looking at. She then went on to give the flash drive to Toru.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

"After what's been happening so far, I'm not taking anything to chance," Misaki explained. "I'm going to release a computer virus that will destroy this section of the mainframe. Although I'm pretty sure that Goodwin's flunkies will have it up in about a day, we can at least do some damage. After all, computer viruses will always leave some residual damage onto a computer system, even if the main virus is destroyed."

Once she finished her explanation, Misaki uploaded her virus and watched as all the data that contained information about her and her friends were deleted. After that happened, the young woman took her flash drive back and used it to examine the information that was now contained within it. Although she believed that Goodwin wouldn't put anything that involved his plans on it, Misaki believed that she could use it in order to get the upper hand on him.

While she continued to do that, Enoch and the others were busy guiding Crow and Madas through the hallway that they were in. As they watched them, they noticed that a single door was beginning to block their path. Enoch was surprised when he saw that, since he snuck down there before and there was no such door. As a result, he contacted the others in order to confirm the existence of such a door.

"Guys," He said over his communicator. "Do you see anything in front of you?"

"…Yeah," Crow confirmed. "And…I sense something too."

Although he skills were rather lacking, Crow was able to sense a powerful Reiatsu coming from the inside the door that was right in front of him. The Reiatsu wasn't as strong as Kuromu's, but it surely wasn't weak. This was proven when the young man saw his Signer Mark glowing brightly, indicating to him that there's danger coming from the other side of that door.

"So…what now?" He asked. "Something tells me that we have to walk into that room if we want to continue."

"…Pretty much," Enoch replied. "According from the specs, the main computer still lies in that path. You two have to keep moving forward."

Crow nodded his head slightly upon hearing this information. He then slowly made his way over towards the door, watching as his Signer Mark started glowing brighter and brighter with each step. Once he reached the doorknob, the Blackwing Duelist stopped just as he was about to touch it. A part of him felt that he should keep the door closed, since he knew that there was danger on the other side. However, he also knew that he couldn't continue his mission if he didn't enter. There were only two choices and he could only choose one. As a result Crow knew what he had to do and proceeded to open the door.

Upon walking inside, both Crow and Madas saw nothing but darkness. However, as the doors closed behind them, both of them watched as the lights instantly cut on and that there was someone else in the room with them. This individual was a young man with a fairly muscular build. He had red hair, green eyes, and was wearing a black shirt with blue jeans. The boys also saw that this person was also wielding a red Duel Disk, indicating to them that he was here for a fight.

"It's about time," The person said to the both of them. "I was wondering when both of you would get here."

"…Who are you?" Crow asked.

"My name is Shirou. I'm a Psychic Duelist contacted by Director Rex Goodwin and job is to make sure that you don't leave this room."

Crow stared down at this individual that was introducing himself to him and Madas and wondered what was going on here. If he truly meant what he said then he would've brought a gun or some type of weapon instead of his Duel Disk. Crow felt something off about this, but couldn't find any proof that he could actually use other than Goodwin brought him here. He was about to respond again in the hope of dragging the conversation enough to find something out, but Madas jumped in before he had the chance to do so.

"I don't know who you are and I don't give a f**k!" Madas declared. "But you're not going to get in our way!"

Madas didn't know who this Shirou person was and he truly didn't care. He wasn't going to stand here and let somebody that he doesn't even know threaten him and his friends. To that end, Madas dashed towards Shirou, preparing himself to punch him the Psychic Duelist right in the face. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

Just as Madas was about to punch him, Shirou released a powerful blast of Psychic energy from his body. The force from the blast created a shockwave that sent the Galaxy-Eyes user flying back where he came from. Fortunately for him though, Crow was there and was able to catch Madas before he hit the wall. Once he did that, the Blackwing Duelist stepped forward just as his Signer Mark started glowing brightly.

"Sorry Madas," He said as he placed his Duel Disk on his arm. "But you'll have to let me handle this."

Madas watched as Crow continued to make his way towards Shirou. As he watched him, the young man watched as his friend's Signer Mark started glowing even brighter. Eventually, it reached the point that the glow started light up a section of the room. Upon seeing that, as well as realizing that he wouldn't be much help in the situation, Madas reluctantly decided to leave things to Crow.

"…Alright," He replied. "But make sure you kick his ass!"

"Don't worry," Crow responded. "I intend too."

Once that was said, Crow put his full attention towards Shirou and proceeded to activate his Duel Disk. Once he did that, the Psychic Duelist soon did the same thing. Both them then prepared themselves to compete in the Duel of their lives. Unbeknownst to them though, someone else was watching the Duel from afar. That person was Mina Simington, who was under orders by Director Rex Goodwin to record the Duel and analyze any changes to Crow's abilities; for better or for worse.

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Crow: 4000 LP**

**Shirou: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first," Crow said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

Crow quickly drew the top card of his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, the Blackwing Duelist took a moment to examine all 6 of his cards, pondering which move he should make. Since he had no idea what kind of deck Shirou likes to employ, he needed to be careful and think strategically before doing anything. As soon as he made his decision, Crow placed a card face-down on his Monster Card Zone.

"To start things off, I'm summoning a monster face-down in Defense Mode!"

After he said that, Crow watched as a face-down card appeared horizontally onto his side of the field. Once that happened, he continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as another card appeared onto his field, right behind his first face-down card.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

Once Crow ended his turn, he watched carefully as Shirou prepared to begin his. As he did that, Lilly and the others back at Poppo Time working as fast as they could in order to get something up that would allow them to watch the Duel that was taking place. After some time, Misaki was able to hack into one of the room's security cameras and projected a live feed that would allow her and the others to observe the Duel from her computer. As soon as she did that and the others were watching along with her, Shirou conducted his turn.

"Let's begin," He said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Shirou quickly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand without even taking the time to look at it. He then went on to take one of the cards that was in his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell: Card: Graceful Charity. With it, I can draw 3 more cards from my deck at the cost of discarding 2 cards to the Graveyard."

Acting swiftly, Shirou drew 3 more cards from his deck before placing 2 cards from his hand to the Graveyard. Once he did that, the Psychic Duelist then continued on with his turn by taking one of the cards that he just drew and placed it upon his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. Upon doing that, Shirou watched as a bright flash of light shined across his side of the field.

"Now…since you have a monster out on the field while I do not, I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand. Appear now, Cyber Dragon!"

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 2100 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

At the very instantly that Shirou declared the name of his monster, Crow watched as a powerful Cyber Dragon appeared out onto the field. He then braced himself as he knew that it wouldn't be long for this monster attacked his face-down monster. However, before that happened, the Blackwing Duelist watched as Shirou continued his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I now activate the Spell/Card: Monster Reborn!" Shirou stated. "This card's power allows me to Special Summon a monster from either of our Graveyards. The monster I choose…is another Cyber Dragon!"

As another Cyber Dragon materialized onto Shirou's side of the field, Crow's eyes widen as he realized what his opponent just accomplished this turn. By playing Graceful Charity, he was able to send one of his Cyber Dragons to the Graveyard while also being able to obtain the second. He then used the second Cyber Dragon's Special Ability to bring it out onto the field before using Monster Reborn to Special Summon the second. It was a brilliant strategy and it allowed Crow to realize that Shirou wasn't playing around.

"I now have my first Cyber Dragon attack your face-down monster!" Shirou declared.

Shirou's first Cyber Dragon complied with his instructions and proceeded to fire a blast of concentrated energy towards Crow's face-down monster. When the attack landed, the force that it created was so great that it forced the Blackwing Duelist to brace himself so that he wouldn't be blown away from the shockwave. When the others saw this from the computer screen, they realized that Crow's opponent truly was a Psychic Duelist.

Once the smoke cleared and his field was completely empty, Crow watched as Shirou prepared himself to have his second Cyber Dragon to attack his Life Points directly. Knowing what was to come, Crow gently placed his hand upon one of the cards that was in his hands, preparing himself to play it once the attack came.

"Now my second Cyber Dragon," Shirou addressed. "Attack Crow Hogan's Life Points directly!"

Upon hearing its order, the second Cyber Dragon started building up energy from within its body. Once it gathered up enough power, the Machine-Type monster launched its attack towards Crow. It was at that moment that the Signer placed the card he was holding onto this Duel Disk.

"Not so fast!" He shouted. "I activate the Special Ability of Blackwing – Ghibl the Searing Wind! Since I'm about to attacked directly, I can Special Summon Ghibl from my hand. I think I'll place it in Defense Mode!"

**Blackwing – Ghibl the Searing Wind: ATK 0 DEF 1600 LVL 3**

When Crow placed his card onto this Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone, the young man watched as his Blackwing appeared before him in a bright flash of light. The Winged Beast-Type Monster then took a defensive position so that it could protect its master from Shirou's next attack. Also, since Crow summoned a monster during the Battle Phase, a Replay now occurs and Shirou has to choose whether or not he wants his Cyber Dragon to continue its attack.

"Don't let that weakling stop you!" Shirou responded. "Cyber Dragon, destroy Blackwing – Ghibl the Searing Wind!"

With its attention now focused on Crow's new monster instead of Crow himself, Cyber Dragon launched its attack towards Ghibl the Searing Wind. When the attack connected and his monster was destroyed, Crow once again braced himself as the shockwave that the resulting explosion caused was extremely powerful. Once the smoke from the blast cleared away, Crow responded by activating the face-down card that he set on his previous turn.

"Thanks for that," He said with a slight smile on his face. "Now I can activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted! With its power, I can now Special Summon my Ghibl the Searing Wind back onto the field!"

A bright flash of light shined across Crow's side of the field as he watched his Blackwing return to his field. Once that happened, the Blackwing Duelist then watched as Shirou continued on with his turn. After a few moments, he watched as the Psychic Duelist took a card from his hand and inserted it into Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as a face-down card materialized behind both of Shirou's Cyber Dragons.

"I set one card face-down," Shirou said. "I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again," Crow replied. "Draw!"

Upon drawing another card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Crow wondered what his next plan of attack should be. He was facing down two monsters with over 2000 Attack Points respectively. Even if he managed to destroy one of them, Crow had a pretty good feeling that Shirou would use the second one to cause him problems on his next turn. He had to take care of both dragons now before things got out of hand. To that end, the young looked at his hand and pondered his options.

As he did that, Lilly and the others were doing the same thing while they watched from Misaki's computer. Since she knew him the longest, Lilly had a pretty good idea what Crow should do, given the cards that he currently has in his hand. She then waited to see if he'll conduct the move that she was currently thinking about and, much to her joy, that turned out to be the case.

"Since I have a Blackwing Monster on my field, I can Special Summon this Tuner Monster directly from my hand!" Crow said as he placed a card onto his Monster Card Zone. "Appear now, Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

**Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind: ATK 1300 DEF 400 LVL 3**

Like before, another flash of light covered Crow's side of the field as his Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind appeared before him. Once it was out, the young man continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, a bright aura started covering Gale's body.

"Next, I equip Gale the Whirlwind with the Spell Card: Synchro Boost!" He explained. "With it, not only does my Blackwing gain 500 extra Attack Points, but its Level also increases by 1!"

**Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind: ATK 1800 LVL 4**

Once the aura that was covering Gale's body started to disappear, Crow took a moment to look at his hand and made sure that everything was going according to his plan. As soon as he was able to confirm that was just the case, the Blackwing Duelist firmly pointed its finger out towards one of Shirou's Cyber Dragons.

"Now I activate Gale's Special Ability! Once per turn, Gale can cut the Attack and Defense of one of your monsters in half. I think I'll have it weaken the Cyber Dragon that's on your left!"

As soon as Crow said that, Gale the Whirlwind started flapping its wings as fast as it could. This act created a powerful windstorm, which completely covered the Cyber Dragon that Crow wanted to hit. After about a moment, the wind subsided and both Crow and Shirou looked on as the latter's Cyber Dragon looked far less menacing than it did before.

**Cyber Dragon: ATK 1050 DEF 800**

"Alright," Crow said as he smirked a little. "Now with that taken care of, it's now time for my Level 3 Blackwing – Ghibl the Searing Wind with my Level 4 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

Both of Crow's Blackwings nodded their heads as their master just gave them their instructions. They soon flew up high into the air and prepared themselves to begin the process for a Synchro Summoning. As soon as they were done, a powerful flash of light covered the entire area. As the light continues to shine, Crow went on to grab a card from his Extra Deck and proceeded to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Synchro Summon! Appear now, the ultimate warrior of the sky, Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe!"

**Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe: ATK 2600 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

As the flash of light that was covering his field started to fade away, everyone who was observing the Duel looked on as Crow's Blackwing Tamer appeared before him. This was the first time since Crow's Duels in the Fortune Cup Qualifiers that he brought out Hawk Joe, so they knew that he meant business. However, that didn't mean that he was done yet and Crow proved that by grabbing another card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I now activate Hawk Joe's Special Ability!" He stated. "Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Blackwing monster from my hand! Take flight, Blackwing – Elphin the Raven!"

**Blackwing – Elphin the Raven: ATK 2200 DEF 1200 LVL 6**

Another bright flash of light covered Crow's side of the field for a few seconds as his Blackwing – Elphin the Raven appeared and proceeded to stand beside his Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe. As the two monsters prepared themselves for battle, Madas looked on with an exciting look on his face. Crow had not only weakened one of his opponent's monsters, but also managed to bring out two powerful monsters of his own with both of them having over 2000 Attack Points. Just seeing that made Madas excited and the Galaxy-Eyes user was proud to have such a powerful Duelist as his rival.

"Let's go," Crow said as he positioned himself. "Blackwing – Elphin the Raven…attack the fully powered Cyber Dragon!"

Elphin nodded its head in compliance before quickly making its way towards the Cyber Dragon that Crow wanted it to deal with. Once it reached its target, Elphin the Raven started clawing at the Cyber Dragon with its powerful talons. Although Shirou's monster tried its best to fend itself, the mechanical beast simply wasn't strong enough and soon self-destructed due to the damage that it sustained.

**Shirou: 3900 LP**

"Good work, Elphin!" Crow congratulated. "Now it's your turn, Hawk Joe. Go and attack the weakened Cyber Dragon…Blackwing Barrage!"

As Elphin the Raven returned to Crow's side, Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe made its way over to Shirou's side of the field in order to attack his other Cyber Dragon. Since the monster was already weakened due to the effect of Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, it didn't take Hawk Joe long to destroy it with a powerful barrage of black feathers, resulting in another explosion.

**Shirou: 2350 LP**

While smoke continued to cover Shirou's field, Crow had a huge smile on his face just as Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe returned to his side of the field. Although he was dealing with two powerful monsters just one turn ago, the Blackwing Duelist managed to use his incredible skills to turn things around in a heartbeat. Although his move cost him most of the cards that was in his hand, Crow believed that he had enough of advantage to maintain his lead throughout the entire match. As a result of his confidence, the young man continued to smile.

As for his friends back at Poppo Time, all of them felt exactly the same way that he did. This move has made them all aware that Crow's skills as a Duelist have improved significantly since the Fortune Cup ended. If he had this level of skill back when he faced Kuromu, then maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way that they had. It's because of this that all of them felt that it wouldn't be too much longer until Crow defeated Shirou so that he and Madas could continue on their way.

"I hope you liked that because there's plenty where that came from in the future!" Crow stated to his opponent. "But for now, I think I'll end my turn."

"…Good. Now I can stop holding back."

Crow's eyes suddenly widened from shock as he listened to what Shirou just said to him. He then braced himself as he felt a powerful Reiatsu coming from him, one so strong that it blew away the smoke cloud that was covering his field. When Crow saw that, the young man looked on and watched as Shirou's body was slowly being covered by a red aura. Although he wasn't sure what that aura meant, he believed that it was Shirou releasing the full extent of his powers. Because of that, Crow tensed up and prepared himself for what was to come.

"It's my turn," Shirou said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

After drawing a card from his deck, Shirou quickly placed it into his hand before turning his attention towards both of Crow's Blackwing monsters. Although he didn't consider Crow himself to be much of a challenge, the fact remained that his monsters were no joke. As a result, the Psychic Duelist decided to honor the beasts by bringing out his ultimate monster. However, before he could do so, Shirou needed to gather the pieces needed to bring it out. To that end, he took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Pot of Greed! With it, I can draw 2 cards my deck!"

Following along with the instructions of his Spell, Shirou swiftly drew two cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. As Crow saw that, the Blackwing Duelist wondered what cards did Shirou draw and how he would use them, if he happened to do so. However, before he could ponder that any further, Crow watched as Shirou took another card from his hand and also inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now…I activate another Spell: Card Destruction!"

"You what?!" Crow said in disbelief. "But…if you use that card…then…"

"I'm well aware of the effects, Crow Hogan," Shirou interrupted. "When Card Destruction is activated…both Duelists must discard their entire hand to the Graveyard and then draw the same number of cards that they just threw away."

Crow couldn't believe what he was seeing. He believed that the reason Shirou first played Pot of Greed was so that he could use the cards that he just drew in order to launch a comeback. However, that wasn't the case at all. Instead, Shirou discarded the two cards, along with the rest of his hand with even a second thought. To make matters worse, Crow had to do the same thing since Card Destruction applies to both Duelists. Once they did that, the two of them quickly drew cards equal to the ones that they just discarded.

As Crow continue to draw cards, Shirou had just finished doing to the same thing. Although his opponent wasn't aware of it, all of Shirou's moves so far were all leading up to this moment. The Psychic believed that once he completed this move, then there was nothing Crow could do to stop him. With that in mind, Shirou went on to press a button on his Duel Disk.

"Now…this is where the fun begins," He said. "I activate the Trap Card: Chimeratech Factory! With this card, I can banish Machine-Type monsters in my Graveyard in order to Fusion Summon a Chimeratech Fusion Monster!"

Once he finished explaining the effect of his Trap Card, Shirou went on to pull 5 cards from his Graveyard. As soon as he did that, everyone witnessed as a massive cyclone of metal was beginning to manifest on the Duel Field. Both Crow and Madas then looked on as the metal that was within the cyclone started building together, forming something very large and very powerful. Once it reached a certain point, Shirou pulled a card from his Extra Deck and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Witness the beginning to your end, Crow Hogan. I Fusion Summon: Chimeratech Overdragon!"

**Chimeratech Overdragon: ATK ? DEF ? LVL 9**

As the cyclone started to die down, Crow looked on in horror as Chimeratech Overdraon revealed itself to him. The Machine-Type Fusion Monster had the appearance of a giant metal dragon with 5 heads, one for each the monsters that was used in its summoning. Although he's seen his fair share of powerful monsters before, Crow felt that this one made the list of the few monsters that almost made him wet his pants. He soon prepared himself as Shirou got ready to continue his move.

"I activate Chimeratech Overdragon's Special Ability," He said. "For every monster that's used in its summoning, it gains 800 Attack and Defense Points. I used 5 monsters to summon it, which means Chimeratech Overdragon gains 4000 Attack and Defense Points!"

**Chimeratech Overdragon: ATK 4000 DEF 4000**

All five of Overdragon's heads started roaring at the same time as the monster received an incredible 4000 point power up. Once that was done, the beast turned its attention towards Crow's Blackwings and pondered with ones it should destroy first. Either one of them would be easy for it take out, but Overdragon knew that it wasn't it decision to make, it was Shirou's.

"Go Overdragon, attack his Blackwing – Elphin the Raven…Burning Dragon Blast!"

Once its target was selected, Overdragon turned each of its heads towards Crow's Blackwing – Elphin the Raven. It then fired a powerful blast of concentrated energy towards it, destroying the Blackwing in an instant. Not only that, but because of Shirou's Psychic Powers, the force of the blast created a powerful shockwave that caused Crow to be sent flying into a wall.

**Crow: 2200 LP**

As all of his friends look on with worry, Crow struggled to get back up to his feet. Unfortunately, the young man found that extremely difficult to do, due to the fact that the shockwave from Overdragon's attack bruised his entire body. By the time Crow finally did get back up, Shirou was already prepared to knock him back down again.

"You should've stayed down, you dog!" He told him. "I activate Chimeratech Overdragon's second Special Ability! Each turn, Overdragon can attack your monsters equal to the number of cards used in its summoning. In other words, since you have another monster on the field, my dragon can attack it…like right now!"

At the very instant Shirou finished explaining that, Chimeratech Overdragon turned its attention towards Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe. It then fired another powerful blast at the monster, destroying it so completely that not even its atoms remained. Also, like before, the shockwave from Overdragon's attack once again knocked Crow back, dealing him even more damage this time.

**Crow: 800 LP**

By the time the attack came to an end, Crow was lying on the floor, struggling desperately to keep himself from passing out. As Madas made his way over to him, Shirou looked at the Signer with a disappointing look on his face. He expected a far better challenge than this, especially since his opponent was one of the Signers that Goodwin talked about so highly. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all and now Shirou was on the verge of boredom.

"Man, what a disappointment," He said to himself.

"…What was that?!" Madas shouted, hearing what Shirou just said.

The Psychic Duelist turned his attention towards Madas for a moment and saw that he had an angry expression on his face. Although he still didn't consider him that much of a threat, Shirou was becoming annoyed by the boy's presence. Not only that, but the look that Madas was giving him annoyed Shirou as well. As a result, he decided to respond to the Galaxy-Eyes user's words.

"You heard me," He started off. "This is a disappointment. I expected more from a Signer, but I guess I was just getting my hopes up for nothing."

"Is that so?!" Madas' glare on Shirou worsened as he pulled out his Duel Disk and placed it onto his arm. "If that's the case, then why don't you try me? I'll be happy to take Crow's place!"

Shirou looked at Madas for a moment and could tell right away that he was serious about this. After thinking about it, the Psychic Duelist decided that he would amuse himself by taking out Madas, since his assigned opponent was clearly unable to continue the Duel. Because of that, Shirou turned himself towards Madas and prepared to face him. However, before that could happen, something unexpected happened.

"I…I don't think so. My Duel…isn't finished yet!"

As both Shirou and Madas look on in shock, Crow was slowly getting back up to his feat. Despite the fact that his body was bruised and that he was most likely bleeding internally, the Blackwing Duelist had no intention of letting his friend fight this battle. For him, that would be the ultimate insult to his pride as a Duelist.

"Crow, what the hell are you thinking?" Madas questioned, clearly concerned for his friend. "You're in no condition to keep Dueling. Let me take care of him instead."

"No…way," Crow replied as he struggled to stay on his feet. "This is my fight…and I'm going to finish it. Besides…this guy hasn't seen my brand new move yet. There's no way I can let that happen."

"What new move?"

Madas, along with Lilly and the others back at Poppo Time, were confused by what Crow meant when he said new move. The former was about to question him about it, but stopped when he saw Crow's Signer Mark beginning to glow again. He then watched as a black aura was beginning to cover his body. Seeing that aura made Madas realize that his friend still had strength in him and that he wasn't going to back down, no matter what anyone said to him. Because of that, Madas decided to back down and let his friend continue the Duel.

Meanwhile, as he was looking on, Shirou was perplexed by the power that Crow was giving off. He hadn't seen anything quite like it before and wondered if this was the true powers of a Signer. Also, the Psychic Duelist was interested in seeing this new move that Crow was talking about. As a result, he decided to turn his attention back towards him so that they could continue their Duel.

"Since Chimeratech Overdragon's Special Ability only applies if you have monsters on the field, I can't attack again," He explained. "And so…I end my turn."

Once Shirou ended his turn, Crow turn his attention towards his deck and slowly placed his hand upon it. He then closed his eyes as started focusing as hard as he could. He knew that the only way he was going to win this Duel was to use his new move. However, since he didn't have the cards he needed to pull it off, everything depended on this next draw. To that end, the Blackwing Duelist prayed to his cards and hoped that they wouldn't let him down. Once he did that, Crow opened his eyes.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

With the strength granted to him by his Signer Powers, Crow swiftly drew the top card from his deck. As he looked at it, the Blackwing Duelist saw that while the card he just drew wasn't the ones that he needed, he could use it to get them. Because of that, he didn't waste any time in placing the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Birds of a Feather!" He said. "With it, since I have 3 or more Blackwing monsters in my Graveyard, I can draw 3 more cards from my deck!"

After explaining the effect of his card, Crow swiftly drew 3 more cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. Once he did that, the young man looked at all of his cards and saw that he still didn't have all the pieces that he needed. Despite that however, Crow did see a way to at least get through Shirou's next turn without having to lose all of his Life Points. It would be a dangerous move, but since he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, Crow decided to go for it.

Once he made his decision, Crow continued on with his turn by taking one the cards that he drew and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. As soon as he did that, a bright flash of light shined across his side of the field.

"Next, I activate the effect of Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn! Since you have a monster on the field and I don't, I can Normal Summon this monster without a tribute!"

**Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn: ATK 2000 DEF 900 LVL 5**

As the light that was covering his field started to fade away, everyone who was observing the Duel watched as Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn materialized onto Crow's field. Once it was out, Crow then went on to take two cards from his hand and insert them into his Spell/Trap Zone. This resulted in two face-down cards to appear behind Sirocco.

"I now set two cards face-down. With that, I end my turn."

After he ended his turn, Crow waited patiently to see what Shirou would do next. Since he just set two face-down cards, along with a monster that was placed in Attack Mode, Crow believed that his opponent would take his time about how he would go about handling things. Also, since he announced that he had new move that he wanted to try out, the young man also believed that Shirou would be thinking about that too. He knew that he was taking a big risk with this strategy of his, but the Blackwing Duelist felt confident enough that his plan would succeed.

"It's my turn," Shirou said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw."

Upon drawing the top card from his deck, Shirou took a moment to look at the cards that Crow just placed onto his field. It was clear that those two face-down cards were going to be used to either protect Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn or, at the very least, protect Crow's Life Points from being completely depleted. It was a strategy that even the most novice of Duelists would be aware of. However, despite knowing that, Shirou decided to spring Crow's Trap.

The reason why he was going to do this is because he was interested in this move that Crow talked about earlier. Whether he was aware of it or not, Shirou was a very prideful and arrogant individual. He believes to be stronger than any of his opponents, which causes him to make moves that other Duelists wouldn't normally make. However, due to his incredible strength, Shirou could normally get past whatever strategy that his opponent's would bring forth and defeat them. He believed that the same result would apply here, which is why he directed his attention towards Crow's Blackwing.

"Chimeratech Overdragon, attack his Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn…Burning Dragon Blast!"

Overdragon complied with Shirou's orders and quickly turned its attention towards Sirocco the Dawn. It then started building up energy from its body, preparing itself to destroy Crow's monster and end the Duel. However, before the attack was launched, Crow proceeded to activate one of his face-down cards.

"I activate the Trap Card: Half Unbreak!" He said. "This card prevents my Sirocco the Dawn from being destroyed through battle this turn! Not only that, but the Battle Damage that I would take is also cut in half!"

"That won't help you!" Shirou pointed out. "Even if you do that, the damage that you would take from Chimeratech Overdragon's attack would still be enough to take you out!"

"I know…" Crow smiled a little as he activated his second face-down card. "That's why I'm activating another Trap: Reinforcements! This card will increase my Blackwing's Attack Points by 500 until the End Phase of this turn…giving it enough to allow me to survive this attack!"

**Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn: ATK 2500**

Just as Sirocco received that 500 Attack Point boost from Crow's Trap Card, Shirou's monster finished building up power and proceeded to launch its attack. When the blast connected, Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn was able to hold its ground long enough for it to survive and continue on with the Duel. As for Crow, although this attack cost him a large number of his remaining Life Points, it was worth it as it allowed him to continue as well.

**Crow: 50 LP**

"Hmph…looks like you managed to hold on," Shirou said with an arrogant smile on his face. "Well…at least this gives me another chance to see this new move you talked about. I can't wait to see the look on your face when I destroy all of yours hopes."

"Is that so?" Crow replied. "You won't be saying that once I beat you."

"We'll see. In any case, I end my turn."

**Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn: ATK 2000**

Once Shirou ended his turn, Crow turned his attention towards his deck. This was it. He had one last chance to get the card he needed in order perform his special move. There was a lot riding on this draw and naturally, he was feeling a lot of pressure. Despite that though, Crow found strength when he knew that all of his friends were cheering him on. Not only that, but upon remembering how Takashi entrusted their mission to him, gave the young man the extra boost of courage that he needed.

It's through all these feelings that caused a sudden change in Crow's powers. As everyone looked on, the Blackwing Duelist's aura started to become more vivid. This not only caused Crow to feel much stronger, but also caused his hair to change from bright orange to jet black. When Mina saw this from Goodwin's office, she started taking notes diligently, knowing that the young man has just awakened the truest extent of his Signer Powers.

"Let's do this," Crow said as his eyes turned black. "It's my turn, Draw!"

As Crow touched the card he was about to draw, the young man unconsciously placed some of his power into it. This act allowed him to obtain the card that he needed to turn things around. Once he looked at it, Crow then turned his attention to Madas and started smiling at him.

"Watch this, Madas," He told him. "I got this idea through all the Duels that we had together."

Madas' eyes widen slightly upon hearing Crow say that to him. He wondered what he talked about when he said that, but decided to trust his friend and wait to see what happens. Meanwhile, Crow decided to put his plan into action by taking the card that he just drew and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the young man watched as a large flash of light started to illuminate across his entire field.

"First, I activate the Spell Card: Message in a Bottle!" He said. "With this card, I can Special Summon 3 with different Levels from Graveyard. In exchange for that though, if I don't perform a Xyz Summoning this turn, I take 4000 points of damage at the End Phase of the turn!"

Everyone was surprised when Crow finished explaining the effect of his Spell Card. However, it wasn't the fact that he could possibly take 4000 points of damage that shocked them so much. It was the fact that he needed to perform a Xyz Summon. For as long as they known him, none of them have seen Crow do that before. Normally, he just sticks with Synchro Summons, since his strongest Blackwings are in fact, Synchro Monsters. All of them wondered what he was trying to do, but just watched as Crow placed his chosen cards onto his Duel Disk.

"I Special Summon: Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky, which you destroyed via your Cyber Dragon, Blackwing – Elphin the Raven, and Blackwing Gale – the Whirlwind!"

**Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky: LVL 1**

**Blackwing – Elphin the Raven: LVL 6**

**Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind: LVL 3**

Once Crow called out the names of his Blackwings, he watched as all three of them appeared right before him. As soon as he saw that, the young man smiled as he got ready to conduct his next move. To that end, Crow raised his right arm into the air and watched as the light from his Signer Mark started lighting up the entire room.

"Next, I Tune my Level 5 Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn with my Level 3 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"

The two chosen Blackwings nodded their head towards their master before started flying high into the air. As they prepared themselves to conduct the process for another Synchro Summoning, Crow proceeded to open his Extra Deck and went on to retrieve a card from it. Once he had it in hand, Crow placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone, resulting in another flash of light to cover his side of the field.

"Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"

**Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800 DEF 1600 LVL 8**

As the light from the Synchro Summoning started to fade away, a powerful cry could be heard from it. That cry was from Crow's Ace Monster, Black-Winged Dragon, who appeared before its master's side. When Shirou got a good look at the beast, a small smile appeared on his face.

"So this is your Signer Dragon," He said. "I must admit…it is impressive. However, that doesn't mean that it stands a chance against my Chimeratech Overdragon. Besides…you're suppose to Xyz Summon, not Synchro Summon."

"Don't worry, I'm getting to that," Crow responded. The Blackwing Duelist then decided to make good on his word by taking the last card in his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I activate the Spell: Upshift! This card's power makes the Levels of all my monsters become the same as the monster on my field with the highest Level. Black-Winged Dragon is a Level 8 monster, which makes Elphin the Raven and Jetstream the Blue Sky Level 8 as well!"

**Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky: LVL 8**

**Blackwing – Elphin the Raven: LVL 8**

As the Levels of all of Crow's monsters became the same, the Blackwing Duelist went on to take their cards on top of each other. Once he did that, he watched as his monsters started glowing, responding to the move that he was about to make.

"I now Overlay my Level 8 Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky, Elphin the Raven and Black-Winged Dragon. With these three monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

The glow that was covering Crow's monsters continued to envelop them until they became pure energy. As soon as that happened, the energy started flying across the entire field. After a few seconds, the portal to the Overlay Network appeared high in the air and the 3 energy streams flew right into it. This caused a massive eruption of light to shoot from out of the Overlay Network, prompting Crow to take a card from his Extra Deck and place it onto his Duel Disk.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the dragon that has supreme control of the skies, Black-Winged Supreme Dragon!"

**Black-Winged Supreme Dragon: ATK 3500 DEF 3000 Rank 8**

As more light continued to shoot from the Overlay Network, the cry of another powerful dragon could be heard from inside it. When everyone looked up, they watched as Crow's newest monster, Black-Winged Supreme Dragon, was beginning to make its way of the portal. This dragon looked very similar to Black-Winged Dragon, with the exception that it was nearly twice its size. Also, Black-Winged Supreme Dragon's body had red markings placed all over it, especially around its wings.

Once Black-Winged Supreme Dragon fully emerged from the Overlay Network, the powerful Xyz Monster released another devastating cry. As he listened to it, the smile that was on Shirou's face grew even bigger. Now that Crow's strongest monster was out, Shirou now had the opportunity to take it out with his Chimeratech Overdragon and completely dash his opponent's hopes. Unfortunately for him though, Shirou wouldn't have the chance to do that as Crow knew that this Duel was already one.

"I activate Black-Winged Supreme Dragon's Special Ability!" He declared. "Once per turn, by using one Overlay Unit, I can now Special Summon one Blackwing monster from my Graveyard. Return to battle, Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe!"

After devouring one of the Overlay Units that was flying around its body, Black-Winged Supreme Dragon once again released a powerful roar. This time, the roar caused the portal to the Graveyard to appear right in front of it. From that portal, Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe emerged and once again stood by Crow's side.

When Shirou saw this, the Psychic Duelist was once again unfazed. However, that quickly changed when he noticed that something strange was happening to his Chimeratech Overdragon. For some reason, the monster seemed to be in a lot of pain, looking a lot weaker than before. At first, Shirou had no idea what to make of this. However, after seeing a smirk appear on Crow's face, Shirou realized that he had something to do with this.

"What did you do, you bastard?!" He questioned.

"That's simple," Crow replied. "It's the second effect of Black-Winged Supreme Dragon. When it successfully revives one of my fallen Blackwings, one of your monsters loses Attack Points equal to the revived monster's Attack Points. Blackwing Tamer – Hawk Joe has 2600 Attack Points…which means your Chimeratech Overdragon loses 2600 Attack Points!"

**Chimeratech Overdragon: ATK 1400**

Shirou couldn't believe what he just heard, but he knew that it was true as his Overdragon continued to look weaker and weaker with each passing second. Eventually, it reached the point where Overdragon was weak enough for either one of Crow's monsters to destroy it. As soon as he saw that, the Blackwing Duelist decided that the time was now to put an end to this Duel.

"Go Hawk Joe," He called. "Attack his Chimeratech Overdragon…Blackwing Barrage!"

Hawk Joe wasted no time in obeying Crow's orders and went on to release another barrage of powerful feather from its wings. When they struck its target, the feathers managed to pierce the metal hide of Chimeratech Overdragon. When that happened, the metal beast let out an agonizing roar as all of its systems started to shut down. Soon after that, the monster exploded and Shirou's lost a good portion of his Life Points.

**Shirou: 1150 LP**

Once the smoke from the explosion started to clear up, Shirou looked on in horror as Crow prepared himself to finish him off with his Black-Winged Supreme Dragon. The Psychic Duelist looked over towards his hand, hoping that he would have something that could stop this from happening. Unfortunately, he had no such card and thus no way to prevent what was about to happen.

"It's time to finish this," Crow said. "Black-Winged Supreme Dragon, attack his Life Points directly…Hyper Stream!"

As it started building up power from within its body, the red markings on Black-Winged Supreme Dragon's body started glowing. After a few seconds, the beast finally built up enough strength and went on to fire a concentrated blast of energy at Shirou. When the attack struck him, Shirou was completely overwhelmed and was sent flying into the wall behind him, just as he lost his remaining Life Points.

**Shirou: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>At the very instant Shirou lost the Duel, Crow fell to both knees, exhausted from the intense match that he just had. As Madas made his way over to him, Crow's black aura started to fade away while his body returned to its original appearance. Once that happened, the young man looked up towards his Black-Winged Supreme Dragon and watched with a smile on his face as the beast started to disappear. As soon as he saw that, Crow slowly rose to his feet.<p>

"Holy crap, man!" Madas said as he helped his friend up. "I didn't know that you had a Xyz Monster like that. That thing is awesome."

"Well…" Crow replied, still trying to catch his breath. "I owe it all to you. Since you're my rival…I can't let you be the only one to use Xyz Monsters in our Duels. So…I decided to train myself to use them. I'm glad things turned out…the way they did."

Crow let out a small laugh, but quickly stopped when his internal injuries was starting to cause to be in a lot of pain. When Madas saw this, he quickly realized that Crow was in no condition to walk under his own power. Because of that, the Galaxy-Eyes user took his friend by the arm and helped him out of the room. Before they left though, the two of them took a moment to look over towards Shirou, who was still lying on the floor.

As the two of them looked at him, they noticed that while Shirou did in fact lose the Duel, the Psychic Duelist was laughing. This was the first time that he had so much fun in a Duel and despite not enjoying it a first, Shirou was absolutely thrilled once they reached the ending. It's because of that feeling of excitement that Shirou was content with his defeat. However, before he let Madas and Crow leave the room, he had one last thing to say to the both of them.

"Congratulations…" He started off. "Crow Hogan…the fact that you defeated me is proof that you're worthy of being a Signer. However, don't think that this is over yet. There's still one more opponent that you have to face. And unlike me…he's truly invincible."

Once he said what he wanted to say, Shirou closed his eyes and went to sleep. When that happened, a door suddenly opened in front of Crow and Madas. Realizing that where they needed to do was down that path, the two friends slowly made their way down the hall. As they walked away though, Mina was still watching them from Goodwin's computer, ready to write down anything else that she sees.

Meanwhile, just outside the Sector Security building, Alex and Sona finally arrived. As the two of them got off the former's Duel Runner, Alex took a moment to sense the Reiatsus of those inside. He noticed that two powerful Reiatsus were beginning to make their way towards each other. Knowing that they belonged to both Takashi and Goodwin respectively, the Dragunity Knight realized that time was of the essence. Because of that, he and Sona didn't waste any time and quickly made their way inside the building.

"Please," He said quietly to himself. "Please let me make it in time!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Crow and Madas continue to make their way through the Sector Security building, the two of them soon encounter the opponent that Shirou was talking about. With Crow unable to Duel, Madas decides to step forward and Duel in his place. Will his skills be enough to take down this foe, who's supposedly invincible?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 92: Photon Transformation_


	92. Chapter 92

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Special Thanks: **_ThatYaoiFanboy _

**Chapter 92: **_Photon Transformation_

* * *

><p>"Alright…now we go this way,"<p>

Having now arrived at Sector Security's main office building, Alex McQueen and Sona Shitori were quickly beginning their journey up the tower. Their objective was clear; find Takashi and the others and prevent them from meeting up with Rex Goodwin. Normally, such a mission would be easy for the two of them, but things don't always turn out that way. The reason for that is because they were inside Goodwin's headquarters and the odds were high that the Director was already aware of their arrival.

Despite that particular problem though, Alex and Sona did not waver from their goal. Both of them were well aware that if they didn't act, the survival of their friends could not be guaranteed. Even if Goodwin does spare their lives, the knowledge and experiences that they gain from here could have a major effect on their psyche. Not wanting that to happen to them, Alex and Sona hurried as the both of them continued through the giant-sized building.

As they walked around, Sona was taking a moment to sense the Reiatsus of all the people currently in the building. Although she wasn't a strong as Akiza, Sona is still considered to be one of the most talented and powerful Psychic Duelists in the world. Also, due to her honing her powers ever since she was a little girl, Sona was especially gifted in sensing the power of other people. It's because of that useful skill of hers that she took it upon herself to lead Alex in the right direction.

Eventually, as she continued to walk around, Sona suddenly sensed something that seemed very off. For her, it was like someone just dimmed down a certain set of lights, causing the entire room to become slightly darker than before. Although she wasn't certain what this feeling meant, Sona had a strong feeling that something bad was happening. Because of that, the young woman closed her violet-colored eyes and focused, effectively increasing her sensory abilities.

After about a minute, Sona got a lock on the source of the strange feeling. She realized that it was Crow's Reiatsu, which was beginning to diminish with every passing second. Upon sensing it, Sona realized that the Blackwing Duelist had just finished fighting in a tough Duel, one that left him extremely weak. This realization also made a lot of sense to Sona, since both she and Alex sensed Crow's Reiatsu spike for a moment before it returned to its normal levels.

After opening her eyes, Sona knew right away that Crow needed some help and that both she and Alex had to hurry if they had any intention of doing so. Because of that, the beautiful Psychic Duelist rushed into the direction in which Crow's fading Reiatsu was heading. Unfortunately, before she could get too far, Sona noticed that Alex was still in the same spot where he was before.

As she looked at him, Sona noticed that Alex's mind seemed elsewhere. Although he came down here to save the entire group, it was clear that the Dragunity Knight was more focused on Takashi's situation. While she was sensing for that strange feeling earlier, Sona also noticed that a familiar Reiatsu was beginning to make its way towards an extremely powerful one. Upon sensing it, the young woman realized that the approaching Reiatsu belonged to Takashi while the one he was heading for was Goodwin's.

This was very bad since the main reason why both she and Alex decided to come to Goodwin's hideout, asides from saving the group, was to prevent Takashi from meeting up with the Director himself. The reason for that is because Goodwin knew things about Takashi, things that Alex didn't want the Signer to know yet. Ever since Alex told her the real connection between himself and Takashi, Sona felt that she understood why her childhood friend became so disturbed when Goodwin was mentioned. However, as time passed by, she was beginning to think that there was more to it than just that.

As Sona continued to look at Alex, the young woman noticed that Crow's Reiatsu was getting further and further away from the both of them. She knew that if he fought anyone in his condition, there was a pretty good chance that he would not only be defeated, but possibly killed too. Knowing very well that she can't allow that to happen, Sona snapped out of it and quickly made her way towards Alex.

"Hey," She said. "Alex, you need to snap out it! We have to get to Crow before something happens to him."

After calling out to him, Sona waited to hear a response from Alex. Unfortunately for her though, the Dragunity Knight didn't do anything and simply focused his attention on Takashi's Reiatsu. When Sona saw this, she knew that Alex wasn't focused and that he needed to get back in the right state of mind if they had any intention of getting anything done. To that end, the Psychic took her hand and slapped it across Alex's head. She was then forced to do this a couple more times before Alex finally reacted.

"Ow!" Alex exclaimed as he held the back of his head. "Damn it, Sona! What the hell was that for?!"

"That was being an idiot," Sona replied as she glared at him slightly. "You were the one who insisted on coming here, yet you're not paying attention. If we don't reach Crow, he could die. We have to get to him now!"

"I…I know that," Alex placed his head down a little. He then clinched his fist a little. "But…what about Takashi? I have to get to him before he reaches Goodwin. If I don't…then…"

Alex was truly conflicted about what he wanted to do. Although he knew that it was important to help Crow before something happened to him, he also felt that stopping Takashi from meeting Goodwin was equally, if not important. It's because of his conflicting feelings that Alex was unsure about what he wanted to do, which was beginning to make him feel really bad about himself.

As Alex struggled about what he wanted to do, Sona simply looked at him with a silent expression on her face. Since the beginning, Sona has been by Alex's side ever since the Dragunity Knight declared war against Rex Goodwin. Though she had plenty of reasons why she chose to help Alex, Sona believed that she had two main reasons. The first was that she was deeply in love with Alex. Even though she knew he loved someone else, that didn't change the fact that she loved him and was willing to help him in any way possible, as a way of showing her love.

The second reason why Sona was so devoted to Alex is because he saved her. Like most Psychics, Sona was rejected by society due to her unique powers. As a little girl, she had no friends and her parents even rejected her, forcing her to live on her own. Fortunately for Sona, the despair of living alone didn't very long as she soon came across someone who didn't reject her or her powers. That person was none other than Alex McQueen.

Gifted with incredible powers since the moment he was born, Alex knows very well how it feels to be different from everyone else. It's for that reason why he was able to befriend Sona, since he knows how she felt. It's because of the kindness that he showed her that Sona became very loyal to Alex and would help him out in whatever way possible. By doing that, Sona felt that she was returning the favor for what Alex did for her. It's to that end that Sona came up with an idea.

"Look Alex," She said. "Let's split up. I'll go after Crow and his friend while you stop Takashi. How does that sound?"

Alex was slightly shocked by Sona's proposal, especially since they agreed to worked together in order to make sure that everyone made it out okay. Also, although he wasn't as good at sensing Reiatsu as Sona was, Alex was still pretty skilled in his own right. He could tell that a powerful Duelist was in the direction where Crow and Madas were heading. If Sona did follow the path in which they were heading, there was a good chance that she would have to face that Duelist. In a situation such as this, Alex wasn't sure if such a risk should be taken.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Sona?" He asked her. "I mean…what if something happens?"

"There's no time to be worry about what might and might not happen!" Sona replied. "Every second we spend standing around is another moment where our friends could be walking into danger. Besides…I know for a fact that I go with you to help Takashi, I'll only slow you down. Helping him is something that only you can do while helping Crow and Madas is something only I can do right now."

Alex looked into Sona's eyes and was able to tell that she completely confident in her abilities. Upon seeing that, the young man slowly nodded his head at her and prepared to split away so that he could go and find Takashi. Before he left however, Alex turned around one last time and looked at Sona. As the two childhood friends stared at one another, they both nodded their heads slightly and smiled.

"Be careful, Sona." Alex told her.

"I'll be fine," She said. "Just make sure you get Takashi and when you do, you punch him in the face for me."

"Uh…right. I'll do that."

With that said, Alex and Sona said their goodbyes and proceeded to split away from each other. Alex was quickly making his way towards the lower levels of the Sector Security building, knowing for a fact that both Takashi and Goodwin were heading that way. As for Sona, she continued walking down the path she was heading towards, knowing that she could reach Crow and Madas if she went that way.

Meanwhile, in another section of the building, Mina was busy doing some work in Goodwin's office. The beautiful secretary had just witnessed the Duel that Crow had just competed in and was busy following Goodwin's instructions of taking down notes of what she witnessed. As she did that however, Mina received a distressed signaled that was transmitted on the computer.

Upon checking it out, Mina quickly started typing on the keyboard, activating the security cameras in two different sections of the building. Then, after setting up a split screen, she watched as both Alex and Sona were quickly making their way through the building in opposite directions. When Mina saw them do that, the young woman realized right away what they were doing and decided to action before they had a chance to interfere with Goodwin's plans for Takashi and the others.

To that effect, Mina started typing on the keyboard again. As she was doing that, the buildings security alarm started to sound throughout the entire complex. When both Alex and Sona heard the alarm, the two of them realized that Sector Security was already aware of their presence. Despite that though, the two also knew that they couldn't go back now. Because of that, the two of them kept moving forward without looking back.

Out of the two of them, the first one to encounter Security Officers was Alex, since Mina knew that he was heading to where Takashi was going. Despite the officers outnumbering him, Alex was still able to easily overpower them with the help of not only his superior strength, but his Dragunity Knight Powers as well. Eventually, it didn't take him long to knock out all the officers and continue on his way.

"I won't him meet up with you," He said as he kept on running. "You hear me, Goodwin! I won't let you meet up with Takashi!"

While Alex continued on his way, little did he suspect that his goal could be just out his reach. The Sector Security building was like a maze and only those who know its inner workings like the back of the hands could navigate it with getting lost. That was the case for Rex Goodwin, who built the building from the ground up. He knew where to go and was leading Takashi, without his knowledge, down the same path. It wouldn't be too much longer until the two of them finally met up and when that took place, the Director of Security was going to reveal everything to the young leader of the Signers.

As Goodwin continued to walk down his path, the building alarm finally reached where he was. However, when he heard it, he wasn't surprised at all. In fact, he was smiling, since he knew that it wouldn't be too long until Alex showed up. Goodwin then proceeded to continue where he was going with even more confidence than before.

"This is perfect," He said as he walked. "We need you to show up Alex. That way…we can have a proper reunion."

* * *

><p>While all these events were going on at Goodwin's headquarters, Lilly and the others were still doing their thing at Poppo Time. They were all working very hard since Crow's Duel with Shirou came to end. The reason for that is because shortly after the match came to an end, the security cameras were shut off. Misaki tried her best to restore them, but a complex computer virus had already made them useless, thus rendering her efforts to be pointless.<p>

Despite that setback however, Misaki refused to give up and continued working even harder in order to help her friends somehow. Upon seeing her determination, Lilly decided to help her out. Although she wasn't as skilled as Misaki when it came to electronics, the young woman wasn't a slouch either. To that effect, Lilly got on Misaki's computer and tried her best to find a back door in Sector Security's computer systems. She felt that if she found one, the group could get a live feed on the building again.

As the two girls worked, Akiza was busy looking at them from afar. Since she didn't have the technological skills that Lilly and Misaki have, there wasn't much she could do other than give them support. Although she tried not to show it on her face, Akiza was really bothered by that as she wanted to help out more. Eventually, she started to wonder if it would've been best if she had join Takashi and the others. However, at the moment she started thinking about Takashi, Akiza suddenly started to feel even worse.

For the last few months now, Akiza was aware that she had a strong connection with Takashi. Whenever he felt happy, she would feel happy and whenever he was upset, a part of her would be upset as well. Initially, the Rose Duelist believed that this connection was due to her growing feelings for Takashi. However, that wasn't really the case at all.

As Enoch looked at her from a distance, the Psychic Duelist could tell what was wrong with his friend. The powers of a Psychic don't end with them being able to bring Duel Monsters cards to life. One of the abilities that they have includes building a Psychic connection with those they have a strong bond with. By doing that, Psychic Duelists are able to feel the emotions with those they come to care for, thus allowing them to know whether or not they're okay. This was the case with Akiza and why she was able feel what Takashi was currently feeling.

Enoch continued watching her for a few more moments as he initially didn't know what to say to her. A part of the reason for this is because he still had feelings for Akiza, even though the two them told one another that the only thing they can be is friends. The other reason is because he was jealous that Akiza had formed her Psychic bond with Takashi instead of Enoch himself. Eventually, Enoch decided that he needed to put his personal feelings aside and help his friend get over her issues. To that end, the young man walked over towards Akiza and gently sat next to her.

"Hey…" He started off. "Are you okay?"

Akiza glanced over towards Enoch for a moment before turning away from him. She then started looking down towards ground, gently placed her head on her knees. When Enoch saw that, he started feeling bad, but he knew that he had to keep talking to her. So, he gently placed his hand upon Akiza's back and started rubbing it gently.

"Akiza, I can't help you unless you talk to me," He continued. "I care about you and I want to help you."

"I know…" Akiza said. "It's just…I'm so worried about Takashi. I sense he's in trouble."

"I know. He's in the enemy's headquarters. It isn't going to be easy for him, or the others for that matter, to get through this easily."

Akiza nodded her head in disapproval, indicating that what Enoch just said to her wasn't the thing that was bothering her so much. She soon looked towards window and watched as the stars were twinkling in the night sky.

"I sense that Takashi is conflicted," Akiza said. "He's angry, but he's also sad at the same time. I also sense that he's about to know something that's going to hurt him greatly. I just…I just wish that I could be there with him. I want to help him…just like he always helps me."

As Akiza started sniffling, Enoch took a moment to think about what she just said. Her words reminded him about something that Alex and Sona told him about Takashi. Upon remembering what they told him, Enoch realized what Goodwin's intention were and knew that if Takashi learned them, he could very well be hurt by them. Despite that though, Psychic held strong and trusted that Takashi would overcome it. With that, Enoch turned his attention back towards Akiza.

"I know that you want to help him," He said. "But, in a way, you are helping him."

"What do you mean?" Akiza asked, lifting her head and turning towards Enoch.

"Akiza…you're helping Takashi just by being here. You're the person that he has to come back too, which gives him a reason to overcome any obstacle that comes his way. No matter what trial he has to face, I know he can get through it as long as he has you by his side. Always remember that and always remember how important you are to him."

Once Enoch finished his explanation, the young man smiled at Akiza, reassuring her that everything would be alright. When Akiza saw that, she started to feel better, realizing that what he said was true. This allowed her to get over her funk and return to her usual self. Because of that, a smile appeared on Akiza's face.

"Thanks Enoch," She said before gently kissing his cheek. "I needed that."

"Sure…" Enoch replied, trying his best to hide the small hint of blush that just appeared on his face. "It was my pleasure."

After receiving a much needed pep talk, Akiza's motivation to help skyrocketed and she immediately went out of her way to assist her friends. To that end, the young woman made her way towards Toru and the two of them started forming plans about what group's next move should be. After all, in the case that something happens, they need to be ready to act.

As he watched her work, Enoch smiled quietly to himself as he was proud at how far Akiza had come since their days at the Arcadia Movement. In the past, she was very introverted and had a strong hatred for everyone due to them believing that she was a monster because of her Psychic Powers. However, after nearly one year, Akiza has become an extremely compassionate individual that's willing to help her friends in any way that she possibly could. When Enoch saw that, he felt extremely proud. He then realized that Akiza will be just fine as long as she stays with friends like Takashi and the others.

Shortly after that was settled, everyone continued their efforts to assist their friends back at the main Sector Security Building. Eventually, after some hard work and fine computer handling, Misaki and Lilly to get a display back on the former's laptop. When everyone got a look at it, they saw an image of Madas and Tem appear.

The two of them were continuing on their way to the building's computer room so that they could fulfill their mission. However, because of the injuries that Crow sustained during his fierce Duel with Shirou, the Blackwing Duelist had an extremely hard time keeping up. Not wanting to leave his friend behind, Madas decided to pick up Crow's slack and helped him as they continued on their way.

As they walked, Crow looked up at Madas noticed that there was an extremely determined look in his eyes. For as long as he's known him, Crow knew that the Galaxy-Eyes user was extremely kind and devoted to his friends. He would help them out in any way possible, regardless of what they needed him to do. It's because of his devotion that made Crow realized how good of friend Madas was and how lucky he was to have him helping him out like this.

"Thanks man," Crow said with a small smile on his face.

"Huh?" Madas questioned, confused by his friend's sudden thanks. "Thanks for what?"

"For helping us out," Crow answered. "I know it must be hard on you. I promise that I'll return the favor someday."

"…Don't worry about it. Let's just hurry up and do this. The faster we do, the faster we can find Takashi and get the hell out of here."

Upon hearing Madas say that, Crow nodded his head in agreement. With that, the two of them continued on their way to the next room. After about 10 more minutes of walking, they finally reached their destination, just standing outside the doors. As they stared at them, Crow felt an intense pain coming from his right arm. When he looked down, his Signer Mark was glowing again. Seeing that meant one of two things; either the individual on the other side of that door is as just as strong as Shirou or is even stronger than him.

When he thought about the latter of the two possibilities, Crow remembered what Shirou told both him and Madas just before they left the first room. He said that while he may have defeated him, their next opponent was much stronger. The reason behind that claim was because Shirou stated that the individual in question was invincible. Crow wasn't sure if what Shirou told them was true. However, after everything that's happened so far tonight, the Blackwing Duelist knew that he had to be on guard.

"Alright Madas," He said as he braced himself. "Let's do this."

"You got it," Madas replied.

With that said, Madas slowly walked towards the doors and proceeded to push them open. Once he did that, both he and Crow slowly made their way inside. As soon as they were in, the doors closed behind them and the lights suddenly cut on. They then noticed that another young man was inside the room with them. He had short white hair, purple eyes, was around their height, and was wearing a dark red long sleeved t-shirt with black jeans. The two of them also noticed that he was wearing a white and grey Duel Disk, indicating that he could potentially be their next opponent.

"Greetings," The young man said to the both of them. "My name is Ichiro Mirai and this is as far as you two shall go."

Once he finished his greeting, Ichiro unleashed a massive blast of Reiatsu from his body. The force of it was so intense that it not only caused Crow to fall to his knees, but Madas as well, and he couldn't sense Reiatsu. As the two struggled to get back up, both Akiza and Enoch looked on with a surprised look on their faces as they looked at Ichiro from Misaki's laptop. When the others took notice of them, they instantly realized that two of them knew this individual.

"Who is this guy?" Lilly questioned.

"Ichiro Mirai…" Enoch answered.

"He's a Psychic Duelist just like Enoch and myself," Akiza continued. "The last time I saw him, Sayer gave him an assignment, saying that it was for the sake of the Arcadia Movement. However, that was almost 3 years ago. For the longest time, I thought he was dead."

"Oh no Akiza….I'm still very much alive."

The eyes of everyone in the room suddenly lit up with shock as Ichiro had just responded to Akiza's words. As they turned their attention back to the computer screen, all of them noticed that he Psychic was snickering to himself. For some reason that only he knew, Ichiro found this to be very amusing. He soon started to explain why that was the case.

"What's the matter Akiza?" Ichiro continued. "Are you that surprised that I can hear you?"

"…As a matter of fact, I am!" Akiza replied. "How are you doing that?"

"It isn't that hard really. I mean, Psychic Duelists can form special connections with those they have a strong bond with. I know that because…I always considered you to be my friend, even you didn't feel the same way."

Akiza glared at Misaki's computer screen as she didn't like the tone of voice that Ichiro was using. However, the young woman had to admit that her fellow Psychic was right about what he just said. Back in the Arcadia Movement, Ichiro did consider Akiza to be his friend, which explains why he was able to talk to her, despite her not being the room with him.

Unfortunately, while Ichiro was fond of Akiza, the Signer didn't feel the same way. Although, back during her time with Arcadia Movement, she wasn't that open with people, Akiza was very careful to avoid Ichiro. The reason for this is because the young woman felt something off about him, something that didn't feel right. She avoided Ichiro for that reason and that reason alone. So, when Sayer sent him away, Akiza was happy since she didn't have to deal with him anymore. So, the fact that he was here again and was now working for Goodwin not only shocked Akiza, but frightened her as well.

As the young woman tried her best to get her emotions under control, Crow and Madas were wondering what was going on. It was clear from what was being told that Ichiro had connections to both Akiza and Enoch, but that was about it. The only thing that both of them did know is that, from the bad feeling they were both sensing from him, Ichiro was bad news.

Eventually, as the both of them wondered what they should do, Ichiro turned his attention back towards them. His eyes were especially focused on Crow and his Signer Mark. Just seeing it reminded the Psychic Duelist about the mark that Akiza had and how it increased her abilities when she either got angry or agitated. Upon remembering all of that, a small smirk started to appear on his face.

"Akiza," Ichiro called as he activated his Duel Disk. "Sayer considered you to be the strongest Psychic that he's ever found, perhaps the strongest in the entire world. I wonder if it was because you were naturally gifted…or was it because your Signer Mark. Let's put it to the test, as I take out your friend!"

"Ichiro, you bastard!" Akiza yelled. "If you lay one hair on Crow's head, I swear to god that I'll…"

"You'll what? Kill me? Just like how you killed Sayer! I considered him a father and you took him away from me! Well, if I can't have a father figure…then you can't have a friend!"

As Ichiro unleashed another massive burst of Reiatsu, Akiza was reaching her boiling point. The thought of seeing one of her friends get hurt was almost too much for her to bear. Her anger was so intense that it not only caused her Signer Mark to glow brightly, but also brought forth her purple aura. She was about to go out and do something, but stopped when she heard someone talking over on the other side.

"Don't worry Akiza," The voice said to her. "I'll take care of this."

Upon recognizing the voice, Akiza turned her attention towards the computer screen and she, along with everyone else, watched as Madas gently let go of Crow and began making his way towards Ichiro. All of them were shocked by his actions and started to question what his intentions were. However, upon seeing him activate his own Duel Disk, everyone understood what he was trying to do.

"Madas, what are you doing?" Enoch asked him, talking through their communication link. "Stand down. You're no match for someone like him."

"You may be right," Madas replied. "Granted, I don't have any of those special powers that you guys have. Still…Crow's in no condition to Duel. I'm the only one who can fight him and you know it."

Enoch didn't want to agree with Madas' reasoning, but he had to admit that he did make a lot of sense. Crow was still extremely weak from his Duel against Shirou and if he were to fight Ichiro now, there was a pretty good chance that he was going to die. At the very least, Madas was fresh and had somewhat of a chance against Ichiro. The only problem he had with that is that he didn't really want someone, who originally wasn't supposed to be involved with these types of battles, to get hurt because of them. Unfortunately for Enoch however, Madas didn't feel the same way.

"The moment I decided to help you guys, I knew that there would be risks," Madas continued. "However, if it means helping out my friends, I'm willing to face them. So…let's get this started already!"

Upon seeing the look of determination on Madas' face again, Crow realized that he couldn't be argued with. Although he was also worried about his safety, the Blackwing Duelist understood his feelings since he felt the same way before he got his Signer Powers. Because of that, the young man decided to give his friend his support and watch him fight this battle.

"Alright man," He said. "Go get him."

Madas nodded his head in agreement and prepared himself for the battle that was about to take place. As they watched him do that, Enoch and the others realized that they couldn't stop him from doing this. As a result, they decided to put their faith in Madas and they all hoped that he would be okay by the time the Duel came to an end.

While this was going on, Ichiro looked on at Madas with a silent expression on his face. Although he was not the opponent that he wanted to face, the Psychic Duelist was slightly amused by the Galaxy-Eyes user's resolve. Also, since Madas was also Akiza's friend, Ichiro felt that he could achieve the same result with him as if he could with Crow. Because of that, Ichiro smiled arrogantly at his new opponent.

"Okay then," He said with a sneer. "If you want to die so badly, then who am I to deny your request?'

With that said, the two Duelist braced themselves for the battle that was about to begin. As they got ready, Mina was busy observing them from Goodwin's office. She wasn't expecting to see Madas face Ichiro and wondered whether not she should interfere. However, after coming to the conclusion that the Duel wouldn't last too long, the secretary decided to watch and let things happen. As soon as she decided that, the Duel got underway.

* * *

><p><em>DUEL<em>

**Madas: 4000 LP**

**Ichiro: 4000 LP**

"I'll start us off," Ichiro stated. "I draw!"

Placing his hand upon his deck, Ichiro swiftly drew a card and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, the Psychic Duelist conducted the first move of the match by taking one card and placing it horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone. This act caused a face-down card to appear horizontally onto his side of the field.

"First, I summon a monster face-down in Defense Mode!"

After he did that, Ichiro continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, Shirou watched as the face-down card appeared onto his field, just behind his first one.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn. Now…show me what you got!"

"Fine!" Madas replied as he placed his hand upon his deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Madas took a moment to examine the cards Ichiro played before making a move of his own. Since this was the first time that he was facing a Psychic Duelist, the young man didn't know what to expect from his opponent. Because of that, Madas decided to strike hard and fast before something happened. To that end, he grabbed the card he drew and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Since you have a monster on the field and I don't, I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand. Appear now, Photon Thrasher!"

**Photon Thrasher: ATK 2100 DEF 0 LVL 4**

After playing his monster card, Madas watched as a bright flash of light covered his side of the field for a few seconds. When the light faded away, he looked on as his Photon Thrasher appeared and stood by his side. Madas then got ready as he was about to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Okay…Photon Thrasher, attack his face-down monster now!"

Thrasher nodded his head upon hearing its master's orders and proceeded to pull out its sword. Once it did, the monster took the weapon and went on to attack Ichiro's face-down monster. By doing that, an image of the monster materialized in front of everyone for a moment. When that happened, everyone saw that the monster Photon Thrasher just destroyed was a Giant Rat.

**Giant Rat: ATK 1400 DEF 1450 LVL 4**

"Thank you for that," Ichiro said with a sly smile. "By destroying my Giant Rat, you've activated its Special Ability. Now, I can Special Summon one Earth Attribute monster from my deck with 1500 or less Attack Points!"

Once he finished his explanation, Ichiro quickly pulled out his deck and started searching for the card that he wanted to Special Summon. As soon as he found it, the Psychic Duelist grabbed it and put it aside until he placed his deck back into his Duel Disk. After that, he placed his chosen card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Deep-Space Cruiser IX!"

**Deep-Space Cruiser IX: ATK 900 DEF 900 LVL 9**

A bright flash of light shined across Ichiro's side of the field for a few seconds, just as a giant space station appeared before him. The station had an orange colored scheme and it very resembled a gun. Despite its low attack strength, Madas felt wary of Ichiro's monsters, since its height was making him misjudge its actual power.

Ultimately, Madas decided that he needed to be more cautious than ever if he wanted any chance of winning. To that end, he took one of the cards in his hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, Madas watched as a face-down card appeared just behind his Photon Thrasher.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said.

As Ichiro got ready to begin his turn, the Psychic Duelist took notice of Madas and saw him beginning to sweat. Seeing him do that brought a smile onto his face since it meant that Madas was slowly beginning to succumb to the pressure of this Duel. Because of that, Ichiro decided to continue the pressure by showing his opponent the true extent of his abilities.

"It's my turn, Draw!" He declared as he drew a card.

Once he placed it into his hand, Ichiro then grabbed another card from his hand and went on to place it into his card Graveyard. After he did that, Ichiro then took one more card and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"From my hand, I activate the Special Ability of Deep-Space Cruiser IX! By sending a Machine-Type monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon it onto the field!"

Another flash of light shined across Ichiro's side of the field as a second Deep-Space Cruiser appeared and started floating next to his first one. Once that happened, the young man continued his turn by taking one more card from his hand and inserting it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With it, I can Special Summon a monster from either one of our Graveyards onto my side of the field. I think I'll bring back the monster that I just discarded! Be revived, Planet Pathfinder!"

**Planet Pathfinder: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

After Madas played his Spell Card, Madas looked on as the portal to the Graveyard appeared on the ground. From the portal, small space rover appeared and stood just below the Psychic's two Deep-Space Cruisers. However the monster wouldn't be around for long as Ichiro quickly took its card and placed it back into the Graveyard, causing it to disappear from the field.

"I now activate Planet Pathfinder's Special Ability! By sacrificing it, I can take one Field Spell from my deck and place it into my hand!"

Once again, Ichiro took his deck from out of his Duel Disk and started searching through it until he found the Field Spell Card that he wanted. After he found it, the Psychic Duelist then grabbed the card and placed it into his hand before putting the rest of his deck back into his Duel Disk. Ichiro then went on to open the Field Spell section of his Duel Disk and placed his Field Spell Card on it before closing again.

"Now…I activate the Field Spell: Deep Space!" Ichiro declared.

When Ichiro played his Field Spell, everyone watched as the area around him and Madas quickly began to change. Soon, the two Duelists found themselves in the deepest section of space with thousands of stars and several planets surrounding them. Madas also noticed that he was standing on some type of strange surface, indicating that he was either on a different planet or a large asteroid.

After the Field Spell was fully in effect, Ichiro decided to get serious by taking the two Deep-Space Cruiser cards that was on his Duel Disk and stacking them on top of one another. He then watched as both of his Level 9 monsters started to glow brightly.

"This is where the fun begins," He said. "I Overlay my two Level 9 Deep Space Cruisers! With these two monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

The two Machine-Type monsters continued glowing brightly until they completely transformed into colorful orbs of energy. The orbs then started flying around the entire field for a few moments, just as the portal to the Overlay Network started to materialize onto his side of the field. Once it was completely out, the orbs then proceeded to dive into the portal, resulting in a giant explosion of light to occur.

As the light shined down across the field, Ichiro grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it on top of his two Deep-Space Cruiser cards.

"Xyz Summon!" He shouted. "Appear now, the gigantic world capable of swallowing an entire galaxy, Number 9: Dyson Sphere!"

**Number 9 – Dyson Sphere: ATK 2800 DEF 3000 Rank 9**

When Ichiro called out the name of his monster, everyone watching the Duel looked on in a state of both shock and fear as they watched the virtual sun within the Field Spell begin to disappear. Upon a closer inspection, they noticed that it was being eclipses by something massive. No one knew what it was, especially since they've never heard of something that was big enough to block out the sun. However, as Ichiro's monster slowly got into view, all of them soon realized just what exactly this Number Card really was.

Number 9: Dyson Sphere was a gigantic space satellite that was roughly the same size as a planet. It was equipped with futuristic weaponry, the most notable of which was the charged particle cannon that was placed on its center. When Madas looked at it, the young man had a hard time comprehending what he was looking at. In fact, the fear that he was feeling was so intense that he almost crapped his pants. When Ichiro noticed the fear that was on his opponent's face, the young Psychic Duelist started smirking quietly to himself.

"Since I successfully performed a Xyz Summoning, the effect of Deep Space activates. Now, I can draw one card from my deck!"

Ichiro placed his hand upon his deck and swiftly drew the top card on it. When he looked at it, the Psychic Duelist noticed that the card he just drew could be extremely useful to him. However, having already gone through the trouble of bringing out Dyson Sphere, Ichiro decided against playing the card and simply placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he went on to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Alright," He said. "It's time for you to witness the power of this Number Card. Dyson Sphere, attack his Photon Thrasher…Brilliant Bombardment!"

As soon as Ichiro declared his attack, Dyson Sphere's attack systems were activated and it started building up power within its particle cannon. Once it belt up enough power, the powerful satellite unleashed a blast of energy so great that it not only incinerated Photon Thrasher, but blasted Madas back until his slammed back first into the wall.

**Madas: 3300 LP**

After the attack ended and all the smoke cleared away, a weaken Crow searched frantically for any sign of his friend. When he finally found him by the wall, slowly getting back up to his feat, the Blackwing Duelist let out a high sigh of relief. He then looked on as Madas proceeded to activate the face-down card that he set on his last turn.

"I activate the Trap: Miracle's Wake!" He declared. "Now, since Photon Thrasher was just destroyed as a result of battle, this card brings it back!"

Upon activating his Trap, Madas watched as the card flipped face-up and released a powerful ray of light. From that light, Photon Thrasher appeared onto the field again and stood by his side once more.

Once that happened, Madas waited to see what Ichiro was going to do next. However, much to his surprise, the young man watched as Dyson Sphere slowly started to fly away until it couldn't be seen again. At first, Madas wondered if this was a trick that Ichiro was employing, however that wasn't the case at all as the Psychic Duelist had no other moves to make this turn. As a result, he said the following words to Madas.

"I end my turn," Ichiro concluded.

Once Ichiro ended his turn, Madas prepared himself to begin his. However, as the young man slowly placed his hand upon his deck, he started wondering about what he should do. Not only was this first Number Card that he was facing, but it was its size was so immense that it was able to block out the sun. Also, despite the incredible attack power that Dyson Sphere has, Madas knew that it probably has a special ability that's even more frightening. Just the thought of that was causing him to tense up, since he had no idea on what he should do.

As he continued pondering about that, Madas turned his attention towards his hand for a moment. He noticed that one of his cards had enough strength to defeat the powerful Number, but he hesitated to use it since he wasn't sure if doing so would be the right move to make. Eventually, Madas realized that he didn't have time to second guess himself. The longer this match dragged on, the more his odds of winning decreased. As a result, he decided to place all of his hopes on that one monster.

"It's my turn," He said as he glared at his opponent. "Draw!"

Madas swiftly drew the top card on his deck and quickly placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he then went on to take another card and place it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. This resulted in another flash of light covering his side of the field.

"I Normal Summon: Photon Crusher!"

**Photon Crusher: ATK 2000 DEF 0 LVL 4**

When the flash of light that was illuminating across his field slowly began to fade away, Madas watched as his Photon Crusher appeared and stood next to his Photon Thrasher. He then turned his attention back towards the card he was about to play and once again assured himself that this was the only thing he could do in this situation. Once he did that, Madas took the two Photon Cards that was on his Duel Disk and placed them into the Graveyard before grabbing the card in his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I sacrifice both Photon Thrasher and Photon Crusher!"

Both Photon monsters quickly shattered into tiny sparks after Madas declared his intention to sacrifice them. The sparks then made their way towards the young man and soon formed into the shape of a giant blue anchor. Madas then promptly grabbed the anchor and held it for a few moments before throwing it high into the air.

"I now Special Summon the monster more savage than a supernova! With a cataclysmic force of ten black holes put together! A cosmic scourge that vaporizes anything in its path: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!"

**Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

Once Madas called out the name of his Ace Monster, he watched as several thousand photon particles started gathering around it. When they all built together, everyone watching the Duel looked on as the particles quickly took the shape of Galaxy-Eyes. After the powerful dragon was fully materialized, the beast released an earth shattering roar.

Upon getting a good look at Galaxy-Eyes, a small smile started to appear on Ichiro's face. He then started clapping, much to Madas' shock and slight annoyance. When the others back at Poppo Time saw this too, all of them felt the same way that Madas was feeling and wondered why Ichiro was applauding him.

"Does my Galaxy-Eyes amuse you or something?" Madas questioned, feeling slightly insulted.

"Not at all," Ichiro answered. "I'm just excited to see a Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. From what I hear, they're extremely rare and only a few Duelists in the world actually have one in their decks. It's a real honor to face one in person. However…is your Galaxy-Eyes strong enough to get through my Dyson Sphere's invincible defense?"

"Oh it's strong enough all right!" Madas started clinching his fist in anger. "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, attack Number 9: Dyson Sphere…Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes nodded its head in compliance to Madas' command and soon started building up power from within its body. As it did so, everyone watched as the powerful Dragon-Type monster's body started to glow brilliantly. Once it built up enough power, Galaxy-Eyes unleashed it in the direction where Dyson Sphere was last seen. The force of the attack created a powerful explosion that covered the entire Space

As the explosion came to an end and the smoke was beginning to clear up, Madas waited to see the wreckage of Dyson Sphere fall towards the ground. Unfortunately, after about 2 minutes of waiting, the Galaxy-Eyes user was beginning to wonder what was going on. It was at that moment that Ichiro snapped his fingers, causing Dyson Sphere to reappear, much to Madas' complete and utter shock.

"What…what's going on here…?" He questioned. "Why…why isn't your monster destroyed. Galaxy-Eyes has more Attack Points."

"It's because of Dyson Sphere's Special Ability," Ichiro explained. He then pointed towards the two Overlay Units that was circling around the Number. "You see, as long as Dyson Sphere has at least one Overlay Unit, it can negate one of your attacks. So you see, it doesn't matter if your Galaxy-Eyes is stronger…because while it may incredible attack strength, my Dyson Sphere has an invincible defense!"

Ichiro started laughing hysterically, knowing that he was in complete control of the Duel and there was nothing Madas could do to change that. Unfortunately for Madas, that was exactly the case. The young man placed his hopes on Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and yet his Ace wasn't able to get the job done. The only thing that he could hope for now is that Galaxy-Eyes' attack strength would be enough to prevent Ichiro from attacking. With that, the young man handed things back over to his opponent.

"I end my turn," He said in a disappointed tone of voice.

"Excellent…" Ichiro replied. "Now the fun can truly get underway. I draw!"

After drawing another card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Ichiro looked at Dyson Sphere for a moment before looking towards Madas. Upon reading the expression that was on his face, Ichiro could tell right away what his opponent was hoping for. As a result, he decided to dash Madas' hopes by showing him the true powers of Number 9: Dyson Sphere.

"I think it's time that I activate Dyson Sphere's second Special Ability," He stated. "Now, in normal conditions, I wouldn't have my Number attack since its Attack Points are lower than that of your Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. However…that isn't the case here."

"What do you mean…?" Madas questioned.

"What I mean is that I am going to attack with Dyson Sphere! You see, by using One Overlay Unit, Dyson Sphere can bypass your monster and attack you directly, since Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon has more Attack Points than my Number!"

When Ichiro finished his explanation, everyone was utterly shocked by what they just heard him say. At first, none of them wanted to believe it since such an effect shouldn't be possible, regardless if Dyson Sphere was a Number Card. However, as they watched the giant satellite absorb one of the Overlay Units that was circling around its body, all of them were reluctantly forced to accept that Ichiro was indeed telling the truth.

To all of their horror, they witnessed as Dyson Sphere turned its charged particle cannon towards Madas and began building up power. As that was happening, Ichiro was beginning to laugh hysterically again. He knew that even if Madas had more than enough Life Points to get through the attack, the physical damage that he would sustain from it would undoubtedly be enough to kill him. With his death, all of his friends, especially Crow and Akiza, would be devastated, which was Ichiro's intention from the start. Because of that, the Psychic decided to stop wasting time and finish Madas once and for all.

"It's time to end this little charade. Dyson Sphere, attack his Life Points directly…Brilliant Bombardment!"

At the very instant Ichiro declared his attack, Number 9: Dyson Sphere fired its laser cannon towards Madas. With no way to defend himself, the young man was caught in the attack and started screaming in agony as the blast was beginning to overwhelm him. All of his friends then looked on in horror as a bloody and beaten Madas was blown back by a powerful explosion and sent crashing into the wall. He then fell to the ground, unconscious, as his Life Points began to drop by a significant amount.

**Madas: 500 LP**

"MADAS….NO!"

Crow quickly dashed over towards his friend as blood quickly began to escape from his body. The Blackwing Duelist checked him out and noticed that even though Madas was still alive, he quickly fading and it wouldn't be too much longer until he finally fell to his injuries. The sight of that upset Crow greatly, but he was also very angry that Ichiro would do such a thing to his friend. This ultimately caused him to grit his teeth in frustration, just as his Signer Mark started glowing brightly.

While this was happening, Akiza and the others back at Poppo Time were all feeling the same way as Crow. As a matter of fact, Akiza felt even worse about it since she knew that the reason why Ichiro devastated Madas is because he wanted revenge against her. This also caused her Signer Mark to start glowing, just as the purple aura that makes up her powers appeared around her.

"Ichiro…you will pay for what you did," She said to herself. "I swear it!"

Due to the strong feelings that he had for her, Ichiro's Psychic Link to Akiza allowed him to hear what she just said. Her words caused him to let out a hysterical laugh as he was expecting such a reaction from her. When he finally stopped laughing, Ichiro let out a smug grin.

"This is how it feels Akiza," He said to her. "This is how it feels to lose someone you care about. You killed Sayer, so I killed your friend. However, I won't be satisfied until I drag you into the very depths of despair. I'm going to kill all of your friends, one by one!"

Ichiro's threat caused Akiza's anger to grow even more. She wasn't going to stand by anymore and let this bastard get away with his crimes anymore. To that end, the young woman prepared herself to leave Poppo Time and head over to the Sector Security building in order to confront her enemy. However, before she could do so, Crow stood up and prepared himself to fight Ichiro instead.

"Don't you do anything, Akiza!" The Blackwing Duelist told her over his communication device. "If anyone is going to take him down, it's going to be me!"

Upon hearing Crow's voice, Akiza turned herself back around and looked towards Misaki's computer screen. She then looked on as the Blackwing Duelist prepared himself to face Ichiro, despite still being severely weakened from his Duel against Shirou.

"Don't be stupid Crow!" She told him. "If you fight him, you'll die!"

"I don't care!" Crow shouted back. "This guy killed one of my best friends! I'm going to avenge him…even if it does cost me my life!"

As Akiza and Crow started arguing with each other, all Ichiro could do was laugh from the amusement. He particularly didn't care who he would face next since he knew the end result already. He would be victorious and get one step closer to avenging Sayer's death. However, as he began fantasizing that prospect, something unexpected happened.

Someone, someway, Madas was slowly getting back up to his feet. When Crow and the others saw this, all of them were shocked to see him moving. However, out of all of them, Ichiro was the most shocked as he couldn't believe that he was able to survive an assault from his Dyson Sphere. The thought of it was so ludicrous that, at first, the Psychic Duelist refused to believe it. Unfortunately for him though, it was real and Madas soon found himself back on his feet.

"Gee….thanks guys," Madas said in a slight sarcastic tone. "Thanks…for killing me off…like that…"

Although he managed to get back up, Madas was still extremely weak from Dyson Sphere's attack against him. He was losing a lot of blood and his vision was beginning to fade. Under normal conditions, it would be impossible for anyone to get up after something like that. But, that wasn't the case with Madas. Somehow, the young Duelist found the strength within to not only survive the attack, but to keep battling as well.

Despite this miraculous feat, Crow didn't want his friend to sustain anymore injuries than he already has. As a result, he got in front of the Galaxy-Eyes user and proceeded to activate his Duel Disk. When Madas saw him do that, the young man started glaring at Crow, just as the Blackwing Duelist prepared himself to take his place.

"What are you doing, Crow?" Madas questioned. "This…is my Duel!"

"I know," Crow replied. "However, I'm not going to let you get yourself killed. You go and rest and I'll take care of this son of a bitch!"

As Crow got ready to face Ichiro, Madas looked at his friend with a silent expression on his face. Although a part of him was happy that his friend and rival was standing up to this dangerous opponent, despite the fact that he was also very injured from his own battle, Madas felt extremely insulted at the same time. One of the greatest shames a Duelist could possibly face is having someone else fight their own battles. Not only does it show a lack of strength, but also a lack of character as well. Not wanting that to happen, as well as wanting to finish this Duel on his own, Madas decided to take matters into his own hands.

To that end, the Galaxy-Eyes user turned Crow around and gave him a swift, but powerful, punch to the gut. The force of the punch was so intense that it knocked all the wind out of Crow's body. The Blackwing Duelist was about to pass out, but managed to place his hand upon Madas' shoulder and say something to him before he did.

"You…you bastard…."

With that, Crow lost consciousness. Once that happened, Madas placed his friend to the side so that he wouldn't get caught up in any of the blasts. He then went on to remove the communication device from his ear and destroy it, thus preventing the others at Poppo Time from interfering in the match. After doing all of that, Madas turned his attention back towards Ichiro and prepared himself to face him once more.

While this was going on, Ichiro was still trying to make comprehend what he was seeing. This was the first time that somebody managed take an attack from his Dyson Sphere and live. At first, the Psychic Duelist believed that this was some kind of trick on Madas' part or, at the very least, some type of illusion. However, when it became clear that neither of them was the case, Ichiro was reluctantly forced to accept that Madas did in fact survive. This realization angered him greatly since it meant that his plan was momentarily foiled.

"You won't get away with this!" He said to him as he started gritting his teeth. "You've only delayed the inevitable! Sooner or later, my Dyson Sphere will kill you!"

"Oh really…?" Madas replied with a weaken grin. "In that case…I'll just have to take it down before that can happen."

"Like that'll ever happen!" Ichiro's anger reached dangerous levels, causing his Psychic Powers to affect the area around himself and Madas. "I end my turn. Now, hurry up and go. The faster you make your move…the faster I can kill you!"

"You won't be killing anybody!" Madas glared at Ichiro, his anger reaching the same level as his opponent's. "I'll stop you, no matter what the cost! It's my turn…I draw!"

With newfound strength and resolve, Madas swiftly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, the young man turned his attention towards Ichiro's Number before turning back towards his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Madas believed that the key to defeating Dyson Sphere lied with Galaxy-Eyes, but he didn't know the right way to go about it. Also, it didn't help that he didn't have any cards in his hand that could help him out. Because of that, Madas knew what he needed to do first and thus went on to insert a card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"First off, I'm activating the Spell: Graceful Charity!" He stated. "Now, I can draw 3 cards from my deck, at the cost of discarding 2 cards to the Graveyard."

Going along with the effect of his Spell, Madas swiftly drew 3 more cards from his deck. After taking a good look at them, Madas realized that these were precisely the cards he needed. All that was left was to play them in the right order. If he did that, then he could take out Galaxy-Eyes and win the Duel. Once he acknowledged that, Madas then went on to take 2 cards from his hand and discarded them to the Graveyard. After that, he played another card from his hand.

"Next, I activate another Spell Card: Photon Stream of Destruction! Now, since I have Galaxy-Eyes on my field, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field. The monster I choose…is your beloved Dyson Sphere!"

At the very moment Madas finished his explanation, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon released another ear shattering roar. The monster then prepared to launch its devastating attack towards Dyson Sphere. When Ichiro saw that, the Psychic realized that Madas figured out that while Dyson Sphere can block attacks, it's still vulnerable to destruction effects. Fortunately for him, and for his Number, he had already seen this coming several turns ago.

"Not so fast!" He said as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I'm activating the Continuous Trap Card: Number Wall!"

At the instant Ichiro activated his Trap Card, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon launched its attack towards Number 9: Dyson Sphere. However, before it connected, a powerful veil of light surrounded the gigantic Number. Through the power of this veil, Dyson Sphere managed to survive Galaxy-Eyes' attack, much to Madas' anger and frustration.

"Thanks to powers of my Number Wall, Number monsters that I control can't be destroyed by card effects," Ichiro explained as a confident grin appeared on his face. "However, that's not all. You see, for as long as this card remains on my field, all of my Numbers can't be destroyed through battle unless they're fighting another Number…which you don't have!"

Ichiro started laughing hysterically since he believed that the Duel was pretty much over. This was Madas' last chance to turn things around and he failed. Now all that was left was to wait for him to end his turn, begin his own, and have Dyson Sphere take out the rest of Madas' Life Points. It was the perfect outcome and Ichiro couldn't help but laugh at his achievement. However, as he looked towards Madas, the Psychic's laughter quickly started to fade away.

He noticed that despite his plan failing, Madas wasn't upset about it at all. The expression on his face was still one of strength and confidence. Just seeing that looked bothered Ichiro greatly and it caused him to wonder what Madas was thinking. Given the situation that he was in, there was no way that he could win. However, despite that fact, his expression told a different story.

As he continued to look at him, Ichiro's anger once again caused his Psychic Powers to affect the entire Duel Field. The ground was beginning to crack a little and a dark aura was beginning to wrap around his body. However, unbeknownst to him, his powers were beginning to have a strange effect on Madas, making feel more powerful than he's ever felt before in his entire life. It's because of this new power that the Galaxy-Eyes user wasn't afraid and was able to continue his turn without any hesitation.

"I set two cards face-down," He said as he took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. He then watched as the cards materialized behind Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. "With that, I end my turn."

Upon watching him end his turn, Enoch started to notice something rather strange as he watched the Duel from Misaki's computer. He saw that while Madas didn't have any powers, the air was beginning to shift around him. Enoch wasn't sure why this was happening, but he remembered from the moment Madas first got up from Dyson Sphere's attack, he's been getting more powerful every second. He started to wonder if this was because of Ichiro's powers, but he quickly put that thought aside when he saw his former colleague get ready to begin his next turn.

"It's time to put an end to this!" An angered Ichiro stated. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Once Ichiro drew a card from his deck, he turned his attention towards Dyson Sphere and watched as the final Overlay Unit that was surrounding its body began to make its way towards it.

"I activate Dyson Sphere's Special Ability!" He declared. "By using its Final Overlay Unit, Dyson Sphere can bypass your pathetic Galaxy-Eyes and once again attack your Life Points directly!"

Dyson Sphere's Overlay Unit quickly entered its body, causing the Number to change its target from Galaxy-Eyes to Madas. However, despite seeing that, Madas wasn't afraid. He was ready for the attack this time, since he knew how to get around it. Fortunately for him, Ichiro's anger was making him blind to this fact, since he was so focused on defeating him.

"Die, you fool!" Ichiro yelled. "Dyson Sphere, attack his Life Points directly!"

"I won't let that happen!" Madas countered. "I activate the Trap Card: Galaxy Vortex!"

At the very instant Dyson Sphere launched its attack against Madas, a powerful vortex of energy appeared in front of him. The vortex's powers allowed it to absorb the Number's attack and send it right back to it. When this happened, a giant explosion occurred around Ichiro's monster. When it faded away, the Psychic Duelist noticed that the veil of protection from his Number Wall Trap had disappeared.

"What the hell?" He said, dumbfounded by what he just saw. "What did you just do?!"

"I activated my Trap Card, Galaxy Vortex!" Madas answered. "It's a special Trap Card that can only be activated when I'm attacked while Galaxy-Eyes is on my field. Galaxy Vortex not only negates the attack, but can also destroy one card on your field! The card I choose was your Number Wall, thus removing Dyson Sphere's protection!"

Ichiro gritted his teeth in frustration as he was greatly upset that not only did Madas negate Dyson Sphere's attack, but also destroyed his Trap Card as well. With no more moves to make this turn, the Psychic Duelist had no choice but to end his turn and wait for another chance to take out his opponent.

"Damn you," He said to him. "You're like a parasite. No matter what I do, you just keep coming back! However, this changes nothing! There's no way that a normal human like you can defeat a Psychic Duelist like me!"

"Don't be so sure about that,"

Ichiro stared at Madas with a confused expression on his face as he didn't understand what he meant by that. However, as he and everyone else looked on, they began to see that something was happening to the Galaxy-Eyes user. Somehow, a mysterious aura of energy was beginning to wrap around him, changing his appearance slightly. When Ichiro noticed this, the Psychic Duelist was beginning to wonder what was happening.

"What…what is this? What is he doing?"

As Ichiro continued to look on at Madas, the others back at Poppo Time were doing the same thing. None of them knew what was going on at first, but as he watched Madas change, Enoch had a pretty good idea what was happening.

"Madas absorbed a part of Ichiro's powers," He stated to himself.

"Huh?" Toru turned his focus towards Madas, wondering about what he just said. "What do you mean he absorbed his powers?"

"It's exactly what I mean," Enoch continued. "Madas managed to take some of Ichiro's Psychic Powers and make it his own. I don't know how he did it, but I think it was when he was attacked by Dyson Sphere. The sheer intensity of the attack must've rubbed off on him. I noticed this a few turn ago, but this is the real indication of it."

"But…what's going to happen now?" Lilly questioned.

Enoch didn't answer Lilly's question, mostly because he didn't have an answer for her. Normally, humans who lack powers can't handle the abilities of a Psychic Duelist. Under most cases, the human that absorb the Psychic Powers would end up dead since their body would reject them. However, that wasn't the case with Madas. Enoch wondered why this was the case, but he quickly put that thought aside when saw that Madas was beginning to change some more.

The mysterious aura that was covering his body changed Madas' clothes slightly. Instead of wearing a jet black shirt, blue jeans, and grey jacket, they all turned into brighter colors. Now, Madas' clothes had a white and purple color scheme to it. Not only that, but as the aura continued to wrap around his body, his left eye became bright red and was now surrounded by a blue marking.

When the transformation finally came to an end, Madas took a moment to look over at his new form. Like everyone else, the young man had no idea what was happening to him. However, after feeling the strength that was coming from it, Madas decided to put any questions that he had in the back of his mind. As of right now, all that mattered was finishing this Duel and hoped that this new transformation of his would do the trick. With that, Madas placed his hand upon his deck.

"Okay," He said to himself. "I think it's time I bring this bastard down a notch. It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing a card from his deck, Madas watched as his aura of power started to resonate with his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. When he saw that, he decided to dub his new form, "Photon Transformation" and decided to use it to bring out a brand new creature. In order accomplish that, Madas took a card from his hand and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, since I have a Galaxy monster on my side of the field, I can Special Summon this card without the need of a sacrifice. Appear now, Galaxy Knight!"

**Galaxy Knight: ATK 2800 DEF 2600 LVL 8**

A bright flash of light shined across Madas' side of the field for a few seconds, just as he played his newest card. When it finally faded away, Galaxy Knight appeared and soon started standing next to Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Once that was settled, Madas turned his focus towards Ichiro's Dyson Sphere.

"Now, since your beloved Number doesn't have any more Overlay Units, my monsters can get rid of it!" He said to Ichiro. "Galaxy-Eyes, attack Number 9: Dyson Sphere…Photon Stream of Destruction!"

Galaxy-Eyes complied with its master's command and once again prepared itself to fire another blast at Dyson Sphere. However, before that could happen, Madas watched as the portal to the card Graveyard started to appear in front of Ichiro. He then watched as two Overlay Units suddenly shot from the portal and quickly made their way around Dyson Sphere.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not going to happen!" Ichiro commented. "I activate Dyson Sphere's final Special Ability! When it's attacked while it has no Overlay Units, it can take 2 monsters from my Graveyard and use them as Overlay Units!"

With the power of its new Overlay Units, Dyson Sphere managed to create a protective barrier around itself. This allowed the Number to once again survive Galaxy-Eyes' attack. Once the smoke cleared, Ichiro started laughing confidently.

"Looks like your final gamble as failed! As I'm sure you're well aware, Dyson Sphere's first Special Ability allows it to negate an attack once per turn! I knew that there was no way that you could win…I just knew it."

"That's what you think,"

Ichiro's eyes widen slightly after hearing Madas' comment. He then watched as the aura of power that was surrounding the young man was beginning to change color. Now, instead of being mostly white, the aura was now a darker blue color. When he saw this, Ichiro had no idea what was happening to him. However, what he could tell is that Madas' powers were beginning to make him feel something that he thought he'd never feel – Fear.

"I'm not done yet," Madas continued. "I still have one more card left to play…and it's the Quick-Play Spell: Photon Storm!"

Madas quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk, effectively activating the face-down card that was on his field. Once he did that, he watched as a massive storm of energy was beginning to surround the entire battlefield.

"With the power of Photon Storm, I can perform an Xyz Summoning during my Battle Phase, since I have a Photon monster on my field! I Overlay my Level 8 Galaxy Knight and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon! With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

As the Photon Storm continued to ravage across the field, both Galaxy Knight and Galaxy-Eyes transformed themselves into powerful orbs of energy. They then started flying around all over the place, just as the portal to the Overlay Network appeared in the middle of the sky. Once it was out completely, the orbs quickly made their way into it, resulting in another explosion. It was at that moment that Madas grabbed a glowing card from his Extra Deck, which was created from his brand new powers.

"As darkness and light wander across the universe, a sorrowful dragon awakens from its slumber. Its power opens the world to the truth! Xyz Summon! Appear, the Ultimate Galactic Dragon, Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!"

**Number 62 - Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon: ATK 4000 DEF 3000 Rank 8**

Upon declaring the name of his monster, Madas quickly placed its card onto this Duel Disk. He then held out his hand and watched as another anchor materialized around it. Once that happened, the young man threw it into the Overlay Network and looked on in excitement as more sparks continued to shoot out from it.

Eventually, after a few more seconds, something massive started to appear from the Overlay Network. When everyone got a look at it, they noticed that it was a new Galaxy-Eyes Dragon. However, unlike the normal Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon much taller and was covered it a powerful armor. Also, like all Number Cards, Prime Photon Dragon had its number, 62, emblazoned on its left wing.

When Number 62 finally landed by Madas' side, the powerful Dragon-Type monster released a roar so great, that it literally shook up the entire building. Ichiro had no idea what he was looking at, as he's never seen a Number Card like it before. The Psychic Duelist wondered what he could do, especially since he couldn't block Prime Photon Dragon's attack with Dyson Sphere's effect, since Number 9 had already used it once this turn. Unfortunately for Ichiro however, his problems were about to get a whole lot worse.

"Alright….Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon, attack Number 9: Dyson Sphere!" Madas declared as the aura from his Photon Transformation increased in intensity. "At that moment, I activate Galaxy-Eyes' Special Ability. When it's about to battle, I can use one Overlay Unit to increase Galaxy-Eyes' Attack Points equal to the combined Rank of all Xyz Monsters currently on the field, multiplied by 200 points!"

Galaxy-Eyes devoured one of the 2 Overlay Units that was circling around its body. Once it did that, the Number released a powerful energy wave that increased its strength by several fold.

"Currently, my Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon is a Rank 8 Xyz Monster while your Dyson Sphere is a 9 Xyz Monster. 8 plus 9 is 17 and 17 times 200 is 3400! That means that Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon's Attack Points increase all the way up to…7400!"

**Number 62 – Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon: ATK 7400**

As the energy wave that Galaxy-Eyes was giving off continued to increase its power, the entire Sector Security building was beginning to shake violently. Almost everyone inside was beginning to lose their balance and fall to the ground, but that wasn't the case with Madas. The young man's feet were planted firmly to the ground, as he had no intention of moving until he finally took down his opponent. With that, Madas had Galaxy-Eyes launch its attack against Dyson Sphere.

"Go!" He yelled. "Eternity Photon Stream!"

Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon complied and released a giant blast of photon energy towards Dyson Sphere. This time, the Number wasn't able to block the blast and was quickly blown to smithereens by it. This act caused a giant explosion to occur, completely enveloping Ichiro, as the Psychic Duelist lost all of his Life Points.

**Ichiro: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>At the very instant that Ichiro's Life Points dropped to 0, Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon let out another incredible roar. The roar was so loud and powerful that it slowly woke Crow back up. As the young man slowly got himself off of the ground, he looked over towards Madas and noticed his unique transformation for the first time. The Blackwing Duelist had no idea what was happening and was left awestruck by the incredible appearance of his friend.<p>

Eventually, as Crow continued to stare at him, Madas turned himself around and noticed that the Blackwing Duelist was awake. Seeing him up brought a small smile on Madas' face, as he was relieved that his friend was alright. As a result, he soon began making his way towards Crow, just as he deactivated his Duel Disk.

"Sorry that took so long," He said to him. "Things got a little hairy near the end, but I managed to win."

"…Forget about that," Crow told him. "What about you? What's with that look of yours?"

Madas looked down towards his body and, for the first time, got a real look at how much his appearance had changed since he absorbed a portion of Ichiro's Psychic Powers. The young man didn't know what to think about it, since nothing like this has ever happened to him before. However, the slight confusion he was feeling was overshadowed by an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.

"I'm not entirely sure," Madas answered. "However…I'll call it my…Photon…Transformation…"

Without any warning, Madas suddenly felt all of his strength leave his body. As he started falling towards the floor, Crow managed to catch him before he hit the ground. The Signer then watched as Madas' appearance was slowly returning to the way it was before. Upon seeing that, Crow's confusion only increased and he wondered just what exactly was going on here.

"Madas…just what are you?" He asked.

"…I'll tell you what he is. He's dead! That son of a bitch is f**king dead!"

Crow hearing an angry, yet familiar, voice coming from behind him, Crow quickly turned around and watched as someone was beginning to emerge from the fire that Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon created when it destroyed Dyson Sphere. The person in question was Ichiro, who was completely and utterly furious by the results of the Duel. With his plans foiled and having just suffered a humiliating defeat, the Psychic decided to stop playing around and just kill both Crow and Madas.

To that end, Ichiro reactivated his Duel Disk and quickly placed 5 cards onto his Monster Card Zone. This act resulted in 5 terrifying and powerful monsters materializing before him, all of whom were prepared to follow his orders, regardless of what they may be. When Crow saw that, the young man knew that he and Madas were in trouble and tried to escape. However, because of how weak they both were, the two of them had no chance of getting out. The sight of that brought a psychotic smile across Ichiro's face.

"There's no escape for you now," He told Crow. "Both of you are going to die! I refuse to be humiliated by the like of you! Now…kill them my monsters!"

All of Ichiro's creatures complied with his orders and got ready to attack Crow and Madas. With no way to defend themselves, Crow closed his eyes and prepared himself for the worst. However, before anything could happen, something unexpected took place.

Suddenly, and without warning, all of Ichiro's monsters stopped and started screaming in agony. Eventually, the pain that they were feeling was intense that it caused them all to disappear. Upon seeing that happen, Ichiro was utterly confused and wondered what was going on here. He soon got his answer when he watched someone get in between him and Crow.

"Sorry…but I can't allow you to kill these guys," The individual said. "A good friend of mine needs them if he has any chance of saving the world."

Upon hearing the individual speak, Crow instantly knew who it was and opened his eyes. When he did, the Blackwing Duelist saw that he was right and that the person who saved him and Madas was none other than Sona. This caused the Signer to let out a huge sigh of relief, just as his friends back at Poppo Time were beginning to wonder why Sona was at the Sector Security building in the first place.

Eventually, it didn't take all of them long to figure out that it was probably Enoch who sent her and as a result, directly turned all of their attention towards him. Enoch, however, ignored them all and focused on the task at hand. He watched as Sona turned around and began making her way towards Crow and Madas.

"Sona…what are you doing here?" Crow asked.

"It doesn't matter right now," Sona answered, as she gently placed her hand upon Madas' head. "All that matters is getting you two out of here before anything else happens."

Having sensed the Reiatsu that Madas was giving off when he went through his unique transformation, Sona examined him in order to see what really happened. Once she did that, the young woman took out a card and transferred her power into it. This caused the card to glow a bright purple color as the image of the monster on it appeared before everyone. As soon as it was materialized completely, Sona had her creature carry Madas while she helped Crow back to his feet.

Once that was settled, Sona got ready to leave the building and meet up with the others back at Poppo Time. However, before she could get too far, someone was ready to stop her. That someone was Ichiro, and he wasn't about to stand by and watch as she took his prey from him.

"You're not going anywhere!" He yelled. "I don't know who you are and I don't really give a damn! No one steals my foes and lives!"

With that said, Ichiro had his 5 monsters continued their assault towards all of them. Sona, realizing that this was not only becoming tiresome, but stupid as well, decided to put an end to this once and for all. To that end, the Psychic took off her classes and hooked them across her shirt collar. After that, she turned around and proceeded to pull out two more cards.

"Fool…" She said silently to herself. "You should know who you're up against."

Sona quickly transferred more of her power into the two cards. As he watched her, Crow looked on as the two cards transformed into two Duel Monsters swords: the Lighting Blade and the Sword of Dark Destruction. He then watched as Sona quickly made her way towards all of Ichiro's creatures with both swords placed firmly in each hand.

Upon reaching them, Sona used her weapons to quickly destroy each monster with little effort. As everyone watched her, they were all amazed by her skills and realized that there was more to her than just a Psychic Duelist. Once the last monster was destroyed, Sona then turned her attention towards Ichiro and watched as he slowly started to back away.

Soon, Ichiro found himself back against the wall and looked on in horror as Sona was quickly closing the distance between the two of them. Knowing that Goodwin will disposed of him when finds out about what happened, Ichiro decided that dying by Sona's hand was the better of the two choices. As a result, the arrogant Psychic Duelist lunged towards her, despite the fact that she was more powerful than him.

When Sona saw Ichiro do that, the young woman dropped both of her swords and immediately grabbed her opponent's face with her left hand. Then, just as both weapons vanished, Sona slammed Ichiro's head against the ground and stared at him with a murderous intent in her eyes. This look, along with an overwhelming blast of her Reiatsu, was enough to knock Ichiro into unconsciousness. Once he was out, Sona let go of his face.

Once that was settled, Sona got up and placed her glasses back across her face. She then got ready to make her way towards Crow and Madas, but stopped when she saw Ichiro's Dyson Sphere on the ground. Realizing that such a rare and powerful Number could dangerous if left in the wrong hands, Sona picked it up off the ground and took it with her. She then began walking away with Crow and Madas, while silently slipping Dyson Sphere into the latter's pocket.

After they left, Mina was busy typing on Goodwin's computer like a woman possessed. Upon seeing the events that transpired during the Duel between Madas and Ichiro, Mina realized that she was wrong and filed a detailed report of everything that happened before, during, and after the Duel. Once she finished, Mina sent the report and hoped that the recipient received it.

Meanwhile, deep below the Sector Security building, Takashi was continuing making his way to Goodwin's location. As he walked, he noticed several Reiatsus were appearing all over the place, indicating that several battles were taking place. This worried him greatly as he was concerned for his friends, unaware that they were already rescued. However, as he continued thinking about it, Takashi soon sensed something else that bothered him even further.

By the time he reached the entrance to a certain room, Takashi sensed a massive Reiatsu, the strongest he ever felt before in his life. He knew right away that its source was beyond the door and he also knew that the place Goodwin wanted him to go to was the same place. Despite that though, the young man was hesitant to go inside.

Although he wasn't sure why, Takashi felt that something bad was going to happen if he went inside the room. A part of him wanted to turn back and try and find his friends. However, despite wanting to do that, Takashi knew that he had to enter the room. He needed to find out what Goodwin knew and the only way he could do that is if he confronted him. Because of that, the young man swallowed him fear and slowly entered the room.

Upon doing so, Takashi looked on in awe as he entered a room that contained a large and colorful room. As he looked around, Takashi noticed that below him was a giant reactor that was giving up several different colors. He noticed that it was the source of the Reiatsu that he was sensing, causing him to wonder just what it was.

"What the hell is this thing?" He wondered.

"…It's the Ener-D Reactor. It's the source of all the power in New Domino City."

Recognizing the voice that just spoke to him, Takashi turned around and saw that someone else was on the small bridge that he was on. When he got a good look at the person, the young man started staring at him, just as his Signer Mark started to glow.

"It's you…" He said as he began to grit his teeth. "Rex Goodwin!"

"That's right," The director confirmed. "It's good to see you, Takashi. Now…I think it's about time that we have our conversation."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_For the longest time now, Takashi Nakamura has had questions about himself that nobody has been able to answer. However, now that he's finally reached Goodwin, the young leader of the Signer may just find out. The question is; will Takashi like what he learns…and how will that information affect him going forward?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 93: Family Secrets_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of quick announcements._

_First off, I want to apologize for not updating in a while, I just finished Finals and I wanted to spend time focusing on them first. Now that summer break is here, I'll be able to work on Over the Nexus more._

_Second, I want to thank all of you for putting up with all of these delays. I know it must be annoying and I really appreciate your patience. Never forget that it's because of all of you, the readers, that I do this._

_Lastly, I want to thank ThatYaoiFanBoy for his OC, Ichiro Mirai. I hoped I used him well and I promise to make the best of him in the future._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, please continue reading the latest chapters and sending me reviews for them. Remember, your input really helps this story out. _

_Until Next Time, this is Spirit Reader signing off._


	93. Chapter 93

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 93: **_Family Secrets_

* * *

><p><em>Almost 19 years ago<em>

_Alex: 4-years-old_

In the western section of Japan, there resides a giant and beautiful metropolis known as New Domino City. Long before the Zero Reverse incident, in which the city was nearly destroyed and split into two, New Domino City was considered one of the world's national landmarks. The reason for that is because some of the world's greatest Duelists lived here. Such Duelists include Jaden Yuki, Seto Kaiba, and even the world's first World Dueling King, Yugi Muto. People from all over the world traveled far and wide in order to see them, which is one of the many reasons why New Domino became the place that is today.

However, despite all the amazing things that New Domino City had, that didn't mean that it wasn't without its problems. In fact, the city of New Domino had a huge secret. Those who knew about this secret were aware that if the general public knew about it, the city would enter a state of mass hysteria, one it might not be able to recover from. In order to prevent that and to protect the lives who resided in New Domino, certain individuals made a vow to protect the secret and make sure that the city stayed safe.

Time soon passed by and New Domino City continued to flourish even more as those who swore to protect upheld that vow. Eventually, as time passed by, a significant even took place that changed everything. From out of nowhere, a beautiful young woman named Sakura Nakamura came to New Domino with the goal of becoming the world's best Duelist. In the span of a few years, Sakura managed to achieve her lifelong goal and things became really good for both her and the city. However, despite becoming the new World King, or in her case, World Queen, that wasn't the biggest thing that happened to Sakura.

For most of her life, Sakura wasn't interested in things like love since she found it to be bothersome. But, all that changed when she encountered a young man named Minato. Like her, Minato was a Duelist and he was considered to be one of the best. In fact, out of all the opponents that she's faced, Minato was the only person Sakura was unable to defeat in a Duel. Wanting to prove that she could beat him, Sakura challenge him over and over, but would always lose every time. In most cases, that many defeats would cause a Duelist to give up. But…that wasn't the case with Sakura as it only made her more determined.

Eventually, as she continued to battle Minato, Sakura managed to get to know him better. She came to realize that he had a lot of problems going on, especially when it came to his family. Feeling sympathy for him and his plight, Sakura decided to help Minato out in whatever way she could. It was through this act of kindness that allowed the both of them to get to know one another better, becoming closer as a result. By doing that, something unexpected happened – Minato and Sakura fell in love.

The love that Sakura and Minato had for each other was something no else expected, especially it seemed like, at least from a distance, that the two of them hated each other. Eventually, the couple's love reached the point in which Sakura became pregnant with Minato's child. Although she was young and had just become the first female World Queen, Sakura was thrilled that she was going to be a mother and that happiness only grew when she found out she was going to have twins. It was the next phase of her journey and she simply couldn't wait to bring her beloved children into the world.

However, while Sakura was excited about becoming a mother, Minato was somewhat reluctant about becoming a father. The reason for that is that he didn't want the burden of his family to be placed upon his children. He wanted nothing more for them to live happy lives, without any problems holding them back. But, when he realized that the fate of family will also extend to his children, Minato decided to at least make preparations so that his and Sakura's kids will be ready.

Eventually, on an early morning in the middle of August, Sakura gave birth to her children with her beloved right by her side. When it came time to name them, Sakura decided to give her kids strong names so that they'll be strong while growing up. As a result, she gave her eldest son the name Takashi and her youngest daughter the name Kagura. Upon seeing their children for the first time, Minato and Sakura vowed to always be there for their children and make sure that nothing bad happens to them. Unfortunately, that was just one promise they simply couldn't keep, despite how strong they both were.

Shortly after Takashi and Kagura were born, the two siblings were left alone for a moment while their mother and father were away. As they slept quietly in the room that they were in, a young boy entered the room and took a peek at the two. This boy, while unknown to them at the time, will one day have a major impact on both Takashi's and Kagura's lives. His name was none other than…Alex McQueen.

Since he was just 4-years-old, Alex's parents didn't want him to see what happens when a woman goes through labor had him wait outside while Sakura was giving birth. Once that was done, the little boy decided to go inside and have a look at Takashi and Kagura while they slept quietly in their respective cribs. However, upon going inside the room, Alex realized that the cribs were bigger than he though and his small body made him unable to get a look at them.

Alex tried jumping up and down in the hope of getting at glance at the twins, but stopped when he became tired. When that failed, the little boy then tried climbing on the crib, but he had a hard time doing that as well, since he found it difficult to get a grip on the railings. Despite that problem though, Alex didn't give up as he wanted to get a good look at the babies. As a result, he kept trying to climb up the crib.

As Alex continued to do this, someone proceeded to enter the room. He had pitch-black hair with gray eyes and had a fairly muscular build. The individual was also wearing a lab coat, indicating that he was a scientist of some kind. When he saw Alex climbing up the crib, he made his way over towards the little boy in order to help him out. Once he reached him, the individual lifted the young boy so that he was high enough to look at the babies. When this happened, Alex turned around and looked at the person that was carrying him.

"Thanks Minato," He said with a small smile on his face.

"Don't mention it,"

Minato, the father of Takashi and Kagura, slowly nodded his head towards Alex in response to his thanks. He then directed himself towards his newborn children and watched as both of them slept peacefully. As he looked at them, Minato thought about something that was extremely personal to him and wondered if it would affect his kids. Knowing that they need someone to look after them just in case something happened to either him or Sakura, Minato turned his attention towards Alex, believing that he could do the job.

Although was fairly young, Minato could sense the tremendous potential that was resting within him. He knew, that with time and proper training, Alex would become one of the most talented individuals in the entire world. It's because of that belief that Minato knew that if something happened to him or Sakura, their kids would have someone to look after them in their absence.

"Alex…" He said, grabbing the boy's attention.

"Yes," Alex replied. "What is it?"

"What do you think about my kids? How do you feel about them?"

Alex was slightly confused by Minato's question, as he was unsure why he asked him such a thing. Still, since he had asked him, Alex decided to give it his best shot and thought carefully about what his answer should be. After some time, Alex turned his attention towards Takashi and Kagura and proceeded to give his answer while he stared at the two of them.

"I think they're pretty cool," He started off.

As he continued to look at the two babies, Alex started to feel something coming from them. He wasn't quite sure what this strange feeling was, but the little boy believed that it was very powerful. Such strength brought a small smile upon his face.

"I don't know why, but I think the both of them are going to make something of themselves."

Minato nodded his head slightly in response to Alex's words and soon turned his attention back towards his children. Just like Alex said, he too could sense something powerful stirring inside of Takashi and Kagura. This was especially true for Takashi, who had an incredible power sleeping inside of him, despite the fact that he was just born no less than 3 hours ago. Minato knew that wielding such power would cause a lot of problems for his children and as a result, they would need someone to look after them. To that end, he placed his hand upon Alex's head.

"Alex," He started off. "Can you promise me something?"

"What is it?" Alex asked, wondering what Minato wanted him to do.

"…I can't be too sure, but I have a feeling that something bad might happen soon. If it does, I want you to promise that you'll look after Takashi and Kagura for me. They're going to need someone like you to guide them…if they want to achieve their full potential."

Alex was surprised by Minato's sudden request. Half of him didn't understand what he said, due to his young age, while the other half was confused by this bad thing that he mentioned. In the end though, Alex decided to agree to Minato's promise by nodding his head slightly. Although he wasn't quite sure what was going on, Alex was aware that the special feeling that was coming off from both Takashi and Kagura needed to be protected, no matter what.

Once he saw the little boy acknowledge him, Minato nodded his own head at Alex before turning back towards his kids. As he watched them sleep, someone else entered the room. This person was none other than Rex Goodwin, who is a very good associate of Minato. Upon seeing him enter the room, Minato knew right away that something was up and proceeded to talk with Goodwin while Alex looked on from a distance.

As Alex watched them talk, the little boy wasn't sure what was going on and wondered if he could help. However, before he could go up to them and ask, the conversation between Minato and Goodwin already came to an end. Alex then looked on at Minato got ready to leave the room and head over towards an unknown destination.

Before Minato left however, the young man took one last look to towards his children and watched as they continued to sleep. As he looked at them, Alex noticed that the expression on Minato's face was very sad, as if he was about to cry. He wondered what was wrong with him, but kept quiet when he saw Minato shift his attention from Takashi and Kagura to towards him.

"Alex…please keep your promise," He said with a soft expression on his face.

"…I will," Alex nodded his head slightly towards Minato. "You can count on me."

Upon hearing him say that, Minato nodded his head towards him and proceeded to take one last look at his kids. Once he finished doing that, the young left the room with a strong sense of purpose on his face.

Once Minato was gone, Alex looked back towards the babies' cribs again. As he looked at them, Goodwin proceeded to walk over towards them as well and took a moment to stare at them both. His eyes were especially fixated towards Takashi, as he could sense the bottomless power that was sleeping within him. As he soon as he finished his observation, Goodwin looked towards Alex.

"…You have to be as strong as possible if you want to keep your promise, Alex," Goodwin said. "That means that you'll have to train hard."

Alex nodded his head in agreement to Goodwin's words. He then took a moment to remember the promise that he just made to Minato.

"Right," He said. "You can count on me…"

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

"Get out of my way…You bastards!"

While racing through the floors of the Sector Security building, 22-year-old Alex McQueen was busy doing everything within his power to take down all the guards that were currently standing in his way. As he fought them all off, the young Dragunity Knight was busy recalling the past and the vow that he made as a little boy.

When Alex promised Minato that he would look after his children, he had every intention of keeping it. However, because of the Zero Reverse incident that took place just a few hours later, steps were taken and Takashi and Kagura were separated for their own protection. This act not only prevented Alex from fulfilling his promise, but also prevented both Takashi and Kagura from finding out that they're brother and sister.

Being unable to fulfill that crushed Alex, since he knew Minato was counting on him to carry it out. As a result, he trained himself relentlessly in order to watch over the two when the time came for them to return to New Domino City. However, despite growing much stronger throughout the years, Alex was still unable to do much for the twins. Kagura's quest for vengeance made it nearly impossible for him to approach her and Takashi spent an extra 6 years in Crash Town, finally arriving in New Domino City nearly 11 months ago.

By the time Takashi finally did return to New Domino, he was immediately thrust into battles against Sayer's Arcadia Movement and Sasuke's Crashing Sharks Duel Gang. Although he knew that those battles were instrumental in the young Signer's growth, Alex was still ashamed that he couldn't help him out until much later and even then, Takashi still had to do a lot of the grunt work alone.

Although he's accepted his role as a Dragunity Knight, Alex sometimes wishes that could've taken Takashi's place and become leader of the Signers. The reason behind this desire is not out of jealously, as he's seen that Takashi truly deserves to lead the Signers. Instead, Alex's reasoning is that he didn't want such a having burden being placed on Takashi's shoulders. He would rather bear the burden himself, so that Takashi wouldn't have to deal with it. However, since that wasn't the case, Alex vowed that now that he and Takashi were now working together, he would watch out for him, effectively fulfilling one half of his promise with Minato.

Unfortunately for Alex, there was still one problem that was preventing him from truly fulfilling the first half of his promise. That problem was none other than Rex Goodwin. Having seen how cruel he can be, Alex knew that he needed to keep Takashi away from him. This was especially true since he knew about the connection that Goodwin has with not only with Takashi, but with the rest of his family as well. Believing that he wasn't ready to know such a truth, Alex vowed to keep Takashi from the Director at all costs. However, his desire to do that wasn't easy.

Goodwin was well aware of Alex's plans and thus already had a plan of his own to counter him. Although the Security Officers that he sent were in no way capable of defeating the Dragunity Knight, Goodwin knew that they were stall him long enough for him to finish his conversation with Takashi.

Alex realized what Goodwin was trying to do and he tried his best to thwart his plan so that he could reach Takashi before anything happened. Unfortunately, for every officer that he took out, 3 more would take his or her place. This made reaching Takashi rather difficult, but despite that though, Alex refused to give him. He couldn't afford to, especially after coming so far.

"Get out of my way, damn it!" Alex shouted as he punched a male officer, knocking out most of his front teeth. "Can't you see that I'm in a hurry here?!"

As a female officer with a gun approached him, Alex grabbed the man he just punched and threw him towards her, causing them both to fall towards the ground. He then glared at all the other officers and proceeded to bust right through them as he continued to make his way towards Takashi's current location.

According to the Reiatsu that he was feeling, Alex could tell that Takashi was either in or nearly close to the room where the Ener-D Reactor was located. Knowing that room was still a couple of floors away, Alex had to hurry. As a result, the Dragunity Knight decided to stop messing around and proceeded to unleash a fraction of his true power. This caused the mark on his back to glow a bright green color, enhancing all of his physical attributes. With his improved strength, Alex was able to get through officers much easier than before.

"I have to hurry!" He thought as he continued to fight through the officers. "I have to stop him before it's too late."

Alex tried his best to reach his destination as fast as he possibly could. Unfortunately for him though, he was already too late. Deep in the lower levels of the Sector Security building, Takashi had finally met up with Goodwin while inside the Ener-D Reactor room. As the energy from the reactor was continuously giving off a rainbow colored aura, Takashi was trying his best to keep his anger for the Director under control, but he wasn't doing too well.

Ever since Hikari and Riku lost their lives nearly 7 years ago, Takashi believed that it was anger and carelessness that ended up getting them killed. As a result, he worked to control his emotions and not let things like anger consume him. He would bottle up his anger, so that it wouldn't sway his decisions in a negative way or get interfere with his work. It's because he knows how to control his emotions so well that Takashi was able to obtain his complete Zexal Transformation during his Duel against Kuromu. However, things were different now.

Now that he was face to face with Rex Goodwin, the man responsible for the terrible events that's taken place, the seal on Takashi's bottled emotions were beginning to crack. Anger was consuming him, resulting in the Chaos that sleeps inside of him to awaken and take over his body. Soon, Takashi's body shined brilliantly as he was now in his imperfect Zexal form.

Although this form normally brought a sense of shock and fear to those who witnessed it up close, that wasn't the case with Goodwin. In fact, the Director of Sector Security was quite pleased with Takashi's sudden transformation. With him in this state, Goodwin had the opportunity to analyze the young Signer's powers and see just how strong he's become in the short time since he first arrived in New Domino City.

After examining Takashi's power, Goodwin let out a small, yet devilish smile. He was quite pleased with how far Takashi's grown, effectively proving to him that he deserved his status as leader of the 5 Signers. Also, since he was aware of the circumstances behind his powers, which were unique even for a Signer, Goodwin knew instantly that Takashi's abilities were exactly what needed in order for him to accomplish his goals. This caused the smile on his face to grow even bigger, much to Takashi's confusion and annoyance.

"What's so funny?!" He questioned the Director. "Do I amuse you or something?!"

"Not at all," Goodwin said calmly. "I'm just happy. I know that if your father was here, he would be pleased with your development, just like I am."

After hearing him talk about his father, Takashi's anger towards Goodwin grew even more. Although he knew almost nothing about his dad, other than his name, Takashi didn't want Goodwin talking about him as if he knew him. This act prompted him to place his hand upon his sword, bracing him to draw it from its sheath the moment Goodwin said something that he didn't like.

"Now…Now…" Goodwin responded, placing his hand in front of Takashi in a calming manner. "There's no need to get angry. I brought you here in order for us to talk and that's exactly what I plan on doing?"

"….If that's the case, then answer this?" Takashi asked. "What are you up? Why are manipulating and hurting all these people? Is it to obtain the power of the Crimson Dragon?!"

Goodwin stared at Takashi as the young man continued to grip the end of his sword, preparing himself to unsheathe it. As he watched him, the Director thought about what he just asked him and realized that Alex must've told him what he believed that he was up to. However, upon thinking that, Goodwin simply let out another small smile.

"I see…That Alex, he thinks he knows everything. That boy never seems to learn, no matter how much time passes."

"Don't talk about him that way!" Takashi shouted. "It's because of Alex that I've become this strong! He's also the one that told me about your sadistic plans!"

"…You're wrong, Takashi," Goodwin calmly corrected. "Alex isn't the reason why you've become as strong as you are. If you want to thank anybody for your strength…it's me."

Takashi's eyes widen upon hearing Goodwin say that to him. He couldn't understand how he was the reason behind his strength. All he's done since he's made himself known to him is bring pain and tragedy to not only Takashi himself, but those closest to him as well. This confusion that he was feeling ultimately made Takashi even angrier than before, resulting in his golden aura becoming more vibrant.

"What do you mean by that?" He questioned him. "You didn't do anything except make my life even harder than it was already!"

"That's where your wrong, Takashi. You're strong because of me…or rather, your strong because of the things I made you do."

As Takashi's confusion steadily grew worse, Goodwin simply examined how much power the young man was producing at this moment. He then recalled everything that he's done up to this point, starting on at the very instant Takashi first arrived in New Domino City.

"Your first Duel against Akiza Izinski," He continued. "Was the moment when you first awakened your Signer powers. Following that, you slowly began to awaken your Zexal powers through your confrontation with Sayer and his army of Psychic Duelists. You soon began to develop your abilities during battles against Sasuke and his Crashing Shark's gang in the Satellite Sector. Then, upon returning to New Domino, you met Alex and further enhanced your powers. And lastly…after fighting multiple battles in the Fortune Cup and finally winning it after defeating Kuromu…you finally tapped into your true potential."

"What…what are you talking about?" Takashi was left speechless by Goodwin's claims. "What are you saying?"

"Takashi Nakamura…all of your battles…took place in the palm of my hand."

Goodwin extended his hand towards Takashi, signifying his statement that everything that the Signer's done up to this point was part of his overall plan. Seeing him do that, as well as remembering all of the battles he went through ever since he arrived in New Domino, set Takashi over the edge. As a result, the young man started gritting his teeth in anger and started shaking his hands rather violently.

"All of my battles…took place…in the palm of your hand?" Takashi questioned. "What…the hell…does that mean? WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN, GOODWIN?! TELL ME NOW!"

Shouting at the top of his lungs, Takashi sudden eruption of anger caused him to subconsciously released a massive blast of Reiatsu from his body. Although it wasn't much, the force of it was so great that it not only caused the ground to shake for a few seconds, but also gave the Ener-D Reactor as temporary power surge. When Goodwin saw that, the Director simply placed one of his fingers by his lips.

"Please don't raise your voice, Takashi," He calmly requested. "I knew right away that you were special. So I merely assisted you in your development. That's all that I'm saying."

Goodwin's words calmed Takashi down a little, but he was still very confused by what he was saying. It was like every word that Goodwin said caused Takashi to have a 1000 more questions. That feeling only got worse for the young man as Goodwin continued his explanation.

"Didn't you ever think it was strange that you, who'd never seen a Psychic Duelist before in your life, should Duel Akiza Izinski, the Black Rose, the strongest Psychic in all of Japan? Didn't think it was odd that shortly after meeting her, Sayer and the rest of the Arcadia Movement would target you? How about after defeating them, didn't think it was strange that a problem in the Satellite Sector would arise that would require you to investigate? Or how about when you finally returned to New Domino and you learned about the announcement of the Fortune Cup? Didn't you think that was rather odd?"

Goodwin closed his eyes for a moment and started thinking quietly to himself. When reopened them, he looked at Takashi and noticed how shocked and afraid he was becoming after listening to his words. However, the Director wasn't concerned about how he was feeling and simply continued his explanation.

"Your Duels against Akiza, Sayer, Sasuke, Alistair, Enoch, Kagura and finally Kuromu…didn't you think it was strange that you could fight and defeat them, even though everyone else that tried couldn't? Did your chalk it up to luck…or perhaps you thought it was skill? Takashi, did you think all of your victories…were the result of your own efforts?"

No longer able to stand by and listen to him speak anymore, Takashi gave in to his anger and lunged towards Goodwin with the intent of killing him where he stood. He no longer cared about finding out the truth or avenging the wrongs that Goodwin committed against his friends. As of right now, at this particular moment, all he wanted to do was kill Goodwin so that he could stop talking.

However, as Takashi drew his sword and instantly inserted some of his Zexal and Signer powers into it, Goodwin easily anticipated his blow and caught it with his right hand. Then, without even making physical contact, Goodwin started draining the power from Takashi's body, causing him to slowly return to his normal state.

"C'mon Takashi," Goodwin said as he continued to drain his powers. "Don't disappoint me. You should be much stronger than this."

As his strength continued to fade away, Takashi tried his best to pull back his sword, but found himself unable to do so. It wasn't until Goodwin purposely let go of his weapon that he was finally able to separate himself from the Director. Once he did that, Takashi started catching his breath as he tried to not only regain his strength, but his composure.

"You don't believe me?"

"Of course…I don't!" Takashi shouted.

"But it's the truth,"

"NO IT'S NOT!"

Takashi started shaking his hands violently again. However, instead of being fueled by anger, his actions were now fueled by fear and denial. He simply couldn't accept what he just learned. No matter how much it made since and no matter how much evidence Goodwin presented, Takashi couldn't let himself accept that what Goodwin told him was the truth.

"You're saying that you behind all of my Duels…my battles?! That you orchestrated everything?! That's a load of bulls**t! Sayer and Sasuke, Kuromu and Kagura, and even Akiza…they all had their own reasons for Dueling me. And yet…you say that you were behind it all! It doesn't add up!"

"You make an interesting point," Goodwin acknowledged. "You just said yourself that it's a lie and that you don't believe me. You claim that my words right now are lies…but you believed that my words earlier were true."

Takashi was shaken by what Goodwin just told him. He couldn't deny what Goodwin said this time. Even he claimed that his words were lies, he only did that because he believed deep down that they were true. He was suspicious about all the events that were happening, but he never spoke up about it. Upon realizing that, Takashi's confidence weakened as he couldn't bring himself to deny the truth anymore."

"I sympathize with you, Takashi," Goodwin continued. "All your life, people have been hiding the truth from you. From your grandfather, your teachers, even your allies. They never believed that you had it within it you to know the truth. However…that's not the case with me. I brought you here so that you could discover it. So…how about we have ourselves a Duel? During which, I'll answer the questions that are plaguing your very soul."

With that said, Goodwin took a few steps back before proceeding to bring out a completely white Duel Disk. After placing it upon his left arm, the Director of Sector Security activated it and waited for Takashi to do the same. After about 2 minutes, he watched Takashi activated his own Duel Disk before lifting his head and looking at him with a somewhat desperate look on his face.

"I…I have one more question…before we do this," He said. "You said earlier…that you knew that I was special. What made you think that? What convinced you…that I could achieve the power that I have now…including becoming leader of the Signers?"

Goodwin remained silent for a moment as he watched the desperation on Takashi's face continued to grow. Knowing that the young man wouldn't budge any further if this wasn't resolved, Goodwin decided to give in and answer this particular question.

"From the beginning,"

"…What? Don't joke around with me!"

"Didn't you hear me?" Goodwin asked him. "I said it was from the beginning. In other words…I've known you since the moment…you were born."

Takashi's shock reached a new level after hearing Goodwin said that to him. If what he said was true and that he has known him since he was born, then everything else that he's said also, without question, had to be true as well. This thought baffled Takashi completely and utterly.

"Now," Goodwin continued. "Let's begin our Duel,"

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Goodwin: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Goodwin said with a small, yet confident smile on his face. "I Draw!"

After drawing the top card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Goodwin took a moment to examine all of his cards before turning his attention back towards Takashi. He could tell just from looking at him that the young man was still shocked by what he learned. However, knowing what Takashi learned now will pale in comparison to what he'll learn later, Goodwin continued on with his turn without much concern.

Once he decided what he was going to do, the Director of Sector Security started things by taking a card from his hand and inserting it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, a card materialized itself onto the field.

"I activate the Spell Card: Ancient Rules! With this card, I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster directly from my hand. The monster I choose is…Curse of Dragon!"

**Curse of Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 1500 LVL 5**

As Goodwin's Spell Card started to release a blinding flash of light, the Director took another card from his hand and placed it on top of his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. This act caused the powerful Curse of Dragon to appear from Goodwin's Ancient Rules card and stand by his side. Once it was out, the beast released a powerful roar which allowed Takashi to snap out of his surprised state of mind.

After making that play, Goodwin concluded his turn by taking one more card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, he watched as the card appeared face-down on his side of the field, right behind his Curse of Dragon.

"I now set one card face-down and end my turn. Now Takashi…show me what you can do."

Takashi, still struggling to comprehend what he just learned a few moments ago, barely heard Goodwin declare the end of his turn. He was still trying to decide if he should accept what Goodwin told him or deny it. Although he wanted to choose the later, the young Signer couldn't deny that what Goodwin told him was true. He did have his suspicions about all the recent events, especially how the occurred right after his injuries were healed after the last one. This realization only did more to shake up the young man's confidence and question what he should do.

Eventually, after some time, Takashi decided to fight back. Whether it was out of denial or something else entirely, Takashi needed to rebuke Goodwin's claims. If he didn't, then not only would it mean that he was right, but also everything Takashi's done up to this point, including the things that happened before he went to New Domino, was all a lie. Takashi didn't want to happen and as a result, decided to resist Goodwin's words and fight back against him. To that end, the young man prepared himself to begin his first turn of the match, just as his Signer Mark started to glow even brighter.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Takashi examined Goodwin's side of the field for a moment. As of right now, the Director had one face-down card and a monster with 2000 Attack Points on the field. After looking at his hand, Takashi saw that he didn't have any cards that could defeat Curse of Dragon in a straight up fight. However, he did have the means to bring out a couple of monsters that could. As a result, Takashi took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity! With this card, I can draw 3 more cards from my deck at the cost of discarding 2 cards from my hand to the Graveyard!"

Swiftly, Takashi followed along with the effect of his Spell Card and proceeded to draw 3 cards from his deck. Once he did that, the young man then examined his hand and went on to take 2 cards from it and place them into his card Graveyard. After doing that, Takashi continued his turn by taking one of the cards that he just drew and placed onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Now, since you have a monster on the field and I don't, I can Special Summon this monster from my hand with half of its original Attack and Defense Points. Appear now, Vice Dragon!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000-1000 DEF 2400-1200 LVL 5**

Once he placed the card onto his Duel Disk, Takashi and Goodwin watched as Vice Dragon appeared on the former's side of the field. After that happened, Takashi continued on with his turn by taking another card from my hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate another Spell: Double Summon! This card allows me to Normal Summon twice this turn!"

With that said, Takashi grabbed 2 more cards from his hand and placed them firmly onto his Monster Card Zone. Once Takashi did that, the young man watched as two flashes of light suddenly appeared across his field, signaling the arrival of his monsters.

"I Normal Summon: Queen's Knight and the Tuner Monster: Delta Flyer!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

**Delta Flyer: ATK 1500 DEF 900 LVL 3**

As the flashes of light continued to shine across the field, Takashi watched as both Queen's Knight and Delta Flyer appeared before him. Now, along with Vice Dragon, the young man now had 3 monsters on the field. However, he was not done yet. Takashi then took one more card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now…I activate one last Spell: Monster Reborn! With it, I can Special Summon: Gagaga Magician, which I discarded via the effect of my Graceful Charity!"

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Once Takashi declared what monster he planned on Special Summoning, he proceeded to pull out Gagaga Magician's card from his Graveyard and place it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, he watched as the portal to the card Graveyard appeared before him. This allowed Gagaga Magician to appear from it and stand by the other monsters that were Takashi's side of the field.

"Alright Goodwin," Takashi said to the Director as he placed Gagaga Magician's card on top of Queen's Knight's card. "It's time I prove you wrong and put you in your place! I overlay my Level 4 Queen's Knight and Gagaga Magician!"

Both Queen's Knight and Gagaga Magician nodded their heads when Takashi announced that he was going to overlay the both of them. Once they did that, both monsters transformed into colorful orbs of light. They then started flying across the room, bouncing off from either the walls or the nearby machinery.

"With these 2 monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!"

As the orbs continued to fly around the place, the ground underneath both Takashi and Goodwin started to light up. It was the portal to the Overlay Network, which was beginning to materialize across the field. As soon as it was out completely, the energy orbs of both Queen's Knight and Gagaga Magician dove into the portal, causing a giant explosion of light to occur. It was at that moment that Takashi opened up his Extra Deck and pulled out a card from it.

"Goodwin…behold the power of hope! Appear now, the King of Wishes, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

From the depths of the Overlay Network, Takashi watched as his most trusted Number Card, Utopia, appeared before him. The monster shined brilliantly like the sun, it's aura even overpowering that of the light coming from the Ener-D Reactor. However, despite having Utopia out, Takashi wasn't finished. He still needed to bring out his other Ace Monster. As a result, he took Vice Dragon's and Delta Flyer's cards and placed them into his Graveyard.

"Now, I tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Delta Flyer!" He declared.

Takashi's declaration prompted the two monsters to fly high into the air so that they could perform the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. Upon reaching a certain height, Delta Flyer transformed into 3 green rings before covering itself around Vice Dragon. This act caused Vice Dragon to transform as well, into 5 brightly colored stars. Once this took place, a powerful light covered both the rings and the stars, prompting Takashi to grab another card from his Extra Deck.

"Gathering Wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

As the light from the Synchro Summoning continued shining brightly, a powerful could be heard from it. Eventually, as the light faded away, Stardust Dragon appeared and proudly stood by both Takashi's and Utopia's side. Upon seeing the Signer Dragon, the smile on Goodwin's face grew slightly bigger as he waiting for this moment.

"Excellent," He said, pleased with this result. "You really are your mother's son. You managed to summon both of your strongest monsters on your first turn, a feat that only the most powerful of Duelist's can perform. I'm very impressed with your skills."

"Shut up!" Takashi yelled. "I'm not here to listen to your complements! I'm here to kick your ass! Utopia, attack Curse of Dragon…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia complied with Takashi's command and proceeded to pull out one of its swords from its side. Once it had it in hand, the Number Monster dashed towards Goodwin's Curse of Dragon's and went on to slice it in two. This act not only caused a small explosion to cover Goodwin's side of the field, but also resulted in the Director losing 500 of his Life Points.

**Goodwin: 3500 LP**

Once the attack was completed and Utopia returned back to him, Takashi placed both of his hands upon his knees and started breathing rather heavily. Even though the Duel just began and he successful dealt damage to his opponent, Takashi felt like he had to use all of his energy to do it. Also, when the smoke cleared and he noticed that Goodwin looked absolutely unfazed, Takashi felt even worse and wondered what he was going to do.

As for Goodwin, the Director was pleased by this development. In truth, he could've stopped the attack rather easily, but he needed to determine how effective Takashi can be during an actual Duel. Not only that, the sight of seeing Takashi Duel reminded Goodwin a lot about not only his mother, Sakura, but also his father, Minato.

"When you were born…Minato sensed the potential within you and knew what you do. Although I was skeptical at first and believed _she _had the greater strength, I soon came to realize that your father was right. You definitely have his blood running through your veins."

Takashi was somewhat taken back by what Goodwin just said to him, but it wasn't about him mentioning his father. In his words, Goodwin said "she", in other words, he was talking about a girl. Having no idea about who this girl was, the young man decided to get the information from Goodwin himself.

"What do you mean by she?" He asked.

Goodwin smirked upon hearing Takashi ask him that. Although he was planning to tell him later on during the Duel, the fact that he already mentioned it prompted Goodwin to reveal what he meant. As a result, the Director looked at Takashi and explained to him what he meant when he said the word she.

"…So Alex never told you. That boy has always been concerned about your safety…"

The Director placed his hand upon his head as he was displeased with the fact that Alex has been withholding information from Takashi. This realization ended up motivating him even more as he had another good reason why Takashi needed to know the truth. As a result, Goodwin glared directly at the young Signer and told him what he knew.

"When I said she…I meant your little sister, Takashi," He answered. "You see…your mother was pregnant with twins and shortly after you were born, so was your sister."

Takashi's eyes widen upon hearing Goodwin say that to him. The fact that he had a younger sister was something he simply couldn't comprehend. If that was the case, he would've learned about it long ago. Eventually, the young Signer became extremely upset with the Director of Sector Security, causing his Signer Powers to manifest and cover his body with a blue aura.

"…I have sister…? You lie! I don't have sister! You're just trying to mess with me, Goodwin!"

"I'm not lying, Takashi," Goodwin calmly stated. "You do have a younger sister."

"ENOUGH! Stardust Dragon, attack his Life Points directly…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust Dragon wasted no time in complying with Takashi's command and proceeded to build up power from within its body. Once it built up enough, the powerful Signer Dragon released a massive blast of cosmic energy from its mouth and directed it towards Goodwin. Unfortunately for Takashi however, Goodwin already saw his attack coming.

"Sorry Takashi," The Director said, not really meaning it. "But I activate the Trap Card: Dragon's Keeper! With this card, since a Dragon-Type Monster on my field was destroyed through battle, I can switch your Stardust Dragon to Defense Mode, thus stopping your attack!"

Just Stardust Dragon's attack was about to hit Goodwin, Takashi watched in disbelief as the Cosmic Flare dissipated into nothingness. Not only that, but he also watched Stardust be forcibly switched to Defense Mode, much to his frustration. In a panic, Takashi looked at hand, hoping to find a card that could allow him to switch his Ace back to Attack Mode. Unfortunately, his hand hardly had any cards left since he used most of them bringing out both Stardust and Utopia. As result, he couldn't do anything and was force to concede the turn.

"…I end my turn,"

"Very well…" Goodwin replied. "Then it's my turn again. I Draw!"

After drawing another card from his deck, signaling the start of his turn, Goodwin took another quick moment to examine the monsters that were on Takashi's field. Stardust Dragon and Number 39: Utopia were powerful monsters and both of them represented the power that Takashi Nakamura possessed. Because of that, Goodwin knew that he would need an even greater power in order to overcome them. Fortunately, he had the means to bring forth such a power with the cards he currently had in his hand. To that end, Goodwin kicked things off by taking one card from hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon: Mythic Tree Dragon!"

**Mythic Tree Dragon: ATK 100 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

Upon playing his monster, Goodwin watched as a bright flash of light shined across his side of the field. When the light faded away, a small dragon with brown and dark green skin appeared before him. In comparison to both Stardust Dragon and Utopia, Mythic Tree Dragon didn't seem to stack up at all. However, Goodwin wasn't done yet and proceeded to take another card from his hand and place it onto his Monster Card Zone as well.

"Now, since I have an Earth Attribute Monster on the field, I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand. Appear before me, Mythic Water Dragon!"

**Mythic Water Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Another flash of light shined across Goodwin's field once the Director placed his next card upon his Duel Disk. When it faded away, both he and Takashi watched as a dragon that was completely made up of water appeared on the former's side of the field. Takashi wondered what Goodwin was trying to do with these two dragons, but he soon found out as he watch Goodwin continue his turn.

"I now activate Mythic Tree Dragon's Special Ability," Goodwin calmly declared. "Since I have a Water Dragon-Type monster on the field, the Level of my Mythic Tree Dragon becomes the same as my Mythic Water Dragon!"

**Mythic Tree Dragon: LVL 8**

Just like how a plant uses water to grow and nourish itself, Mythic Tree Dragon took some of the water that made up Mythic Water Dragon and used it to increase its power. Once the two dragons were the same Level, Goodwin proceeded to stack their cards on top of one another.

"I overlay my Level 8 Mythic Tree Dragon and Mythic Water Dragon! With these 2 dragons, I now build the Overlay Network!"

Both of Goodwin's dragons complied with his command and quickly transformed themselves into orbs of light. Once they did that, the two of them started flying around while the portal to the Overlay Network was beginning to materialize again. As soon as the portal formed completely, both orbs of light dove into it, causing another eruption of light to occur.

As light continued to spill out from the portal, Goodwin pulled a card from his Extra Deck and placed it upon his Monster Card Zone. This act resulted in another large eruption of light to occur. When Takashi saw that, the young man took a step back as he could sense an extremely powerful Reiatsu coming from the Overlay Network.

"Xyz Summon! Come forth, the dragon that governs all others! The one that watches over the earth the heavens, Number 46: Dragluon!"

**Number 46 – Dragluon: ATK 3000 DEF 3000 Rank 8**

After declaring the name of his monster, Goodwin watched as a powerful white dragon emerged from the depths of the Overlay Network. It had a rather Chinese look to it with longs horns and mystical wings. Also, like all Xyz Monsters, Dragluon's body was surrounded by 2 Overlay Units, which were created from the remains of both Mythic Tree and Mythic Water Dragon respectively.

While Goodwin marveled at the sight of his monster, Takashi looked at it with an expression of fear on his face. The young man has seen his fair share of monsters before and, at least before this moment, thought he's seen them all. However, after getting a good look at Dragluon, Takashi realized that he was wrong. Now, with this terrifying monster staring him and his monsters down, Takashi not only had to find a way to not only overcome it, but his own fear as well.

"What's wrong Takashi?" Goodwin asked, noticing the fear the Signer was showing. "Didn't your cousin teach you to control your fear?"

"My…my cousin…?"

Widening his eyes a little, Takashi slowly lifted his head towards Goodwin and watched as he calmly smiled at him. As he watched him do that, the young man was beginning to feel all sorts of emotions at once. However, the one he feeling the most right now was fear and confusion. He was afraid of Number 46: Dragluon and confused by what Goodwin meant when he said cousin. Eventually, as he continued to ponder all of these things, Takashi listened as Goodwin continued talking to him.

"That Alex," He said. "I thought I taught him better that. That boy has always been too protective…especially with you. Then again, since the two of you are cousins, I can understand why he did so…at least a little bit."

"Alex…is my…cousin…"

"Yes he is, Takashi. Alex is your cousin…and that also makes him the cousin of your little sister. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, I'll get back to the Duel by activating Dragluon's Special Ability!"

At the very instant Goodwin declared that he was activating his monster's Special Ability, Dragluon proceeded to devour one of the Overlay Units that was surrounding its body. Once it did that, the powerful Number Card started glowing brightly as its master went on to explain its powers.

"Now, since I have no other monsters on the field, I can use one of Dragluon's Overlay Units in order to Special Summon a Dragon-Type monster from my hand!"

Taking a look at the cards that were in his hand, Goodwin examined them closely before grabbing one and placing it onto his Duel Disk. When he did that, a giant ball of blue light materialized onto the field.

"I Special Summon: the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!'

**Blue-Eyes White Dragon: ATK 3000 DEF 2500 LVL 8**

The ball of light that Goodwin brought forth quickly started to change shape right before Takashi's eyes. Eventually, it soon took the form of the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon, a rare monster that was said to be the Ace Card of the famous Duelist; Seto Kaiba. Having used Blue-Eyes before, Takashi knew first-hand how powerful it is. As a result, the young man braced himself, even though his mind was still bothered by all the things that Goodwin told him.

"Let's see," Goodwin said as he looked at Takashi's monsters. "From the way I see it, my monsters have the superior power over yours. However…Utopia's Special Ability could be a problem if don't take care of it now. So…I'll have both my Dragluon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon attack your Utopia!"

Both of Goodwin's Dragons complied with his command and proceeded to fire a combined blast of energy towards Number 39: Utopia. Takashi, knowing what Goodwin was up to, was reluctant to activate his monster's Special Ability since it was precisely what Goodwin was hoping for. However, despite knowing that, the fact remained that he needed his Number if he wanted to stay in the match. So, much to his irritation, he proceeded to follow along with Goodwin plan.

"I activate Utopia's Special Ability!" He shouted. "By using both of its Overlay Units, I can negate both of your dragon's attacks! Go…Moon Barrier!"

After absorbing its 2 Overlay Units, Utopia used both of its wings to defend itself from the combined assault of Goodwin's monsters. It was a long and powerful struggle, but in the end, Utopia managed to survive. However, it was a hollow victory since the Number no longer had any Overlay Units to use if it were attack again, making things even more troubling for Takashi.

Meanwhile, Goodwin was quite pleased with this turn of events. His actions have driven his opponent back completely, forcing him on the defensive. If he really wanted to, Goodwin could end the Duel right here and now, but that wasn't his intention. He wanted to gauge Takashi's abilities and the best way to do that was to push him to brink and see how far he could push back. To that end, the Director proceeded to take a card from his hand and inserted it into his Duel Disk, causing it to appear face-down on the field, right behind his dragons.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn,"

Once Goodwin said that, he waited patiently for Takashi to begin his turn. The Signer was busy contemplating everything that was happening to him, causing his attention to be divided. However, with the fact that neither of his monsters will survive if he doesn't do something now, Takashi managed to regain some of his focus as he got ready to begin his turn.

"It's my turn," He said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

After slowly drawing a card from his deck, Takashi took a quick glance at it and was slightly disappointed that it wasn't a card that could help him out immediately. However, since he still had some other cards that he could use, the young man calmly put the card he drew into his hand before grabbing another and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell: Xyz Treasure! With this card, I can draw a card from my deck for each Xyz Monster on the field. Right now, there are 2 Xyz Monsters present. That means I can draw 2 more cards!"

Utopia and Dragluon started glowing slightly as Takashi drew 2 more cards from his deck. Once he finished, the glow from both monsters faded and the young Signer proceeded to continue on with his turn. His next move involved him switching his Stardust Dragon card from a horizontal to a vertical position, effectively bringing his Signer Dragon back into Attack Mode. Once he did that, Takashi then switched Utopia to Defense Mode before taking another card and inserting it into his Duel Disk.

"Now…I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Rush Recklessly! This card increases the Attack Points of my Stardust Dragon by 700 until the end of my turn!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 3200**

Once he finished explaining the effect of his Spell, Takashi watched as Stardust Dragon started roaring loudly, indicating that it was receiving the power boost from the Spell. After that, Stardust prepared itself as Takashi got ready to strike.

"Stardust Dragon, attack Goodwin's Dragluon…Cosmic Flare!"

"…Sorry Takashi," Goodwin responded as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I activate the Trap Card: Dragon Force! With this unique card, I can sacrifice my Blue-Eyes White Dragon in order to negate your Stardust Dragon's attack!"

Takashi's eyes widen slightly after hearing Goodwin explain the effect of his Trap Card. He then watched as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's body released a light so powerful that it blinded Stardust, preventing it from launching its attack. However, that wasn't the only thing that it did as Goodwin proceeded to activate the second effect of his Trap.

"Now, since the negated attack came from Dragon-Type Monster, the second effect of Dragon Force takes effect!" Goodwin explained. "You now take 1000 points of damage!"

As Blue-Eyes continued glowing, the powerful dragon used the last of its life energy to zap Takashi with a powerful blast of electricity. The pain of the blast was so intense that Takashi couldn't help but scream in agony from it. When the attack finally ended, Blue-Eyes finally disappeared just as Takashi fell face first to the ground.

**Takashi: 3000 LP**

Once Takashi's Life Points stopped dropping, the young man tried his best to get back up to his feet, but found it difficult because of the amount of pain that he was in. However, upon seeing Goodwin look at him with a smug look on his face, Takashi found the strength to get up and continue his turn.

With his attack foiled, Takashi no longer had any means of getting rid of Dragluon this turn. All he could do now was prepare himself and hope that he could get to his next turn with some of his Life Points still intact. To that end, he took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. This resulted in 2 face-down cards appearing face-down on his side of the field.

"I…I set 2 cards face-down…and end my turn."

"What's wrong Takashi? Are you in pain?"

Takashi glared at Goodwin as he upset that the Director was pointing out how hurt he was from that last move. Even though he felt real damage from his Duels in the past, the pain he felt just now was on an entirely different level. His entire body felt numb and he had a hard time standing up. For him, it felt like he could fall down at any time, but he knew that he had to stay on his feet since the match wasn't over yet.

"This isn't good," Goodwin shook his head in disapproval. "I remember during your Duel with Kagura that she punished you in a somewhat similar fashion. Could it be that she's just tougher than you…or is that you've gotten weaker than when you fought her?"

"What does Kagura…have to do with this?" Takashi wondered.

"Isn't it obvious? We've been talking about her recently?"

Confused by what he meant by that, Takashi took a moment to think about what he and Goodwin talked about during the Duel. From what he recalled, he learned that he and Alex were cousins and that he has a twin sister that he never knew about before. Takashi wondered what those things had to do with Kagura, as she didn't seem to be connected to any of those things. However, after thinking about it for a moment, Takashi's expression quickly changed from anger to shock as he finally realized what Goodwin meant.

Upon seeing the look on Takashi's face, Goodwin smiled as he knew that the young Signer finally figured it out. From the moment he set up this entire meeting between the two of them, it was Goodwin's intention to reveal to Takashi, everything regarding his family. That included the true identity of his twin sister, who Takashi actually met and even faced in a Turbo Duel.

"Yes Takashi…Kagura Toyoshima is your little sister. The both of you were separated from each other for your own protection, just hours before the Zero Reverse incident."

Hearing Goodwin confirm what he was thinking, shook Takashi even more than before. From the moment he first met Kagura, he felt something very familiar about her, even though he couldn't quite explain it. As the two fought one another, both in Duels and in actual fights, that feeling only grew stronger. Now, after learning that Kagura was his sister, Takashi started to believe that could was right, which both bothered and upset him at the same time.

While Takashi was contemplating what was true and was false, Goodwin decided that now was a good enough time to begin his next turn. With that, the Director of Sector Security placed his hand upon his deck.

"Well…let's not drags things. It's my turn, Draw!"

Swiftly drawing a card from his deck and placing it in his hand, Goodwin took a moment to look at the monsters on Takashi's field again. His attention was especially focused on Stardust Dragon, the beast that chose Takashi to be its partner. After looking at it for a few more moments, Goodwin decided to make this powerful dragon his and proceeded to make that happen.

"Alright Takashi," He started off. "I activate the second effect of Number 46: Dragluon! By using another Overlay Unit, Dragluon can take control of your Stardust Dragon since I have no other monsters on the field!"

With that said, Dragluon devoured its final Overlay Unit before releasing a powerful shockwave from its mouth. The shockwave created a hypnotic effect, causing Stardust Dragon to leave Takashi's side of the field and stand beside Goodwin on his side of the field.

Upon seeing that happen, Takashi was left completely speechless. Not only did he have to deal with all the things Goodwin was telling him, some of which he couldn't tell if they were lies or not, he now had to deal with the fact that his best card was now under his enemy's control. It was almost more than he could bear, but unfortunately for Takashi, his problems were far from over.

"Now," Goodwin turned his attention towards Takashi and his only other monster, Utopia. "Stardust Dragon, attack Number 39: Utopia…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust Dragon released a powerful roar as it started building up power from within its body. As Takashi watched his faithful partner do this, he knew that he was quickly running out of time. With no Overlay Units, Utopia couldn't defend itself from Stardust's attack and will be destroyed by it. Once it's gone, Dragluon will have a clear shot at Takashi's Life Points and the amount of power that it has will be enough to take him out.

Knowing that his time was running out, Takashi decided to take a gamble and silently hoped that his strong connection with Stardust Dragon would be enough for him to survive what was to come. So, after taking a deep breath and gathering all the courage that he could muster, Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk, activating one of his face-down cards.

"I won't let that happen!" He shouted. "I activate the Continuous Trap Card: Astral Barrier! With it, I can change the target of your attack from Utopia to…myself!"

Goodwin was visibly shocked when he heard Takashi say that his Trap Card would make Stardust Dragon's attack a Direct Attack instead of a normal one. The Director wondered what Takashi was up to when he called for a such a move, but he decided to simply stand back and watch for himself.

Eventually, Stardust finished gathering up powerful and proceeded to fire a concentrated blast of cosmic energy from its mouth. Thanks to Astral Barrier, the attack slipped past Utopia and headed straight for Takashi. When he was struck by it, Takashi was sent flying into the wall behind him, all the while trying his best to withstand the blow. When Stardust Dragon finally finished up its attack, Takashi fell back down to the floor as his Life Points started to drop again.

**Takashi 500 LP**

"Impressive," Goodwin said, complimenting Takashi's resolve. "You willingly took damage in order to protect your monster. Must Duelists wouldn't even consider doing that."

"…I'm…not most…Duelists…!" Takashi responded, slowly rising up to his feet. "I can't be sure…if what you're saying is right…or not! However…there is one thing that…I do know…"

"And what's that?" Goodwin questioned.

"I…will beat…you!"

Gathering all the strength that he could muster, Takashi rose back up to his feet. Once he was up, the young man unleashed the full extent of his Signer Powers, covering his entire body, and the entire room, in a powerful blue glow. When Goodwin saw this burst of power, the Director let out a small smile, but Takashi wasn't interested if Goodwin was impressed or not. All he cared about right now, is defeating him and making him pay.

"I activate the Trap Card: Failsafe! This card activates when I take damage from a Direct Attack. Not only does it end your Battle Phase, but allows me to draw a card from my deck!"

Once he finish explaining the effect of his second Trap, Takashi started building up more power from within himself. As the power continue to manifest itself, the young man's appearance soon reverted back to his Imperfect Zexal form. However, Takashi quickly took his power to the next level. By calming himself and gathering all the power he had left, Takashi soon changed into his Perfect Zexal form.

After finishing his transformation, the Signer got ready to draw a card from his deck, thanks to the effect of his Trap Card. However, before he did that, Takashi lifted his right hand high into the air and started gathering power into it. Once he gathered up, he got ready to draw.

"A truly powerful Duelist can shape the outcome a Duel. He can even generate the very card that he needs to draw! Go…Shining Draw!"

With the power of his Zexal powers, Takashi used his Shining Draw to pull a powerful card from his deck. Once he did, the young man looked at it and let out a small smile. With this card, Takashi knew that he could turn the tables around and take control of the Duel again. All he had to do now was wait for Goodwin to end his turn so that he could begin his own.

Meanwhile, as Takashi waited for that to happen, Goodwin was busy examining his Zexal form. The golden aura, powerful armor, and the markings on his face were a true indication that he was a Zexal user. Just seeing that caused the smile that was on Goodwin's face to slowly grow, as he was even more impressed with Takashi's power. However, as he wanted to see even more of his strength, the Director decided to up the stakes.

To that end, Goodwin took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, a powerful blue light covered his side of the field for a few moments. As the light continued to shine, Takashi heard the cry of a familiar dragon coming from within it.

"In response to your Shining Draw, I activate the Trap Card: Monster Reborn! With it, I Special Summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon back from the Graveyard!"

Once Goodwin finished explaining the effect of his Spell, the light that was covering his field faded and Blue-Eyes White Dragon returned to his side. Now, along with the still captured Stardust Dragon, Goodwin has 3 powerful Dragon-Type monsters under his command. All the three of them had more than enough strength to take out both Utopia and Takashi with one blow. However, despite knowing that, Takashi wasn't afraid. He still had one trick left and he knew that with it, he could take down all three dragons. Goodwin, sensing what was to come, prepared himself as he handed things over to his opponent.

"I set one card face-down," He said as he inserted a card into his Spell/Trap Zone, causing it to appear behind Stardust Dragon. "With that…I end my turn."

"Alright," Takashi responded, preparing himself for what was to come. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Not wasting anytime, Takashi drew the top card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, he then grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it on top of Utopia's card. This act caused the Number to start glowing brightly, just as the ground beneath it started doing the same thing.

"It's time to take this Duel to the next level. I rebuild the Overlay Network with Number 39: Utopia! Go…Chaos Xyz Evolution!"

As Utopia's body continued glowing brighter and brighter, the portal to the Overlay Network reappeared beneath it. Once it was out completely, the Number transformed into a stream of light energy and immediately dove into the portal. This act caused another explosion of light to occur, covering the entire reactor room in its brilliance.

"Appear now, the envoy that transforms Darkness into Light, Chaos Number 39: Utopia Ray!"

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

As light continued to shoot from out of the Overlay Network, Takashi's Signer Mark started glowing intensely. Soon, he watched as Utopia Ray, the Chaos version of Number 39: Utopia. Appear before him in all of its radiance. Once the Chaos Number was out completely, Takashi proceeded to activate its Special Ability.

"I activate Utopia Ray's effect!" He shouted. "By using one Overlay Unit, Utopia Ray's Attack Points increase by 500 Points! Go…Overlay Charge!"

Taking the only Overlay Unit that it had and absorbing it into its body, Utopia Ray's body started glowing brightly as the grey areas around its armor quickly started turning white. Once that change was completed, a bright aura surrounded the Chaos Number just as its Attack Points started to increase.

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 3000**

"That's not all!" Takashi continued. "Now, the Attack Points of your Number 46: Dragluon decrease by 1000 points!"

**Number 46 – Dragluon: ATK 2000**

After Takashi finished explaining the second effect of Utopia Ray, Goodwin watched as a shower of light shot from off the Chaos Number and landed on his own Number Card. When the light hit Dragluon, the dragon's strength quickly started to fade away, making it much weaker than Utopia Ray. However, despite that happening, Takashi wasn't done yet and he proceeded to use the card that he obtained via his Shining Draw.

"Now…I equip Utopia Ray with the Zexal Weapon – Asura Strike!"

**ZW – Asura Strike: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Upon inserting the card into his Spell/Trap Zone, Takashi looked on as a bright beam of red energy shot from his Duel Disk and struck Utopia Ray. Soon, the energy caused several red arms to appear around Utopia Ray's armor, with each of them wielding one sword.

"With the power of Asura Strike, not only does Utopia Ray gain 1000 Attack Points, but it's also granted the extra ability of being able to attack every one of your monsters, Goodwin!"

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 4000**

Once his monster's Attack Points stopped increasing, Takashi started clinching his fist as he prepared to launch his attack. Although he was still very confused about everything that Goodwin had told him, especially about the people he was supposedly related too, he knew that this was his one and only chance to bring the fiendish Director down for good. Regardless of how he felt, he had to make his move and he had to do it now.

"Utopia Ray, attack Number 46: Dragluon…Rising Sun Asura Divider!"

Utopia Ray complied with Takashi's orders and proceeded to make its way over to Dragluon. Once it got close enough, the powerful Chaos Number used its newly acquired arms and weapons to attack the mighty dragon. Soon enough, the multiple blows that Utopia unleashed against Dragluon was enough to bring it down, resulting in a giant explosion covering Goodwin's side of the field.

**Goodwin: 1500 LP**

"Alright," Takashi said to himself. "Now, let's turn our sights to Goodwin's Blue-Eyes White Dragon…Rising Sun Asura Divider!"

Not wasting any time, Utopia Ray turned its sights towards Goodwin's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Although the powerful beast attempted to fight back with its White Lighting attack, it wasn't enough to bring down Takashi's monster. As a result, Blue-Eyes was killed by the multiple blows it sustained from Utopia Ray's assault on it. This act caused another powerful explosion to cover Goodwin's field, draining his Life Points even more.

**Goodwin: 500 LP**

After Utopia Ray finished off Blue-Eyes and returned to Takashi's side of the field, the Signer placed his hand upon his knees as he was completely wiped out. Although he wasn't doing anything physically, the power he was exerting from his Zexal form was taking a tremendous toll on his body. However, despite the fact that he was on the verge of passing out, Takashi couldn't quit now. He was only one attack away from winning the Duel. The only thing that was stopping him…was his very own Stardust Dragon.

Ever since he first obtained Stardust nearly 7 years ago, Takashi felt that though the countless battles they've been through, a bond has been formed between them. It's because of that bond that Takashi believed that his most trusted monster would rather be destroyed by his hands than be Goodwin's puppet any longer. So, with great reluctance, Takashi did the only thing he could do for his good friend.

"Utopia Ray," He called. "Attack Stardust Dragon…Rising Sun Asura Divider!"

Upon hearing Takashi's command, Utopia Ray turned towards Stardust and prepared itself to bring it down. As it got ready to strike however, Goodwin stared at the Chaos Number for a moment before turning his attention back towards Takashi. When he saw the look in his eyes, another smile appeared on his face.

"In a tight situation, you're willing to attack your closest ally to achieve victory," He said. "…Our blood certainly does run through your veins."

"What…our blood…?"

Before Takashi could question what Goodwin meant by that, his attention was diverted when he noticed that when Utopia Ray was about to attack Stardust Dragon, something block the Number's strike. Upon a closer inspection, Takashi noticed that a powerful barrier had materialized around Stardust, which protected it from Utopia Ray's attack.

"Sorry Takashi," Goodwin apologized. "But before your attack landed, I activated the Trap Card: Draining Shield! With it, not only was I able to negate Utopia Ray's attack, but also gain Life Points equal to its Attack Points."

**Goodwin: 4500 LP**

After Utopia Ray's attack failed, the energy from the blow transferred into the Draining Shield, effectively increasing Goodwin's Life Points far passed their normal value. Although such a move would bother most people, Takashi was more concerned by what Goodwin told him about his blood flowing through his veins. He wasn't completely sure what Goodwin meant by that, but after thinking about all the things he said so far, he was started to get an idea about it.

"….Goodwin…what are you?" He asked. "How do you know these things?"

"I know…because I'm your uncle, Takashi," Goodwin answered calmly. "Ever since your father Minato, who is also my little brother, passed away, I made it a point to develop you and Kagura's skills for the battles that were to come. To that end…I let Alex, my son, train you and I'm glad to see that his efforts were not in vain."

It was all becoming clear now. What Goodwin told Takashi was the final piece of the puzzle. The reason why he knew all of these things about him in such detail was because he was his uncle, which also made him Alex's father. This meant that everything, including the fact that Kagura was also Takashi's twin sister, was also true. This realization shook Takashi to his very foundation, so much so that he didn't know what to do.

As for Goodwin, the Director was quite satisfied with the way things have turned out. Although Minato probably wouldn't be happy with the way he handle things, Goodwin believed that this was the best way to help his nephew, despite how rough he had to be with him. So, as he waited for Takashi to finish up his turn, Goodwin simply looked at him with a satisfying expression on his face.

"I…I end my turn…" Takashi said in a state of despair.

After Takashi ended his turn, the power boost that Utopia Ray received from its Special Ability faded away, lowering its Attack Points by 500.

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 3500**

"Very well," Goodwin retorted. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Goodwin took a moment to examine all of his cards before turning his attention towards Utopia Ray again. As he looked at it, the Director decided to thank Takashi for showing him such a powerful monster by bringing out one of his own. To that end, Goodwin grabbed a card and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"First, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dread Dragon!"

**Dread Dragon: ATK 1100 DEF 400 LVL 2**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Goodwin watched as a small flash of light shined across his side of the field. When the light faded away, Dread Dragon appeared and started standing next to Stardust Dragon. Once that happened, Goodwin then went on to take both Dread Dragon's and Stardust Dragon's cards and placed them both into his Graveyard.

"Next, I Tune your Level 8 Stardust Dragon with my Level 2 Dread Dragon!"

With that said, both dragons flew high into the air and quickly conducted the process for a Synchro Summoning. Once they finished, a bright flash of light completely covered the entire field, nearly blinding Takashi as a result. As the young man tried to regain his vision, Goodwin grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Duel Disk. It was this act that caused a small windstorm to suddenly appear around the entire reactor room.

"Heaven! Fate! The Natural Order! I assemble the spinning halos of heaven gathered here to bring things to fruition! Descend here, bathed in light, and break the silence of 5000 Years! Synchro Summon! Appear, Drascension the Supreme Sky Dragon!"

**Drascension the Supreme Sky Dragon: ATK ? DEF 3000 LVL 10**

Once the light from the Synchro Summoning came to an end, Takashi watched as the most fearsome dragon that he's ever seen appeared before him. Drascension the Sky Dragon had the appearance heaven creature with multiple wings, golden areas around its body, and bright blue eyes. Also, as Takashi continued to look at the monster, his Signer Mark started to glow even more intensely than before, indicating that Goodwin's monster was on an entirely different level than Dragluon ever was.

Meanwhile, as Takashi continued to stand there in awe of the monster, Goodwin continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, Goodwin then proceeded to place his hand upon his deck.

"I now activate the Spell Card: Card of Demise!" He stated. "This card allows me to draw until I have 5 cards in my hand!"

Following along with his Spell's effect, Goodwin drew 3 more cards from his deck and placed them into his hand. This act not only caused him to have 5 cards in his hand, but also caused a bright white aura to surround Drascension's body.

"Now, with my hand now full, I activate the Special Ability of Drascension! The Attack Points of my mighty beast is determined by the number of cards in my hand, multiplied by 800 points. Right now, I have 5 cards, which means Drascension the Supreme Sky Dragon's Attack Points increase all the way up to 4000!"

**Drascension the Supreme Sky Dragon: ATK 4000**

As Drascension's body continued to glow, the dragon's strength was increasing greatly. Soon, Goodwin's monster soon surpassed Takashi's Utopia Ray in terms of strength. Once that happened, the Director decided that the time was now to conduct the final blow of this Duel.

"Well Takashi…it was fun, but now it's over. Drascension, attack Utopia Ray…Ultimate Ascending Wave!"

Drascension nodded its head in compliance and proceeded to launch to powerful blast of energy from its mouth. When the attack struck Utopia Ray, the Chaos Number was instantly destroyed and a massive explosion covered Takashi's side of the field. The power of the explosion was so great that it not only severely injured Takashi, but also sent him flying backwards as his Life Points started to drop all the way down.

**Takashi: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As all the holograms started to fade away, Takashi's Zexal transformation disappeared as he was sent crashing into the wall again. Upon hitting the ground, the young Duelist found himself completely out of stamina. All he could do, at the very least, was lift his head and watch as Goodwin was slowly making his way up to him. As he did that, Takashi watched as the Director of Sector Security was giving him a warm round of applause.<p>

"Excellent Takashi," He said with a smile. "That was a truly excellent Duel. I have to say nephew…that was the most fun I had in a long time."

Goodwin continued applauding Takashi, the Signer wasn't amused with neither his actions nor his words. Having been physically and emotionally drained by his confrontation by Goodwin, Takashi simply couldn't take it anymore. To that end, he pulled his sword from his sheath and used the little strength that he had left to try and take him out. Unfortunately, this act was also in vain.

Just as the sword was about to hit him, Goodwin took his right arm and used it to block the blow. When that happened, Takashi watched to his utter horror as his sword was snapped completely in too by Goodwin's arm, which was revealed to be a robotic prosthetic. He then watched as the end of the sword that broke returned to its original form, an old lead pipe.

Upon seeing his last attempt defeat Goodwin fail right before his eyes, Takashi was completely out of ideas. All he could was watch helplessly as the was Director was about to grab him with his robotic hand. However, before Goodwin could do so, something suddenly grabbed the back of Takashi's shirt and sent him flying out of the reactor room. After landing back on the ground, Takashi looked up and saw that the person who grabbed him was none other than Alex.

When Takashi saw Alex staring back at him, all he could really think about was what Goodwin told him earlier. He still couldn't believe that Alex, his teacher and one of the people that he trusted, was Goodwin's son, which also made him Takashi's cousin. He was about to comfort him about that subject, but Alex had other plans. Before Takashi could let out a single word, Alex knocked the Signer out with a powerful punch to the stomach. Alex then proceeded to place the unconscious Takashi over his shoulder, intending to take him out of here and back to his home.

However, just before Alex turned around and was about to leave with Takashi, the Dragunity Knight stopped and soon caught an oncoming card with his right hand. Upon examining it, Alex saw that it was Takashi's Stardust Dragon, which Goodwin promptly returned to him. Although he was unsure why Goodwin did this, Alex decided not to think about it as he didn't want to be caught in a conversation with someone he despised. Unfortunately, that desire of his wouldn't come.

"What's wrong Alex?" Goodwin asked with a smug smile. "Aren't you going to say anything to your own father?"

"…Shut the hell up!" Alex angrily replied, turning around to face Goodwin. "Father's are kind and loving so don't you dare consider me to be your son…because I sure as hell don't see you as my father!"

As he anger quickly started to rise, Alex Dragunity Knight Mark started to glow with a bright green color. This caused an aura of the same green color to surround his body, enhancing his strength and his other physical attributes. Despite doing that though, Alex saw that Goodwin wasn't impressed with the amount of power that he was giving out, as he considered Takashi's strength far more interesting.

The sight of that annoyed Alex greatly, but quickly reminded himself that he didn't have time to deal with Goodwin right now. So, after calming himself down, Alex made his aura disappear and proceeded to make his way out of the building. Before he left though, he listened to the final words that Goodwin said to him.

"The war is about to start Alex. It's time for you to stop babying Takashi! He is the chosen one! Regardless of the promise you made to Minato, you need to stop holding his hand as Takashi is never going to reach his true potential that way!"

Alex paused upon hearing his father say that to him. However, he soon left him and proceeded to make his way out of the Security Building. Once he was gone, Goodwin let out a small sigh before turning his attention to the Ener-D Reactor. As he looked at the creation that he little brother first created, the Director closed his eyes for a moment as he started thinking about Minato.

"Don't worry little brother. Your kids will be brought together and when that finally happens…this long battle will finally be brought to an end."

Sometime later, Alex finally brought Takashi back home to the others Signers at Poppo Time. Although he was sure that he would make a full recovery, Alex was still concerned for his cousin and decided to wait until he woke up. After about 2 hours of waiting, Alex watched as Takashi started to slowly open his eyes.

As he got up, Takashi gently placed his hand upon his head as he was still very groggy and was trying to figure out what happened to him. While he did this, he soon found himself being hugged tightly by Akiza, who was deathly worried about him. This was soon followed by his other friends, who were also just as worried. Upon seeing him, Takashi was beginning to remember what happened and the first thing that he recalled was both Crow and Madas, who came with him as he invaded the Security Building.

"Where's Crow and Madas?!" He asked, jumping up and looking for them. "Are they alright?"

"…We're alright, Takashi. Look behind you."

Turning himself around, Takashi noticed that both Crow and Madas were standing behind him. Although the heavily bandaged, especially Madas, both of them were alive and looked like they were going to make a full recovery. Seeing that pleased the Signer greatly as he was happy that his desire to get back at Goodwin didn't cost him two of his friends lives.

"Thank god," He said to himself. "Thank god they're okay."

"Of course we're okay?" Madas pointed. "You shouldn't be such a worrywart. We're just as capable as you are."

"Yeah…" Crow agreed. "I mean, we're sore and we'll probably need some bed rest, but other than that…we're fine."

Hearing his friends say that to him caused Takashi to let out a small laugh. Their kind words made him feel a lot better, even though there were still plenty of things that were still on his mind. Takashi was about to talk to his friends about those things, but stopped when he heard someone else talking to him.

"Well, I'm glad to see you up and about," Alex said as he stood next to the wall. "Next time, try not to be so reckless. I might not be able to help you out if you get into trouble again."

As Alex continued to slightly berate Takashi on his reckless actions, all the Signer could think about was the things Goodwin told him about, particularly his true relationship with the Dragunity Knight. As those thoughts continued to appear inside his head, Takashi soon found himself consumed with anger, causing him to grab Alex by his shirt collar and slam his against the wall.

As Akiza and the others looked on with shocked expressions on their faces, Alex simply looked down at his cousin and watched as more and more of his rage continued to consume him. From the expression that he was seeing, Alex could tell that Goodwin told Takashi the truth about his family, which also included the fact that the two of them were related. Realizing that he couldn't put this off anymore, Alex simply braced himself for the tough conversation that was about to take place.

"When…were you going to tell me?!" Takashi questioned angrily. "Were you going to hide the fact that we were cousin? Or that Kagura was my little sister? Or the fact that Goodwin, the man you told me was my greatest enemy, is not only your father, but also uncle! When the hell were you going to tell me these things, damn it?! When?!"

Alex remained quiet as Takashi continued to vent his frustrations out on him. Upon not receiving a response, Takashi decided to beat the information out of his mentor by punching him in the face. However, before he could do so, Alex simply grabbed him fist and used the momentum from the punch to flip Takashi around. Upon hitting the ground, Takashi started writhing in pain as started talking to him.

"I was going to tell you all of these things…but only when this battle was over. I couldn't afford to have you second guessing yourself in a situation in which you couldn't!"

"And…and that's why you did it?" Takashi slowly picked himself back up, glaring at Alex intensely. "The enemy you're having us fight…is my family!"

"Regardless of what Goodwin is to you and me, he is still our enemy. He has to be defeated, no matter what! I'm sorry that I hid the truth from you Takashi, but I promise your dad that I would protect and I believed that keeping your relation with Goodwin a secret was the best way to protect you from him!"

Hearing Alex say that he kept his family origins from him for his own safety caused something to snap within Takashi. After all the mess that he had to deal with during this evening, the young man simply couldn't take it anymore and attacked his cousin in a fit of anger and confusion. However, Alex simply knocked Takashi back with a firm punch to facing, sending him flying into the living room table.

Despite getting even more injured than he already was, Takashi wasn't about to let it end here. He rushed over towards Alex and proceeded to throw several punches and kicks at him. Unfortunately, due to his injuries and not being in the proper state of mind, all of his blows were blocked and he soon found himself being beaten up by his mentor, who was simply defending himself from his attacks.

As this fight between cousins continued, the others found it very hard to watch. Although their feelings about the situation was, at best, mixed, all of them agreed that neither Takashi nor Alex should be fighting each other. They needed to step in and stop this, but they found it hard to interfere with the two of them. Eventually, one person out of the ground decided to step in and stop this nonsense.

As Takashi was punched by Alex again, the Signer was about to rush towards him so that they could continue their battle. However, before he could throw another punch, he watched Akiza get in front of him, stopping his assault. Takashi tried to get around her, but the young woman simply placed her arms out, creating a barrier between him and Alex.

"Get out of my way, Akiza!" Takashi yelled. "This doesn't concern you!"

"…I will not," Akiza softly replied. "I'm not going to let you fight him anymore, Takashi."

Not wanting to hear any of this, Takashi tried getting around Akiza so that he could get to Alex. Unfortunately for him though, Akiza would simply move herself around so that she would also be in front of him. If this was any other person, Takashi would simply punch them out of his way so that he could move forward. However, Akiza wasn't any other person. She was very important to Takashi and the young man promised himself that he would never physically assault her in any way. Because of that, he found it hard to get her out of his way.

"Damn it! Get the hell out of my way!"

"I will not! I won't let you do something I know you'll regret, Takashi! Even if you never forgive me, I'll never let you go down the path your about to enter! I just won't let you!"

As Akiza continued to block Takashi, tears started to slowly run down her face. Upon seeing those tears, Takashi quickly calmed himself down and started to regret getting upset in front of her. However, as he was still bothered by what happened, the Signer simply left the area and headed for his room. Once he was there, he slammed the door and locked it.

Once that situation was settled, Alex turned his attention to where Takashi went for a moment before turning towards his friends. As he watched them stare back at him, the Dragunity Knight noticed that all of them were beginning to doubt him for what he did. It was a natural reaction, but Alex still found himself being hurt by it. As a result, he decided to leave before he caused anymore trouble.

Before Alex left Poppo Time with Sona however, he stopped when noticed that someone was behind him. When he turned around, he saw that it was Akiza, who was busy staring towards the ground, her eyes being blocked by the bangs in her hair. He was about to ask her what's wrong, but the Psychic Duelist stopped him before he got the chance. She then listened as she started talking to him.

"…Ever since I first met you, I didn't know how to feel about you," She started off. "However, when Takashi told me that you were a nice guy, I trusted him and my opinion about you started to change. I still want to believe that's true…that's why I'm not going to do anything and let you leave."

"Thanks Akiza…" Alex said to her. "I know this is hard…but I only did it because he's my cousin and I promised that I would watch over him."

"I understand that. However…that doesn't change the fact that what you did was wrong. I don't give a damn if you are Takashi's cousin. If something like this happens again…I swear to make you pay!"

With that said, Akiza left and proceeded to go upstairs. Once she was gone, Alex stared at the others again before closing the front door and leaving. As he made his way over to his Duel Runner, he noticed that during physical exchange with Takashi, his right hand was slightly fractured. Without his knowledge, Takashi somehow damaged it during the fight. Upon seeing that, Alex simply rubbed his hand as he started thinking about what Goodwin said to him before he left the Security Building.

"Damn it," He thought to himself. "I hate to admit it, but Goodwin's right. Takashi…truly is the chosen one."

Meanwhile, back inside the apartment, Akiza was busy standing in front of Takashi's room. Because it was locked, the young woman couldn't get inside and even though she could use her powers to force her way in, she knew doing so would be pointless. All she could do was wait for Takashi to come out himself, even though it hurt her to do so.

While Akiza continued to wait for him to come out, Takashi was busy sitting on the floor, staring at his Signer Mark. As he looked at it, the young man gritted his teeth in anger and soon found himself throwing all sorts of things around, from the stuff on his desk to even his Dueling Deck. However, as he recalled everything that Goodwin said to him, Takashi stopped and simply fell to his knees in despair.

"I'm such an idiot. I'm no Signer…and definitely no leader. I'm just…one big joke!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_A few days have passed since his confrontation with Goodwin and yet Takashi is still loathing about happened. When the others attempts to help him fail, Toru realizes that there is only one person that can help little brother snap out it. Who is this person and he truly help Takashi return to normal self?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 94: The Master's Reunion – Part 1_


	94. Chapter 94

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 94: **_The Master's Reunion – Part 1_

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><p>It's been roughly 2 days since the battles at the Sector Security Building came to an erupt end and during that short time, Takashi Nakamura's life has turned completely upside down. For the longest time, he's worked hard to end the plotting of Rex Goodwin and make him pay for all the terrible things that he's done over the years. It's for that very reason why he accepted Alex McQueen's offer to get stronger, so that he could make that happen. However, after what just took place, Takashi harshly discovered that everything he's done up to this point has been manipulated by very person he strove to defeat.<p>

Since the very moment he first arrived in New Domino City, Takashi has been carefully watched and guided by Rex Goodwin. All of his battles were set up by him and all the things he's witnessed and discovered were planned out by him. In other words, everything that Takashi has done up to this point wasn't because of his own efforts, it because of Goodwin's plans.

If that wasn't bad enough, during his confrontation with the Director, Takashi discovered that the connection between the two of them was much closer than that of enemies. He learned, much to his shock, that his later father Minato, was actually Goodwin's younger brother. Not only that, he discovered that Alex, one of the few people in the world that he trusted completely, is actually Goodwin's son. These realizations not only made Alex, Takashi's cousin, but also made Rex Goodwin his uncle.

Takashi also discovered something else when he met up with Goodwin. He learned that shortly after he was born, his mother, Sakura, gave birth to another child. That child was none other than Kagura Toyoshima, who is now revealed to be his little twin sister. That realization especially bothered Takashi, since he's struck Kagura physically on more than one occasion, despite the fact that they're siblings.

At first, Takashi didn't want to believe what Goodwin told him as he was known to lie. However, the more he listened to the Director, the more his words made since to him. That knowledge struck Takashi hard since not only has his actions been completely manipulated, but the enemy he's been fighting all this time was actually his family. Upon realizing that, Takashi was left completely in shambles as he had absolutely no idea what to do with his life now.

In his self loathing, Takashi locked himself inside his room and has not come out ever since. As he did that, all of his friends were worried about him as none of them wanted to him like this. However, despite all of their attempts to help, none of their efforts seemed to work. Even Akiza, the one person Takashi was the closest too, couldn't do anything for him. As a result, all they could really do was wait and hope that Takashi can overcome this problem on his own.

Unfortunately for Takashi however, time was not on his side. It's been recently announced that the match between Takashi and Alistair, for the title of Duel King of Japan, will take place in one week's time. If he wanted any chance of defeating Alistair, who was roughly the same level as him in term of Dueling skills, Takashi needed to get out of his room and train. However, because of the state he was in, Dueling was the last thing of Takashi's mind and that wasn't good, both for his friends and for him.

"Damn it…what are we going to do?" Crow asked.

Despite the fact that Takashi wasn't budging and their efforts to help him weren't really going to well, his friends were not giving up on him. They've worked hard these last couple of days, trying their best to come up with ways to get Takashi back on his feet. It was a long and hard process and even though nothing has come of it yet, all of them were still determine to help their friend. After all, Takashi has done so much for all of them that it's only natural that they return the favor.

So, as the group took the time to eat dinner, all of them were discussing ideas about how to best handle this particular situation. While they did that, Akiza's attention was divided as she was busy paying attention to the staircase that was only a few feet away from her. Although she wanted to help her friends, Akiza believed that she could do more good by trying to reach out to Takashi on her own. The reason why she wanted to do this is because Takashi did the very same thing with her.

Back when she first discovered that Sayer was simply using her because of her incredible powers, Akiza was left in a state of complete despair and was unsure about what she should do. However, in her state self-pity, someone came up to her and helped her out. That person was Takashi, who wanted to help his new friend see that despite what happened, there were plenty of good things in the world, just waiting to be discovered by her. Although those few words don't seem like much up close, it's because of them that the young woman found a reason to keep going.

Akiza will forget the act of kindness that Takashi showed her and it's one of the reasons why she's so deeply in love with him. As a result, she decided to do the same thing that Takashi did for her. Even if her efforts were to be in vain, it was better than simply doing nothing at all. So, after finishing her dinner and thanking Lilly for making it, Akiza put her plate away before making her way upstairs.

When the others saw her leave, they decided not to stop her. Instead, they decided to focus on what they were doing since they believed Akiza could help Takashi out better if she's by herself. All of them wondered what they could do for him, but all of their ideas weren't really good.

"Maybe we should just bust down to his room, drag him out, and make him talk to us," Crow suggest.

"Dummy," Lilly frowned, shaking her head in disapproval. "That's never going to work if we do that. If we want to help Takashi, we're going to need to do something that would want him to come out willingly."

"…But what should we do?" Misaki asked. "…Takashi is very stubborn. What could possibly get him to come out?"

As the three of them thought about what to do, Toru was busy thinking about someone who could possibly help his little brother. At first, the young man believed that Akiza would be the one to help him out. However, despite her efforts, Akiza's words were hardly reaching him. Since that was the case, Toru believed that there was one other person who could help Takashi get out of this funk that he was in.

To that end, Toru got up from the chair that he was in and proceeded to grab his cell phone, which sitting on the table. Once he had it in hand, the Scrap Duelist then went on to dial a number into his phone. As soon as he finished, Toru went on to stare at his cellular device, as he was hesitant to call the individual that he was about to talk too.

"Is something wrong, Toru?" Lilly asked as she looked at him.

"Yeah," Crow followed. "Who are you about to call?"

Toru remained silent as he unsure if he should really go along with this phone call. Although he was confident that the individual could help Takashi, it's been nearly 4 years since the two of them met. Also, Toru wasn't really on good terms with this person, which meant that there was chance that the individual would not help Takashi, just because he was associated with him. However, after thinking about it and remembering the look of despair that was on his step-brother's face, Toru decided to take the risk and went on to press the call button.

"I'm calling the one person that can possibly fix this mess,"

While this was going on, deep inside his underground hideout, Alex McQueen was busy working on his Duel Runner as looked at him from a distance. It was clear to Sona that Alex's mind wasn't focused on his Duel Runner. The only reason why he decided to work on it is so that he could take his mind off what was really bothering him. However, despite his best efforts not to think about it, it was painfully obvious to not only Sona, but to Alex himself that he couldn't stop thinking about what happened a couple of nights ago.

Even when Takashi was just an infant and Alex was barely 4-years-old, the future Dragunity Knight made a vow to train so that he could grow strong enough to protect his cousin. It's for that reason why he put up with all the abuse that Goodwin put him through as a kid, as it was simply to keep his promise. As time passed by and Alex finally left his father so that he could fight against him, his desire to protect Takashi only grew stronger.

It's because of that very promise that Alex decided not to tell Takashi about his family, since he believed he wasn't ready to know the truth. He believed that if the truth did get out, not only would Takashi be devastated by it, but might also be reluctant to fight, even though he can't afford not to. That's why Alex kept it a secret from Takashi and why he planned to keep it a secret, at least until this situation was finally taken care of.

Unfortunately for Alex, his father had other plans and Goodwin not only told Takashi about what happened, but crushed his confidence as well. Upon seeing that, Alex was just as devastated as Takashi and the only thing that he could for his cousin was knock him out and bring him back to his home before anything else happened.

Once he did that, Alex then had to deal with the backlash that came with the revelation. Takashi was not just upset with Alex about what he did, he was pissed. Even though Takashi did a similar thing when it came to Aiku, the Signer didn't hide anything that involved his family. Alex did do such a thing and that bothered Takashi greatly, since he always wanted to know about his family, regardless of who they were.

Eventually, the verbal exchange between the two cousins soon turned into a physical one and even Alex didn't want to fight Takashi, he had no choice but to defend himself from him. This lead to Alex striking multiple blows to his cousins, effectively breaking the promise he had made to Minato about protecting his son. If it wasn't for the timely intervention by Akiza, Alex believed that the fight between him and Takashi could've ended much worse than it had.

Even after the situation was settled, Alex was still bothered by the whole thing. The only thing that he felt he could do was drown himself in his work. By doing that, he could at least try and focus on that instead of what happened with his cousin. However, that wasn't working and it only ended up bothering Alex even more.

As he continued to work, Sona simply looked at him with a silent expression on her face. Having known him ever since the two of them were little, Sona can tell when something it's bothering Alex and this was one of those times. Normally, she would let him handle the situation since he was skilled enough to do so. However, since this particular situation was special, the beautiful Psychic Duelist decided to talk to her friend about it.

"…How long are you going to sulk about it?" She asked him. "We can't afford to have the leader of the Signers and the leader of the Dragunity Knights acting like this."

"...Shut up Sona," Alex told her, trying his best to lose his cool. "You don't know anything about this."

"Maybe so…however, there is one thing that I do know. If Amara saw you now…the first thing that she would do is laugh."

Not wanting to hear this from her, Alex quickly turned around and grabbed Sona by the collar. He then glared at her intensely while bringing out the green aura that came with his Dragunity Knight powers. However, despite doing that, Alex's attempts to intimidate Sona failed as the young woman wasn't scared at him in the slightest.

"Why are you getting so upset?" She asked him. "I'm only calling it as I see it. Amara would definitely laugh at you if she saw you now. That's just the type of person she is."

Alex wanted to hit Sona for what she said to him. However, the Dragunity Knight couldn't bring himself to do it since he knew that she was right. If Amara was here with them, she would indeed laugh at him for looking and feeling this way. Just thinking about that made Alex feel even worse than before, but soon snapped him out of it by hitting him upside the head.

"Stop it! You shouldn't feel sorry about what you did. I mean, the reason why you did is because you were concerned about Takashi's well being. If you can't see that…then you're nothing more than a lost cause."

As Sona continued berating him, Alex to a moment to think about what she was trying to tell him. Even though he didn't like how things turned out, the fact remains that Alex did what he did because he felt it was best for Takashi. If he was truly the leader of the Dragunity Knights, then he needed to stand by the decisions that he made. Upon realizing that, Alex started to feel much better and as a result, proceeded to let go of Sona.

"Sorry," He apologized. "I guess…I was letting everything that happened get to me."

"Don't worry about it," Sona replied. "I know how it feels to be worried about your family."

With that settled, Alex turned his attention towards his Duel Runner for a moment before walking towards a window. As he looked up towards the sky, the young man started thinking about his cousin again. However, instead of recalling what he did to him, Alex was now wondering how he was feeling right now.

"I hope he's doing okay," He said to himself.

"I'm sure Takashi is fine," Sona said as she made her way over to him. "After all, he is your cousin."

Meanwhile, in a card shop on the other side of New Domino City, a large, yet muscular man was busy organizing a shipment of cards that he received earlier this morning. The large man was named Sig and he's been an avid card collector for several years now. Besides selling his shipment of cards to those who came into his store, Sig would also take time to teach the next generation of Duelists how to play the game of Duel Monsters.

As he continued to organize his cards, Sig soon heard the store's telephone start to ring. Upon answering it and listening to the person on the other line, Sig proceeded to nod his head before taking out a pen and a piece of paper. He then went on to write down something as he continued talking to the person. Once he finished, the card owner went on to say his goodbyes.

"Alright," He said. "I'll come by to pick him up tomorrow. I'll see you soon."

Once that was said, Sig hung up the phone. He then placed the piece of paper into his pocket before making his way through the store. As he did that, the scenery changed from that of card shop to a normal looking home. The reason for that is because Sig's card shop also acts as the home that he and his family live in.

Eventually, after making his way through his home, Sig soon arrived at his bedroom. Inside was a young woman, who was busy reading a book while also staring outside through a window. Knowing that she was busy, Sig decided that to take up too much time and proceeded to say what he had to say.

"It's Takashi," He started off. "The time has finally come to meet up with him."

"…Is that so," The woman said. She soon closed the book that she was reading. "It's about time."

* * *

><p>The next day, on a bright and sunny afternoon where normally everyone would be outside enjoying themselves, Takashi Nakamura was still in his room sulking. He was a complete mess, having spent the last 2 and half days simply sitting on the floor with the sheets to his bed being placed over his head. Despite his friends trying to help him, the only thing that Takashi was thinking about was the things Goodwin told him and how they change his outlook on his life.<p>

Ever since he was a little boy, Takashi believed that he had to work hard through his own efforts if he wanted to make something of his life. This was especially true after his good friend, and childhood crush, Hikari passed away, as her death gave him the desire to help other people. However, after learning from Goodwin that the Director had manipulated several important events in his life, Takashi didn't know what to think. He wasn't sure if his actions, hopes, and dreams actually came from him or if they came from Goodwin.

As he continued to think about that, Takashi looked down at his bedroom floor and saw that his broken sword was placed next to him. Just seeing it reminded the Signer about how he tried to use it to attack Goodwin, shortly after he lost to him. However, Goodwin simply used his robotic arm to snap the weapon in two, reverting the part of the sword that broke back into a rusty old lead pipe. Just seeing his weapon like this made Takashi feel even worse, as it seemed like an actually indication that everything that Goodwin told him was right and that his strength was not his own.

However, despite the fact that he was feeling really down about this, what was bothering Takashi the most was the fact that Goodwin, his supposed enemy, is really his uncle. Even though the Director did horrible things and caused suffering to others, Takashi wasn't sure if he could fight him. Goodwin is his family and Takashi wasn't sure if he could bring himself to fight his family. All these negative feelings were bothering greatly, causing him to lose sight of what's important. As he continued to drown himself in despair, Takashi heard someone knock on his door.

"Takashi…it's me,"

Recognizing the voice, Takashi knew right away that it was Akiza. Normally, he wouldn't waste any time and would go on to open the door and let her in. Unfortunately, after everything that happened, Takashi couldn't bring himself to look at her. As a result, he simply ignored Akiza as he gently placed more his sheets over his body.

Despite being ignored however, Akiza wasn't about to leave and continued her efforts to get Takashi to talk to her. For her, it was better than just waiting for something to happen. So, after knocking on the door again and getting no response, Akiza gently let out a small sigh before leaning herself against Takashi's door. She then sat down and started talking him.

"Takashi," She started off. "I know how you feel. Everything you learned recently has changed your outlook on life. I mean, in just one night you learned that Goodwin was using you for his own goals. Not only that, but you also discovered that not only is Goodwin your uncle, but that Alex is your cousin and that Kagura is your long-lost little sister. It must be a lot to take in, but…I know that you can overcome it. I mean…you helped me overcome my problem when a similar thing happened to me."

Akiza closed her eyes for a moment and started thinking about to about a year ago. It was shortly after Takashi first rescued her from the Arcadia Movement and she learned first-hand that Sayer was using her for her Psychic Powers. Such a revelation would hurt anybody, but it hurt Akiza more so since Sayer was the first person that she believed to have actually cared about her. But, upon learning the truth about Sayer, Akiza didn't know what to believe anymore and was left wallowing in despair.

Fortunately for Akiza however, Takashi wasn't like Sayer at all. He willingly held out his hand, wanting nothing more to help Akiza and become her first true friend. It was thanks to the kindness that he showed her that the beautiful Psychic Duelist was able to overcome the pain in her heart and move forward with her life.

Upon reopening her eyes, Akiza continued thinking about what Takashi did for her. It was thanks to him that she not only has true friends, but has become the person she is now. For as long as she lives, Akiza will never forget that nor will she forget the massive debt that she owes him either. He has given her so many valuable things and Akiza felt that despite how long she's known him, she couldn't repay him for a single one. It's because of that she decided not to give up and try talking to Takashi again.

"Ever since I first met you Takashi, you've been a person who would always put others before yourself. Doing that is not easy and I know…it can cause you to take a while to recovery when you're upset. Despite that however, I've always seen you come back stronger than ever whenever something like this happens. That's why…I know you'll get through this. That's just the type of person you are. So, take your time to recover. Just know…that I'll be right by your side if you need anything. That's a promise."

With that, Akiza let out a small smile before getting up from off the ground. She then turned herself around and faced Takashi's door before placing her hand on it. Although she wasn't quite sure if he was standing next to it, Akiza felt a warm sensation around her hand, causing her to believe that Takashi was indeed standing by on the other side of the door. This caused her to let out another small smile before getting ready to leave. Before she did however, the young woman heard someone calling out to her.

"How can you have so much faith in me…?"

Upon hearing the voice, Akiza's eyes widen a little as she knew that it was Takashi. She was about to see if he unlocked the door so that she could come inside, but stopped herself before she did. The young woman then took a moment to think about what he just asked her. After thinking about it, Akiza smiled again as she gave Takashi an answer.

"…Because you had faith in me."

After saying that, Akiza left to get something to eat, but promised to come back once she was finished. Once she was gone, Takashi took a moment to think about what Akiza just told him. The words that she spoke were really kind and came from the bottom of her heart. Takashi would be lying to himself if he wasn't happy about what she said. However, even though he was happy, the young man was still very depressed.

His mind was still fixated on what Goodwin told him, especially the part about how he manipulated him. If what he said really was the truth, then Takashi wondered if the feelings he had for Akiza were manipulated too. For a long time now, Takashi held romantic feelings towards the Rose Duelist, but if that was also a part of Goodwin's plan, then there's no guarantee that he would've fallen in love with Akiza if Goodwin hadn't interfered. Such thoughts continued to run through Takashi's mind, causing him to doubt himself more and more.

While he continued thinking about this, and several other things, Takashi soon started to hear something come from downstairs. At first, the young man paid it no mind since he had other things to worry about. However, as he continued to listen, Takashi started to hear something else as well.

"AHHHHH!"

The scream that he heard came from Akiza, causing Takashi to jump up to his feet. He then continued to listen some more, noticing that there was some type of struggle going on. At first, Takashi was about to leave his room in order to figure out what was going on, but stopped himself at the last second. He then wondered what he should really do, as more and more doubts flooded into his mind.

As he continued to doubt himself, Takashi heard more and more noise coming from downstairs. Eventually, the Signer realized that if he didn't do anything, there could be a chance that Akiza and the others could get hurt or possibly worse. Although he still wasn't sure what to make of everything that happened to him, Takashi had to put those thoughts out his mind for the moment. To that end, he grabbed his broken sword from off the ground, opened the door to his room, and proceeded to make his way downstairs.

Upon reaching the living room, Takashi looked around the area that saw the place was a mess. There was glass on the ground and a couple of tables and chairs were broken. However, the thing that worried him the most was that he couldn't find any of his friends around. He looked all around the area, but he simply couldn't find them. This worried him greatly, since he was starting to wonder if the unthinkable happened to his friends.

"Guys…" He called out. "Where are you? Please tell me that you're okay."

"Why are you worrying so much about them…when you should be worrying about yourself?"

Shocked by the words that were just spoken to him, Takashi realized that somebody was behind. Sensing that the person had malicious intention, the Signer turned himself around in an attempt to confront the individual. Unfortunately, just as he did so, the person punched dead in the face, sending him flying straight into the kitchen.

As blood was pouring from his mouth, Takashi looked up and noticed the individual staring down at him. He was fairly muscular and was wearing an ancient dog mask in order to hide his identity. Takashi was confused by who this masked man was, but he didn't have much time to think about it since he was about to assaulted by him. The young man tried his best to defend himself by the attacker's blows, but he found it very hard to do so since his opponent was a skilled fighter.

Eventually, as he fight between the two continued, the injuries Takashi sustained were beginning to take his toll on him. Although the masked man was skilled, 10 years of training under his master, Izumi, made Takashi a very talented fighter that could defeat over a 100 foes at once. The reason why he was having such a hard time was because of the doubts that he was having, diminishing his skills greatly. However, despite the problem he was facing, that wasn't about to stop Takashi.

"Who…who are you…?!" He asked as he threw a punch. "Why are you here…and what did you do to my friends?!"

The masked man didn't answer Takashi's question as he simply blocked his punch and went on to kick the young man in the stomach. As he coughed up blood, Takashi noticed that the masked man knocked his broken sword from his hand and was about to use it himself. Upon seeing that, Takashi realized that he could be in big trouble if he was struck by his own weapon. In order to prevent that from happening, Takashi knocked the sword from his opponent's hand and proceeded slam him into the wall.

Once he did that, Takashi launched several fast punches at the masked man. Each and every blow was so swift that it was extremely hard for the intruder to block them all. Eventually, after some time, Takashi's efforts finally paid off as he was finally able to subdue the masked man by knocking him out with a powerful punch to the head. After he was out, the Signer fell to one knee, completely exhausted after his ordeal.

"Okay, you bastard. It's time to see…who you really are."

Picking himself up, Takashi removed the dog mask from the intruder's face. He had black hair, long eyebrows, and was wearing a white headband. Upon getting a good look at him, Takashi's eyes widen as he recognized the person who had invaded his home. It may have been several years since the two of them last saw each other, but there was no way he could forget that face.

"Renji…? Is that you?"

Takashi continued to examine the fallen Renji's body, as he was both surprised and confused about not only why he was here, but also why he caused his mess. However, as continued to wonder about it, Takashi noticed that another, much bigger, individual was behind him. As he turned around and looked at him, he instantly realized that he knew this person too.

"Sig…?"

"Yes Takashi," Sig answered. "It's good to see you again."

Upon saying that to him, Sig punched Takashi firmly in the stomach. The force of the blow was so great that Takashi fell unconscious right away. Fortunately for him though, before he fell to the ground, Sig caught Takashi and proceeded to place him upon his should. Once he did that, the shop owner made his way over to Renji and started tapping his shoulder. After doing that, Sig watched as Renji opened his eyes and quickly got up from the ground.

"Did we really have to do that?" Renji asked as he spat out some blood. "We could've just knocked him out from the very beginning and avoided all of this."

"I know. However, I needed to see the condition he was in. In the past, Takashi could've defeated you easily, but after what happened just now…it's apparent that he really does need our help."

As Sig and Renji continued talking to one another, the front door started to open. Coming inside were Akiza and the others, who were shocked to see that their home was a complete mess. As they continued to look around, Akiza saw Takashi sleeping on Sig's shoulder and was extremely worried about the condition that he was in. However, she soon calmed down a little when Toru came up to her and let out a small smile, silently telling her that everything was alright.

Once that was settled, Toru proceeded to make his way over to Sig and Renji. When he reached the two of them, Toru found himself being petted by the former, who seemed quite pleased to see him.

"It's good to see you again, Toru," Sig said to him. "It looks like you've gotten much bigger since the last time I saw you."

"Yeah," Toru replied. "Well…you're still as big as ever."

Toru soon turned his attention to Renji, who was still trying to shake off the cobwebs after his fight against Takashi. Once the two became fully aware of each other, both of them smiled before shaking hands.

"I'm glad to see that you're doing well, Renji. I'm sorry if my little brother had to beat you up a little."

"It's no big deal," Renji said. "I mean, if he wasn't in such a funk, I think things could've been a lot worse."

Toru nodded his head in agreement since he remembered the last time Takashi and Renji fought each other. It was a couple of years ago, back when Takashi had just turned 14-years-old. Wanting to see how much he's grown as a fighter, Renji challenged him to a match. Unfortunately for him however, Takashi had grown much stronger than he thought and the end of their fight resulted in Renji's arms being broken and one of his legs being dislocated.

In the years since that fight, Toru has seen that his little brother has grown much stronger, both mentally and physically. If Takashi wasn't so busy thinking about what happened earlier, Toru truly believed that injuries Renji would've received during the fight just now would be far worse than they actually are. Thinking about that caused Toru to laugh a little, prompting Renji to place his friend in a headlock.

While this was going on, Sig was busy looking at the rest of Takashi's and Toru friends. From the looks in all of their eyes, Sig could tell that they were all very good people. This was especially true when he saw the expression on Akiza's face and how she was concerned for Takashi's well being. Upon seeing that, Sig smiled happily as he was glad that his two young friends were associated with such good people.

"Well," He said as he positioned Takashi carefully. "I think it's time to get going. Renji…you stay here and tidy this place up. I want it just the way it was before by the time Takashi gets back."

"You got it, boss!" Renji complied.

With that said, Renji stopped messing around with Toru and proceeded to clean up the mess that he and Takashi made while they were fighting. As he did that, Sig brought the unconscious Takashi outside and proceeded to place him in the back of a large truck. After he did that, the shop owner then received the Signer's deck, Duel Disk, and broken sword from Toru and went on to place it in the back of the truck too. Once he did that, he turned to face the others.

"Well…I think it's time to head on back," He said. "The rest of you can come with me if you want. I'm sure she would love to see all of you."

"Um…excuse me, sir," Akiza said, walking up towards Sig. "But who are you exactly?"

"Oh yeah…I guess I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sig Curtis and I'm the husband of Izumi Curtis, Takashi's martial arts master."

* * *

><p>Sometime later, as he felt a strange sensation beneath him, Takashi slowly woke up from his slumber. As he sat up and placed his hand upon his head, the young man noticed that he was inside the back of truck. Not only that, but he also saw that all of his friends, with the exception of Toru, were sitting there with him. Seeing them all okay brought a sense of relief to Takashi, but he was still wondering what was going on and why Sig and Renji attacked him.<p>

"Those guys…" He said, trying his best to piece together the situation. "What the hell are they up too?"

"According to Toru, Sig brought you here so that you could see a certain someone that could help you out."

Takashi turned his head towards Lilly, as she was the one who just spoke him. He then watched as the others shook their heads respectively, indicating to him that her words were indeed the truth. As a result, Takashi listened carefully as Lilly continued on with her explanation.

"We were all worried about you and when Toru said that this person could help you, we decided to go along with his plan. That's why we weren't there when came down to check on us. Sig told us to stay out of sight until everything was settled and that you were knocked out."

"And what about Akiza's scream?" Takashi questioned. "It sounded like she really was in trouble."

"She was against the idea of having you beaten up. However, since she was outvoted in the decision, she had to go along with the plan. So, in order to bring you downstairs, I stepped on her foot, which made her scream."

Takashi turned his attention from Lilly to Akiza, in order to see if what the former said really was the truth. When Akiza nodded her head at him, Takashi realized that Lilly was indeed telling the truth since Akiza wasn't the type of person to lie to him. This brought mixed feelings to the Signer because while he was glad that his friends were concerned about him, he was just as upset that they had to go through these lengths in order to do it.

Eventually, Takashi decided to stop thinking about that altogether and decided to focus his immediate attention on where he was going. Since Sig was the one who basically kidnapped him, he had a pretty good idea about the identity of the individual he was going to meet. That conclusion also brought in a sense of mixed feelings to him, since it's been quite while since he and the person last saw each other. As he continued to think about it, he heard Crow calling out to him.

"So Takashi," The Blackwing Duelist called. "Do you know who this person that we're about to see?"

"I do. It's my master; Izumi Curtis. She's the one who taught me how to fight."

Crow was surprised by this revelation, but the others weren't so much. Since Sig had already said that he was Izumi's husband and explained her importance to Takashi, the others were pretty sure that she was the one who that they were going to meet. This prompted Lilly to hit Crow in the head since she was upset that he made Takashi answer a question that they should've already known the answer too.

"What's Izumi like, Takashi?" Akiza asked him. "I mean, you did train under her so you must know her the best."

"…You'll find out when you meet her," He answered. "Just make sure that all of you are on your best behavior. Master can be rather…strict, if something angers her. Can't tell you the number of times I almost died from her abuse."

Akiza was slightly taken back by what Takashi just told her. From what both he and Toru had told her beforehand, Akiza initially believed that Izumi was a calm and wise individual. While she still believed the later to be true, the Rose Duelist wondered just how strict Izumi really was. Soon enough, Akiza would find out for herself as she felt the struck suddenly stop.

Once that happened, the group waited for a bit until they saw both Sig and Toru open the back of the truck. All of them got out one at a time with the last one being Takashi. Once they did, all of them looked on as they stared at the card shop that Sig owned. It wasn't quite as big as the normal shops that they go to around the city, but it didn't need to be. It had a familiar, somewhat a family feel to it. The group couldn't quite explain why that is, but they all agreed that they liked this feeling.

"Wow…" Toru said as he walked closer towards the shop. "Nice shop, Sig. I knew that you liked Duel Monsters, but I didn't think that Izumi would let you set one up."

"…You shouldn't assume what you know about my mother,"

Surprised by the voice that just spoke to him, Toru looked around the area in order to find the individual. As he did, the individual suddenly appeared and went on to hit the Scrap Duelist in the head with a wooden sword known as a Shinai. While was trying to recover from this attack, Takashi took the time to examine the person who hit him.

The individual was a young woman who was around Misaki's age, indicating that she was about 15 to 17-years-old. She had short black hair with dark grey eyes and was wearing a white and blue samurai kimono. The girl had a beautiful slim figure with her breasts being around the size as Akiza's, despite the fact that she's younger than her. When Toru finally recovered, the young man got a good look at the girl too and realized who she was.

"It's you…Suguha,"

"It's nice to meet you again, Toru," Suguha replied as she hit him with her Shinai again. "I see you're still as weak as ever."

As Toru placed his hand on top of head, Suguha looked at him with a blank expression on her face. Soon, when the Scrap Duelist got back to his feet, he let out a small smile before taking a fighting stance. He then prepared himself to face her, much to Suguha's amusement.

"Humph, you're still just as snobby as ever. Well, we'll see just how weak you think I am."

Toru threw some punches at Suguha, hoping that the blows that she will receive will be enough to prove his strength to her. Unfortunately, thanks to her incredible skills, Suguha was able to avoid each and every one of Toru's punches without the slightest hint of difficulty. As Toru punches continued to miss, Suguha went on to hit him with her Shinai until he eventually fell to one knee. Once he was on the ground, Suguha placed her sword right in front of his face.

"No offense Toru," She said with a smug smile on her face. "But you're simply no match for me."

Suguha raised her Shinai and was about to hit Toru again with it. However before attack landed, Takashi came up and defended his big brother by grabbing the wooden sword. He then held it firmly in his hand, preventing Suguha from moving it. Takashi eventually released the Shinai from his grasp, causing Suguha to step back a little.

"Long time no see…Sugu,"

A large blush appeared on Suguha's face as she recognized the nickname that Takashi just said. Although it was just a shorten version of her actual name, Suguha found the nickname Sugu to be rather embarrassing, especially in front of other people. Because of that, she became extremely upset with Takashi and proceeded to direct her sword at him.

"I told you a thousand time to never calm me that, Takashi!" She told him. "Are you some type of pervert?!"

"Calm down," Takashi replied. "I don't know why you always get like this…Sugu."

"Bastard…I will kill you!"

Rushing blindly, Suguha swung her sword repeatedly towards Takashi, who managed to avoid each one of her strikes. Even though his skills were extremely diminished by the doubts that were still plaguing his heart, Takashi was still more than skilled enough to deal with his friend and her temper tantrum.

Eventually, after about 5 minutes of this, a beautiful woman walked out of the card shop and proceeded to end the exchange that was going on between Takashi and Suguha. She did this by grabbing both of their heads and knocking them against each other. As both of them attempted to recover from nearly having their skulls cracked opened, the woman walked passed them and quickly made her way towards the others.

As she continued to walk towards them, the others managed to get a good look at her. She was fairly tall and faired skin with dark-eyes. She also had a curvaceous, yet well-toned figure. Along with that, she was wearing a similar samurai kimono like the one Suguha was wearing. The exception to her outfit is that her kimono was white and red instead of white and blue. Upon seeing her, Sig let out a small smile.

"Here they are," He said. "These are Takashi's friends, Izumi."

"Thank you, honey," She replied with a smile of her own.

Akiza and the others were shocked to see that the beautiful woman standing before them was Takashi's master, Izumi. She looked nothing like they expected her to be, since they figured that she would have a much more muscular look to her. However, after seeing how she managed to take down both Takashi and Suguha single handily, the group realized the true fact that looks can be quite deceiving.

"It's nice to meet all of you. Thank you for looking out for my stupid apprentice. I know he can be quite the handful at times."

"No…it's okay," Lilly replied. "To tell you the truth, we should be thanking you. Takashi helped us out a lot thanks to the skills you taught him. I think I can vouch for everyone when I say that we're grateful for what you've done."

As she listened to Lilly's words, Izumi took a moment to look back at Takashi as he slowly got up from the ground. She soon let out a small smile as she was happy that her apprentice, though somewhat foolish at times, had used the time they've been apart to the fullest. As a result, the young master made her way towards her student and proceeded to stand in front of him as he tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head. Once he did so and saw that she was looking at him, Takashi nervously stared at her for a moment before bowing down in respect.

"It's good to see you again, Master," He said.

"Same here, Takashi," Izumi replied. "It's good to see you too."

Izumi bowed slightly towards Takashi, showing the same respect that he showed to her. Once they did that, the two of them sat up and Izumi proceeded to make her way towards Suguha. After making sure that she was okay, she went on to stand behind Suguha before placing her hands on top of her shoulder. The two of them were soon joined by Sig, who stood next to the both of them.

"Please forgive my daughter's attitude. She's just excited to have guest. Please make yourselves welcome in our home."

The group smiled upon hearing Izumi's warm welcome and quickly followed her and her family as they all made their way inside the card shop. As soon as they entered, all of them were amazed by the setup that Sig had established for his shop. Even though the place wasn't that big, it still held all the latest cards that were currently on sale in other shops. Seeing all of that impressed them a lot, which only proved that this shop was really successful, despite the fact that it's on the other side of the city.

As they continued to look around, Akiza noticed something in the distance and started to stray away from the others. When she got close enough, the young woman noticed that inside one of the rooms of the card shop was an old dojo. The sight of it impressed her a lot, mostly because she was taught in the ways of fighting and defending herself.

As Akiza continued to marvel at the dojo, Takashi noticed that she wasn't with the group and left to go find her. When he finally did, the young man also took the time to look at the dojo and was also quite impressed by it. Eventually, the others soon joined them and all of them proceeded to walk inside.

"You seem to be quite impressed by my dojo," Izumi said as she observed the look on Akiza's face. "Do you happen to know any martial arts?"

"Well…sort of," Akiza replied, becoming nervous as she continues talking to Izumi. "You see…Takashi taught me some of the things you taught him, so I have a lot of respect for people who study martial arts."

"I see…So does that mean that your Takashi's apprentice?"

"No miss. He just taught me so that I could…defend myself if I'm attacked."

Although the answer that she gave Izumi wasn't entirely wrong, it wasn't really the right one. The real reason why Takashi taught her martial arts was so she could improve her focus and thus control her Psychic Powers. However, since Izumi wasn't aware of the abilities that she and her friends have, Akiza taught it was best to keep it a secret for now.

As the young woman tried her best to keep herself from looking like she was lying, Izumi could already tell that what Akiza just told her wasn't entirely true. However, the martial arts master was kind enough not to dive enter matters that were uncomfortable to other people. Because of that, she decided not to ask for the real reason and simply accepted the answer that Akiza gave to her. She soon turned her attention towards Takashi and went on to ask him a question.

"How good is she Takashi? Do her skills meet your expectations?"

"If I'm being perfectly honest, master…Akiza's skills far surpassed my expectations. She learned far more quickly than I first thought. As a matter of fact, I think she could become just as good as you in a couple of years."

"Is that so? Now that's quite interesting."

Izumi turned her attention back towards Akiza, but she noticed that the Rose Duelist's attention was focused solely on Takashi. As the two Signers looked at one another, Izumi noticed that both of them were blushing a little. She also noticed that while in each other's presence, the two of them seemed to be much calmer and happier. When she glanced back at the other's and saw the smiles on their faces too, Izumi came the conclusion that Takashi and Akiza had romantic feelings for each other, which in turn made her happy.

Unfortunately, while everyone else was happy about this, there was one person among them who seemed quite upset about it. That person was Suguha, who was jealous of Akiza and how close she was with Takashi. Even though she can be somewhat of a snob, Suguha is a very kind individual and for a long time now, had a massive crush on Takashi. Despite the fact that it's been nearly 4 years since they last met, she hoped that the chance remained that she could get finally get together with the one she loved. However, that was not the case anymore.

In the time since they last met, Takashi has moved on and found someone. Although Suguha reluctantly admitted that Akiza was very beautiful, she did question whether or not someone like her truly deserved someone like Takashi. As a result, she decided to come up with an idea that would determine the worth of the Rose Duelist. Once she thought up of one, a small smiled slowly appeared upon her face.

"Hey mom," She called. "Why don't eye show the others around. I'm sure there's a lot you want to talk Takashi about."

"…I don't see why not," Izumi replied. "Alright then…I leave things to you, sweetie."

Suguha nodded her head in acknowledgement and she proceeded to take Takashi's friends through the dojo, so that they could reach another section of the shop. Once they were gone, Izumi went on to take Takashi and her outside, so that they could talk in private. Although she had a feeling what her daughter was up too, Izumi decided to let it go and just focus on what was really important, dealing with her apprentice.

Back with the others, Suguha went on to take them into another separate dojo. It wasn't as big as the room they saw earlier, but it was still quite impressive. As she watched them look around the place, the young woman looked down and stared at her Shinai for a moment. She then walked towards a wall and went on to grab a Shinai that was placed there by her mother. As soon as she had it in hand, Suguha threw it towards Takashi's friends.

"Hey…what's going on?" Crow asked, looking down at the Shinai.

"I watched the Fortune Cup on TV and I can tell that all of you are great Duelists," Suguha explained. "If I faced any of you in a Duel, there's no doubt that you would win. So…I decided to do this. You see, in ancient times, Duels were normally done with swords, not cards. I want to test your strength, in order to see just how strong Takashi's friends are in an actual fight. Well…what do you say?"

Crow and the others looked at one another as they all thought about Suguha's proposal. Although they weren't sure why she wanted to do this, they felt that it would disrespectful to her if they declined her challenge. Also, from the way she gave her explanation, it almost seemed like Suguha was wondering whether or not they're strong or weak. Not wanting to prove themselves weak in her eyes, the group decided to take her up on her challenge.

After discussing which of them should go first, it was decided that Toru would face Suguha first. The reason for that is because, like Takashi and Suguha, Toru trained under Izumi, even though it was just for 2 years. Although he didn't fair to well in the fist fight that they had outside the shop, the others believed that Toru would fare much better if he had a weapon with a far greater reach. Unfortunately, they were quickly proven wrong as Suguha defeated Toru easily with one strong hit to the head.

Once he was taken care of Suguha turned her attention towards the others and prepared herself to face them. One by one, the young woman was able to take each of them down thanks to her years of training under her mother. Although Misaki, Lilly, and Crow did fairly well in the beginning, their lack of skill resulted in their defeat at the hands of Suguha. Eventually, the only one that was left to face her was Akiza, who seemed quite reluctant to fight.

"What's wrong?" Suguha asked as she placed her wooden sword upon her shoulder. "Are you afraid?"

"Um…Of course not," Akiza said. "I'm ready…"

Although she wasn't afraid of Suguha herself, Akiza was bit afraid that she might let her friends down. In the time she learned how to fight by Takashi, the Rose Duelist was taught the basics of wielding a weapon. Because of that, Akiza was well aware that she would be at a disadvantage against Suguha and her incredible skills with the sword. Despite that though, Akiza knew that she had to fight this match, since her friends were counting on her. So, after gathering all her courage, she picked up the Shinai and prepared herself to face her opponent.

As the fight between the two began, Misaki started to notice something strange about the match. Thanks to her amazing analytical skills, the young woman saw that while Suguha was simply playing around with her and the others, she seems to be taking this match against Akiza rather seriously, almost as if it were personal. This worried her a little, but she decided to stand back and see how things play out.

Eventually, as the match continued, it was becoming obvious to everyone that Akiza was on the ropes. Even though she was doing far better than them when they fought Suguha, she was still having a tough time against her. Soon enough, Suguha pushed Akiza against the wall and was about to hit her straight in the head. Fortunately for Akiza though, she managed to block the strike.

"Is this all you got?" Suguha questioned. "I'm so disappointed. At this rate, you don't deserve to be in the same room as Takashi, let alone be with him."

"Huh…what are you talking about?" Akiza asked, as she struggled to push Suguha away from her. "What's this all about?"

"I can tell that you have feelings for Takashi!" Suguha continued pushing Akiza back, but was also trying her best to fight back her tears too. "He's been through a lot in his life, far more than anyone should. Even though he can annoy me sometimes, I still have feelings for him due to his kind and thoughtful personality. However, I was never able to confess how I felt because of what happened to his first crush, Hikari. That's why…if anyone wants to be with him, they have to prove themselves to me first!"

Suguha slammed her Shinai across Akiza's, causing the Rose Duelist to fall to one knee. As she struggled to fight back, Akiza thought about what her opponent said and realized that Suguha cares a lot about Takashi, just like she does. All she really wants is for him to happy, especially after all the misery that he had to go through in his life. It's because of that similarity that caused Akiza to agree with her a little. However, despite that thought, Akiza was also quite upset with Suguha.

As she continued to think, the young woman thought about how Enoch did the same thing to Takashi when the two faced each other in the Fortune Cup. Realizing that the same thing was happening to her, Akiza was becoming irritated as she didn't like that she had to prove herself to someone in order to gain her acceptance to be with the one she loved. Because of that, the Psychic Duelist suddenly felt a surge of strength enter her body, allowing her to push Suguha back. She then began to make her counterattack, all the while telling her opponent how she felt.

"Look…I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, most of which I'm not particularly proud of! After everything I've done, a part of me believes that I don't deserve to be with Takashi. Despite that though, and despite the fact that I might not ever be able to tell him how I really feel, I will continue to support Takashi with all my heart! Ever since I met him, he's always been by my side, giving me the strength and courage to continue on with my life despite what I've done. I'll always be grateful for him that. That's why I'll always support him and his goals…because I can't call myself his friend, let alone his girlfriend, otherwise!"

With a powerful swing, Akiza was able to knock Suguha towards the ground, even though the young woman was able to recover quickly. As the two of them continued their match, Suguha found herself letting go of any jealously that she had for Akiza. She now respected her since she does love Takashi with all her heart and is willing to stand by him, even when he's act his worst. The thought of that brought a smile upon her face and the two of them continued their match, now on a much friendlier atmosphere.

Eventually, as the match continued, both Akiza and Suguha were beginning to reach their limit. As a result, they decided to finish things with one last strike. To that end, the two of them charge each another and, much to the other's shock, managed to hit each other at the same time. Although it seemed like the match turned out to be a draw, everyone watched as Akiza dropped her Shinai and fell to the floor, completely exhausted. The sight of that indicated that the winner of the match was Suguha.

As the others rushed over to her, Akiza was busy trying to catch her breath. While she did so, the Psychic noticed that Suguha had placed her hand out in front of her. Although she was confused by this sight, the young woman soon accepted what Suguha was trying to do and went on to grab her hand, sitting herself in the process. After she did that, Suguha let out a warm and compassionate smile.

"Thanks for the great match. I haven't had such a good work in a long time."

"…Don't mention it," Akiza replied with a smile on her face. "I had a lot of fun facing you…even though you did beat me."

Akiza let out a smile of her own, which in turned caused Suguha to smile again. The young woman then turned her attention towards the others and proceeded to walk towards them. Once she was there, Suguha looked at each of them for a moment before bowing down to them in respect.

"I'm sorry that I was so rough on you guys. I just wanted to make sure that Takashi had gained some reliable and trustworthy friends. I glad to see that's the case."

Lilly and the others looked at each other for a moment as they thought about what Suguha just said to them. Soon enough, all of them decided to accept her apology since they knew that she did what she did because she was concerned about her childhood friend.

"It's fine," Lilly replied. "But next time…try and do something that involves a lot less pain."

"Yeah," Crow agreed as he rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, no offense to all of this, but I'm more of a Duelist than a martial artist."

"…Same here," Misaki followed.

Suguha nodded her head, acknowledging that the way she handled things could've been done a lot better. This prompted her to think about what she could do to make it up to them. Eventually, as she continued to think, Suguha suddenly remembered that her home doesn't just act as a dojo, but also a card shop. This caused her to have an idea.

"Hey guys…why don't I show you some of the latest shipment of cards that just came in this week. Consider it my way of paying you back."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Toru said in an enthusiastic tone. "I'm all in for that!"

The others agreed with Toru, prompting Suguha take them out of the dojo, into another section of the shop. As she did that, Sig was busy looking on from a distance. Having watched the whole event from afar, he was pleased to see that his only daughter was able to find some common ground with others her age, that didn't just have to do with fighting. Because of that, Sig silently thanked Takashi's friends as he left to go back to running his shop.

While that was going on, Izumi had also watched this whole event unfold from a window outside of the shop. Although she had planned to talk to Takashi in private, she wanted to see what was going on with Suguha and the others. After watching what happened, Izumi was quite pleased by the results and also thanked Takashi's friends for bonding with her daughter.

Once she watched them leave, Izumi turned her attention towards Takashi and watched as the young man was busy staring at the ground. From the expression that was on his face, it was clear that he had a lot of things on his mind, most of which he was very uncomfortable talking about. Izumi was worried about her apprentice, but she was also just as upset with him for acting for such a long time. This prompted her to walk over towards Takashi and hit him upset the head with a powerful punch.

"Ouch…what the hell was that for, Master?!"

"Why are you acting this way, Takashi?" Izumi asked."We've haven't seen each other in so long and this is how you act."

Takashi remained silent as her master continued to berate him about his attitude. He wanted to tell her everything that happened to him, but he simply couldn't bring himself to do so. This only ended up making him feel worse since he didn't know how to deal with all this feelings that were resting inside of him.

"My god…if you're going to act like this, then there's absolutely no way that you'll be able to defeat your uncle."

"Wait a minute…You know that Rex Goodwin is my uncle, Master?"

Izumi glanced at Takashi for a second and noticed the shook expression that was on his face. From that look, she was able to tell that her apprentice had just discovered the truth about his family. This allowed her to understand why Takashi was acting this way, since he was bothered by the fact that the enemy he was facing was also his family. As she continued to put the pieces together, Izumi suddenly got an idea.

"I do know that Goodwin is your uncle, Takashi," She said as she walked over towards the truck that Sig brought him in. "I also know other things about your family. However…I'll only tell you more if you can defeat me in a Duel."

"A Duel…" Takashi replied, confused by his master's suggestion. "But Master, you know that I never defeated you in a fight."

"I didn't mean that type of Duel, you dummy!"

Izumi jumped into the truck and proceeded to grab Takashi deck and Duel Disk. She then went on to insert the former into the latter before throwing it over towards his apprentice. After that, Izumi dove into her pocket and went on to pull out her own deck.

"Let me rephrased this in another way," Izumi presented her deck towards her apprentice. "Takashi, if you want the answers you're looking for, then you have to defeat me…in a game of Duel Monsters!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_In order to get her student back in his right state of mind, Izumi challenges Takashi to Duel. Although Takashi is still burden by what he experienced recently, the Signer can't simply ignored his master's challenge. What will happen in this contest between the two and can Takashi return to being the person he used to be?_

_Also, the first encounter between the master and apprentice is revealed._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus! Chapter 95: The Master's Reunion – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements._

_First off, I want to apologize for the long delay that took place in the beginning of June. A lot of personal stuff happened to me that I needed to resolve. As of right now, I'm glad to say that those issues have been resolved. I am now going to post chapters at a faster pace, as my way of making it up to you guys._

_Next, I want address an issue that had already been discussed, but others have been continuing to talk to me about it. Although the story of Yu-Gi-Oh is usually focuses on the card game aspect, I found it strange that all the problems in the story had to be resolved through a Duel. Now, I like creating Duels, but I feel that certain problems can't be solved by them. Sometimes you just need to have an actual fight in order to solve problems, like what happened in this chapter. Please keep that in mind as you continue to read Over the Nexus._

_As a follow up, I also want to talk about why themes from other Yu-Gi-Oh series are in my story. The reason for this is very simple. I don't want to be limited to just one series of cards and characters. I'm a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh and as the series continues, I want to use elements from every series, not just Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. That's why the power of Zexal and Xyz Monsters are in it. Now, I'm not sure whether or not I'll bring in the Pendulum Summoning mechanic, but I may if you guys want to see it. Please let me know with your reviews._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing out!_


	95. Chapter 95

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 95: **_The Master's Reunion – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em>Nearly 14 years ago<em>

_Takashi: 4-years-old_

_Toru: 6-years-old_

Crash Town, for better or for worse, can be considered the place where Takashi Nakamura reached a major turning point in his life. In this small civilization of under 400 residents, Takashi has both met and lost a lot of people that helped shaped him into become the person that he is now. On a bright summer afternoon in this small, yet old, town, fate has brought one of those people to Takashi and it's his encounter with that individual that drastically changed his life forever.

One day, after getting an ice cream smoothie with his step-brother Toru, Takashi was busy walking around Crash Town as he prepared to make his way back home. As he walked around, Takashi was looking around and examining the scenery of the desert residence. Although he was young and was still very ignorant about a lot of things in the world, especially when it came to things about his home, the future Signer was aware at how some things worked.

For one thing, Takashi knew that whenever he was out of the house, he needed to be back home before sunset. The reason for that is because he needed to avoid the battles that both the Radley Family and Malcolm Family partake in. Another important thing that he knew is that he needed to avoid people who were associated with either of those families. His grandfather, Klaus, has repeatedly told him about the dangers about each family and Takashi has tried his best to follow his instructions. Unfortunately, despite trying his best not to get involved with them, Takashi had a habit of getting into trouble.

Even though he was just a 4-year-old boy, Takashi had a very adventurous and adamant personality, traits that he'll continue to carry even as he grows up. However, it was those same traits that nearly got him and Toru into some serious trouble. While he was making his way back home, Takashi noticed something strange going on in the distance and his curious mind made him wanted to see what was going on. When he and Toru reached the scene, the two of them were shocked by what they were witnessing.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Yeah…and you better have a good answer for us, you dumb bitch!"

As a crowd of people joined them, both Takashi and Toru looked on in horror as two members of the Malcolm Family were busy picking up a young woman, kicking and spitting on her as she lied on the ground. Although such sights were not uncommon, what was really disgusting is that the woman that was being beaten up was carrying her infant child in her arms. She was trying her best to protect her child from her attackers, but she was finding it really difficult because of the injuries that she was receiving.

Under normal circumstances, Takashi would ask his older brother to take him home, in order to avoid getting into trouble. However, as he continued to watch the Malcolm Family members beat up on the young woman, something started burning inside the little boy. He couldn't quite understand it, but he was becoming angrier the longer he watched this horrible scene. Eventually, his emotions reached the boiling point, causing him to do something that he was absolutely forbidden to do.

In his anger, Takashi took the smoothie that he was drinking and proceeded to throw it at one of the thug's head. When he did that, both he and everyone else watched as the mango flavored smoothie hit the Malcolm Family member in the head, causing the drink to spill all over his head. Angered by this action, the member turned around and faced all the people that were looking at him.

"Alright…who's the bastard who did that?!"

The residents were reluctant to step forward, as none of them wanted to feel the wrath of someone from the Malcolm Family. Takashi, however, wasn't afraid and he immediately stepped forward to face the man, despite Toru trying his best to keep his little brother back.

"Hey!" The little boy yelled. "Leave her alone, you big bully!"

"What was that, you little s**t! I think it's about time somebody taught you a lesson!"

As the Malcolm Family member rubbed the melted smoothie from off of his face, Takashi tried his best to break free from his brother's grip so that he could face his larger opponent. Fortunately for him though, Toru's grip was too strong and he was able to drag his little brother away from the scene so that they could get back to their home. However, the Malcolm Family member was hot on their trails, determined to not let either of them get away.

While this was going on, young woman was busy watching this scene from a good distance away. She had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail with of the same color. Her attire was simply, which consisted of a white shirt with blue jeans. The woman's figure was also fairly attractive, although the look of her muscles was much more defined than that of the other woman in Crash Town.

As she continued to watch this, the woman had her eyes on Takashi as Toru was trying his best to get the both of them to safety. Soon, a small smile slowly appeared on her face as the young boy's actions against the Malcolm Family member reminded her of someone that she knew from the past. It was this memory that prompted her to follow Takashi, in order to make sure that nothing bad happened to him.

Soon, after trying his best to get him and Takashi to safety, Toru was completely exhausted and quickly found himself out of breath, just as he reached a dead-end. As he placed his hand against the wall that he was facing, the young 6-year-old gritted his teeth in frustration as he had nowhere else to go. However, things only got worse for him as he turned around and saw not only the Malcolm Family member that Takashi hit with his smoothie, but also the one that was with him as well.

"You have nowhere to go now," One of the members said.

"Yeah," The other one followed. "Now it's time for you to pay!"

As both men slowly made their way towards them, Toru tried his best to shield Takashi so that he wouldn't get hurt. Unfortunately for him though, Takashi wasn't about to stand down and let his big brother protect him. Because of that, he got in front of Toru and fully prepared himself for the fight that was about to take place. Even though he was scared of getting hurt, Takashi was well aware that there were even worse things than that, which is why he stood his ground, despite Toru constantly telling him to come back to his side.

Eventually, as the Malcolm Family members prepared themselves to take their frustrations out on the little boy, something happened that caught both Takashi and Toru off guard. The two of them looked on in amazement as the young woman that was watching them earlier appeared and went on to beat up both of the thugs. Although the criminals did their best to fight back, the woman used her unique and incredible martial arts skills to beat them into submission.

Soon enough, the two Malcolm Family members couldn't take this punishment anymore and decided to run for it before this mysterious woman ended up killing the both of them. As they watched them run for their lives, both Takashi and Toru were awestruck by what they just witnessed. Neither of them expected to be rescued like that and both of them wondered just who this woman was and why she saved the both of them. The two of them were soon about to find out when they saw the woman turn around and make their way towards them.

"That'll show those punks," She said as she made her way forward. "Are you two okay?"

"Um…yeah, we're okay," Toru replied, answering for both himself and Takashi. "Thank you for helping us ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am!" The woman said in a forceful tone of voice. "I have you know that I'm 21-years-old! I'm way too young to be called ma'am."

Frightened by how the woman raised his voice at him, Toru jumped back and started cowering by a nearby trash can. When she saw him do that, the young woman instantly realized what she did and started to regret her outburst. She was about to come over and apologize to the young boy, but stopped when she noticed that Takashi was right in front of her.

As the woman looked down at the little boy, she watched as Takashi was looking at her with a glimmer in his eyes. After watching her take down those Malcolm Family members with her incredible skills, Takashi was instantly impressed by her and wanted to see even more of her incredible martial arts. However, despite wanted to see her do the things that she did, there was one other thing that Takashi wanted even more than that.

"Hey lady…teach me those things that you did! Teach me how to kick ass!"

The woman, surprised by the sudden request, was slightly taken back by what the young Takashi just asked her. However, what surprised even more was the foul language that he just exhibited. This caused the woman to glare at him slightly before grabbing Takashi by the hair and lifting him up so that their at the same eye level.

"For a little kid, you sure have a sailor's mouth! Just who taught you how to speak like that?"

"No one," Takashi answered immediately.

Takashi smiled at the woman happily, which only ended up confusing her greatly. However, the woman's confusion quickly faded away the longer she looked at Takashi's smile. Seeing the expression on his face brought up a lot of memories about the person that she was comparing the little boy too. Eventually, she decided to test Takashi, hoping the result will not only allow her to see if he had what it takes to withstand her training, but also see if he was truly like the person she was thinking about.

To that end, the woman looked down towards the ground and started looking for something that she could use. After a bit, she soon found a small pebble that was sitting next to her feet. She went on to pick it up from the ground and examined it closely. After about a minute, she deemed it good enough and presented it to Takashi.

"Okay," She said to him. "You want to learn how to fight like me?"

"I really do," Takashi answered, nodding his head quickly.

"Alright then…let's do this. You see this pebble that's in my hand. If you can take it before I move my hand away, then I'll train you. Do we have a deal?"

Excited, Takashi nodded his head even more than before, telling the woman that he accepts her terms. Once that was clear, Izumi extended her hand towards Takashi and waited for him to make his move for the pebble. As she waited for him, she took the time to notice that despite how childish he was acting before, Takashi looked really serious right now. He eyes were solely focused on the pebble, waiting for just the right moment to take it from her.

After some time, Takashi's eyes suddenly widen as quickly stretched his arm out and attempted to take the pebble from the woman. However it was also at the same moment that the woman attempted to pull her hand back. When this quick exchanged came to an end, Toru was left awestruck as he couldn't see what happened. Eventually though, Toru looked on and watched as the woman started smiling to herself.

"Nice try," She said. "You're fast, but sadly not fast enough."

Realizing what she meant when she said those words, Toru expression changed to one filled with disappointment as he believed that Takashi wasn't able to take the pebble. As she looked at his little brother, Toru noticed that he wasn't saying anything. All he was doing was standing there, his hair blocking the look in his eyes. Thinking that his brother was devastated and was trying his best to hold back his tears, Toru decided to act like a good big brother and congratulate Takashi on a good attempt. To that end, he walked over towards his step-brother and placed his hand upon his shoulder.

"Takashi….it's okay," He said. "You did the best you could."

"…What do you mean, Toru?" Takashi replied, lifting his head and revealing that he wasn't the least bit sad. "Look."

Takashi opened his right hand and revealed, much to the shock of both Toru and the young woman, that the pebble was in his hand. Seeing it there confused the woman greatly, prompting her to open her hand and see that the pebble was not in her hand anymore. Upon seeing that, she recalled what happened during the exchange and realized that at the very instant she pulled her hand back, Takashi took the pebble without her knowledge.

The woman was impressed by Takashi's skills and was starting to believe that, with proper guidance, he could become a great warrior one day. Knowing that such a talent needed to properly looked after, the young woman decided to do what Takashi had requested of her, especially since he did complete her challenge.

"Well…I guess that's how it goes," She said with a small smile on her face. "A deal's a deal, kid. I'll train you be a great fighter."

"Awesome! This is going to be badass!"

Excited over the fact that he'll be trained by the powerful woman that he just met, Takashi started jumping up and down like he was on a sugar rush. When Toru saw his little brother do that, he tried to calm him down, but was unsuccessful. It wasn't until the woman came in and grabbed Takashi by the head again that the little boy started to calm down.

"Okay…If I'm going to train you, the first thing you have to do is calm down! Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah," Takashi answered. "I can do that lady."

"…Don't call me lady! As long as you're going to be my student, you'll address me as; Master Izumi!"

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

"Master…what the hell are you saying?! You want to face me…in a game of Duel Monsters?"

"That's right, Takashi. I think it's about time I test your skills…and what better way to do so than to face you in the game that you love so much."

As he watched Izumi walk into the back of the truck that belonged to her husband, Sig, Takashi was completely at a loss for words. Although he knew that her husband had a great interest in the game of Duel Monsters, especially since he now owns his very own shop, Takashi never took his master as someone who would even take the time to even learn to play it. For as long as he's known her, he believed her real interests revolved around her skills as a fighter. However, after hearing this proposal of hers, Takashi was beginning to question how much he really knew about Izumi.

While he continued to ponder what she just told him, Izumi soon grabbed another Duel Disk from the back of the truck and attached it to her left arm. After she did that, she walked out and noticed that Takashi hadn't done the same thing to his Duel Disk. This irritated Izumi, causing her to take her right hand and slap it against Takashi's head.

"What are you just standing around for?!" She asked him angrily. "When someone challenges you to a Duel, you have no choice but to accept! So hurry up and put on your Duel Disk."

"But Master…" Takashi called. "I…I just don't know. I mean…after what happened last time."

The time Takashi was referring too was the last Duel he participated in, which involved him confronting his uncle, Rex Goodwin. His defeat at the hands of the Director of Sector Security, as well as the revelations that Goodwin told him, were the main reasons why Takashi has been in this massive funk for the last couple of days. He lost a lot of his self confidence and as a result, he felt that he couldn't bring himself to Duel again, especially against his own Master.

Unfortunately for Takashi however, Izumi wasn't having any of that crap. When the beautiful master sets of sights on something, she has every intention on carrying it out, regardless of the feelings of everyone else. As a result, she proceeded to slap her apprentice upside the head a couple of more times before Takashi found himself on both of his knees. As soon as he was on the ground, Izumi started talking to him.

"Takashi, you're such a dumbass! I don't give a damn about what happened in the past, regardless if it's troubling you or not. All I care about is what's happening right now…and right now, I want to face you in a Duel. So get off your ass, put your Duel Disk on, and get ready to face me!"

"But Master…!"

"But nothing, Takashi!" Izumi yelled, interrupting Takashi before he had a chance to speak. "Don't you remember what I told you the last time we saw each other?"

Takashi paused for a moment as he thought about what Izumi just told him. He indeed remembered the last conversation that the two of them had before he watched his master leave Crash Town after he finished his initial training. During that talk, Izumi told him that when they meet again, regardless of how much time had passed since then, they would face one another in a contest. It's during that contest that will allow Izumi to judge Takashi, in order to see if he has what it takes to become what she is now…as Master.

Upon remembering that, Takashi eyes widen as he finally realized what Izumi wanted to see from him. She wanted to test him in order to see if he had what it takes to become a master like she is. Ever since he first met her, Takashi wanted to achieve the same status that Izumi has and now this was his chance to do so. All he needed to do now was to come to grips with what happened with Goodwin, accept it, and move on with his life. With that thought going through his head, Takashi decided to do just that, despite the face he was still kind of shaky.

To that end, the young man placed his Duel Disk upon his left arm and proceeded to place his Dueling Deck into it. Once he did that, he looked up towards Izumi, his eyes having a much stronger look than they were before. When Izumi saw that, the martial arts master let out a small smile for a moment, as she was happy that her student was beginning to regain some of the fire that he lost.

"Alright Master," Takashi said. "You want to Duel…then let's Duel."

"Alright," Izumi replied. "Let's go."

While this was going on, Akiza and the others were busy hanging out with Suguha inside the card shop. The group had just seen all the cards that her father had collected over the years and were even able to receive a couple of them so that they could improve their decks for their future Duels. It was really nice of them to do that, which allowed the group to truly see that Suguha and her parents are really good people.

As everyone was walking around the place, Akiza took a moment to look outside through one of the windows. When she did, the young woman immediately stopped as she saw both Takashi and Izumi were getting ready to face each other in a Duel. The sight of this scene baffled the young woman greatly as she was unsure what to make of it. In order to understand what was really going on, she called the others over to her in order to get their opinion.

"Huh…what's going on over there?" Toru asked when he saw Takashi and Izumi shuffling their respective decks. "Why are they getting ready to Duel?"

"Yeah," Crow followed. "I thought the two of them were just going to talk. What's going on with them?"

As both Toru and Crow continued talking about what Takashi and Izumi were thinking, Sig suddenly appeared and took noticed of what was about to take place. Upon getting a good look, he proceeded to nod his head a little before making his way outside. He then positioned himself so that he far away enough that both Takashi and Izumi wouldn't notice him, but still close enough that he watch the Duel. He was soon followed by Suguha and the others, as they all felt that he knew what was going on.

"Dad…" Suguha called. "It's time isn't it?"

"Yes it is," Sig answered. "Now we'll see if Takashi truly has what it takes."

"…What do you mean?" Akiza asked the both of them. "What is Mrs. Izumi trying to do?"

Sig looked at Akiza for a moment and noticed the look of concern that was in her eyes. If she just some ordinary girl, Sig would lie and say that it was just a simple duel between Takashi and Izumi. However, Akiza wasn't just some ordinary girl in Sig's eyes. He saw the sword fight between and his daughter and was very impressed by her skills. Also, after seeing how concern she was for Takashi, Sig realized that she cared for him greatly, which prompted him to tell her the truth.

"From the moment Izumi first took Takashi has her apprentice, everything that she's done for him has been leading to this moment." He started off. "The time has come for Takashi to the next step and become a Master, just like my wife."

"A master…?" Akiza replied, slightly confused by Sig's statement. "Takashi is trying to become a Master?"

"That's right. Normally…Izumi would challenge her apprentice to a traditional martial arts match, since that's the same way she obtained her status as a Master when she faced and defeated her father. However, after learning how bad Takashi's been feeling, Izumi decided that the best way to handle this was to challenge her student to the game that he loved so much."

"…And that's why he's been brought here, so that he could face Mrs. Izumi in a Duel?"

Sig nodded her head towards Akiza before turning his attention back towards Takashi and his wife. When Akiza looked towards them as well, the Psychic Duelist started to wonder if this Duel could really help Takashi return to the cheerful that he was before. In the end, she decided to trust Izumi since she known Takashi longer than she has and thus has the best chance of helping him. Once she decided to do that, Akiza looked quietly as both Duelists prepared themselves to finally begin their match.

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Izumi: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move master," Takashi said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

After making his declaration, Takashi swiftly drew the top card of his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, the young man took a moment to examine all of his cards before turning his attention back to his master. As he looked at her, he wondered what type of cards she uses and how she'll employ them in this match. Takashi also wondered how he will deal with his master's strategies, especially since this is the first time the two of them faced each other in a Duel.

In the end, Takashi decided the best thing that he could do right now was play the way he normally would. He needed to wait and see what Izumi would do before making any changes to his own style in order to better match hers. To that effect, the young man grabbed one card from his hand and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone. This act caused a bright flash of light to shine across his side of the field.

"I Summon: Queen's Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

As the bright flash of light that was on his field started to fade away, Takashi watched as his trusty Queen's Knight appeared before him, ready for battle. However, since it was the first turn in the Duel, it was against the rules for Takashi to declare an attack now. Because of that fact, the Signer continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. This caused a face-down card to appear on his side of the field, right behind his Queen's Knight.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn. It's your move, Master."

"Very well," Izumi said with a confident smile on her face. "It's my turn…Draw!"

Without wasting even a single second, Izumi quickly drew a card from his deck and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, the martial arts master then proceeded to take one of the six cards that made up her hand and placed it firmly onto her Monster Card Zone. When this happened, another flash of light, similar to the one that covered Takashi's field, shined across Izumi's side of the field.

"Alright…I think I'll kick things off by Summoning: Upstart Golden Ninja, in Attack Mode!"

**Upstart Golden Ninja: ATK 500 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

As the light on her side of the field quickly started to fade away, both Takashi and Izumi looked on as a brightly colored ninja appeared before them. The ninja's attire resembled that of old warriors from long ago, although it had a lot of bright colors to it. Upstart Golden Ninja was also wielding a wakizashi, a traditional Japanese short sword, which was placed on the left side of his body.

"Next, I activate Upstart Golden Ninja's Special Ability," Izumi continued as she took another card from her hand and inserted it into her card Graveyard. "By discarding a Trap Card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Ninja monster from my deck in Defense Mode!"

After explaining the effect of her monster, Izumi pulled her deck from her Duel Disk and quickly started looking for the monster that she wanted to summon. Once she found it, the beautiful master placed it to the side for a moment as she placed her deck back into her Duel Disk. She then pressed a button on the device, which automatically shuffled all of her cards so that she won't have an unfair advantage over her opponent. After she did that, Izumi quickly placed the card she picked onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Special Summon: Masked Ninja Ebisu!"

**Masked Ninja Ebisu: ATK 1200 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

Another flash of light shined across Izumi's field as a second Ninja Monster appeared before her. This one was dressed in an all green ninja garb, which covered most of her body with the exception of his eyes. Also, like Upstart Golden Ninja, Masked Ninja Ebisu was also carrying a wakizashi, which was attached to the back of him. Once it completely materialized onto the field and took a defensive position in front of her, Izumi continued on with her turn.

"I now activate Ebisu's Special Ability!" She stated. "When there's another Ninja Monster present on my field, Ebisu can return the same number of Spell and Trap cards that's on your field equal to the number of Ninja Monsters that are on mine. Takashi…since you have only one face-down on your field and I have 2 Ninja Monsters, you now must return that card back to your hand."

Takashi's eyes widen a little as he watched Masked Ninja Ebisu quickly perform several hand signs in rapid succession. When he finished, the little ninja pointed its fingers towards Takashi's faced down card, causing a golden light to wrap around it. Once this happened, the card turned into light energy and quickly made its way back into Takashi's hand. As soon as it was gone, Izumi then took the two Monster Cards that were on her Duel Disk and stacked them on top of each other.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Upstart Golden Ninja and Masked Ninja Ebisu! With these 2 monsters, I build the Overlay Network…Xyz Summon!"

Both of Izumi's Ninja Monsters nodded their heads just as they turned into orbs of light energy. They then started flying around the entire area for a few moments, just as the portal to the Overlay Network materialized onto Izumi's side of the field. Once the portal was materialized, both orbs of light dove right into them, resulting in a giant eruption of light to cover the whole area. Once that happened, Izumi grabbed a card from the Extra Deck that was placed on her hip and placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"Appear now, a warrior who's as powerful as he is stealthy, Blade Armor Ninja!"

**Blade Armor Ninja: ATK 2200 DEF 1000 Rank 4**

From the Overlay Network, Izumi watched as a powerful new Ninja Monster appeared onto her side of the field. It was wearing a dark purple armor that completely covered its entire body and was wielding two sharp blades in each of its hands. Also, like all Xyz Monsters, Blade Armor Ninja was surrounded by 2 Overlay Units, which acted as the source of its power.

Upon getting a good look at the monster, Takashi was very surprised that Izumi was able to summon it on just her first turn. If there were any doubts that he was having about his master's Dueling skills, the summoning of her Blade Armor Ninja completely rid himself of them. The young man then braced himself as he had a good feeling about what was going to come next.

"I activate my Blade Armor Ninja's Special Ability," Izumi continued. "By using one of its Overlay Units, my Ninja can now conduct two attacks during this Battle Phase!"

Just as she finished explaining that, Izumi watched as her monster quickly absorbed one of the Overlay Units that was circling around its body. Once it did that, Blade Armor Ninja soon found itself being completely covered in a shining aura, granting it even more power that before. As soon as she saw that, Izumi proceeded to conduct her Battle Phase.

"Now go my Ninja…attack Takashi's Queen's Knight!"

Not wasting any time, Blade Armor Ninja quickly complied with Izumi's command and quickly made it way towards Takashi's monster. Although Queen's Knight tried her best to defend herself against her opponent's attacks, she simply wasn't strong enough in the end. This ultimately led to her demise when Blade Armor Ninja cut the royal knight down with one of its two blades.

**Takashi: 3300 LP**

After the battle between the two monsters was finished, Blade Armor Ninja turned its attention towards Takashi, holding its sword in anticipation for Izumi's next command. Soon enough, the female master was ready to make her next move against her apprentice.

"Blade Armor Ninja," She called. "Now is the time. Attack Takashi's Life Points directly!"

Once the command was made, Blade Armor Ninja quickly dashed over towards Takashi, intent on striking him down and causing massive damage to his Life Points. However, just before he was attacked, Takashi acted quickly by placing a card from his hand to his Graveyard. This act caused a large Kuriboh to appear in front of him, causing the monster to take the blow from Blade Armor Ninja's attack in his place.

"Sorry Master," Takashi said as he started wiping sweat from his forehead. "But at the last second, I activated the Special Ability of my Kuriboh. You see, by sending it from my hand to the Graveyard, I was able to reduce the damage of your monster's attack to 0."

"I see," Izumi replied. "I'll admit that was a pretty nice move, but that will be the last time you block one of my attacks Takashi."

Izumi continued on with her turn by taking a card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, she watched as a face-down card materialized onto her side of the field, right behind her Blade Armor Ninja.

"As of now, I'm setting one card face-down and ending my turn. Now my student…what will you do now?"

After Izumi ended her turn, Takashi thought about what she just said to him. As of right now, his field was empty while Izumi not only had a powerful Xyz Monster on her field, but a mysterious face-down card as well. If he wanted any chance of dealing with either of them, he needed to bring forth one of his best monsters this turn. Because of that, the young man placed his hand upon his deck and decided to place his hopes on his next draw.

"I'll show you," He said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Upon drawing the top card from his deck, Takashi glanced at it in order to see what it was. After getting a good look at it, a small smile appeared on his face as it was exactly the card he needed to turn things around. Because of that, he wasted no time and went on to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Okay…I activate the Spell: Monster Reborn! With it, I can Special Summon my Queen's Knight back from the Graveyard!"

As soon as Takashi finished explaining the effect of his Spell, Takashi watched as the portal to the card Graveyard materialized before him. From the portal, Queen's Knight reappeared and was once again standing by his side. Once that happened, Takashi continued his play by taking a card from his hand and placing it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone. By doing that, a bright of light started shining across his side of the field.

"Next, I Normal Summon: King's Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**King's Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

After the flash of light faded away from his field, Takashi watched as his King's Knight appeared before him and stood right next to Queen's Knight. He then proceeded to pull out his deck, just as the two knights took their respective swords and placed them against each other.

"When King's Knight is successfully summoned while I have Queen's Knight on the field, his Special Ability activates, Master! I can now Special Summon the powerful Jack's Knight from my deck!"

**Jack's Knight: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 5**

Takashi quickly searched through his entire deck until he found Jack's Knight's card placed near the bottom of it. He then went on to pull it out and place it onto his Monster Card Zone, just after he reshuffled his deck and placed it back into his Duel Disk. After he did that, he watched as his Jack's Knight suddenly appeared in a bright flash of light and soon stood next to his other two monsters.

As soon as all 3 of his monsters were out on the field, Takashi proceeded to look toward his Monster Card Zone for a moment. He then went on to take Queen's Knight's card and place it on top of King's Knight's. Once he did that, he turned his attention back towards his field and watched as the two monsters quickly changed into colorful orbs of light.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Queen and King's Knight! With these 2 monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

The two orbs of light started flying across the entire field while the portal to the Overlay Unit slowly materialized onto his side of the field. As soon as it was out completely, the orbs dove right into it, causing a massive explosion of light to occur. While that was going on, Takashi pulled a card from his Extra Deck and proceeded to place it on top of his two Knight cards.

"Xyz Summon!" He shouted. "Appear now, the King of Wishes, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

After placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Takashi watched as his best Xyz Monster, Number 39: Utopia, appear from the depths of the Overlay Network and started standing by his side. As the Overlay Network started to disappear, it let out 2 Overlay Units for Utopia, which started circling around the powerful Number Card. Once that happened, Takashi acted quickly and went on to conduct his Battle Phase.

"Alright Utopia," He said. "Let's show my Master you're power. Attack her Blade Armor Ninja…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia complied with Takashi's command and quickly pulled out one of its sword from the side of its leg. Once it had it in hand, the Number flew over towards Blade Armor Ninja and cut it down with one powerful stroke. This caused a small explosion to occur around Izumi's side of the field, just as her Life Points started to drop a little.

**Izumi: 3700 LP**

Once his monster's attack came to an end and he saw that dealt damaged to his master's Life Points, Takashi felt great by what he was able to accomplish. Slowly, the confidence that he lost from his encounter with Goodwin was coming back to him. However, as he watched the smoke on Izumi's side begin to clear, Takashi noticed that his master wasn't shaken up in the slightest. Seeing her like that shook him up a little, but Takashi realized that he couldn't give in now. To that end, he turned his attention towards his other monster, Jack's Knight.

"Okay then…let's see how you like this, master! Jack's Knight, attack her Life Points directly!"

"I don't think so, Takashi!" Izumi countered as she pressed a button on her Duel Disk. "I activate the Trap Card: Ninjitsu Art of Substitution!"

Just as Izumi activated her Trap Card, she watched as Jack's Knight made his way up to her, preparing to strike her with his sword. However, before the attack could take place, a large stone suddenly appeared in front of Izumi, causing Jack's Knight to attack it instead of her. When Takashi saw this happen, he was wondering what was going on. It was at that moment that Izumi explained the effect of her Trap.

"Sorry Takashi, but when I'm about to be attacked directly, the effect of my Trap, Ninjitsu Art of Substitution, activates. It not only negates your Knight's attack, but also forces it into Defense Mode as well!"

As soon as Izumi said that, Takashi watched as his Jack's Knight fell victim to the effect of his master's Trap Card and was reluctantly forced to go into Defense Mode. Seeing that happen shook off some of the confidence he had gained earlier, but he was able to hold his ground after taking the time to notice that Utopia was still on his field. Upon seeing the powerful Number, Takashi felt that he still had the advantage over his master, despite what just took place. As a result, he decided to continue on with his turn.

Although Izumi had no cards on her field, Takashi decided that he needed to be careful while dealing with her. It's because of that reason that he decided to pull 2 cards from his hand, one of which was the card that Izumi put back into his hand, and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the Signer watched as 2 face-down cards materialized onto his side of the field, right behind his monsters.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn," He said, bracing himself for what was to come next.

"Then it's back to me," Izumi pointed out. "I Draw!"

Almost like lightning, Izumi swiftly drew a card from her deck and placed it into her hand. She then took a quick moment to analyze the situation in front of her before making her next move. Once she did, the powerful master went on to take one card from his hand and placed it firmly onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Takashi…when you have monsters on the field and I don't, I can immediately Special Summon this card directly from my hand," She explained to him. "Appear now, Earth Armor Ninja!"

**Earth Armor Ninja: ATK 1600 DEF 1200 LVL 5**

Another bright flash of light shined across Izumi's side of the field as another ninja monster materialized onto her side of the field. When it fully appeared, Takashi noticed that Earth Armor Ninja was dressed in a dark brown attire, symbolizing its association with the element of earth. The ninja also had silver guards around the 4 main limbs of its body and was also carrying a short sword around its back.

Once that happened, Izumi continued on with her momentum by taking another card from her hand and also placing it onto her Monster Card Zone. When she did that, another bright flash of light shined across her side of the field.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Flame Armor Ninja, in Attack Mode!"

**Flame Armor Ninja: ATK 1700 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

After the light faded away, another Ninja Monster soon made its presence known on Izumi's side of the field. This one, Flame Armor Ninja, looked very similar to Earth Armor Ninja in terms of its appearance. However, instead of wearing brown clothes, Flame Armor Ninja was wearing dark red and orange clothes, symbolizing its association with the element of fire.

"I now activate Flame Armor Ninja's Special Ability," Izumi stated. "While I have another Ninja Monster on my side of the field, I can increase my monster's Level by 1. This now turns Flame Armor Ninja from a Level 4 to a Level 5 Monster!"

**Flame Armor Ninja: LVL 5**

A bright aura quickly covered Flame Armor Ninja's body as the powerful ninja's strength suddenly started to increase. Once that happened, Izumi then went on to take its card and place it on top of Earth Armor Ninja's card. As soon as she did that, both Ninja Monster started glowing brightly.

"I Overlay my two Level 5 Monsters! With them, I now rebuild the Overlay Network!"

Both Earth Armor Ninja and Flame Armor Ninja quickly complied with Izumi's orders and proceeded to transform into colorful orbs of light. They then started flying across the field while the portal to Overlay Network reappeared before her. As soon as the portal had completely materialized onto her side of the field, Izumi watched as the two orbs of light dove right into the portal, causing another explosion of light to erupt from it. It was at that moment Izumi grabbed one more card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Duel Disk.

"Xyz Summon!" She shouted. "Appear, the ultimate shadow warrior, Number 12: Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja!"

**Number 12 – Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja: ATK 2400 DEF 1700 Rank 5**

As soon as Izumi shouted the name of her new monster, everyone observing the Duel looked on in shocked as a new Ninja Monster emerged from the Overlay Network and appeared before her. This one, Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja, was completely covered in a bright crimson armor and had long hair of the same bright color. The monster was also wielding a powerful sword in its right hand, indicating that it's very skilled in using the weapon. Also, like all Number Xyz Monsters, Crimson Shadow had a large number 12 placed onto his shoulder pad and also had 2 Overlay Units circling around its body.

Takashi was amazed by the appearance of Izumi's newest monster, mostly because hadn't expected that his master would be the wielder of a Number Card. Even though its strength was strong enough to defeat Utopia, something about Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja worried Takashi, causing to have doubts about his ability to defeat it. Soon enough, his fears were realized when he saw that Izumi was beginning to make her next move.

"I activate Crimson Shadow's Special Ability," The beautiful master declared. "Once, during either of our turns, I can use one of Crimson Shadow's Overlay Units in order to negate the destruction of all Ninja Monsters I control until the end of the turn!"

Just as Izumi said that, one of the Overlay Units that circled around Crimson Shadow's body entered into its chest plate. Once that happened, a bright aura covered its body for a few seconds, granting it special protection until the end of her turn. After that happened, Izumi proceeded to conduct her Battle Phase.

"Alright…Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja, attack Number 39: Utopia….Moon Shadow Crimson Slice!"

Crimson Shadow nodded its head and proceeded to make its way over towards Utopia. When Takashi saw that, he wondered what his master was up too since must know that his monster is stronger than hers. Realizing that Izumi must have some other goal in mind, the young Signer decided that the best thing he could do now is to activate the Special Ability of his own Number Card.

"I activate Utopia's Special Ability," He countered. "By using one Overlay Unit, I can negate your monster's attack!"

"Not so fast!" Izumi shouted as she pulled a card from her hand. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Master's Seal! With this, I can negate the activation of your monster's Special Ability, rendering it useless until the end of this turn!"

At the very instant Izumi's Quick-Play Spell was activated, everyone watched as a special seal suddenly materialized onto the field and swiftly attached itself onto Utopia, just as it was about to absorb one of its Overlay Units. When that happened, a sudden burst of electricity suddenly appeared, shocking Takashi's Number and preventing it from activating its ability. As a result, Crimson Shadow's attack was able to continue, but the Number was quickly pushed back by Utopia, due to its Attack Points being lower than its opponent's. This action ultimately cost Izumi a small portion of her Life Points.

**Izumi: 3600 LP**

"Perfect," Izumi said as she inserted another card into her Spell/Trap Zone. "Now that I've taken damage, I can activate my second Quick-Play Spell: Ninjitsu Art of Perseverance! With it, since a Ninja Monster I controlled attack, but failed to destroy a monster through battle, it can attack again with double the Attack Points until the end of the turn!"

**Number 12 – Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja: ATK 4800 **

Utterly shocked by the effect of his master's Spell, Takashi could only look on in disbelief as he watched Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja once again make its way over to Utopia. However, unlike the first time around, Izumi's monster was much stronger and Utopia didn't have the means to negate its attack. Because of that, Number 39 soon found itself sliced to pieces by the powerful sword strikes of Number 12. This act caused a giant explosion to occur around Takashi's field, sending him flying as his Life Points dropped significantly.

**Takashi: 1000 LP**

After hitting the ground and sliding backwards on his back, Takashi slowly lifted his head and looked on as Izumi was staring back at him with an intimidating expression on her face. Seeing that look reminded the young man about all the times he's seen it in the past. It usually indicated that Izumi was very disappointed in him and from the way things are going now Takashi couldn't blame her for feeling that way. This caused the doubts that were plaguing him before to surface again as he was quickly losing his will to keep going.

Meanwhile, as she watched her student fall deeper and deeper into his depression, Izumi was becoming more and more upset. During the first couple of turns of this Duel, it looked like their match was getting through to him and he was returning to person she saw when watched the Fortune Cup Finals a few days ago. However, after seeing him now, it was becoming obviously clear that Takashi was still having trouble returning to that person. That realization bothered Izumi greatly and she decided to quickly get to the heart of the matter in order to help her apprentice.

"Damn it Takashi!" She shouted at him. "I know for a fact that you're a lot stronger than this. So why the hell are you acting like a whiny bitch!"

"…You…wouldn't understand," Takashi silently replied as he looked down towards the ground. "I just don't know…what to think anymore…"

"And why is that?! Just what exactly is causing you to act this way?!"

As Izumi waited for his response, Takashi was busy flashing back to his battle against Goodwin a couple of days ago. His battle against him changed the way he thinks about not himself, but his entire world in general. Just thinking about that made both very angry and very upset at the same time. These feelings eventually caused to crush a small rock that was by his hand just as he started speaking again.

"When Goodwin told me that he was my uncle, I was clearly shocked by that revelation," He started off. "However, that's not what's bothering me so much. What's bother me…is what he said about manipulated events in my life. Everything I've done so far was because Goodwin wanted it to happen. I was his puppet and everything I wanted for myself wasn't truly my decision…it was his. Becoming the best Duelist ever…wanting to protect the people that were important to me…the goals I wanted to achieve were never mine to begin with."

Takashi continued crushing the rock that he was holding until it was nothing but dust. He then found himself on the verge of crying as he continued thinking about what he just said. His friends were becoming very upset seeing him like that, especially Akiza, who wanted nothing more than to comfort him. However, before the Psychic Duelist could do so, Izumi started talking to her student again.

"…You're such a dumbass,"

Takashi was surprised by what his master just said to him and soon lifted his head up to her. As he looked at her, the Signer noticed that while the expression on Izumi's face hadn't change, the way she was speaking was different. Although she was angry at him, it wasn't the type of anger like she hated him. It was the type of anger that stemmed more from disappointment than hatred.

"Maybe it's true that Rex Goodwin manipulated things in your life that brought you to this moment," She continued. "But there's one thing that he couldn't manipulate and that…is your feelings."

"My feelings…?" Takashi questioned.

"That's right. Takashi, you're the type of individual who willingly fights for others, rather than just yourself. It's because of that noble quality of yours that Goodwin couldn't change who you are. If he could, then you would be by his side right now. Do you know what that means? It means that the one person who's been causing Goodwin the most problems ever since you arrived in New Domino City... was you, Takashi."

After listening to his master's speech, Takashi was surprised by what she said to him and was busy wondering if what she said was really true. However, as he continued to ponder about it all, he soon started to hear other people calling out to him. When he turned his head, Takashi noticed that all of his friends were cheering him on, each in their own unique way. As he watched him do that, the young man realized that there was another thing that Goodwin couldn't manipulate; his friends.

For every friend that he made throughout his life, Takashi has formed an unbreakable bond with them that stand the test of time. It's because of them that he always found the strength to keep fighting, even when things were at his darkest and he wanted to give up. Takashi quickly realized that now was no different. Even before his Duel against Izumi, all of his friends were encouraging him to snap out of his funk and return to the way he was before. He was just so busy feeling sorry for himself that he wasn't able to see it. Seeing all of that and realizing that he really was acting like a dumbass, Takashi decided to live up to the expectations that his friends and loved ones had for him and get back into this Duel.

Because of his restored resolve, Takashi's Signer Mark started glowing brilliantly as he slowly lifted himself off the ground. He then turned his attention towards Izumi and looked at her with a confident expression on his face. As she looked at him and saw the power in his eyes, Izumi silently smiled, proud that her apprentice was able to realize what was important. She then prepared herself since she knew that the real Duel was about to begin now.

"Alright," She said as she refocused herself. "I end my turn."

**Number 12 – Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja: ATK 2400**

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Takashi turned his attention towards his deck and soon placed his hand upon it. Once he did, he closed his eyes for a moment, taking the time to think about what his next move should be. As soon as he had a general idea about what he needed to do to win, Takashi reopened his eyes and prepared himself to draw the top card on his deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Without any hesitation, Takashi swiftly drew the top card from his deck and took a quick glance at it before placing it into his hand. He then proceeded to examine all the cards that were currently on the field before taking a moment to close his eyes. Once he did, Takashi cleared his mind and proceeded to imagine a flow chart filled with several different charts. As electricity flowed through the lines of the chart, Takashi was able to come up with several different strategies that he could use in order to turn things back into his favor. As soon as he was able to find his best strategy, a small smiled appeared on his face as he opened his eyes back up.

After that, Takashi went on to take the card that he just drew and inserted it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, the young man watched as a third face-down card materialized onto his side of the field.

"Alright," He said. "I'm setting one card face-down on the field. "With that, I end my turn."

Izumi was slightly surprised by her apprentice's move just now. She had suspected that since his confidence had been restored, he would've done something more impressive. Instead, he simply just placed one card face-down and ended his turn. Under normal circumstances, such a move wouldn't really mean much in the long scheme of things. However, after taking a moment to see how confidence Takashi was, Izumi came to the conclusion that her student had a plan and that it was her job to stop it from happening.

"Okay then," She said as she prepared to begin her turn. "It's my move again, Draw!"

Upon drawing a card from her deck and placing it into her hand, Izumi took a moment to examine her student's field. He had only one monster out, but 3 face-down cards. As of this moment, the beautiful master didn't have any cards in her hand that could get rid of her student's face-down cards, so she decided to focus her attention on his only monster instead. To that end, she started things by taking one card from her hand and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"I Normal Summon: Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, in Attack Mode!"

**Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke: ATK 1800 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light quickly covered Izumi's field for a moment as she watched Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke materialize itself onto her field. Once it was by her side, she continued her turn by taking another card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Stop Defense! With it, I can switch your Jack's Knight from Defense Mode back into Attack Mode!"

As soon as she finished explaining the effect of her Spell, Izumi watched a light blue aura surrounded Jack's Knight, causing the warrior to switch itself back into Attack Mode. After that happened, the aura around Jack's Knight faded away and Izumi then prepared herself to bring the monster down.

"Alright…Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja, attack Jack's Knight…Moon Shadow Crimson Slice!"

Number 12 nodded its head in compliance to its master's orders and proceeded to make its way over to Takashi's Jack's Knight. Once it got close enough, Crimson Shadow took out its sword and went on to destroy its opponent with one swing of its sword. This act not only caused Jack's Knight to disappear, but it also cost Takashi 500 of his Life Points.

**Takashi: 500 LP**

After Crimson Shadow finished its attack, the Number quickly made its way back to over Izumi's side of the field. Izumi then took a second to see how Takashi would reacted to him losing half of his Life Points, but she only saw the confident expression that he wearing since the start of his last turn. When she saw that, Izumi realized that she needed to end this Duel quickly since it was becoming obvious that her student was placing his hopes on his face-down cards. To that end, she turned her attention to her other monster: Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke.

"It's time to end this," She said silently to herself. "Go Sasuke, attack Takashi's Life Points directly!"

"I don't think so, Master!" Takashi shouted as he took a card from his hand and placed horizontally onto his Duel Disk. "I activate the Special Ability of my Battle Fader!"

At the very instant he spoke those words, Takashi watched as his Battle Fader suddenly appeared in a bright flash of light, stopping Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in its tracks.

"When I'm about to be attacked directly, I can Special Summon Battle Fader from my hand and end the Battle Phase!"

**Battle Fader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 0**

Izumi was taken back a little as she suspected that Takashi would've used one of his face-down cards in order to avoid Sasuke's attack. However, that didn't happen and because of that, all three face-down cards were still resting on his side of the field. It was at that moment that Izumi came to the conclusion that the face-downs were not meant to be activated during her turn, but Takashi's. Upon realizing that, Izumi decided to prepare herself for what she believed was coming.

In order to do that, she took a second to look over towards Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja, making sure that it still had one of its Overlay Units left. After she was able to confirm that was indeed the case, she proceeded to take a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. As soon as she did that, a face-down card materialized onto her side of the field, right behind Sasuke.

"I set one card face-down," She said. "I end my turn."

Once Izumi ended her turn, Takashi looked down towards his deck as he prepared himself to draw a card. All the pieces for his victory were almost in place. All he needed now was one more card. He knew that if he managed to draw it, then victory would be his. However, the odds of drawing it were very slim and if he didn't managed to get it then Izumi would defeat him during her next turn.

Despite the odds that he was facing however, Takashi wasn't afraid in the slightest. He was perfectly calm which, ironically, was beginning to scare him a little. He then soon found himself smiling a little, as he was excited for what was to come. So, not wanting to wait any longer, the Signer placed his hand upon his deck and prepared himself for what he believed to be; the last turn.

"It's my turn, Draw!"

Gathering all the strength that he could muster, Takashi swiftly drew the top card from his deck. Once he did, he glanced over towards it and noticed that it was the card he needed. This caused the smile that was on his face to grow even bigger. He then went on to place it into his hand before grabbing another card from his hand and placing it firmly onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Let's end this, Master!" He said to his opponent. "I'm sacrificing my Battle Fader in order to Advance Summon: Salvage Warrior, in Attack Mode!"

**Salvage Warrior: ATK 1900 DEF 1600 LVL 5**

Battle Fader quickly faded away from the field once Takashi took its card and placed it into the Graveyard. As soon as it disappeared, a bright flash of light shined across the field, just as Salvage Warrior appeared to take its place. Once that happened, Takashi then went on to activate its effect.

"When Salvage Warrior is successfully Advanced Summoned, I can Special Summon a Tuner Monster from either my hand or Graveyard!" Takashi explained, just as he grabbed another card from his hand. "I Special Summon: Junk Synchron, in Attack Mode!"

**Junk Synchron: ATK 1300 DEF 500 LVL 3**

Another bright flash of light shined across Takashi's field as his Junk Synchron appeared before him and stood next to Salvage Warrior. However, the two monsters wouldn't be around for long as Takashi went on to take both of their cards and insert them both into his Graveyard.

"I now Tune my Level 5 Salvage Warrior with my Level 3 Junk Synchron!"

The two monsters nodded their heads after hearing Takashi shout that particular statement. They then went on to fly high into air, preparing themselves to conduct the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Takashi went on to grab a card from his Extra Deck stared at it for a moment. Once he finished, he firmly placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Gathering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

When Salvage Warrior and Junk Synchron finished the Synchro Summoning ritual, a massive glow completely covered the entire area, blinding everyone for a few seconds. As the light started to fade away, a powerful cry could be heard from within it. It was the cry of Takashi's Ace Monster: Stardust Dragon, who quickly appeared before him once the light vanished completely.

Upon getting a good look at the powerful dragon, Izumi started shaking with a sense of excitement. Like her student, the thought of facing a strong advisory pleased her to no end. She then found herself smiling as she watched Stardust Dragon prepare itself to launch its first attack.

"Okay Stardust," Takashi called. "Let's do this! Attack Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke…Cosmic Flare!"

Stardust complied with Takashi's instructions and soon started gathering up energy from with its body. Once it gathered enough power, the beast unleashed a massive blast of cosmic energy towards Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke. When blast hit it, the monster was instantly vaporized and Izumi lost a portion of her Life Points as a result.

**Izumi: 2900 LP**

After the attack came to an end, Takashi wasted no time and continued his play by activating one of the cards that he set face-down on the field. When he did that, it caused a green aura to surround Stardust Dragon for a few moments.

"Now, since a Wind Attribute Synchro Monster I control successfully destroyed a monster through battle, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell: Windrive!" Takashi explained. "With it, Stardust can attack again this turn. So, say goodbye to Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja, Master!"

Stardust slowly turned its attention over to Izumi's Number and prepared itself to blast it with another Cosmic Flare blast. However, before the dragon could finished charging up its attack, Izumi proceeded to activate the effect of her monster.

"This Duel isn't over yet, Takashi!" She shouted. "I activate Crimson Shadow's Special Ability! By using an Overlay Unit, I can negate the destruction of my Ninja Monster until the end of the turn!"

Just as Stardust Dragon fired its Cosmic Flare over towards Crimson Shadow, the Number quickly absorbed its other Overlay Unit in order to activate its Special Ability. Once it did so, Crimson Shadow brought out a powerful aura, which managed to protect it from its opponent's attack. However, while this act did prevent it from leaving the field, Izumi still took the points difference as damage.

**Izumi: 2800 LP**

As the smoke from Izumi's field started to fade away, Takashi was becoming even more impressed by his master's skills as a Duelist. However, despite that, he had already taken Crimson Shadow's Special Ability into account. Because of that, he went on to activate another one of his face-down cards.

"Thanks for protecting your monster," He said. "Since you did that, I can now activate the Trap Card: Synchro Ring! With it, Stardust Dragon's Attack Points are doubled and it can attack again, since it faced a monster, but failed to destroy it through battle!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 5000**

Through the power of Takashi's Trap, Stardust Dragon's body started glowing intensely as its strength greatly increased. The dragon then prepared itself to launch its third consecutive attack of the turn, by once again turning its attention towards Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja. Unfortunately, Izumi had other plans and went on to activate the face-down card that she had on her field.

"It's about time I put that dragon in its place," She said to herself. "I activate the Trap Card: Ninjitsu Art of Illusion! With it, I can negate your Stardust Dragon's attack since its Attack Points increased during the Battle Phase!"

As soon as she activated her Trap, Izumi watched as Stardust Dragon unleashed its Cosmic Flare attack towards Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja. However, before the blast could connect, the Number created an illusion of itself, which proceeded to take its place when the blast came, causing a large explosion to occur around Izumi's field.

When the smoke from the blast slowly begins to fade away, Izumi assumed that this was it and that Takashi would end his turn. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as her student still had one more card that he had the play.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Double or Nothing!" Takashi shouted. "When one of my monster's attacks is negated, this card doubles its Attack Points and grants it the right to attack again."

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 10000**

Shocked beyond words, Izumi couldn't believe by what Takashi just managed to do. He was able to foresee that she would negate Stardust Dragon, thus allowing him to use Double or Nothing to double his monster's Attack Points even more. She knew that Takashi was an excellent Duelist, the fact that he won the Fortune Cup was a testament to that, but this truly sold it for Izumi. As a result, she couldn't help but tear up a little just as Takashi prepared to have Stardust Dragon attack again.

"Stardust Dragon, attack Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja…Hyper Cosmic Flare!"

Nodding its head, Stardust quickly started glowing with the intensity of the sun itself as it began charging up its attack. Once it finished, the Signer Dragon unleashed its strongest blast at Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja and although the attack didn't kill it, the shockwave did blow Izumi back as she lost the remainder of her Life Points.

**Izumi: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Once the Duel came to the end and all the holograms faded away, Takashi immediately deactivated his Duel Disk before running over towards his master, who still lying on the ground. When he reached her, the young man noticed that she had her eyes closed and that she wasn't moving. Seeing her like that worried him a little, but Takashi's fears were relieved when he saw Izumi open her eyes and slowly pick herself up off the ground.<p>

After knocking some of the dirt that was on her dress, Izumi stared at Takashi for a few moments before eventually smiling at him. Taken back by her smile, Takashi hesitated for a second before smiling himself. The sight of the two of them doing that brought smiles on everyone else. However, that didn't last too long as Izumi decided to end things by pulling out a small sword that she had hidden with her dress and started attacking Takashi furiously.

Jumping back quickly, Takashi was able to avoid getting stabbed by his master's weapon, but that didn't stop Izumi from continuing her attack against him. This forced him to continuously dodge each of her attacks, while trying to figure out what to do and why she's acting like this. Eventually, as he slipped and fell backwards, Takashi noticed that his sword was right next to him. Even though it was still broken from his encounter with Goodwin, he knew that it was better than nothing and decided to pick it up.

As soon as he held his weapon, Takashi suddenly noticed that it felt quite different than before. His sword felt stronger, even though it was supposed to be still broken after what happened a couple of days ago. Eventually, he decided to stop thinking about it and draw the blade since he didn't have time to think about it since Izumi was about to slash him with her own weapon. When he did so, he was both shocked and amazed by what he saw.

Takashi's sword, by unknown means, was completely restored and it was even more powerful than it was before. The blade was able to completely destroy Izumi's weapon with any type of trouble at all. While the young man was trying to figure what the hell was going on with his weapon, Izumi simply looked on with a smile on her face. She then proceeded to throw her broken weapon away before speaking.

"I knew it," She said.

"Huh?" Takashi looked towards Izumi with a confused expression on his face. "What do you mean, Master?"

"Takashi, I'm well aware with some of the things that you and your friends are going through right now," Izumi explained. "I also know about the powers that both you and, to a lesser extent, everyone else have. The reason why your sword broke during your encounter against Goodwin is because your Reiatsu wavered. From what I could tell, you created that weapon with your Reiatsu, which means its strength depends on both the state of your powers, as well as the state of your mind. Now that both have become stronger, it's only natural that your sword would repair itself and become stronger as well."

Takashi nodded his head gently as he listened to Izumi's explanation. He then turned his attention towards his sword and stared at his newly repaired weapon. He was able to sense his Reiatsu emanating from it, which made sense since he was first able to forge it with his own power. He soon started smiling to himself, happy that his sword was repaired and that he could still use it to protect other. Shortly after that, he put it back into its sheath before placing it onto his hip.

Shortly afterwards, Takashi turned around and noticed that all of his friends were making their way towards him. All of them looked very pleased that he was able to get over what happened with Goodwin and return to being the person they knew, especially Akiza. Seeing the smiles on all of their faces made Takashi smile as well, but he soon placed his head down for a moment before bowing towards all of them.

"I'm sorry, guys," He told them. "I had a lot on my mind recently and it made me neglect all of you. I was being such an asshole. I promise that I'll do better next time…and be more appreciative of all the support that you all give me."

"…Don't mention it, man," Crow said as he punched Takashi in the shoulder. "I mean, isn't that what friends are for?"

Nodding his head again, Takashi acknowledged that Crow was right about what he just said and went on to life himself up and smile again. One of the purposes of having friends is being able to lean on each other and support one another. Ever since he was young, Takashi wanted handle things himself so that his friends wouldn't get hurt because of him. However, after all the things he experienced so far, he once again realized that it isn't wrong to have friends helping him out, since there are some things he just can't do by himself.

Eventually, while Takashi and the others were talking to one another, Izumi looked over towards her husband and daughter and went to nod her head at them. Seeing her do that, made both Sig and Suguha to go back into their home so that they could get some things. After about 10 minutes, the two of them came back, carrying a couple of items in their hands.

In Suguha's hands, the young woman was holding a large box that was nearly half her size. Although it was very heavy, due to the contents that were inside, she was able to lift it very easily, due to the training that she takes part in almost every day. Meanwhile, in Sig's hand, he was holding a sword that was roughly the same size as Takashi. Although it didn't look as heavy, the weapon was made out of a very durable metal, which caused it to weigh close to 100 pounds. Upon seeing the two of them hold those items, Izumi smiled a little before turning her attention back towards Takashi.

"Takashi…" She called.

"Yes Master," Takashi acknowledge, turning himself around to face her. "Is something wrong?"

"No. As I'm sure you figured out, the Duel we had was not only meant wake you up from your depression, but also test you in order to see if your skills were at the level of a Master. Having defeated me, I'm proud to say that you're indeed on that level. So, as your Master, I'm proud to say that you're now granted the same level as me. From this day forward, you'll be known as Master Takashi."

Upon hearing Izumi say that, most of Takashi's friends all smile happily as they congratulated their friend on his accomplishment. The only one who didn't was Misaki, who, due to her personality, simply nodded her head in acknowledgement. As for Takashi, even though he was happy too, he was well aware that he wouldn't have been able to attain this rank if it wasn't for Izumi's teachings. So, out of respect to her and everything she's done for him, Takashi respectfully bowed towards her.

"Thank you…Master,"

Once he did that, Takashi lifted himself up and soon watched as both Sig and Izumi presented the items that they were carrying to him. Putting the sword to the side for a moment, Takashi turned his focus towards the box and proceeded to open it. When he did, he saw several different sets of clothes, each of which came with nice pair of shoes as well. As he wondering why he was being given these things, Suguha explained the reason to him.

"According to my mom, those who attain the rank of Master obtain a set of clothes in honor of their status," She started off. "Personally, I wouldn't where it every day, but I do recommend that you wear some of them during your most important Duels, like your match against the Duel King."

"Cool," Takashi replied. "Thanks. I'll do that."

Takashi quickly closed the box and sealed it up so that nothing would get out. Once he did that, he picked up the sword that he put away earlier and stared at it for a moment. He was confused why Izumi was giving this to him, especially since he already has a weapon. However, he soon understood why after listening to her explanation.

"Takashi," She started off. "Are you aware who Kagura Toyoshima is?"

"…I am," He answered. "I learned from Goodwin that she's my little sister. I'm guessing our parents split us up before the Zero Reverse incident."

"That's right. However, before they did, your father, Minato, gave something to Kagura's caretaker, Vivi. That something was Shusui, the sword that Kagura's been carrying around with her. It's a weapon created by Minato's Reiatsu and since Kagura is his daughter, she's able to use it effectively. However, because he knew that Sakura was going to have twins, Minato created another sword, which he gave to me so that I could one day give it to you."

Once Izumi finished speaking, Takashi examined his father's sword closely as he removed it from its sheath. When he did, the young man instantly felt a powerful, yet familiar, Reiatsu coming from the weapon. Although he wasn't sure at first, Takashi soon realized that the Reiatsu came from his late father. The sensation of that made him smile a little as it felt like his father was watching over him, even though he never met him before.

"Thank you Master," Takashi said. "I'll treasure it."

With that said, Takashi brought out a large string and attached it to the ends of the sword. Once he did that, the young man placed it around his back, so that he could always have it with him. After that was taken care of, Takashi bowed towards Izumi and her family one last time before turning around and hanging out with his friends.

The group then proceeded to spend the rest of the day with the Curtis family, having a lot of fun with them while also learning more about the family as well. They even went on to have a nice dinner that Sig had prepared for all of them. However, while everyone was having such a good time, time quickly passed by and it was soon time for Takashi and the others to head back to Poppo Time.

While Akiza and the others got back into the truck that Sig used to get them here, Takashi was having one last talk with his Izumi.

"Alright Master…I'll be going now," He said to her.

"Okay then," Izumi replied. "By the way…you don't have to address me as your master anymore. At the very moment you obtained the rank, our student/teacher relationship came to an end. In other words, we're now equals."

"I know that, but I'm not calling you Master because of our student/teacher relationship. I'm calling you Master because I have the upmost respect for you. If it wasn't for you, there's no way I would even be here right now. So for that…I'm truly thankful, Master."

Upon hearing him say that, Izumi stared at her former apprentice for a moment before sighing quietly to herself. She then gently rubbed the back of her hair as she didn't really know how to take this, since something like this has never happened before. However, upon realizing that Takashi would still address her as his master, regardless of how anyone felt about it, Izumi decided to just let him continue doing it.

"Very well," She said. "Now get going. Your title match is only a couple of days away and I learned that you haven't been training for it. You better be ready to face Alistair Miles when the time comes…because if you lose, I'll kick your ass so bad that you'll wish that you were never born!"

Frightened by what Izumi just said to him, Takashi nervously shook his head in compliance before jumping into Sig's truck and urging him to go. Once he did and the truck went on its way, Izumi stood quietly as she watched it leave. As she did so, she took the time to remember something that Takashi's mother, Sakura, told her many years ago.

_Izumi…no matter what happens, do me this one favor. Please…watch over and protect him son, Takashi._

After thinking about Sakura's words, Izumi then took the time to remember how she first met Takashi and how he managed to progressed from back then. The thought of that brought a small smile on her face, as she was proud with how far her student had become. She soon decided to head back inside her home, satisfied with everything that's happened.

"Sakura," She thought quietly. "Your son doesn't need my guidance anymore. He's now strong enough to become his own man."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_While Takashi has gotten over his depression and is now preparing for his upcoming Duel against Alistair, his cousin Alex is busy thinking problems of his own. In order to clear his head, he decides to go out from his underground hideout and walk around the city._

_Will Alex be able to overcome thoughts that are plaguing just like Takashi did and what will he find as he makes his way through New Domino? _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 96: The Thunder Tempest_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a short announcement._

_I want to apologize for the unexpected month off. I haven't been myself lately and I decided to take some time off trying to think. I can't promise that I'll post chapters at a faster rate, but I'll try. Thank you all for your patience._

_Well, that's it for now. Please continue to read and review Over the Nexus. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	96. Chapter 96

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 96: **_The Thunder Tempest_

* * *

><p>"Stardust Dragon, attack Scrap Dragon with Cosmic Flare!"<p>

It's been 2 days since Takashi was able to snap out of his depression thanks to help of his martial arts master, Izumi Curtis. Since then, the young leader of the Signers has been feeling a lot better and has been using the time he has left before his big Title Match against Alistair to train and hone his Dueling skills. Although many would say that Takashi is more than ready for his upcoming Duel, he knew that it doesn't hurt to get some extra training in. To that end, all of his friends have been helping him practice by challenging him to Duels.

Right now, Takashi is currently finishing up his Duel against his step-brother, Toru. For the most part, the match between them seemed evenly matched, as they were able to counter each other's moves during the first couple of turns. However, things quickly changed in Takashi's favor when he managed to Synchro Summon his Ace Monster, Stardust Dragon. With it, and with a couple of useful Spell and Trap Cards, Takashi was able to take control of the Duel, even when Toru brought out his own Ace Monster, Scrap Dragon. Soon enough, Takashi was eventually able to defeat his older brother once he was able to weaken Scrap Dragon enough for Stardust Dragon to destroy it.

Once Toru lost the remaining of his Life Points and all the Solid Vision holograms disappeared, Takashi walked over towards him in order to make sure that he was okay. When he was able to confirm that he was indeed okay, the two brothers ended up smiling at one another as Takashi helped Toru off the ground.

"Man," Toru said as he shook off his defeat. "You know, it amazes me that your skills always seem to increase with every Duel that you compete in. I mean…it wasn't that long ago that you and I were about evenly matched."

"…I think we still are," Takashi replied. "I mean, that Duel just now was really close. I just happened to be lucky today."

"Oh please, Takashi. In a few days, you'll be competing for the title of Japan's Duel King. There's no way luck could get you that far. Face it, little brother…you got some serious game."

Takashi remained quiet as Toru continued to compliment him on his increasing skills as a Duelist. Hearing his brother say those things caused him to think about to when he first came to New Domino City and how far he's come during the 10 month since then. It's true that his skills have improved drastically since then and that he was close to becoming the best Duelist in the entire country. However, the reason why he believed luck had a part in this is because he didn't want to take the credit. Takashi believed that the countless Duelists that he's encountered during this year were the reason why he was so strong.

As he looked towards all of his friends, each of them agreeing with what Toru said, he recalled all the matches he had with them. He then went on to remember all the other opponents that he had, including enemies like Sasuke and Kuromu. Their strength forced Takashi to work hard so that he could obtain the strength that he has now. If it wasn't for them, Takashi knew in his heart that he wouldn't have obtained his new strength.

Once he finished his recollection, Takashi turned around and looked out towards the horizon. He saw the beauty of the sky and how it seemed, it him anyway, to go well all the buildings of New Domino. Just looking at it caused him to feel really good and decided that this was a perfect time to relax and do some meditation. As a result, he deactivated his Duel Disk and proceeded to turn his attention back towards his friends.

"Hey guys," He said, grabbing their attention. "I want to thank you for helping me train. It really means a lot to me."

Toru and the others stared at Takashi for a moment and noticed how calm and at peace he was right now. After remembering how he was just a few days ago, after learning everything that Goodwin told him, they were glad to see that their friend was feeling much better. This caused all of them to smile, with the exception of Misaki, who just nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"Don't mention it," Crow replied. "You would've done the same for us."

"Yeah," Lilly agreed. "We just want you to become as strong as you can possibly become before your rematch against Alistair."

"Yeah," Takashi said. "And I appreciate that. I feel so much stronger now. I can't quite explain it, but I feel my strength growing within me, even at this moment. It feels good…almost like I'm invincible."

"That's great," Toru complimented. "You're going to need that if you want to take Alistair off his throne."

As the group complimented about Takashi's growing strength, Akiza simply looked on at the man she loved with a silent expression on face. Every time someone mentioned Takashi strength growing stronger, the Psychic Duelist would feel a bit uncomfortable. However, it wasn't because she was against him getting stronger. It's just she didn't want him to become so strong so quickly. She was worried that something bad could happen to him if he worked himself to hard, but she tried not to show it on her face since she didn't want Takashi to worry himself.

Unfortunately for Akiza, Takashi did happen to notice that someone was bothering her. Although he wasn't aware of it, the psychic connection that Akiza had developed with him allowed Takashi to know if she was okay, even if she didn't say it out loud. This prompted him to hurry up and begin his meditation, so that Akiza could see that he isn't working himself to the bone.

"Alright you guys," He told all of them. "Let's take a break. We can pick things up later this afternoon."

"That's fine with me," Crow replied. "I could use the time to fix up my deck before we Duel again."

Agreeing with the Blackwing Duelist, Lilly and the others all decided to head back inside and work on their decks as well. As they did that however, Akiza stopped just as she touched the door and turned her attention back towards Takashi. As she watched him sit down and stare out into the distance, the young woman couldn't bring herself to leave his side. As a result, she closed the door to the roof and leaned herself against it as she watched Takashi begin his mediation.

While the two of them remained on the roof, the others finally made their way back downstairs to the apartment's living room. As Crow, Lilly, and Toru proceeded to work on their respective decks, Misaki decided to use her time to look over the schematics of Takashi's Duel Runner, which she had placed onto her laptop's hard drive. Knowing that he would need his Duel Runner in the best shape it's ever been if he wanted to defeat Alistair, Misaki decided work on it whenever she had the time to do so. She believed that with her efforts, Takashi would be able to perfect the Cross Sense technique that he's been trying so hard to master.

Eventually, as time passed by, Crow started to reflect on everything that's happened in the last couple of months, especially the events that took place during the Fortune Cup. As he thought about it, the Blackwing Duelist recalled how far Takashi has come and how he'll be able to measure up to Alistair, who was considered to be the strongest Duelist in the entire Satellite Sector during his time there. Soon enough, he decided to ask Lilly her opinion on the subject, since she was familiar with Alistair's strength as well.

"Hey Lilly," He started off. "Out of the two of them, who do you think is the better Duelist…Takashi or Alistair?"

"Why are you asking me that?" Lilly asked him.

"I just want to hear your thoughts about it?" Crow explained. "I mean, you faced both Alistair and Takashi in the past. Out of everyone here, you should have a good idea about who's stronger than whom."

Lilly stayed silent as she thought about what Crow just asked her to do. It was true that she had faced both Takashi and Alistair in Duels, but she had no way of knowing who was the stronger of the two. The strength of both Duelists was so immense that she had a hard time judging them. Even though she was the only one out of her friends to have ever defeated Takashi in a Duel, Lilly knew that it was only a Duel for fun. If things were more serious, she strongly believed that the outcome of their match would've been different. Also, even if they did just have another Duel for fun, Lilly knew that Takashi's strength currently surpassed her own, meaning she would lose regardless of the reason.

As for Alistair, Lilly knew very well how strong he'd become after being trounced by him during their last Turbo Duel. The memories of that defeat still sting within her, even though it's been nearly 4 months since then. Also, Lilly knew that Alistair's already impressive skills have only increased even further after seeing him compete in the Exhibition Duel that took place before the start of the Fortune Cup Finals. It was clear that he was trained by Goodwin and anyone trained by him would obviously become several times stronger, no matter whom that person may be.

Eventually, after she finished thinking about the matter, Lilly looked over towards Crow and proceeded to shrug her shoulders a little. She then turned her attention towards her cards and started looking through all of them until she found her Ace Monster; Ancient Fairy Dragon. Lilly stared at her card for a moment before deciding to speak again.

"Remember when we were younger and Martha would sometimes show us those old movies involving the legendary Duelists, Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba?" Lilly asked him.

"Yeah," Crow answered. "Those were some awesome matches. But what does that have to do anything?"

"Well…for at a glance, people believed Kaiba was the superior Duelist due to his overwhelming strength. However, that wasn't always the case as Yugi's ingenuity and superior Dueling skills would allow him to defeat Kaiba. There are a lot of factors when it comes to the game of Duel Monsters. The Spells, Traps, and Monsters that Duelists use could either lead them to victory or defeat…and that fact continues to grow as the game evolves each and every day. I mean…it was a little over 20 years ago since Xyz Summoning was first introduced and people are still trying to get used to it. And now, I'm hearing rumors that a new mechanic called Pendulum Summoning is coming out in about a year."

"…I'm not following you Lilly," Crow gently placed his hand upon head and started to scratch it gently. "What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm saying is that there's no way to know who's stronger than who and right now…there's no point in struggling to figure that out. Both of them, regardless about how we feel about one in particular, are great Duelists. The Duel between them is going to be nothing like we've ever seen before, Crow. All we can do is help Takashi get ready for it. The rest is up to him."

Upon finishing her speech, Lilly silently went back to working on her deck while Crow took the time to think about what she just told him. As he did so, the Blackwing Duelist realized that his friend was right and asking about who was strongest between Takashi and Alistair is pointless. The Duel between the two will ultimately answer that question. Because of that, Crow decided to get back to working on his deck so that he could help Takashi get ready for his match.

Meanwhile, as this was going on, Takashi was busy continuing his meditation. Although the outside was very noisy, due to the passing cars and countless people talking outside, he was able to clear out all distractions and center his entire being. As he did that however, Takashi was beginning to sense a rather soothing Reiatsu coming from behind him. Realizing who the source of the Reiatsu was, Takashi exited from his meditated state and opened his eyes.

"Is something wrong, Akiza…?"

As Takashi waited for a response, Akiza remained silent as she continued to look at the back of him. Although she wanted to talk about what was bothering her, Akiza still didn't want to worry Takashi. Eventually, she decided to go ahead and talk to him about it, especially since it would be pointless to lie to him about it. To that end, she slowly made her up to Takashi and went on to sit down right next to him.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"…I'm fine," She answered. "But…are you okay, Takashi?"

"Of course I am. I already told you guys that I'm feeling better than I ever had in a long time. My strength is increasing so much that…it's somewhat hard to believe."

"But…that's exactly what's worrying me."

Akiza placed her head down a little just as Takashi stared at her with a confused expression on his face. He didn't understand what she meant when she said that and started to wonder what he was doing wrong that made her feel this way. As he did that, Takashi watched as Akiza removed her hairclip from her head, causing several bangs to cover her face. She then proceeded to examine the object before she started talking again.

"In the past, back when I was a part of the Arcadia Movement, Sayer told me that even at a young age, my powers were so strong that it could power the entire city for several lifetimes," She explained. "However, he believed that if my powers grew too fast, I could possibly destroy myself. That's why he gave me this special headband…so that I could restrain my powers until I could properly control them."

After she finished explaining that, Akiza gently fixed her hair before placing her headband back on. She then looked back towards Takashi and stared at him for a few moments. As she did, Takashi noticed that her eyes were beginning to water. When he watched a tear fall, he slowly took his hand and wiped it away. As he did so, Akiza gently took his hand and gently pressed it against her cheek.

"Takashi…I'm happy that you're getting stronger. I really am. But…I don't want you to get so strong that you could end up hurting yourself. I couldn't live with myself if that happened."

Takashi watched silently as Akiza continued to fight back her tears. He could feel her body beginning to tremble a little, causing him to realizing just how much he was worrying her on the inside. Despite feeling terrible for what he did, Takashi quickly reassured Akiza by smiling at her. She then listened closely as he started to speak.

"I understand your concerns," He said. "However, I'm going to be alright Akiza. I'm in complete control of my power."

"…How can you be so sure?" Akiza asked him.

"Well, I have two reasons why. The first is that Alex and Sona taught me how to keep my abilities under control. It's all about keeping myself centered and remembering that I control my powers and not the other way around."

Wanting to show her an example, Takashi focused himself and slipped back into his meditative state. As he did so, Akiza watched as her friend's Signer Mark started to glow, causing a bright blue aura to surround him. After about a minute, the aura disappeared and the glow from Takashi's mark started to fade away just as he reawakened.

"See…I'm perfectly fine," He said.

"I guess…" Akiza replied. "But what's the other reason."

"That's easy…it's because I have you by my side."

Shocked by what he just said to her, Akiza's eyes widen a little just as a small blush appeared on her face. When he saw her do that, Takashi smiled a little bit just as he explained the reason behind his statement.

"Whenever I'm with you…everything just seems to feel right, like nothing can hurt. I know that sounds a bit silly, but that's how I feel. Akiza, you don't have to worry about me. Because I know that as long as you're with me…everything will be fine."

Once he finished, Takashi once again let out a warm smiling, symbolizing that he truly believed in what he said. Upon seeing that smile, Akiza started to feel better herself. Although some of the worries that she had were still there, and would probably never truly fade away, she decided to believe in what Takashi said. This soon caused her to let out a warm smile herself.

"Thank you, Takashi," She said to him. "I really needed that."

"Don't mention it," He replied.

As soon as everything was settled, Takashi decided to get back to his mediation. While he did so, Akiza simply watched him closely, content with what she learned just now.

* * *

><p>While all of this was going on, things were rather dull in New Domino City's underground section. Alex McQueen, the Duel King of the Underground, had just successfully defeated another opponent in order to retain his title. However, despite his victory, the Dragunity Knight wasn't really happy at all. In fact, upon taking a closer look at him, his friend Sona believed that he looked quite depressed. At first she didn't know why he was feeling this way. However, after taking a moment to think about it, the Psychic Duelist soon realized what was going on.<p>

For the longest time, Alex believed that he would be able to handle himself emotionally when the time came to come face to face with his father, Rex Goodwin. Because of everything that the director put him through as a child, Alex thought he could handle himself when that time finally happened. Unfortunately for him however, things didn't go the way he planned.

As he laid back on his bed, staring pointlessly at the ceiling, Alex thought about how Takashi, his cousin, was doing. When Sona told him how depressed he was a few days ago, Alex wanted to believe her when she followed that it wouldn't take him long to snap out of it. Because of that, the Dragunity Knight told his friend to not bother Takashi anymore and leave him be so that he could sort out his feeling. This however caused Alex not to realize that his cousin was already back on his feet.

Since Alex didn't know what was going on, he was beginning to feel bad for his cousin for no real reason. This also caused him to feel bad about himself, since he believed that he should've came clean with Takashi from the beginning instead of just waiting until the conflict with his father was over. With everything that's going on, he was beginning to lose focus and it ultimately caused him to fall out his bed as he moved around in frustration.

Upon hitting the floor, a small shockwave caused a picture to fall from his desk and land right next to him. As picked it up and looked at it, Alex saw that the image of the picture consisted of a younger version of himself and a young woman with hot pink hair and green eyes. When he looked at the girl, Alex sighed quietly as the girl he was looking was Amara Flyheart, his former girlfriend.

The relationship that Alex used to have with Amara was very similar to Takashi's relationship with Akiza. The two of them were madly in love with one another, so much so that when that they made love for the first time shortly after they turned 17 respectively. Eventually, their relationship soon reached the point that Alex wanted to propose to Amara when they finally turned 18, which is the earliest age that Japanese citizens can legally get married. Unfortunately for the couple, things changed.

Knowing that Amara would never truly be safe as long as his father continued his schemes, Alex reluctantly decided to end his relationship with his beloved and left her without even saying goodbye. It's been over 3 years since then and the sting of that moment still rings inside of his heart. Sometimes, Alex would wonder how Amara was doing during the time since they've been separated, but he would quickly get those thoughts out of his mind as he would always imagine her being furious with him. Just thinking about that bothered Alex more emotionally than anything else, which was causing him to lose his focus.

While Alex continued being an emotional mess, Sona soon entered his room and looked at him with an annoyed expression on her face. It's been 2 days now and she believed that her friend would've finally gotten over his issues and got back to work. However, upon seeing that wasn't the case at all, Sona decided to take drastic actions. As a result, the attractive Psychic Duelist grabbed one of his friend's ankles and started dragging him out of his room. As he was being pulled, Alex was able to snap out of it a little and wondered what was going on.

"Ow!" Alex yelled as his head hit a nearby shelf. "What the hell are you doing that Sona?!"

"Getting you off your ass," Sona calmly answered.

Sona continued dragging Alex across the floor of their hideout, purposely ramming him into things in order to vent off her frustrations. Eventually, the young woman soon made her away to Alex's Duel Runner and firmly placed her friend by it. Once she did so, Sona tossed Alex his helmet, just as he was getting off the ground.

"Go! You need to go outside and clear your head, because I can't stand seeing you like this anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Alex question as he put his helmet away. "Going outside is like asking Goodwin to come out and capture me."

"Alex…you know damn well that you're the last thing on your father's mind right now!" Sona countered, slapping Alex for his idiocy. "Besides, based on what happened a few days ago, I'm pretty sure Goodwin knows where we're hiding out. If he truly wanted to, he could've captured us a long time ago. The fact that hasn't must mean that we're no concern to him now."

Hearing Sona say those things to him only made Alex feel even worse than he was before. However, despite how he was feeling, Sona wasn't going to deal with it anymore. She wanted the Alex McQueen that she had fallen in love with to return, not the one that was standing before her now. So, after slapping him for a second time, Sona put Alex's helmet on his head and placed him on his Runner.

"C'mon Alex," She said. "Go outside and take some time to get yourself together. I guarantee that you'll feel a lot better once you do."

Alex was still reluctant to go along with Sona's idea, but decided to go along with it, especially since he knew that she would end up slapping him again if he said no. To that end, he placed his helmet's visor over his eyes and proceeded to start up his Duel Runner. Once he made sure that it was in working order, the Dragunity Knight turned his attention back towards Sona, who was looking at him with a stern expression on her face.

"Okay, okay…I'm going,"

With that said, Alex revved up his Runner and proceeded to leave his underground hideout. After he left, Sona made her way back to Alex's room and began cleaning up the mess that she made. As she did so, the young woman picked up the picture of Alex and Amara and stared at it for a moment. The picture held a special place in her heart as well, since she was the one who took it all those years ago. Eventually, as she placed it back on Alex's dresser, Sona started wondering something to herself.

"Amara…" She thought. "I wonder where you are now."

About an hour after Alex left his hideout, the Underground Duel King was already feeling bored as he was sitting on a bench, drinking a soda that he got from a vending machine. As he drank the beverage, Alex examined the area around him and saw how happy all the people that were around him were. Although glad that no one was feeling down, he started to wonder how they would really feel if they only knew what was about to happen. However, he quickly got those thoughts out of his head, as he didn't want to worry others.

While he continued to look around, he then noticed several romantic couples hanging around, acting very intimate with each other. Seeing them act that way only reminded him of Amara and he decided to leave before he started feeling worse. But, just as he threw away his soda bottle, Alex noticed something else that really caught his eye. He then decided to sneak up and get a closer look, just to make sure that he wasn't imaging what he was seeing.

Upon hiding behind a nearby phone booth, Alex noticed that a few thugs were forcibly trying to take an attractive young woman with them. The woman had chestnut brown hair, which was tied up in a ponytail, emerald green eyes, and had a nice hourglass figure. Following them all was a young with black hair and grey eyes. He looked somewhat scrawny and was quite beat up, indicating that he got into an altercation with the thugs.

As the young man continued following the thugs, he soon found himself out of strength and fell hard to the concrete floor. This caused one of the thugs to laugh at him while the kidnapped girl started screaming in a concerned tone of voice. Alex observed the whole thing and felt about what's going on. Deciding to help, he made his way to the fallen man once the thugs were out of eyesight.

"Hey," He said, calling out to him. "C'mon man, you got to pull it together."

The man started to stir a little when Alex called out to him, but he was clear that he was really dazed. This prompted Alex to sit him down by his Duel Runner so that he could get his wits about him. By the time he finally came to, he started looking around frantically for the thugs, forcing Alex to pull him back so that he could calm down.

"Let go of me!" The young man yelled. "They took her! I have to go after her!"

"Calm down!" Alex told him. "You won't be able to help your friend in your condition. Tell me what's going on and maybe I can help you!"

For about another minute, the young man continued fighting Alex as he was so determined to stop the thugs from taking her friend away. However, when it became clear that Alex was overpowering him, he relented and calmed himself down. Once he saw him do that, Alex listened closely as the young man started explaining the situation to him.

"My…My name is Ryan," He said, trying to catch his breath. "I…I was on a date with my girlfriend, Stacey, when out of nowhere, those guys just came up and grabbed her. I tried my best to save her…but I was overpowered."

As Ryan spoke, Alex noticed that he was shaking somewhat as he reached for something from within his pocket. When he saw it, Alex's eyes widen as the item that Ryan was holding was a small box that contained a diamond ring.

"Today was going to be perfect," Ryan started crying as he continued to look at the ring. "I was…finally going to ask her to marry me. But now…I might not be able to."

"…I won't let that happen!"

Ryan lifted head up a little and watched as Alex was busy staring out in the directions the thugs went. Although he was unsure what he was doing, the young man got a feeling that Alex had a pretty good idea where the thugs took Stacey. Soon enough, Alex turned his focus back towards him as he helped him onto his Duel Runner.

"Don't you worry, Ryan," Alex said as revved up his Duel Runner. "You're going to get your chance to propose to Stacey."

"But…" Ryan replied, confused by what was going on. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because…I know what you're going through."

Without wasting another moment, Alex dashed in the direction where the thugs went, with Ryan trying his best not to fall off his Duel Runner. As they made their way over to them, Alex started thinking about Amara again how this situation reminded him about the one he went through a couple of years ago. Not wanting the same thing to happen to another couple, the Dragunity Knight vowed that both Ryan and Stacey would get back together.

While this was going on, the thugs forcibly brought Stacey into an alleyway in another section of the city. The young woman tried her best break free from her captors, even managing to knock two of them out, but there were simply too many of them. Eventually, Stacey found herself pressed against a wall, unable to move.

As she struggled to break away, she watched someone beginning to approach her. When the other thug members began moving away so that this particular person could make his way over to her, Stacey came to the conclusion that he was the leader of the group. She wondered he was and why he was doing this, but she quickly figured all of that out when she got a good look at the individuals face.

"Ta…Takato…?" She said, surprised at what she was seeing.

"That's right Stacey," Takato said with a sly smile. "It's been about 3 years now. Did you really think you could escape from me?!"

As Takato forcibly grabbed her face, Stacey quickly recalled her relationship with him. In the past, the two of them were a couple and for a while the two of seemed very happy. However, as time passed by, Stacey realized how horrible a person Takato really was. This ultimately caused her to leave him, although Takato did promise her that he would return. Since that time, Stacey has been in a great relationship with Ryan, but always felt afraid that Takato would keep his promise and come back.

With her fears now a reality, Stacey was wondering what to do now. She hoped that Ryan would come to save her, but after seeing how hurt he was trying to defend her, the young woman was beginning to hope otherwise since she didn't want her beloved to get hurt again. This left Stacey no other option and she was beginning to accept her fate. Fortunately for her though, someone had another idea.

Just as Takato firmly grabbed Stacey from her arm and was about to take her away, a small pebble suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and hit the former in the head. This caused Takato to let go of Stacey and look around to see who threw that rock at him. When he did, the thug saw both Ryan and Alex staring at him from the entrance the alley.

"Who the hell are you?!" He asked, question Alex on his identity.

"…It doesn't matter who I am," Alex replied. "What matters is you releasing that nice woman."

As the two of them stared each other down, Stacey was busy staring at Ryan while crying tears of joy. Ryan, for his part, was also crying as he was glad Stacey wasn't hurt. The two of them were about to go to one another, but stopped when Takato grabbed Stacey by her arm again.

"I don't what you two think you're doing, but if you're here for her then forget it!" Takato stated. "Get them guys…and make you kill them slowly."

The other thugs nodded their heads respectively and proceeded to pull several knives from their pockets. When Ryan saw them, the young man was naturally frightened, but he decided to hold his ground. He then took a fighting stance and stood next to Alex, just as the latter was beginning to walk over towards them.

"I don't have time to deal with you small fries," Alex told them. "It's time for all of you to fall asleep."

With the help of his Dragunity Knight Powers, Alex was able to render each and every one of Takato's friends unconscious without even having to touch them. The sight of this shocked Takato so much that it allowed Stacey to break free from his grip and run up to Ryan, who embraced her closely the moment she reached him. Once that happened, Alex proceeded to slowly make his way over to Takato.

As the Dragunity Knight made his way towards him, Takato wondered what he was going to do. For some reason, the thug realized that if he got into a fight with Alex, he would probably be defeated by him. He needed another idea of taking him down and soon received some inspiration when he noticed the Duel Disk that was attached to Alex's left arm.

"Wait a minute!" Takato said as he extended his arm out, signaling Alex to stop. "We're both civilized people, why don't we settle this the old fashion way…with our cards?"

Alex stopped moving and thought about Takato's proposal for a moment. Normally, he would simply ignore him and proceeded to beat him up for what he did to both Ryan and Stacey. However, after giving the idea some more thought, Alex decided that the best way to put Takato in his place is to defeat him in a Duel, effectively breaking his will and preventing him from hurting anyone else. As a result, he slowly nodded his head towards his foe.

"Fine," He said. "If it's a Duel you want, then it's a Duel you'll get."

With the match between them set, Alex activated the Duel Disk that was on his arm and waited for Takato to do the same. As he watched the thug get his Duel Disk however, the Dragunity Knight noticed that Stacey was looking rather scared. He was about to ask her what's wrong, but she already beat him to it.

"Be careful," She said. "Takato is a very strong Duelist. Rumors say that he's strength rivals that of the Underground Duel King."

Upon hearing her say that, Alex smiled a little bit since the person Stacey was comparing Takato to was none other than himself. This only ended up motivating him even more as he wanted to see if Takato was a strong as Stacey said.

"Is that so? Well…that just makes it more interesting."

Feeling more pumped than ever, Alex braced himself as he waited for Takato to put on his Duel Disk so that they could begin their match. As Takato did so, the thug looked at the expression on his foe's face and vowed to turn it into one of pain and despair once he trounced him. Shortly after thinking that, he activated his Duel Disk and both he and Alex drew five cards from their respective decks.

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Alex: 4000 LP**

**Takato: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Takato said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "I Draw!"

After swiftly drawing the top card from his deck, Takato placed it into his hand and went to examine all 6 of his cards. As he did so, he soon came up with an idea that would allow him to crush Alex where he stood. Deciding to implement it, the thug began his turn by taking one of the cards in his hand and placing it into his Monster Card Zone.

"First, I'm Normal Summoning: Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress, in Attack Mode!"

**Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress: ATK 1700 DEF 200 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Takato watched as a bright flash of light shined across his side of the field for a few moments. When it faded away, a beautiful woman dressed and white and golden robes appeared before him. In her hand was a magical staff, which seemed to be the source of her powers.

Once his monster was fully materialized onto the field, Takato continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, it caused a face-down card to materialize on the field, right behind his Lightsworn Sorceress.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn. At that moment, effect of my Lightsworn Sorceress activates, forcing me to send the top 3 cards from my hand to the Graveyard."

As Takato took the top three cards from his deck and placed them into his Graveyard, Alex instantly hypothesized what his opponent's strategy might be. Since he was using a Lightsworn deck, the chance that his Ace Monster was the powerful Judgment Dragon was pretty high. With that information, Alex could formulate a strategy that could allow him to both bring it and Takato down. As soon as he had a good idea on what to do, the Dragunity Knight proceeded to begin his turn.

"Let's do this," He said. "I Draw!"

After drawing a card from his deck, Alex glanced at it quickly and saw that the card that he was holding was precisely one of the cards he needed. He then went on to insert the card into his Spell/Trap Zone and activate its effect.

"To begin, I'm activating the Spell Card: Dragon Shrine! With it, I can send a Dragon-Type monster from my deck to the Graveyard. Then, if the monster I sent was a Normal Monster, I can send another Dragon-Type monster to the Graveyard!"

Once he finished explaining his Spell's effect, Alex took his deck from his Duel Disk and quickly looked through all of his cards. The first one he took was a Normal Dragon-Type, which swiftly placed into his card Graveyard. He then activated the second effect of Dragon Shrine, which allowed him to take a second Dragon from his deck and place it into his Graveyard as well. After he did that, Alex reshuffled his cards and placed them back into his Duel Disk.

Alex then continued on with his turn by examining the remaining 5 cards that made up his hand. After finding the one that he was hoping for, he grabbed it and firmly placed the card onto his Monster Card Zone. Doing this caused a bright flash of light to shine brightly across his side of the field.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Dragunity Knight Rider, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragunity Knight Rider: ATK 1600 DEF 400 LVL 4**

When the light that was shining across his field faded away, a powerful warrior wearing red and white armor appeared on Alex's side of the field. Dragunity Knight Rider was also wielding a fairly long lance, which was almost about the same size of its body. Upon seeing his monster, Alex then took the two monsters cards that he placed into his Graveyard and placed them horizontally onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When Dragunity Knight Rider is successfully Normal Summoned, I can then Special Summon up to 2 Dragon-Type monsters from my Graveyard in Defense Mode. I Special Summon: Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress and Blizzard Dragon!"

**Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress: ATK 1400 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

**Blizzard Dragon: ATK 1800 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Two more flash of light shined across Alex's side of the field as his two chosen dragons appeared before him. The first was Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, a fairly large dragon with blue scales and a gigantic mouth. The second was Blizzard Dragon, a much smaller dragon with the power to control ice. Once both monsters appeared and stood next to Dragunity Knight Rider, Alex took all three of their cards and stacked them on top of one another.

"I now Overlay my three Level 4 Monsters in order to form the Overlay Network!"

All three of Alex's monsters nodded their heads as they quickly transformed themselves into colorful orbs of light energy. They then started flying around the entire alleyway, just as the portal to the Overlay Network materialized itself onto Alex's side of the field. Once it was out, the three orbs of light dove right into the portal, causing a massive explosion of light to occur. When Alex saw it, he quickly grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the ultimate monster of the sky, Number 91: Thunder Spark Dragon!"

**Number 91 – Thunder Spark Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

From within the portal of the Overlay Network, Alex's Number Card, Thunder Spark Dragon, appeared and let out an ear-deafening roar. As it did so, powerful electrical shockwaves emanated from its body, causing a small lightning storm to appear. Once he saw his monster appear before him, Alex prepared himself to begin his Battle Phase.

"Go, Thunder Spark Dragon!" He commanded. "Bring down Lyla, the Lightsworn Sorceress…Lightning Strike!"

Nodding its head in compliance, Thunder Spark Dragon started building all the electrical power that it could muster before releasing onto Takato's monster. When the lightning blast struck Lyla, there was nothing the sorceress could do to resist and she soon found herself exploding into several pieces.

**Takato: 3300 LP**

Once the battle came to an end and he saw Thunder Spark Dragon stop discharging electricity, Alex decided to conclude his turn by taking one more card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, a face-down card materialized onto his side of the field, right behind his Number Card.

"I set one card face-down…and with that I end my turn."

As Alex handed things over back to Takato, both Ryan and Stacey were amazed by his Dueling skills. Not only was able to deal Takato damage on his first turn of the Duel, but he also possessed one of the rare 100 Number Cards. Although both of them knew that this match was still a long way from being over, seeing Alex's skills up close gave them the hope that he might be able to defeat Takato.

Meanwhile, as for Takato himself, the thug was quite surprised by this recent turn of events. He didn't expect that Alex would cause him this much trouble early on. Although he still had no doubts that he was going to win, the thug knew that it would be a lot harder as long as Thunder Spark Dragon remained on the field. He needed to destroy it and with the cards he currently had in his hand, he had just the way to do it.

"It's my turn now," He declared. "I Draw!"

Quickly drawing the top card from his deck, Takato glanced at it for a second before placing it into his hand. He then looked over the rest of his cards before grabbing one of them and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, he placed his hand back on his deck.

"I activate the Spell Card: Graceful Charity! With it, I can draw 3 cards from my hand at the cost of discarding 2 cards to the Graveyard."

Going along with the effect of his Spell, Takato drew three more cards from his deck and placed them into his hand before grabbing two cards from it and placing them into his Graveyard. As soon as he did that, Takato then went to take one of the cards that he just drew via his Spell Card and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate another Spell: Monster Reborn! With it, I can Special Summon Lyla back from the Graveyard."

At the very instant Takato said that, the portal to the card Graveyard suddenly materialized onto his side of the field. From it, Lyla emerged and once again joined her master of his side of the field. Once that happened, the portal disappeared and Takato went on to take another card from his hand and place it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"Now…I Normal Summon: Ehern, Lightsworn Monk, in Attack Mode!"

**Ehern, Lightsworn Monk: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across the field as Takato's newest monster was beginning to materialize itself. When the light faded away, everyone got a good look at Ehern, Lightsworn Monk. She was a young woman with dark skin, wearing armor of Roman origin. Based on the look of her muscles, it was clear that Ehern was much stronger physically than Lyla, who mostly relies on magic to get her through battles.

After getting a good look at the monster, Alex had a pretty good idea about what was going to happen next, since both Ehern and Lyla had the same Level. Soon enough, Alex's prediction was validated as he watched Takato both of his Lightsworn monster cards and placed them on top of one another.

"I Overlay my Level 4 Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and Ehern, Lightsworn Monk!" Takato declared. "With these two monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

Both of Takato's monsters nodded their heads upon hearing them say that quickly transformed themselves into orbs of energy. As the two of them started flying around, the portal to the Overlay Network reappeared onto the field, only this time it was on Takato's side. Once it was fully materialized, the two orbs of energy quickly made their way towards it, causing a giant eruption of light to occur when they entered it. When that happened, Takato grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Xyz Summon! Come forth, Constellar Omega!"

**Constellar Omega: ATK 2400 DEF 500 Rank 4**

From within the depths of the Overlay Network, a new monster suddenly emerged and proceeded to stand by Takato's side. Upon getting a good look at it, Alex saw that Constellar Omega's appearance resembled that of a centaur, a half man, half horse creature. The only difference however is that Omega's body was completely covered in a bright silver and yellow armor. It had also had a set of beautiful wings on the back of it, which seemed to be connected to armor as well.

"I now activate Omega's Special Ability!" Takato continued. "By using one Overlay Unit, Omega can make all Constellar monsters I control immune to all Spell and Trap effects until the end of the turn!"

Taking one of the Overlay Units that was circling around its body and absorbing it into itself, Constellar Omega was able to bring up a powerful white aura, which protected itself from all Spell and Trap effects until the end of the turn. Once Takato saw that, he went on to take another card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, with my monster now protected, I can play the Spell Card: Shield & Sword, without any worries. With it, the Attack and Defense of all monsters on the field are switched until the End Phase of the turn. However, since my Constellar Omega is immune to Spell effects, only your Thunder Spark Dragon is affected!"

**Number 91 – Thunder Spark Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400**

Thanks to the aura that was surrounding its body, Constellar Omega was able to save itself from the effect of its master's Spell Card. However, the same couldn't be said for Thunder Spark Dragon, who was beginning to look a little bit weaker thanks to its Attack Points being switched with its Defense Points. Once the switch between points was complete, Takato saw that the time was now to make his move.

"It's time to say goodbye to your Number!" He told Alex. "Constellar Omega, attack Thunder Spark Dragon…Omega Beam!"

Without even wasting a single second, Omega fired two highly powerful beams from its eyes and directed them towards Thunder Spark Dragon. However, having predicted such an event, Alex reacted by activating the face-down card that he set during his turn. When he did, Thunder Spark was soon covered in its very own aura, just as it was struck by the Omega Beams.

"Not so fast!" He yelled. "I activate the Trap Card: Impenetrable Attack! With it, I can prevent my Thunder Spark Dragon from being destroyed through battle this turn!"

"Is that so?" Takato replied, slightly annoyed by this turn of events. "It doesn't really matter since you still take Battle Damage from this attack!"

Takato's statement was correct. Even though Alex did manage to save his monster from Constellar Omega's attack, the difference in their current Attack Points would still be dealt to him as damage. This was shown when a small explosion occurred on his side of the field, causing him to take a few steps back.

**Alex: 3600 LP**

Once the battle came to an end, Takato looked over towards Alex's side of the field and saw him still looking as determined as ever. As he examined that expression, the thug hypothesized that maybe one of the reasons for Alex's confidence was because he still had Thunder Spark Dragon on the field. It made sense because he went out of his way to take damage, even though the second effect of Impenetrable Attack would've allowed Alex to protect his Life Points at the cost of his monster's destruction. Since that wasn't the case, Takato decided that he needed to prepare himself, just in case Thunder Spark had a devastating ability under its belt.

To that end, Takato examined the remaining cards in his hand until he found one that was to his liking. He then went on to insert the card swiftly into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, another face-down card materialized onto his side of the field, right next to his first one.

"I'm ending my turn by setting another card face-down," He explained. "Alright chump…let's see what you'll do this time."

**Number 91 – Thunder Spark Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 2000**

As the Attack Points and Defense Points of his monster returned to their original positions, Alex took a moment look over all of Takato's cards before beginning his next turn. With both of their monster having the same number of Attack Points, it would be pointless to have Thunder Spark Dragon Constellar Omega, since they would just destroy each other. Also, because of the two face-down cards that his opponent had on the field, Alex wasn't sure if he could get the attack through even if he wanted too. He needed to get rid of all of Takato's cards and luckily, he had just the way to do it.

"It's my turn now," He said as he prepared himself. "I Draw!"

After drawing the top card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Alex got underway and kicked off his plan by grabbing one card and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. Once he did that, he watched as another flash of light started shining across his side of the field.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Dragunity Partisan, in Attack Mode!"

**Dragunity Partisan: ATK 1200 DEF 800 LVL 2**

When the light that was shining on his field started to fade away, Alex watched as his Dragunity Partisan materialized before him and stood by Thunder Spark Dragon. Once the Tuner was out, Alex then grabbed another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When that happened, several shining lights started glittering across the field.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Thunder Force! With this card, since Thunder Spark Dragon is on the field, I can take 2 Light Attribute Monsters in my deck and use them as Overlay Units for my Number!"

Pulling out his deck once again, Alex searched through all of his cards until he found two Light Attribute Monsters. Once he pulled them out, he quickly reshuffled the rest of his cards before inserting them back into his Duel Disk. After he did that, Alex placed the two Light monsters that he selected under his Number Card, causing 2 more Overlay Units to appear and circle around Thunder Spark. This act caused the total Overlay Units in Thunder Spark's possession to increase from 3 to 5.

"I now activate Thunder Spark Dragon's Special Ability!" Alex shouted as he watched his monster begin devouring its Overlay Units. "By using all 5 of its Overlay Units, Thunder Spark can destroy all the cards that are on your side of the field!"

Shocked by this news, Takato looked on in disbelief as he watched Thunder Spark Dragon fire several lighting blasts towards each of the cards that were on his field. When the lighting hit their targets, all of them were completely disintegrated, including Constellar Omega. After the attack came to an end, Takato's field was left completely empty, making him an easy target for both of Alex's monsters.

"I think it's time we ended this game, don't you agree?" The Dragunity Knight asked. "Thunder Spark Dragon, attack his Life Points directly…Lightning Strike!"

Nodding its head in compliance, Thunder Spark Dragon fired a massive blast of electrical power towards Takato. When the blast struck the thug, everyone watched as the force of the attack caused him to fly backwards into a pile of trash cans. Once the attack came to an end and Takato was struggling to get back to his feet, the thug's Life Point gauge was beginning to drop significantly.

**Takato: 900 LP**

"Whoa…" Ryan said in an awestruck tone. "Amazing…"

Both Ryan and Stacey were at a loss for words after witnessing what just happened. Neither of them believed that Alex would be this good nor did they believe that he would be just one attack away from winning the Duel. Their surprise was understandable, since both knew just how strong Takato was. However, upon realizing just how close he was to losing, neither of them complained and prepared themselves for the final attack.

Unfortunately for the two of them, Takato wasn't about to go down that easily. As he rose back up to his feet, the thug admitted to himself that he had underestimated Alex's skills. Despite that though, that didn't mean he wasn't prepared for his strategy and he proved that by removing one of the cards that was in his card Graveyard.

"Thanks for destroying my cards," He said with a smug smile on his face. "Because by doing that, you unknowingly activated my Trap Card: Light Source! This card can only be activated from the Graveyard, after I've dealt a Direct Attack. Now, I can Special Summon from my hand a Light Attribute Monster whose Attack Points are equal to or less than the damage I just took!"

Looking over all his cards, Takato quickly found the monster that he wanted to Special Summon onto the field and placed its card firmly onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, another flash of light appeared on his side of the field.

"I Special Summon: Alexandrite Dragon!"

**Alexandrite Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 100 LVL 4**

When the light on Takato's field started to fade away, a beautiful dragon with diamond scales appeared before him. As the dragon roared, Alex gritted his teeth slightly as he didn't expect that his opponent would use his Direct Attack against him. However, despite the fact that he could no longer attack him directly, Alex wasn't about to end this turn on a low note. To that end, he took a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. This caused a face-down card to materialize onto the field, right behind Dragunity Partisan.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said.

"Good," Takato replied. "Now it's time for me to make a spectacular comeback, I Draw!"

Not wanting to lose any momentum, Takato quickly drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand. After that, he then took about 10 seconds to look over all of his cards before grabbing one and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"First, I think I'll Normal Summon: Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, in Attack Mode!"

**Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

As the light faded away, a new Lightsworn monster quickly made its presence felt on Takato's side of the field. This one, Lumina, had short blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing roman robes, similar to the other Lightsworn monsters that came before her. Also, like Lyla, Lumina specialized with magic as her hands were covered in a powerful magical aura.

Once his beautiful monster was on the field, Takato continued on with his turn by taking the card that he drew at the beginning of the turn and placing it into his Graveyard. When he did that, Lumina took her hands and started making special hand signs with them. As soon as she finished, the Lightsworn monster started chanting something, just as her body started to glow.

"I now activate Lumina's Special Ability," Takato declared. "Once per turn, by discarding one card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Lightsworn monster from my Graveyard!"

Knowing which monster he wanted to summon, Takato immediately grabbed it from his Graveyard and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, Lumina finished her chant and soon raised both of her hands into the air. This action caused a bright purple light to appear on Takato's side of the field.

"I Special Summon the Tuner Monster: Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn!"

**Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn: ATK 1700 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

When the light that Lumina created started to fade away, everyone watched as a new Lightsworn monster materialized onto the field. This new one, Raiden, was the only one of Takato's Lightsworn monsters that was male. He was dressed in an Arabian attire and was wielding a special curved shaped sword in his left hand. Both Ryan and Stacey were impressed by this new monster, but they wouldn't get to see it for long as Takato took both its and Lumina's cards and placed them into the Graveyard.

"I Tune my Level 3 Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner with my Level 4 Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn!"

The two Lightsworn monsters nodded their heads in response to Takato's declaration and quickly jumped high into the air. As they did, Raiden quickly transformed himself into 4 green rings and placed each of them around Lumina, who soon changed into 3 white stars. After that happened, a giant flash of light completely surrounded Takato's field, just as he took a card from his Extra Deck and placed onto his Monster Card Zone.

"As the heavens open up, the guardian emerges to strike down all of his enemies! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn!"

**Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn: ATK 2600 DEF 2000 LVL 7**

When the light on Takato's field vanished, Alex looked high into the sky and watched as man dressed in knight armor and was riding a giant white dragon, was flying down towards him. As it landed on the ground, the dragon released an ear shattering roar that managed to destroy some of the glass windows that were near the area. The sight of the creature and its knight amazed Alex, but it also annoyed him at the same time.

Throughout this Duel, the Dragunity Knight assumed that Takato's strategy revolved around him bringing forth Judgment Dragon. However, because of this turn of events, that was no longer the case. Now, Alex had to deal with a monster that he had absolutely no idea about, which in turn would only make this Duel even tougher.

As for Takato, the thug leader was quite pleased that he was able to bring forth his Ace Monster after what happened during Alex's last turn. Now, with Michael on the field, he felt that his victory was all but assured. But, before he did anything else, he knew that there was one more thing he had to do. As a result, Takato took one of the two remaining cards that made up his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Since I successfully brought out a Lightsworn Synchro Monster, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell: Healing Light!" Takato explained. "With it, I regain 1000 of my Life Points!"

At the instant Takato finished that explanation, a white aura illuminated his entire body. As his body continued to glow, the effect of Takato's Spell increase his Life Points by 1000.

**Takato: 1900 LP**

"Alright…now I think it's a good time to activate Michael's Special Ability, don't you agree?" Takato sarcastically asked Alex. "By just giving up 1000 of my Life Point, Michael can banish one card that you currently have on the field. I think I'll choose…your beloved Thunder Spark Dragon!"

**Takato: 900 LP**

While Takato's Life Points started to drop again, Michael raised the sword that he was holding high into the air and directed it towards Thunder Spark Dragon. Once he did that, the dragon that he was riding fired a powerful blast of light energy towards the Number, causing its body to begin fading away. Although Thunder Spark tried its best to stay on the field, it simply wasn't strong enough and it soon found itself vanishing completely.

Once Thunder Spark Dragon was gone, Michael quickly turned its attention towards Alex's other monster, Dragunity Partisan. However, before it could make a move, Takato raised his hand into the air and stopped him. The thug then turned his focus towards Alexandrite Dragon, who seemed anxious to get onto the battlefield.

"Alright Alexandrite Dragon," He said. "It's time for you to show that fool what you're made of. Go and attack his Dragunity Partisan…Diamond Storm!"

Opening its mouth in response to Takato's command, Alexandrite Dragon fired a barrage of diamonds at Dragunity Partisan. Although the Tuner Monster managed to avoid some of them, it simply wasn't fast enough to avoid them all. As a result, Partisan was soon shot down and destroyed, costing Alex 800 of his Life Points.

**Alex: 2800 LP**

With his only other monster now destroyed, Alex was all alone as he was about face-off against Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn. However, despite what was about to happened, the Dragunity Knight wasn't afraid at all. He was able to maintain his cool, which only ended up annoying Takato greatly. Upon seeing the unimpressive look on Alex's face, the thug decided to make him pay having Michael deal him a massive amount of damage.

"Michael!" He yelled. "Attack that bastard's Life Points directly…Heaven's Force!"

Michael quickly went along with his master's command and had his dragon fire a massive gust of wind towards Alex. When the wind struck him, the Dragunity Knight was sent flying backwards until he hit the brick wall that was behind him, causing a massive crater to appear. After the attack ended, Alex fell to the ground as his Life Points started to drop again.

**Alex: 200 LP**

Upon seeing what happened to Alex, both Ryan and Stacey rushed over towards him while Takato simply laughed as he continued on with his turn. Although he believed that the Duel was already his, he decided to make his opponent suffer, just in case he wanted to launch an attack. With that, Takato took the last card in his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, a face-down card materialized right behind Alexandrite Dragon.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "It's your move…or are you too weak to do anything!"

As Takato continued laughing at the helpless state that Alex seemed to be in, Ryan was beginning to feel extremely furious. Even though he never asked him to, Alex went out of his way to help him save Stacey. Although he was slightly humiliated by the fact that someone had to fight his battle, he was still very grateful to Alex regardless. Eventually, this prompted Ryan to stand up for Alex in the same way that he stood up for him.

"You're wrong about him!" He yelled. "If anyone's weak, it's you!"

"What was that, you little s**t?!" Takato asked, angered by what Ryan just said. "I couldn't quite hear you!"

"You heard me!" Ryan started shaking as his fear was starting to overwhelm him. However, he remained standing didn't let his emotion overcome him. "You're nothing but a bully who only pretends to be strong. You know what that makes you…a Coward!"

Irritated by what Ryan, insignificant fly, just said to him, Takato was about to make his way over to the fool and beat him to death. Once he did that, he was then going to make his way over to Stacey and punish her for leaving him. However, before he could take a single step, something happened that shocked Takato immensely. And when both Ryan and Stacey turned around and saw the same thing, they were equally as shocked.

Although he was indeed shaken up by that last attack, Alex was able to get back on his feet. Not only that, but he seemed ready for anything else that Takato had to throw at him. The thought of that brought a small smile on his face, much to the surprise to everyone else. Before Alex got ready to begin his turn, he turned his attention towards Ryan for a moment and gently placed his hand upon his shoulder.

"Thanks for the kind words," He said with a small smile. "I'll make sure to prove you right."

"…Right," Ryan replied, nodding his head.

After this short exchange was done, Ryan returned to Stacey's side while Alex got ready to begin his turn. As he stared at all the cards that were left on the field, the Dragunity Knight took notice of the face-down card that was still on his field. Knowing that he would need another card in order to make the most of it, he decided to place his hopes on his next draw.

"Let's do this," He said to himself. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Using all of his will, Alex swiftly drew the top card from his deck. Upon taking a look at it, a small smirk appeared on his face as he had successfully drew the card that he needed. However, before he could use it, there was still one more thing that he had to do. As a result, the Dragunity Knight took another card from his hand and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"First, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Kid Icarus, in Attack Mode!"

**Kid Icarus: ATK 1400 DEF 600 LVL 4**

As a bright light shined across Alex's field for a few moments, everyone watched as a little boy wearing white Roman robes appeared before him. He had short brown hair, blue eyes, and had a pair of angel wings attached to his back. Also, Kid Icarus was also carrying a golden bow in his left hand.

Once the little Tuner Monster was on his field, Alex proceeded to take the card that he just drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When the card materialized itself onto his side of the field, it was positioned right next to Alex's other face-down card.

"I then set one card face-down and end my turn."

After Alex had ended his turn, Takato was wondering what his opponent was up as he prepared to begin his. He couldn't understand why he would summon a weak Tuner Monster on the field in Attack Mode, especially since he had no other monster on the field to Tune it with. The thug thought about this for a few moments, but he decided to forget about it as he needed to focus on destroying Alex's pathetic monster and winning himself this Duel. As a result, Takato placed his hand upon his deck.

"Let's end this farce," He said. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Takato swiftly drew the top card from his deck and put it away as he believed that he wouldn't need it. He then turned his attention towards Kid Icarus, intending to destroy it and finally end this Duel.

"Go Michael, attack his pathetic monster make this fool regret that he ever challenged me…Heaven's Force!"

Once again, Michael prepared himself for battle by having his dragon fire another powerful gust of wind towards Alex's side of the field. However, before the attack landed, the Dragunity Knight responded by activating one of his turn face-down cards. When he did, a bright flash of light shined across his side of the field.

"Not so fast!" Alex yelled. "I activate the Trap Card: Synchro Material! With it, I can use one of the monsters on your field with one on my field in order to perform a Synchro Summon!"

"What good will that card do you, fool?!" Takato asked. "You can't perform a Synchro Summoning during my turn!"

"That's where you're wrong?" Alex responded to Takato's statement by activating his second face-down card. "I can perform a Synchro Summoning, thanks to the power of the Trap Card: Urgent Tuning! This card allows me to perform a Synchro Summoning during the Battle Phase, regardless of whose turn it is. So…I Tune your Level 4 Alexandrite Dragon with my Level 4 Kid Icarus!"

As soon as Alex finished explaining the effect of his two Trap Cards, both he and Takato watched as both Kid Icarus and Alexandrite Dragon flew into the air and prepared themselves for a Synchro Summoning. As they conducted the ritual, Alex slowly picked up a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. This act not only caused a giant beam of light to shine across his field, but it also caused his Dragunity Knight Mark to glow for a moment.

"The winds and storms come alive to signal this beast's arrival. Strike lightning in the name of justice! Synchro Summon! Burst through, Thunder Tempest Dragon!"

**Thunder Tempest Dragon: ATK 2700 DEF 2300 LVL 8**

At the very instant Alex finished his chant, dark holographic clouds suddenly appeared across the field. From it, a powerful dragon with gold and green scales suddenly emerged and stood by Alex's side. Upon landing on the ground, the dragon released a powerful roar, causing a small lightning storm to suddenly surround the entire Dueling field.

As more and more lightning continued strike down everyone, Takato had no idea what to make of Thunder Tempest Dragon. Its golden scales, emerald green eyes, and falcon-like talons make it nothing like he's never seen before. Not only that, but since its Attack Points surpassed that of his own monster, Takato couldn't attack it. The thug also couldn't use Michael's Special Ability since he didn't have enough Life Points to do so. There was absolutely nothing he could do this turn and because of that, he had to end it.

"I…I end my turn."

"Awesome," Alex said with a smile. "Then it's my move again, Draw!"

After drawing the top card from his deck, Alex prepared himself to begin his Battle Phase. As he did so, the lightning Thunder Tempest Dragon was creating soon started to surround its body, granting it more power as it got ready to make its move against Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn.

"Go Tempest!" Alex called. "Take down Michael, the Arch-Lightning…Lightning Blast!"

"Not…not so fast, you little bitch!" Takato countered. "I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Force! With it, since your monster just declared an attack, I can now destroy all the monsters you currently control in Attack Mode. So…say goodbye to Thunder Tempest Dragon!"

Thunder Tempest quickly used the electricity that it built up to fire a concentrated blast of electrical energy towards Michael. However, before the attack hit its target, Takato's Mirror Force Trap took effect and created a magical barrier to protect his monster. However, before the powerful mirror could send the attack back, Alex countered by taking the card he just drew and placing it into his Graveyard.

"I'm not saying goodbye to anyone," He said. "I activate Thunder Tempest Dragon's Special Ability. Once per turn, by discarding a card from my hand, I can negate the activation of a card that destroys another card and destroy it!"

While Thunder Tempest Dragon's electrical attack continued to strike the mirror, the powerful Synchro Monster used the scales on its back to create a green electrical attack, which it used to destroy the mirror. However, before Thunder Tempest's regular attack connected, Alex proceeded to insert the final card in his hand into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, since a Wind Attribute Monster I control is conducting an attack, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell: Phantom Hurricane! Through this card's effect, I can increase Thunder Tempest Dragon's Attack Points by its Level, multiplied by 100 Points. Thunder Tempest is a Level 8 monster, which means it gains 800 extra Attack Points!"

**Thunder Tempest Dragon: ATK 3500**

Once Alex finished explaining the effect of his Spell, a powerful hurricane suddenly appeared and surrounded both Duelists. Using it to its advantage, Thunder Tempest was able to increase the power of its attack and was able to instantly destroy Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn. When this happened, a giant explosion occurred across Takato's side of the field, sending him flying again as he lost the rest of his Life Points.

**Takato: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>As soon as Takato's Life Points hit zero, all the holograms from the Duel started to disappear. However, before they did, Thunder Tempest Dragon turned around and looked towards Alex. The two of them remained silent for a moment, since they didn't need to actually speak in order to communicate their feelings. After a while, Thunder Tempest let out one last roar before finally disappearing with the other holograms. When that happened, Alex smiled to himself before deactivating his Duel Disk.<p>

After he did that, Alex turned around and began making his way back towards Ryan and Stacey, who were both amazed that he was able to win against Takato. However, before he could get to close, something unexpected happened. Takato, who everyone thought was too stunned to even more, suddenly got up and ran past Alex. He then pulled out a small knife as he began making his way towards Stacey.

"If you're not going to be my girl…then no one can!"

Realizing that Takato had seemingly lost his mind after his defeat, Alex knew that he had to act quickly if he wanted to protect Stacey from being harmed. With the help of his Dragunity Knight Powers, Alex could knock Takato out just like he did with the rest of his friends and was about to do just that. However, before he got the chance to do so, Alex stopped as he saw something happen that was even more shocking.

Taking inspiration from how Alex stood up for him, Ryan decided to step up and quickly got in front of Stacey in order to protect her. He then grabbed Takato's knife and was able to knock it way, despite cutting his hand a little. Once that happened, the young man was able to knock out the thug with a couple of strong punches to head and once swift kick to the stomach.

Once that confrontation was over, Ryan started grabbing his injured hand as the adrenaline from the fight was wearing off and he was starting to feel pain again. As he did so, Stacey quickly made her way over to him and quickly wrapped his hand with a small cloth that she had on her. Once she finished, Stacey wrapped her arms around her boyfriend, grateful for him for what he did.

"Thank you Ryan," She said with tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much."

"But…I didn't do anything," Ryan replied. "All I did was stand around."

Even though he did protect Stacey from Takato just now, Ryan didn't feel like the hero she was perceiving him to be. Like he said, all he did was stand around and watch Alex Duel. As a matter of fact, the young man believed that if Takato hadn't come to help him when he did, then there was a very good chance that he wouldn't even be here right now. Those thoughts made him feel really bad and it was making him wonder if he truly deserved to propose to his love, like he was going to do. However, before he could say anything else, Alex suddenly walked up to the both of them.

"Don't count yourself short," He told him. "Even if you didn't help me out during the Duel, just being there for the one you love is more than enough. The fact that you came holds a lot of merit and, as you see, Stacey knows that too."

As he thought about what he just said, Alex started thinking Amara and how she would think of him just now. Although he did wrong by her by leaving without giving her a proper explanation, he only did it for her protection. Also, Amara always loved the fact that he helped people and the fact that he did so now would make her proud. Those thoughts made him feel a lot better about himself, allowing him to get over the issues that plagued him before.

"You two deserve each other," He continued. "Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?" Stacey asked.

"That you'll always be there for one another and support each other, even when things look there darkest. Trust me, that will only make your love even stronger."

Ryan and Stacey looked at one another for a moment and realized that what Alex just said was right. This made both of them feel a lot better, especially the former, and they both agreed to stay true to Alex's promise.

Once that was settled, Alex decided that now was a good time for him to head back home and proceeded to make his way back towards his Duel Runner. However, just as he got on it and placed his helmet upon his head, both Ryan and Stacey made their way back up to him. This led to Ryan thanking with a firm handshake while Stacey thanked him with a soft kiss to the cheek. Both of those things made the Dragunity Knight and he proceeded to nod at the both of them before starting up his Runner.

"One last thing," Ryan said to him. "I never asked for you name."

"It's Alex. My name is Alex McQueen."

Once he said that, Alex left for his underground home. As he did, both Ryan and Stacey instantly realized who he was and surprised that the Underground Duel King came out of his way to help the both of them. This only made them even more appreciative for what he did and they vowed to keep the promise they made with him. The both of them were eventually able to keep that promise 1 month later, when Ryan and Stacey finally got married and lived happily ever after.

Meanwhile, after making his way back home to his underground hideout, Alex made his way back to his room and looked at the picture of both him and Amara. As he continued to look, another smile appeared on his face just as Sona appeared and entered his room.

"So," She said. "Do you feel any better?"

Alex remained stayed silent for a moment as he thought about her question. Even though he felt bad about what happened with his father and how it affected both him and Takashi, he wasn't going to let that stop him. As long as he had the support of his friends and his love for Amara, everything would turn out alright in the end.

"Yeah…I feel much better now."

As that was going on, in another section of New Domino City, a young woman was busy sitting on a Duel Runner while looking at a photograph. The photo in question was the same one that Alex had of himself and Amara. The young woman continued staring at it for about another minute before eventually removing her helmet from her head. As she did, it was shown that the woman was none other than Alex's former girlfriend; Amara.

"I'll find you Alex," She said as stared at the picture. "I'll find you…no matter what it takes."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_In the 10 months since she first became friends with Takashi and the others, there was one day that Akiza Izinski has been dreading; her birthday. As the day always seems to end badly for her, the beautiful Psychic Duelist wants to spend it alone so that nothing will happen. However, when her friends find this out, they attempt to everything within their power to make Akiza's 18__th__ birthday her best one yet._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 97 – The Birthday Date_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a quick announcement._

_First off, I want to thank all of you for being patient with me as you await the anticipated match between Takashi and Alistair. I'm currently deciding what type of Duel it will be and how to go about writing. I've received a lot of ideas for you all and I've been taken them under consideration. _

_Hopefully, if things go well, I want to start the Title Match after the next 4 chapters, which means it begin around Chapter 101. Until then please continue Over the Nexus as a certain event will take place that I know a lot of you have been waiting for._

_Second, I want to inform you all that I'm getting ready to begin my Pokémon fanfic again. So, in support of that series, please take a moment of your time to look it over and give me your thoughts on it. Your opinions really mean a lot to me._

_Well, that's it for now. Until Next Time, please continue to read and review Over the Nexus. This is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	97. Chapter 97

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 97: **_The Birthday Date_

* * *

><p>Out of the 365 days in the year, there is usually one day that people have circled around their calendars. Whether that day is Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines, or just any other day, it holds a special place in their hearts and for the most part, they can't wait for it to come. However, out of the residents that live in Poppo Time, there's one individual who wants to everything within her power to avoid that particular day. That person was none other than the Rose Duelist; Akiza Izinski.<p>

It's been almost a year since Akiza became friends with Takashi and the others and during that time, the young woman has grown to greatly appreciate the life that she has now. No longer tied down by her hatred, she's now able to embrace the good things in life and has become a much better person as a result. In fact, it's because of all the good things that have happened to her that Akiza was able to do something that she's thought was impossible for her; fall in love. However, even though her life was much better now, Akiza was still sometimes burdened by her rough past.

Sometimes, when she was all by herself, Akiza would think back to her time at the Arcadia Movement, specifically when she was known by her other identity; the Black Rose Witch. Just thinking about how she hurt so many people was sometimes so devastating that she would cry herself to sleep. Even though she rarely killed anyone, unless those individuals got in the way of her objectives, the fact that she could still bothered her greatly.

Akiza would sometimes wonder why her early beginnings turned out the way they did, only to quickly remember what happened to her and the day the event took place. It's because of that event that Akiza usually dreaded that day and would do everything within her power to avoid it. However, much like the way she used to view the world, Akiza would soon gain a new outlook on that particular day, an outlook that would change her life forever.

Right now, as the day of July 16th was beginning to end, Akiza was currently helping Lilly and the others as they work on a new engine for Takashi's Duel Runner. With his Duel against Alistair coming up in a couple of days, the group wanted to make sure that his Duel Runner was in working order. So, after following the plans that Misaki created just a couple of days prior, everyone got to work on making a new engine for their friend.

Although she was the least experienced when it came to Duel Runners, and Turbo Dueling in general, Akiza was still fascinated by it all. She couldn't quite explain it, but the Psychic Duelist was instantly enamored when she first saw Takashi participate in a Turbo Duel. At first, she believed that it was because of her crush on Takashi that was the reason why she liked it, but after thinking about it she realized it was much more to it than that. At any case, Akiza was now a fan of Turbo Dueling and she wanted to help make her love's Duel Runner the best that it could possibly be before his upcoming title match.

Unfortunately for Akiza though, her mind was distracted on other things. As the sun outside was beginning to set over the horizon, the young woman realized that the day that she was dreading was approaching at an alarming rate. The thought of it was causing her to lose her focus, which was making things a bit difficult for the rest of her friends. This eventually caught the attention of Lilly, who walked over towards Akiza and gently placed her hand upon her shoulder.

"Hey," She said, grabbing her attention. "Is everything alright? You seem a little bit out of it."

"It's…it's nothing," Akiza lied, not wanting to burden her friend with her troubles.

If Takashi Nakamura was the one Akiza was closest too, as well as the one she had fallen in love with, then Lilly Muto was the second closest. Although it took her a bit longer to realize it than Takashi, Lilly was able to see how alone Akiza was when she first met her. It was because of the loneliness that she had that drew Lilly to Akiza and as a result, the two of them were able to become fast friends. In a lot of ways, their relationship is like one between sisters, with Lilly acting as the beautiful, kind, and understanding older sister that Akiza never had before.

As the months rolled by, Akiza's appreciation of Lilly continued to grow, this was especially true since she was the first one to figure out that the Rose Duelist had a crush on Takashi. Since then, Lilly has tried her best to give Akiza enough confidence to confess her feelings and even though her attempts didn't turn out the way the both of them wanted, the two of them still grew closer as a result of them. It's because of those reasons that she didn't want to bother her sister figure with her problems, as she believed that they weren't worth her time.

As for Lilly however, the young woman was well aware that something was bothering Akiza just by looking at the expression on her face. She wanted to see what was really on her mind, but she was having a hard time trying to come up with a way to convince her to do so. Eventually, after some thinking, Lilly came up with an idea that she believed might work.

"Hey Akiza," She said. "Let's go out and spend some girl time together. I'm sure the others can handle the rest themselves, especially with Misaki running things. Well…what do you say?"

"…No thank you," Akiza replied, making her way towards her room. "I'm actually not feeling too well. I'm going to head to bed."

With that said, Akiza left the garage and began making her way to her room. Once she was inside, she closed and locked her door before lying on her bed. As she laid there, she watched her alarm clock slowly tick away, trying her best to get through today and the next day without anything happening.

While that was going on, Lilly was still trying to figure out what was going on with her friend. From the way she was acting earlier today, it was clear that she wasn't sick and that she only said that so that she could be left alone. Usually, when something like that happened to her, Lilly would just pester the person who said that until they finally confessed about what was really troubling him. However, given Akiza and her background, Lilly couldn't do that since it just meant that something was troubling her on a more personal level. This only made things more difficult for Lilly, as she didn't know how to properly handle this situation.

"Damn it," She cursed softly. "If only Takashi was here right now, he's better at this than I am. Still…I wonder what's bothering her."

"It's her birthday tomorrow,"

Shocked by the suddenly reply to her question, Lilly jumped back and looked for the person who just spoke to her. She eventually discovered that the person in question was Enoch, Akiza's colleague from her days at the Arcadia Movement. As she wondered what he was suddenly doing her, Crow and the others soon realized who just appeared in the garage and decided to join in the conversation that Enoch and Lilly were having.

"Wait a minute," Lilly said, trying to understand what was just said to her. "Tomorrow is Akiza's birthday?"

"That's right," Enoch confirmed. "She turns 18 tomorrow."

"But if that's true then why is she so upset? You're birthday is usually the happiest day of the year for most people…especially if it's your 18th birthday."

Enoch didn't reply to Lilly's question right away as he started thinking about what happened 5 years ago on Akiza's 13th birthday. During that time, both of them were still at the Arcadia Movement and Enoch had decided make her 13th birthday the best one she ever had. Unfortunately, thanks to Sayer's manipulations, that day didn't turn out the way Enoch planned and it nearly ended with his death. However, what hurt him the most was that the incident caused a massive wedge between himself and Akiza, one that would take 5 years to mend.

After he finished recalling the past, Enoch turned his attention towards all of Akiza's friends. As he looked at them all, the Psychic Duelist was reminded about how much happier Akiza has been since she became friends with everyone here. For him, it was like the Black Rose Witch that Akiza used to be was now just a distance memory. That made Enoch very happy and knew that he had her friends to thank for that. It was for this reason that he decided to tell them why Akiza doesn't like her birthday.

"Every time Akiza attempts to celebrate her birthday, it usually doesn't go the way she wants it too," He started off. "Her 5th birthday was the day she obtained her Signer Mark and developed her Psychic Powers, which she accidently used to destroy her home. Since that day, her parents and everyone else she met deemed her a monster. On her 12th birthday, Sayer manipulated Akiza and she ended up murdering both of her parents, effectively making her an orphan. And…on her 13th birthday…she nearly ended up killing me even though all I wanted was to celebrate it with her. As you can see, her birthday holds a lot of bad memories for her and that's why she doesn't want to celebrate it, since she doesn't want something to happen to you all because of her."

After Enoch finished his explanation, the others took a moment to ponder what he just said. All of them felt very bad for their friend. They knew that she had a hard time growing up, but they never knew that it was that terrible. It was no wonder why she wanted to spend her birthday alone, as it was the only way she believed that nothing would go wrong. This made some of them wonder if they should just leave alone tomorrow like she wants. However, after thinking about it some more, Lilly realized that they couldn't do that.

"No!" She proclaimed. "I understand why Akiza wants to be alone tomorrow, but that doesn't mean she should. Everyone has either done or seen something that they regret, but we can't let what happened in the past affect us here in the future. Akiza is a far better person now than she was back then and she deserves an awesome birthday party…and we're going to give it to her!"

When the others heard her say that, all of them were shocked at what she wanted all of them to do. Although they were not against the idea of giving Akiza an awesome birthday party, it would be nearly impossible to give her one now since her birthday is tomorrow. There was no way that they could prepare everything and give her presents before morning. However, despite the odds that they were facing, Lilly refused to give up.

"C'mon guys, this is our chance to show Akiza how much she means to us. If we don't do this, we'll all regret it for the rest of our lives and you know it! So, what do you say? Are you with me or not?"

As she waited for a response, Lilly took notice of all the expression that was on her friends faces. From what she could tell, none of them were against the idea, but they still had doubts whether or not they could do it in time. As she continued to look them, Lilly decided that if they chose not to participate than that's fine. She would simply take care of things herself, no matter how difficult things may be. Fortunately for Lilly though, she wouldn't have to go through it alone.

One by one, Crow and the others nodded their heads in approval to Lilly's idea and soon made their way towards her. Seeing them all go along with this brought a huge smile on her face as she knew that if they all work together, they could do anything. It also brought a smile on Enoch's face as well, as it truly solidified that Akiza had some wonderful friends to take care of her.

"We're with you Lilly," Crow said. "But what about Takashi? Shouldn't we get him in this too?"

"Don't worry about Takashi," Lilly replied. "He'll have a part to play in this. As a matter of fact…he'll have the biggest part of all."

Crow was confused by what Lilly just said and was about to question her about it. But before the Blackwing Duelist got the opportunity to do so, he watched as Lilly went into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She then opened it up and quickly used speed dial in order to come in contact with Takashi.

"Hey Takashi," She said. "I want you to listen closely to what I have to say. It's very important."

_1 hour ago_

While Lilly and the others were spending their time working on a new engine for his Duel Runner, Takashi decided to use the training somewhere else. Since his friends were busy doing something else and he couldn't contact Alex to help him, there was only one other place where he could go to train. As a result, Takashi rode a bus all the way to the other side of the city until his reached the card shop ran by his martial arts master; Izumi.

Even though he had since obtained the rank of a master himself, after defeating Izumi in a Duel, Takashi knew that he could still learn a couple of things from his master. However, when he asked her for some training, the young man didn't expect what was going to happen. If he had known before hand, he probably wouldn't have bothered coming at all. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and he had to go through with it whether he liked it or not.

The training that Izumi had Takashi go through involved a combination of both swordsmanship and Duel Monster. Inside the card shop's dojo, Takashi was forced to fight his childhood friend, and Izumi's daughter, Suguha in a match with wooden swords. As they fought, Sig, Izumi's husband, would ask Takashi multiple Dueling situations in which he had to answer correctly. The overall purpose of this training was to improve Takashi's concentration and adaptability skills. However, if you asked him, Takashi would tell you that this training was Izumi's way of torturing him.

"Alright Takashi," Sig called. "Your opponent has a 2000 Life Points left and has a Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field. You have 100 Life Points left and on your field is Number 39: Utopia, but currently has no Overlay Units. You also have one card in your hand, but no Spell or Traps on the field. What do you do?"

If he wasn't doing anything right now, Takashi wouldn't have any problem answering this question. However, with Suguha constantly trying to hit him upside the head with her shinai, coming up with an answer was becoming rather difficult. Soon though, Takashi was able to figure out the answer and he quickly knocked Suguha off her feet before telling Sig what he came up with.

"I would first activate the effect of Xyz Agent that's currently in my Graveyard," He said. "Since Utopia is on my field, I can have Xyz Agent act as one of its Overlay Units. Once I did that, I would have Utopia attack Blue-Eyes, only to use its Special Ability to negate it afterwards. After that, I would activate the Quick-Play Spell: Double or Nothing from my hand, which doubles Utopia's Attack Points since its first attack was negated and grants it the right to attack again. With my monster's attack at 5000, Utopia attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon again. My opponent would then take 2000 points of damage and I would win the Duel."

"That's correct," Sig said with a nod. "Alright…are you ready for another one?"

"Sure he is," Suguha said as she got off the floor. "This training doesn't end until I kick his stupid ass!"

Takashi sighed quietly to himself as he watched Suguha make her way towards him again. As he used his own shinai to block her next attack, the young man was forced to pay attention to Sig's next question. This entire exchange between the 3 of them has been going on ever since he first arrived, and they only stopped whenever someone had to pee. Takashi was starting to become very exhausted, but since Izumi was watching him carefully, he couldn't bring himself to stop and thus kept on going.

Eventually, after nearly an hour of training, Izumi decided to brings things to a halt. Once she declared that, both Takashi and Suguha fell on their backs and started breathing heavily. The sight of them liked that pleased Izumi, since she knew that the only way to get the most out of training was to work yourself to the brink. After a while, both Takashi and Suguha managed to pick themselves up and Izumi had both the later and Sig leave the dojo so that she could talk to her former student. As soon as they were gone, Izumi walked over towards Takashi, who was still trying to catch his breath.

"So…it's been a while, but how does it feel to be trained by me again?" She asked him. "Does it bring back memories?"

"It…does…" Takashi answered, still breathing pretty hard. "And their memories…I didn't want…to remember."

Upon hearing him say that, Izumi started chuckling to herself as she recalled how she used to train Takashi in the past. During those times, when the both of them were living in Crash Town, the beautiful master would constantly use unorthodox training methods when it came to teaching Takashi and most of the time, they usually brought him to the edge of death. Despite that however, Izumi didn't using them as it only meant that her tactics were working. However, as for her student, Takashi hated them and he would sometimes wonder how he's still alive after what he had to go through.

As Takashi continued to ponder that, Izumi soon started thinking about something else. She recalled when Takashi and all of his friends were here and how he was closest to Akiza. Izumi thought about how he interacted with each other and soon compared it to the way Takashi interacted with Hikari. Eventually, the beautiful martial arts master concluded that between the two girls, Akiza was the one that Takashi had stronger feelings for. Upon reaching that conclusion, Izumi started thinking about something else and soon asked her former student about it.

"Takashi," She called. "I've been wondering. Have you gotten together with that Akiza girl that I met the other day? She was very pretty and it seemed to me that you two were really close."

When first heard Izumi say that, the Signer quickly widened his eyes and starting thinking about being in a relationship with Akiza. Although that thought has often appeared in his head in the past, especially in the last couple of months, Takashi simply couldn't see it happening for real. There were plenty of reasons why he thought that and it usually revolved around how Hikari died almost 7 years ago. It was that thought of that day that caused him to shake his head in disapproval.

"…No," He slowly answered. "I haven't gotten together with her."

"Why?" Izumi asked him.

"I…can't,"

"Why?"

Takashi remained silent as he thought about why he couldn't bring himself to be with Akiza. As he did so, he mind was quickly becoming flooded with images of Hikari's death. Her passing was so hard to accept and even to this day, he still has nightmares about it. Takashi swore to himself that nothing like will ever happen again, but when Akiza nearly lost her life when she fought Kuromu in the Fortune Cup, he nearly broke that promise. Even though she was able to recover, the thought of her barely clinging to life shook him to his very core and that made him doubt that he had the strength to protect her, let alone be in a relationship with her.

Even if he did have the strength, Takashi would then start to wonder if he had any right to be with Akiza. Although he told Enoch once that the decision about who she ends up with is hers alone, Takashi had doubts that she would choose him. The two of them come from completely different backgrounds and it was obvious to Takashi that he had more in common with a dog than he did with her. It was because of all those things that he felt unworthy of her affections and he soon placed his head down as a result.

"I'm just no good for her."

After Takashi said, both he and Izumi remained silent, both of them thinking about different things. Eventually, Izumi picked up the shinai that Suguha was using earlier and used it to hit Takashi in the head. As the young man held his head in pain, Izumi grabbed him by his shirt collar and glared at him.

"Listen you," She said. "I'm only going to say this once. I've seen a lot of people in my life and I've never known anyone who's cared more about others than you. Even though you're reckless, foolhardy, and clueless sometimes…you always put the happiness of others over your own. It takes a strong man to fight for himself, but an even stronger one to fight for those they care about."

Izumi released Takashi and watched him dropped to the floor. She then began making her way out of the dojo so that she could prepare dinner for her family. However, before she walked out the door, the young woman stopped for a moment. She then turned head and gave her former pupil a small smile, much to surprise.

"Takashi Nakamura…if there's one thing you are it's good. Anyone who has problem with that can talk to me."

With that said, Izumi exited the dojo and left Takashi all alone to think about what she just said. As he did, he started to hear his phone ring, which prompted him to get it from his backpack. After getting it, Takashi saw Lilly's name on the Caller ID and quickly answered it.

"Yes Lilly," He answered. "…What are you talking about? What's so important?"

* * *

><p>It's the middle of the night in New Domino City almost everyone living at Poppo Time was fast asleep, everyone except Akiza Izinski. Frightened by a terrifying nightmare that she just had, Akiza quickly sat up from her bed and started breathing heavily. As she did so, the young woman gently placed her over mouth as she tried to keep herself from either crying from what she dreamt about or vomiting after having to witness it. She soon turned her attention towards her dresser in order to see what time it is.<p>

When she saw that it was 12:17am, Akiza started to frown as she realized why she had her nightmare. Today was officially July 17th, her 18th birthday. All her negative thoughts about this terrible day in her life caused her mind to have a horrific nightmare, which caused her to feel even worse than before. She had hoped to sleep until it was the day after today, but after having that bad dream, Akiza found it practically impossible to fall asleep now. As a result, she decided to cut on the lamp to her room and get out of bed.

Upon seeing herself in the mirror, Akiza realized that she had slept in her casual clothes. Not wanting to continue wearing them, the young woman slowly grabbed her evening gown before quietly making her way into the shower. She then washed up a little, all the while trying her best to calm herself down. When she finally finished, Akiza slowly dried herself off before putting her pink evening gown, exiting the bathroom and finally making her way back to her room.

"This is just great…" She sarcastically said. "Why today have to be my birthday?"

Akiza turned her attention back to her clock and saw that only 20 minutes had passed, meaning it was now 12:37. Like always, the day was moving like it was in slow motion and she was beginning to wonder if she had the will to endure it. However, she quickly brought that thought out of her mind, knowing that complaining won't change anything about it. With that, Akiza sat in the chair that was by her dresser and spent some time looking into her mirror.

As she noticed how pathetic she looked, the Rose Duelist turned her head slightly until she came across a picture that was placed in a frame. The image that it contained was a group shot of her and all of her friends. It was taken a few months ago, back before the Fortune Cup was announced. Ever since that picture was taken, Akiza has always made sure that it was in good condition, as it meant a lot to her. However, while she did love the fact that all of her friends were in it, what she loved even more was that picture contained an image of both her and Takashi standing next to each other.

Seeing the two of them together brought a small smile on Akiza face. The two of them looked so happy, so at peace that she could hardly believe that everything that happened afterwards was true. The young woman wished she could go back to those times because she wasn't sure that, after this affair with Goodwin was over, she'd be able to. Eventually, as she focused her attention towards the image of Takashi, Akiza was reminded about how much she loved him.

"It's just so hard," She said as she gently placed her fingers on his image. "I wish I could tell you that I love you…but I never seem to have enough courage to be able too."

Akiza continued touching the photo as started thinking about the one she loved. Usually, whenever she did, she would feel a lot better about herself. However, this time, her feelings were divided. She felt that someone like her, who didn't even have the courage to confess her feelings to the one she loved, didn't deserved to be with him. That thought made Akiza sad, so much so that she decided not to think about it.

She soon decided to open one of her dresser drawers and pull out a small piece of paper and a pen. After that, Akiza grabbed a small case and opened it up, revealing a small pair of square-shaped glasses. She then placed them on her face before grabbing the pen and writing on the paper. She spent the next 30 minutes writing about her feelings, only stopping when she started to smell something.

At first, Akiza didn't know what she smelled, only that it smelt very delicious. Eventually, the smell was making her a bit hungry and although she was having doubts about it, she decided to go downstairs and find out what it was. With that, she put down her pen, put on a white coat, and cut off the lights before leaving the room. When she finally made her way downstairs into the kitchen, Akiza was surprised to see who was there.

"Takashi…?"

"Oh…hey Akiza," Takashi said, keeping his attention on the stove. "Don't mind me. I just wanted to make myself a late dinner before going to bed."

While Takashi continued to cook, Akiza was still staring at him. When he told everyone that he was going to train with Izumi today, the Rose Duelist assumed that he would be gone until morning. However, that wasn't the case at all and that made her feel a bit better. She then decided to stay with Takashi as he cook, hoping that spending time with him would get her mind off her problems.

"So…what are you making?" She asked. "It smells great."

"It's nothing special," Takashi moved the pot that was on the stove away before turning around to face her. "I'm just making some barbeque pork ramen. It's one the meals that my grandpa used to make…"

Upon turning around completely and looking at her, Takashi was surprised to see Akiza wearing glasses. Having never seen her wear them before, the young man was a bit taken back as it made her look a bit different from before.

"Wow…I didn't know you wore glasses,"

"Oh…sorry about that," Akiza said, blushing slightly. "I don't really need them, but I sometimes wear them when I'm either ready or writing. I know…I probably look pretty silly. I'll take them off now."

Akiza slowly made her way towards her glasses and was about to remove them from her face. However, before she was able to take them off, Takashi gently placed his hand upon hers, stopping them. He then smiled a little before shaking his head.

"They don't look silly at all," He said. "In fact, they look great on you. You should wear them more often."

The blush on Akiza's face grew bigger upon hearing Takashi say that to her. She then started to smile as she realized that she was right. Even though it hasn't been a minute since they've been here, Takashi has already made her feel a lot better. This prompted Akiza to gently nod her head a let out a small smile of her own.

"Okay…I will,"

Shortly after that small exchange between the two Signers, Takashi went back to work on his ramen. When he asked Akiza if she wanted some, the young woman agreed, since barbeque pork ramen was one of her favorite meals. She even elected to help him make it, which Takashi happily accepted. Once the two of them finished cooking, they both grabbed bowels and started eating.

As they did, Takashi spent a lot of time looking at Akiza as she ate her food. He soon started thinking about the conversation that he had with Lilly over the phone. Takashi wondered if what she told him was a good idea, but also admitted to himself that Lilly made a lot of good points. He soon decided to talk to Akiza about it, since it was ultimately her decision to make.

"Hey Akiza," He started off. "The guys said it'll be a least another day before the engine for my Runner is ready. I decided to use that day to go out and see the city. So, if you want, would you like to come with me?"

Upon hearing him ask her that, Akiza immediately stopped eating and looked at Takashi with a shocked expression on her face. He'd never ask her out before and was surprised that he did so now of all times. At first, Akiza was extremely delighted and was about to jump at the chance to say yes. However, after remembering what day it is and how much bad luck she has on this day, the Rose Duelist was beginning to have second thoughts.

As she contemplated whether or not to accept, Takashi looked at her and saw how conflicted Akiza was feeling. He'd never liked seeing her like that, but he knew why she did so, after learning about it from Lilly. Soon, Akiza lifted her head towards him and Takashi listened closely to what she had to say.

"Takashi…" She said. "I never told anyone this…but today is my 18th birthday."

"Really…?" Takashi asked, pretending that he didn't know. "That's great Akiza. Now we definitely have to go out. I want to give you the best day possible."

"You don't understand Takashi. I don't like celebrating my birthday. Whenever I do, something bad either happens to me or the people that are around me. I don't want that to happen, especially after becoming friends with you and the others."

Akiza placed her head down a little as she waited for Takashi to reply to her response. Although she really wanted to go out and spend time with Takashi, she was just too to do it. If something were to happen to him because of her, Akiza wouldn't be able to forgive herself. She'd started to wonder if Takashi would understand that and decide to call their day off. However, it was just the opposite.

"Listen Akiza…I know how you feel. Whenever the anniversary of Hikari's death comes around, I usually want to spend the day by myself too. However, when you're sad about something, that's when you need to be by your friends the most."

Takashi gently placed his hand on Akiza's and watched as she looked at him. The two of them stared at each other silently, looking into each other's eyes. Soon Takashi grabbed Akiza's hand with both of his and held them gently.

"All of your birthdays so far have been miserable for you…but I want to be the one who changes that. That is…if you'll let me."

Akiza kept quiet as she thought about what Takashi just said to her, all the while letting him continue to hold her hand. She started remembering how all of her birthdays ended with her either unhappy or alone. A part of her wondered if they same thing will happen again, but she also started to wonder if things for her would've turned out differently if Takashi was with her all those times. It was that thought that brought Akiza to her decision.

"Okay…I accept your invitation, Takashi."

Takashi smiled happily after hearing Akiza say that and even though she was still worried, Akiza let out a smile herself. The two of them then spent the rest of their time talking about where they would go in the morning while still eating their ramen. After finished and they cleaned their dishes, Takashi walked Akiza back into her room. As soon as he watched her close the door to her, Takashi soon made his way towards his.

Once he entered Takashi walked over towards his dresser and stared at picture that was place there, the same one that Akiza was looking at in her room. As he stared at the image of her, the young recalled his conversation with Lilly a few hours ago. During their conversation, Lilly told him about Akiza's birthday and informed him that while everyone else prepared things for her party, Takashi needed to get her out of the apartment and show her a good time. However, there was something even more important that she wanted him to do during his date with Akiza.

_Takashi…when you're out with Akiza, there's one thing that you absolutely have to do. You have to tell her…that you're in love with her._

After remembering that conversation, Takashi then started to recall all the good times he had with Akiza and how she, without even knowing, was able to help him overcome Hikari's death and become stronger person as a result. It was one of the reasons why he fell in love with her, he would always be grateful to her for that. Because of that, Takashi nodded his head gently as he placed the photo back on his dresser.

"Alright…I'll tell her. I'll finally tell Akiza…that I love her."

* * *

><p>When morning came around, Lilly immediately got ready to put her plan into action. However, before she could get to work, she needed to make sure that Akiza looked her best for her date today. She had her try on several dresses, taking her time to make sure than all of them looked good on the Psychic Duelist. In the end, after some urging from Akiza, who felt embarrassed by all of this, Lilly decided to let Akiza wear her usual clothes. Still, Lilly decided to make her look a bit nicer by placing a little bit of make up on her face.<p>

Once that was settled, Lilly and the others watched as Takashi and Akiza left Poppo Time on the former's Duel Runner. As soon as she couldn't see them anymore, the young woman quickly turned her focus on making sure that everything was ready for the party later on this evening. To that end, she gave everyone specific jobs and even told them what time she wanted them completed. As she did all of those things, Lilly ran into the kitchen, grabbed a lot of ingredients from the refrigerator and started making Akiza's birthday cake.

As for Takashi and Akiza, the two of them spent some time riding throughout New Domino as they tried to figure out what to do. Even though they had that conversation last night, Akiza was still unsure about what she wanted to do, even Takashi told her that they could do anything she wanted. This indecision continued for about an hour, prompting Takashi to take Akiza to a restaurant so that they could not only get something to eat, but also talk about their plans.

Once they were seated at a table and received their meals, the two of them silently ate their food, feeling somewhat awkward. Even though both of them agreed to this, it wasn't like they had any experience when it came to things like this. This was especially true for Takashi, who's never been on a date before. However, knowing that this was for Akiza, the young man decided to get things in motion, prompting him to start a conversation.

"So…where do you want to go?" He asked her. "I'll take you anywhere you want."

"…I'm okay with anywhere," Akiza answered softly. "You can take the lead on this."

"I don't want to do that, Akiza. It's your birthday, so you should decide what we should do."

"But I don't know any fun places. You're much better at having a good time that me, Takashi. I trust your judgment."

The back and forth between the two was making things more complicated than it needed to be. No matter what Takashi tried, Akiza would simply reverse things so that he would have to make the decision for them both. This bothered him somewhat and he was starting to wonder if this was really a good idea. However, as he continued to think, he started to notice something about Akiza and decided to question her about it.

"Hey Akiza…" He said. "Are you…still afraid to go anywhere?"

"…I told you that I don't want anything to happen because of me," She told him, placing her head down a little. "I would rather have you take the lead. That way…I'm doing something that will cause you trouble."

Akiza placed her head down a little bit more as she thought about what she just said. She really didn't want anything bad to happen because of her, especially if bad happened to Takashi. Just thinking about that thought made her feel bad and she started to wonder if it was her fate to always have unhappy birthdays. But, as she continued to ponder that, Akiza noticed that Takashi grabbed her by the hand.

"Akiza…you just said that you trusted me," He reminded. "If that's true…then should trust me to trust you. No matter what you want to do…I'll support it."

Upon hearing him say that, Akiza was slightly surprised that Takashi trusted her so much, even though he knows how much bad luck she has during this day. She then started to wonder if it was really okay for to take the lead today. Eventually, after seeing the smile that was on Takashi's face, Akiza decided to do what Takashi said and allow him to trust her.

"Well…there is one place that I want to go to," She said. "If you want, we can go there."

"Sure," Takashi replied. "Let's go."

With that said, Takashi paid for the meal that both of them had before he and Akiza got back on his Duel Runner. The two of them then rode off in the direction of Akiza's destination. As they did, Takashi wondered what was this place that she wanted to go to, but he decided not to say anything as he wanted to be surprised by it. After about 30 minutes of driving, the two of them arrived at their location and when he saw where they were at, Takashi was indeed surprised.

The place that Akiza wanted to go to was New Domino's skating rink. It was a rather new establishment, having just opened up in the last 6 months. However, despite being new, it was clear that a lot people enjoyed coming, as seen when Takashi was trying to look for a place to park. As he finally found a space, he started to wonder why Akiza wanted to come to a place like this, but he decided not to question her and instead focused on making sure that she had a good time.

Upon making her way inside the skating rink, Akiza was very surprised to see so many people inside, having such a good time. Although she knew that this establishment was popular, the young woman didn't know it was that popular. The sight of that worried her a little and she was about to ask Takashi if he felt the same way. Unfortunately, just as turned herself to face him, Akiza noticed that Takashi was already asking a man at a desk for some skates, prompting her nervously go over and do the same.

By the time both of them received their skates, the two Signers walked over towards some nearby chairs and proceeded to put them on after taking off their shoes. While Takashi was able to do so quickly, Akiza was moving rather slowly. When she finally managed to put them on, she was about to slowly pick herself up, but Takashi simply grabbed her arm and quickly brought to the two of them to the rink, much to her shock. Once they were there, Akiza simply stood still and watched as Takashi started skating around the place.

Seeing him move around with ease amazed the Rose Duelist as she never suspected that Takashi was such a good skater. From her point of view, it was almost like he was gliding on air, moving so confidently as he carefully avoided the other skaters. This made her feel inadequate, although she tried her best to not show it on her face. Soon though, Takashi noticed that she wasn't skating and began making his way back over to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked her. "Is there's something the matter?"

"Uh…no," Akiza hesitantly answered. "Everything is fine…"

Not wanting to worry him, Akiza decided to start skating so that she could put Takashi at ease. However, just as she attempted to move around, the Rose Duelist was quickly starting to lose her balance and was about to fall to the ground. Fortunately for her though, Takashi was able to make his way up to her and catch her before she fell. He then looked at her closely, causing her to blush somewhat.

"Akiza…you don't know how to skate…do you?"

"…No," She silently answered. "I've seen people skating in the park...but I've never skated before. I thought you didn't know how to skate too and I thought if I brought us here…we could teach each other. Looks like I was wrong."

Akiza was embarrassed by what was happening. It hasn't been 5 minutes and things are already started off wrong. She was starting to wonder again if coming out at all was a good idea and decided to leave before she could screw anything else up. As she attempted to leave though, Akiza started losing her balance again a she simply could keep straight. Thankfully, Takashi was there to grab her again. He then slowly grabbed her by the hand and skated around with her.

"Okay then…why don't we take this one step at a time," He said with a smile. "I'll be right here, so you don't have to worry."

As he gently held her hand and skated around the rink with her, Akiza started blushing again as she started feeling the warmth from Takashi's grasp. It felt soothing and was beginning to bring back some of her confidence. This caused the Rose Duelist to smile a little bit and she silently thanked Takashi for helping her do this. After she did that, Akiza paid close attention as Takashi taught her everything he knew about skating.

Although she continued to have a hard time at first, Akiza was slowly beginning to get the hang of things as Takashi instructed her. She realized that the reason she kept falling was because she wasn't focusing on her center of gravity. Once she was able to do that, everything else was much easier and she was soon able to skate around without any help. As time passed by, she even started to enjoy herself, much to Takashi's happiness.

Eventually, as she continued to practice, Akiza was beginning to grab the attention of some of the male skaters that were in the skating rink. Being instantly attracted by her beauty, all of them made their way towards her, all offering to teach her some new moves. All of the boys were extremely attracted and Akiza would be lying to herself if she didn't find their offers somewhat tempting. However, the young woman was able to politely decline their invitations and return Takashi, the one who was originally helping her.

"Sorry about that," She said to him. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

"It's okay," Takashi told her. "You're very attractive Akiza and if there's one thing that guys like…it's an attractive girl."

Takashi was right about what he said about guys liking attractive girls, but he forgot to mention guys also tend to get very jealous when it comes to women as well. This was the case when a large and muscular young man with short black hair and brown eyes began making his way towards the both Takashi and Akiza. Following him was several other individuals, all of them had menacing looks on their faces.

By the time they reached the Signers, the young man had his friends surround Takashi so that he couldn't get in the way of what he was about to do. When Akiza saw that, Psychic was about to make her way over to him, but was soon stopped when the young man appeared in front of her. He then started looking at her with a sleazy expression on his face, which in turn caused her to look at him in a slight state of disgust.

"Um…excuse me," She said to him. "But you're in my way."

"Listen baby," The man said to her. "The name's Honda and a gorgeous girl like you deserves to be hanging out with someone…worthy."

Honda started flexing his muscles in front of Akiza, hoping to seduce her like he did with so many other girls that he met. However, Akiza wasn't impressed with him. As a matter of fact, it only made her feel more disgusted. She soon turned her focus towards Takashi, who was busy staring back at her from within the group of people that was surrounding him.

"Thanks, but no thanks," She directed Honda's attention towards Takashi, who remained perfectly calm within the crowd. "I'm currently with someone else."

Honda examined Takashi in order to see anything special about him, but couldn't find a single thing. This caused him to chuckle a little as he turned himself around and gently placed his hand upon Akiza's shoulder, grossing her out greatly.

"Sweetie, I'm going to be perfectly straight with you," Honda directed his right thumb towards Takashi and soon gave him a thumbs down. "Guys like him are a dime a dozen. Ditch him a come with me…I promise to make it worth your while."

"No,"

As Honda continued to flirt with her, Akiza was becoming more and more irritated with him. If this was any other day or place, she would simply throw him to the ground, beat up his friends and make her way back to Takashi. However, even though she really wanted to do that, Akiza knew that she couldn't. Although violence was okay in certain situations, she learned that some problems were best solved in a more civilized way. This prompted her to think up a plan in order to handle this.

Eventually, as she looked around the skating rink, Akiza noticed that one of Honda's friends was carrying a Duel Disk with him. Although she wasn't sure if it belonged to Honda himself, the device was able to give her an idea. As a result, nodded her head towards Takashi, signaling him about what she wanted to do. Getting her message, Takashi nodded his head too before easily escaping the crowd, much to their shock, and making his way to his and Akiza's things. Once he found her Duel Disk, the young man slid it across the rink and watched her pick it up.

"Listen Honda…" She told him. "I'm busy right now and you really don't want to annoy me, especially not today. So, let's have ourselves a Duel. If I win, you leave me and my friend alone."

"…Alright then," Honda agreed. "But if I win, then you have to go on a date with me."

"Deal,"

With that said, Honda quickly skated over towards the one who had his Duel Disk and forcibly took it from him. After that, both he and Akiza placed the devices on their arms, just as the others skaters decided to step back in order to make room. Once there was plenty of space, Akiza and Honda activated their respective Duel Disk and swiftly drew 5 cards from their decks.

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

**Honda: 4000 LP**

"I'll go first," Akiza said as she placed her hand on her deck. "Draw!"

Quickly drawing a card from her deck, Akiza glanced at it for a moment before gently placing it into her hand. Once she did that, the young woman examined all of her cards and carefully thought up a strategy that she believed could bring her victory. As soon as came up with the perfect one, Akiza took one card from his hand and inserted it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"To begin, I activate the Spell Card: Foolish Burial! With it, I can take one card from my deck and send it to the Graveyard."

As Honda looked at her with a confused expression on his face, Akiza took her deck out of her Duel Disk and carefully looked through all of her cards. Once she found the one that she was looking for, she put that card into her Graveyard before putting her deck back into her Duel Disk. She then pressed a button on the rose-colored device which shuffled all of her cards. After that happened, Akiza took another card from her hand and placed it face-down on her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. When she did that, it caused a horizontal face-down card to materialize itself onto her side of the field.

As soon as saw the card appear on her field, Akiza concluded her turn by taking two more cards from her hand and inserting them both into her Spell/Trap Zone. Upon doing that, two more face-down cards appeared on her side of the field, right behind her first one.

"Next, I set a monster face-down in Defense Mode and set two other cards face-down. With that, I end my turn."

Upon seeing her end her turn, Takashi thought about what kind of strategy Akiza had come up with. For as long as he's known her, Takashi knew that she was an excellent Duelist and the tactics that she came up with were almost always flawless. Expecting no different this time around, the young man simply looked at her with a small smile on his face before turning his focus over to Honda, who was preparing to begin his first turn of the Duel.

"Humph," He scoffed. "If that's all you have, this isn't going to last very long. It's my turn, I Draw!"

Honda quickly drew a card from his deck and when he glanced over towards it, a large and arrogant smile appeared on his face. He then proceeded to place the card onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone, resulting in a bright flash of light to cover a portion of his side of the field. When Takashi examined the light, the Signer noticed something very familiar about it.

"Let me show you how to make an opening move, baby," Honda told Akiza. "From my hand, I Normal Summon: Queen's Knight!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

When the light covering Honda's field started to fade away, Takashi watched as a Queen's Knight materialized onto his field. Seeing the female warrior prompted Takashi to pull his deck from his pocket and see that his own Queen's Knight was there in front of all of his other cards. After putting his cards back into his pocket, Takashi realized that if Honda had Queen's Knight in his deck, the chances were pretty high that he had the other two Royal Knight cards as well. Soon enough, he was proven right after watching Honda take a card from his deck and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Double Summon!" Honda continued. "With this card, I can perform an additional Normal Summoning this turn!"

Honda looked over all of his cards before finding the one that he was looking for. After grabbing it from his hand, Honda proceeded to place the card onto his Duel Disk, right next to Queen's Knight's card. This action also led to another flash of light to shine across Honda's side of the field.

"I now Normal Summon: King's Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**King's Knight: ATK 1600 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

When the light that was shining on Honda's field faded away, all of the spectators watched as King's Knight materialized on his field and stood next to Queen's Knight. When the two Warrior-Type monsters noticed one another, both of them nodded their heads before taking on their swords and clashing them against one another. When he saw them do that, Honda pulled a card from his deck and quickly placed it onto his Monster Card Zone. Once again, this action caused another bright flash of light to shine across his side of the field.

"When King's Knight is successfully summoned while I have Queen's Knight on the field, I can then Special Summon: Jack's Knight from my deck!"

**Jack's Knight: ATK 1900 DEF 1000 LVL 5**

Just as Honda said that, the young man watched as his Jack's Knight quickly appeared on his field and soon clashed his sword against his fellow Royal Knight's weapons. When he saw that, Honda looked over towards Akiza, expecting to see either a shocked or an impressive look on her face. Unfortunately, the Rose Duelist showed neither expression and instead looked uninterested. Seeing her like that annoyed Honda a little bit, prompting him to launch his attack.

"Alright…Queen's Knight, attack her face-down monster now!"

Queen's Knight nodded her head in compliance to Honda's order and quickly dashed over to Akiza's side of the field. Once she reached it, the warrior took her sword and slashed the face-down card in two. This caused the card to flip up and reveal its identity to everyone present. When Takashi got a good look at it, he recognized the monster as Violet Witch, a Spellcaster-Type monster who was dressed in purple and green leaves.

**Violet Witch: ATK 1100 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

"I activate Violet Witch's Special Ability!" Akiza declared as she pulled her deck out of her Duel Disk again. "When she's destroyed through battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can take a Plant-Type monster with 1500 or less Defense Points from my deck and add it to my hand."

Looking through all of her cards again, Akiza quickly found the Plant-Type monster that she wanted and quickly placed it into her hand. Once she did that, the Rose Duelist put her cards back into her Duel Disk and reshuffled them so that Honda could continue on with his turn. Given his personality, Akiza had a pretty good idea what he was going to do next and thus prepared herself for what was to come.

"I don't what kind of card you got, but I doubt it will help you," Honda said in an arrogant tone. "King's Knight, attack her Life Points directly!"

With wasting a single second, King's Knight nodded his head and quickly dashed over towards Akiza with the intent of cutting her down. However before he could do so, Akiza responded by pressing a button on her Duel Disk. When she did so, a small portal appeared on her side of the field, sucking in King's Knight. Then, from out of nowhere, another portal appeared on Honda's side of the field and suddenly spat out King's Knight.

"Sorry," Akiza said in a slight sarcastic tone. "But I activated the Trap Card: Negate Attack! With it, I was able to not only negate your monster's attack but also end your Battle Phase!"

As both portal's faded away, Honda glanced at Akiza was a slight state of irritation on his face. Normally, whenever he faced someone in a Duel, he would usually be able to deal damage on his first turn. However, that wasn't the case this time and Honda would be lying to himself if he wasn't mad about that. Despite not being able to damage Akiza though, a small smile appeared on his face as this turn of events meant that he was Dueling someone who was well worth his time doing so.

Eventually, after getting back to the Duel, Honda looked over the cards that were in his hand as he wondered what to do. Although he had some cards that he knew that he could use, Honda decided not to place them into his Duel Disk. He wanted to see what Akiza will do now that she had 3 monsters to deal with instead of just one. As a result he decided to hand things over to her.

"I end my turn," He said. "Now…show mw what you got, baby."

"Fine," Akiza replied. "I Draw!"

Akiza swiftly drew a card from her deck before deciding to put her plan into motion. With that, the Rose Duelist took a card from her deck and inserted it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, the portal to the card Graveyard materialized itself onto her side of the field.

"From my hand, I activate the Spell Card: Monster Reborn! With it, I Special Summon my Violet Witch back from the Graveyard!"

Just as Akiza said that, she watched as her Violet Witch emerged from the portal that was in front of her and stood by her side. However, the Spellcaster-Type monster wouldn't be on the field for long as Akiza quickly took its card and placed it back in her Graveyard. Once she did that, she proceeded to take another card from her hand and place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I sacrifice my Violet Witch in order to Advance Summon: Rose Tentacles, in Attack Mode!"

**Rose Tentacles: ATK 2200 DEF 1200 LVL 6**

As soon as Violet Witch reappeared on the field, it just as quickly disappeared again just as Akiza placed her card onto her Duel Disk. Once it was gone, a bright light shined across her field and from it, a giant flower-like monster appeared. Its body consisted of a large rose that hasn't bloomed yet and green-blue vines which were as long as octopus tentacles. After seeing her monster materialized before her, Akiza continued her turn by activating her other face-down card.

"I now activate the Continuous Trap Card: Ivy Shackles!" He declared.

Through the power of Akiza's Trap Card, everyone looked on in awe as several vines suddenly emerged from underneath Honda's monsters and suddenly wrapped itself around them. Each of the Royal Knights tried their best to free themselves, but they simply weren't strong enough to do so. Upon seeing that, Honda was about to question Akiza about what she just did. However, the Rose Duelist was already one step ahead of him and immediately started explaining the effect of her Trap.

"Through the power of Ivy Shackles, everyone one of your monsters will be considered Plant-Type monsters during my turn!"

As more and more vines continued to wrap around Honda's monsters, Takashi thought about Akiza's strategy and marveled about how good it was. He heard from Lilly that ever since Akiza lost to Kuromu in the Fortune Cup, she's been working on her deck so that something like that wouldn't happen again. After what she's doing right now, Takashi believed that Akiza has gotten significantly stronger and he couldn't wait to see what will happen next, especially since he knew what type of effects Rose Tentacles possessed.

"Go Rose Tentacles!" Akiza commanded. "Attack his Queen's Knight!"

Rose Tentacles silently obeyed Akiza's order and used one of its own vines to repeatedly pummel Queen's Knight. Although the beautiful warrior tried her best to overcome the beating that she was receiving, the repeated attacks were simply too much for her to overcome. As a result, Queen's Knight was eventually destroyed, resulting in Honda losing a portion of his Life Points.

**Honda: 3300 LP**

"I activate Rose Tentacles Special Ability!" Akiza followed. "When it destroys a Plant-Type monster through battle, my opponent is dealt 300 points of damage!"

Honda's eyes widen from shock as he watched several thorns suddenly appear and strike him repeatedly. As he was getting pummeled by them, the young man instantly realized why Akiza had activated Ivy Shackles Trap, so that she could use Rose Tentacles effect in order to deal him even more damage this turn.

**Honda: 3000 LP**

After all the thorns finished striking him, Honda slowly lifted himself up and waited to see what would Akiza do next, now that she finished attacking with her monster. Unfortunately for him though, that wasn't the case at all. Akiza wasn't nowhere near finished with her Battle Phase, which she was about to explain to him.

"I activate Rose Tentacles second Special Ability!" She said. "For every Plant-Type monster that my opponent controls, Rose Tentacles gains an additional attack this turn. Thanks to my Ivy Shackles Trap, both your King and Jack's Knight are considered Plant-Type monsters, allowing Rose Tentacles to attack them both!"

Once she finished her speech, Akiza watched as Rose Tentacles shifted its attention towards Honda's King's Knight. The powerful flower proceeded to constantly beat down the mighty warrior until it eventually killed him. Once that happened, several more thorns suddenly appeared and struck Honda like they did before. With the combined damaged from both the battle and Rose Tentacles Special Ability, Honda lost another 900 of his Life Points.

**Honda: 2100 LP**

After that battle was settled, Rose Tentacles soon turned its focus towards the only other monster that was left on Honda's field; Jack's Knight. As he watched the monster approach him, Jack's Knight tried its best to free itself since he knew that if he did, the effect of Ivy Shackles would no longer apply to him. Unfortunately, the noble warrior wasn't able to grab his sword in time and as a result, was soon killed after being struck by Akiza's monster. Once it left the field, a third barrage of thorns struck Honda, adding 300 points of damage to the other 300 points he received during the battle.

**Honda: 1500 LP**

As soon as Rose Tentacles saw that Honda had no more monsters on his field, the powerful flower promptly returned to Akiza's side. Afterwards, the Rose Duelist concluded her turn by taking one card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, another face-down card materialized itself right behind her monster.

"I now set one card face-down and end my turn."

When the crowd saw Akiza end her turn, every one of them was completely amazed by what she was able to do in just one turn. Not only that, but they were even more amazed that she was able to do it with only a single monster. This caused all of them give Akiza a huge round of applause as they never seen a Duelist like her be able to do all of that in person. When she saw this display, Akiza started blushing a little as she was slightly embarrassed that something like this was happening.

As Akiza continued to hide her embarrassment, Takashi simply looked at her with a sense of pride on his face. When he first saw her compete in the Fortune Cup, he was able to notice how scared she was that she was going to be Dueling in front of other people. However, she was able to overcome it wonderfully, just like she was doing right now. Although she was still trying to get used to people cheering for her, Takashi knew that will only come with time and he was happy about how far his friend has come since the moment they first meet.

Meanwhile, as this was going on, Honda was beginning to pick himself up after losing over half of his Life Points in one turn. As he looked over towards Akiza and saw her trying to keep herself from blushing, the young man was quickly becoming angry. Honda is the type of person who loves when all the attention is on himself. However, whenever the attention is focused on someone who isn't him, Honda gets pissed at person and swears to make them pay.

In truth, Honda didn't want Akiza because of her beauty, since there are plenty of other women he could effortlessly have for himself. The reason why he wanted her is because she was grabbing everyone attention, which he did not like. Honda believed that if he could make Akiza his, he could use her in order to make himself look better. However, not that she was beginning to make him look like a fool, Honda decided to drop his plan and simply focus himself on completely humiliating the Rose Duelist. To that end, he decided to get serious.

"It's my turn," He fiercely declared. "Draw!"

Bringing forth all of his willpower, Honda firmly drew the top card from on top of his deck. As he took a look at it, a large smile appeared on his face. This card was exactly what Honda needed if he wanted to not only take back this Duel from Akiza, but also take back the attention of the crowd as well. With that in mind, the young man took the card that he just drew and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Alright little girl," He told his opponent. "It's time for me to get serious. I'm activating the Spell Card: Knights of the Round Table! With it, since King's, Queen's, and Jack's Knight are in my Graveyard, I can banish them all from the Graveyard in order to perform a Fusion Summoning!"

Upon hearing him explain the effect of his powerful Spell Card, Akiza looked on with a shocked expression on her face as the spirits of all three of Honda's Royal Knights reappeared back on the field. She then watched them clash their swords before they all started to fuse together into one. While that was going on, Honda grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it firmly on his Monster Card Zone.

"Behold, the ultimate warrior that holds the highest position at the round table. Fusion Summon! Appear now, Arcana Knight Joker.

**Arcana Knight Joker: ATK 3800 DEF 2500 LVL 9**

As Honda's three knights finished fusing together, a giant flash of light shined across his entire side of the field. When it faded away, everyone looked on as the rare Arcana Knight Joker appeared onto the field and stood by Honda's side. All of the spectators were incredibly impressed that Honda had such a rare monster and some of them beginning to shift their attention away from Akiza and focus it back towards him. Takashi even admitted to himself that things would get a little bit tougher for Akiza, now that Honda had the power Arcana Knight Joker out.

Despite how some of the people in the crowd felt, Akiza was able to tone them out and focus on what was going on right in front of her. The Rose Duelist was well aware about how powerful a monster Arcana Knight Joker was. However, even though it had nearly 4000 Attack Points and that she doesn't know it other Special Abilities, Akiza wasn't going to back down. She had a plan on how to deal with Honda's new monster and she decided to put it into action right now.

"I activate the Trap Card: Leaf Storm!" She said as she pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "With it, since you just Special Summoned a monster on your field, I can banish a Plant-Type monster in my Graveyard in order to destroy your Arcana Knight Joker!"

As Akiza removed the monster that she discarded via the effect of her Foolish Burial Spell, a large number of leaves suddenly materialized onto the field and began making their way towards Arcana Knight Joker. Unfortunately, just as the leaves were about to hit their target, Honda smiled quietly to himself as he took a card from his deck and placed it into his Graveyard. Once he did that, Arcana Knight Joker drew its powerful sword from it sheath and began cutting all of the attack leaves until there wasn't a single one left.

"Sorry," Honda said sarcastically. "But I activated the Special Ability of my Arcana Knight Joker. When you activate a card effect that targets my knight, I can discard the same type of card from my hand in order to negate your card's effect!"

Akiza gritted her teeth a little upon hearing Honda's explanation, which in turn caused him to smile since he was pleased with the amount of frustration that his opponent was feeling. Honda then decided to frustrate Akiza even more, but first he needed to take care of something. To that end, he grabbed a card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now, I equip my Arcana Knight Joker with the Spell Card: Sword of Justice!" He stated. "With this card, when my knight successfully destroys a monster through battle, my opponent will take damage equal to the destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

Arcana Knight Joker grabbed its sword again and slowly lifted it high into the air. After a few seconds, the weapon started to glow like the sun as it started to change shape. Once it finished its transformation into the Sword of Justice, Arcana Knight Joker swung the weapon around a little before directing it towards Akiza's Rose Tentacles. Sensing what his knight wanted to do, Honda decided to unleash its fury on both Akiza and her monster.

"It's time," He said to himself. "Go Arcana Knight Joker, attack Rose Tentacles…Divine Sword Slash!"

Arcana acted without question and quickly made its way towards Akiza's Rose Tentacles. When it reached the powerful plant, Arcana used its new sword to quickly dispatch the rose and deal Akiza a massive amount of damage.

**Akiza: 2400 LP**

Unfortunately for Akiza, the destruction of her monster wasn't the only bad thing that was about to happen to her. Thanks to the effect of Honda's Equip Spell, the Rose Duelist was about to be dealt damaged equal to her destroyed monster's Attack Points. Preparing herself for that, Akiza covered herself as best she could before Arcana Knight Joker fired a powerful blast of electricity from its sword. When the attack struck her, Akiza tried her best to withstand the attack while her Life Point gauge started to drop again.

**Akiza: 200 LP**

Once Arcana Knight Joker finished its attack, the monster promptly returned to Honda's side of the field and awaited new instructions. As he pondered what to do next, Honda listened as most of the crowd shifted their focus completely back to him. Hearing their praise brought a giant smile on his face as he felt that things were finally back to normal. He then glanced over towards Akiza and as he watched her slowly get back up to her feet, the smile on his face only grew even bigger.

Eventually, as things were beginning to die down a little, Honda decided to continue on with his turn so that he could watch Akiza struggle with the hopeless of the situation she was in. With that, he took one of the cards that was in his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, Honda watched as a single face-down card materialized onto his side of the field, right behind Arcana Knight Joker.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Alright baby, it's your move now. Show me what you can do."

Akiza could tell right away that Honda was beginning to make fun of her. Hearing him say those things was making her very angry, so much so that she wanted to go over to him and beat him to a bloody pulp. However, before she could even think about doing so, Akiza turned herself around and saw Takashi looking at her. Even though she barely had any of her Life Points left and was facing a monster with nearly 4000 Attack Points, Takashi still had absolute faith in her victory and showed that with a compassionate smile on his face.

Just looking at Takashi's smile made Akiza feel a lot better and it also made her remember why she decided to go out with him today. Even though it was cool to have people rooting for her, it was Takashi's approval that Akiza really cared about. Seeing him cheer her on gave her the strength to continue despite the odds that she was facing. With her resolve renewed, Akiza prepared herself as she placed her hand upon her deck.

"I'll show you exactly what I can do," She told Honda. "It's my move, Draw!"

After drawing a card from her deck, the effect of Akiza's Ivy Shackles Trap Card activated again. Several green vines suddenly appeared across Honda's side of the field and wrapped around Arcana Knight Joker, turning the warrior into a Plant-Type monster. However, despite that happening, Honda wasn't worried at all since he felt that his Arcana Knight Joker was simply too powerful to defeat, regardless if it was a Plant-Type monster or a Warrior-Type monster.

Back on Akiza's field, the young woman looked at the card that she just drew before turning her attention towards the rest of her hand. With the cards she had now, Akiza believed that she could turn things back in her favor. The only problem that she was facing is getting through another one of Honda's turns, as she didn't have the means to defeat him this turn. Fortunately, she had a way to do that, she just needed to lay down some bait first.

Taking a look over towards her hand again, Akiza found exactly the type of bait that she needed and proceeded to grab two cards from her hand. She then examined both cards for a second before inserting them both into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When she did, two face-down cards materialized right in front of her.

"I set two cards face-down," She said. "I end my turn."

Upon seeing Akiza end her turn, Honda wondered what she was up to. Instead of summoning a monster and protecting her Life Points, the Rose Duelist simply placed two cards face-down, leaving herself wide open to a direct attack. At first, Honda believed that she was just giving up, but after giving it some more thought, the young man came to the conclusion that one of Akiza's face-down cards was going to be used to destroy his Arcana Knight Joker when it launches its attack. Honda also believed that Akiza's other face-down card was going to be used to help support her when she attempted to make her comeback when it's her turn again.

Although he didn't like that the fact that Akiza was trying to do something that could show him up again, Honda could tell from just these few turns that she was a great Duelist. However, despite how great she was, Honda believed that he was one step of ahead her. He then turned his focus towards the face-down card that was on his side of the field, as he believed that this one card would lead to Akiza's downfall. Not wanting to delay things any longer, Honda quickly prepared himself for what believed to be the end.

"It's my turn," He declared. "I Draw!"

Honda drew the top card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, both he and his Arcana Knight Joker turned their complete focus towards Akiza, as the young woman waited for what was to come. A large amount of tension was in the air, so much so that everyone watching the Duel stopped talking and focused themselves completely on what was about to happen. Soon, after about 2 minutes of waiting, Honda proceeded to launch his attack.

"Arcana Knight Joker, attack her Life Points directly and end this…Divine Sword Slash!"

As soon as it heard its master call out to it, Arcana Knight Joker firmly gripped its sword and dashed towards Akiza at an incredible speed. When it reached her, Joker was about to slash Akiza across her chest and win the Duel for Honda. However, not wanting to stand there and accept defeat, Akiza responded by swiftly pressing a button on her Duel Disk. This caused one of her face-down cards to activate, resulting in a powerful magic mirror suddenly appear and shield her from Joker's attack.

"I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Force!" Akiza countered. "With it, since you launched an attack, all the monsters that you currently control in Attack Mode are destroyed! This also includes your Arcana Knight Joker, whose Special Ability can only be activated when it's solely targeted by an effect…which Mirror Force doesn't do!"

"I'm well aware of that," Honda calmly replied. "That's why I'm taking the time to activate the Trap Card: Queen's Judgment! This card negates the effect of your Mirror Force and also allows me to destroy one other face-up card on your field. I choose to destroy your annoying Ivy Shackles!"

As Arcana Knight Joker continued fighting back against Akiza's Mirror Force, the spirit of Honda's Queen's Knight appeared and suddenly raised its sword in the air. In that instant, both Mirror Force and Ivy Shackles left Akiza's side of the field. However, it was at the moment that Ivy Shackles was destroyed that Akiza gently placed her hand upon her deck.

"When Ivy Shackles is destroyed via an effect, its second effect activates," She explained. "I can now draw one card my deck!"

"It doesn't matter!" Honda yelled. "Finish her off, Arcana Knight Joker!"

Arcana Knight Joker complied with Honda's order and got ready to strike Akiza again. However, before the attack landed, the Rose Duelist closed her eyes and focused herself. When she did that, Akiza was able to use her Psychic Powers to foresee the card that she was about to draw. Upon seeing it, a small smile appeared on her face as she drew the card from her deck and placed it horizontally on Monster Card Zone.

"I activate Battle Fader's Special Ability! When I'm order a direct attack, I can Special Summon this monster from my hand and end your Battle Phase!"

**Battle Fader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

Just as Arcana Knight Joker's sword was about to hit Akiza, a blinding flash of light suddenly shined across the Rose Duelist's side of the field. The light was so intense that it blinded Joker, causing it to step back and return to Honda's side of the field. Eventually, when the light faded away, Battle Fader had emerge and stood by Akiza's side.

Upon seeing the tiny creature appear before his opponent, Honda glared at Akiza with a large amount of intensity in his eyes. He was so close to achieving victory, but she managed to take that away from him. Not only that, but Akiza's sudden play allowed her to retake some of the crowd, which really annoyed Honda. He soon looked over his hand, but upon seeing that he had no worthwhile cards to play, Honda gritted her teeth before he started glaring at Akiza even more than before.

"I end my turn,"

After hearing Honda end his turn, Akiza let out a small sigh of relief, as she was relieved that she was able to get through her turn with her Life Points intact. However, the young woman knew that the Duel wasn't over yet. If she wanted to win, she had to do so now since it was very likely that she wouldn't get a second chance. With that in mind, Akiza calmed herself down before gently placing her hand back upon her deck.

"Here we go," She said to herself. "I Draw!"

Akiza swiftly drew the top card of her deck and glanced at it for a second before placing it into her hand. She then looked over all of her cards before grabbing one and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, Akiza took the remaining cards in her hand and placed them all into her Graveyard.

"To begin, I activate the Spell Card: Card Destruction! With it, both of us have to send all the cards in our to the Graveyard. After that, we then draw cards from our deck equal to the amount of cards that we just discarded."

Since Akiza had 3 cards in her hand, the effect of her Spell Card allowed her to draw three more cards from her deck. As for Honda, the young man was forced to discard two cards to the Graveyard, which in turn allowed him to draw two more cards from his deck. Once that was settled, Akiza continued on with her turn by taking one of the cards that she just drew and placing it onto her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Witch of the Black Rose!"

**Witch of the Black Rose: ATK 1700 DEF 1200 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto her Duel Disk, another small flash of light started shining across Akiza's side of the field again. When it faded away, one of her rarer Tuner Monsters, Witch of the Black Rose, appeared and proudly stood by her Battle Fader. Once she saw that, Akiza then went on to pull one of the cards that she just discarded from her Graveyard and placed it firmly upon her Monster Card Zone.

"Now, since there's a Tuner Monster on my field, I can Special Summon the Quillbolt Hedgehog I discarded from the Graveyard.

**Quillbolt Hedgehog: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

As he watched a Quillbolt Hedgehog appear on Akiza's side of the field, Takashi's eyes widen slightly as he was surprised by the appearance of the little monster. Out of all the Duels he's seen her compete in, Takashi has never seen Akiza use a Quillbolt Hedgehog before, since she usually relies on her Plant-Type monsters and the occasional Spellcaster-Type monster. He wondered what she was going to do with it, but after counting the levels of all the monsters that were on her field, the young man quickly realized what Akiza's game plan was.

"I Tune my Level 1 Battle Fader and Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog with my Level 4 Witch of the Black Rose!" Akiza declared.

All three monsters on Akiza's field instantly complied with her command by jumping high into the air. Once they reached a certain height, Witch of the Black Rose transformed into 4 green rings and wrapped itself around both Battle Fader and Quillbolt Hedgehog. When that happened, the two remaining monsters transformed into 3 bright stars, which soon caused a large explosion of light to cover the entirety of Akiza's field.

While all the spectators attempted to shield their eyes from the light, Akiza took the opportunity to grab a card from her Extra Deck and place it onto her Monster Card Zone. Once she did that, the Rose Duelist conducted the summoning chant to her favorite monster.

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the light that was covering her field faded away, Akiza watch proudly as he beloved Black Rose Dragon appeared and once again stood by her side. As it did, everyone in the crowd was impressed by the sight of the powerful dragon. Even Honda, who looked more shocked than amazed, had to admit that Black Rose Dragon looked pretty cool. However, despite the feelings they were having, it didn't change the fact that Black Rose Dragon wasn't strong enough to defeat Arcana Knight Joker. Fortunately for Akiza, she knew that he dragon didn't have to be.

"I activate Black Rose Dragon's Special Ability!" She said. "When it's successfully Synchro Summoned, Black Rose Dragon can destroy all the cards on the field! Go…Black Rose Gale!"

Black Rose Dragon nodded its head upon hearing Akiza's instruction and soon released a powerful gust of wind from its body. After that, the petals that were on Black Rose Dragon's body started to fly around, causing all the cards that were on both sides of the field to begin to wither and die. As Honda watched both Arcana Knight Joker and Black Rose Dragon scream in pain, the young man was left confused by what was going on.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked Akiza. "Why are you destroying your own monster?"

"I'm not," Akiza answered calmly.

Honda was shocked by Akiza's answer, which prompted to the Rose Duelist to activate the face-down card that was on the field before Black Rose Dragon's effect could destroy it. When she did, Akiza watched as powerful veil of purple light surrounded Black Rose Dragon's body, shielding it from the effect of its own powers.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Black Rose Veil!" She said. "When Black Rose Dragon activates its effect to destroy all the cards on the field, I can use Black Rose Veil to protect my dragon from harm!"

As Black Rose Dragon continued being shielded by Akiza's Spell Card, Arcana Knight Joker wasn't failing to well and was on the course of dying. When Honda saw this, he attempted to use his monster's Special Ability to negate Black Rose Dragon's effect. Unfortunately for Honda, he couldn't do that. Arcana Knight Joker's effect can only be activated when it's targeted by an effect, which Black Rose Dragon doesn't do since the dragon's powers affect everything, not just one monster. Also, even if it did target Arcana Knight Joker, Honda still couldn't negate it since Black Rose Dragon is a Synchro Monster and Synchro Monsters can't be discarded from the hand.

Eventually, a large explosion occurred and Arcana Knight Joker and Black Rose Dragon were caught in the blast. When the smoke faded away, Honda's monster was gone while Akiza's remained standing. Now, with her opponent's field empty, Akiza decided that now was as good a time as any to end the Duel.

"Black Rose Dragon, attack his Life Points directly…Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon shook its head just as the light that was covering its body slowly started to fade away. Once it did, the powerful Signer Dragon unleashed a stream of purple flames towards Honda. Although it was a hologram and thus harmless, Honda was still knocked by the force of the shockwave and was sent flying backwards, just as his Life Points dropped.

**Honda: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>After the Duel came to the end, Black Rose Dragon let out one last roar before its hologram faded away. While that was going on, everyone inside the skating rink remained silent as they were still surprised by what they just witnessed. Eventually, as he watched Akiza deactivate her Duel Disk and remove it from her arm, Takashi smiled at her before beginning to clap his hands. As he continued to do so, everyone else started to clapping their hands as well, praising Akiza for her amazing victory. Soon the crowd started surrounding the young woman with some of asking for an autograph while others simply asking her for a date.<p>

As Takashi watched this from a distance, the young man let out a small smile as he was happy that Akiza was getting so much attention, even if it was just for this moment. He then looked over towards Honda and watched as his friends were helping him up off the floor. It was clear from the expression on his face that he was extremely upset that Akiza had stolen his thunder again. He was about to make his way over to her, but Takashi simply skated in front o him and his friends and gave them all a very intense glare.

As Honda looked at Takashi, he suddenly felt his knees begin to buckle under him. He was becoming afraid of Takashi, which both confused him and frightened him even more. Soon enough, Honda decided to leave the skating rink before anything else happened and when he did, all of his friends quickly followed. Once he saw all of them leave, Takashi's facial expression returned to normal and he turned his attention back towards the crowd.

After about 10 minutes, Akiza was eventually able to get away from the crowd and make her way to Takashi. When she did, the young woman took a moment to put her head down so that she could catch her breath. When she raised her head and looked at him, Akiza saw a big smile on her friend's face.

"Great Duel Akiza," He said to her. "So…how do you feel?"

Akiza remained silent as she thought about what Takashi just asked her. Things have not gone the way she originally thought she would. Since today was her birthday, all she wanted to do today was stay in her room all by herself so that nothing bad will happen. But instead, the Rose Duelist found herself hanging out with Takashi in a skating rink. Not only that, but he also taught her how to skate, which made her very happy.

Even though she had to deal with a creep like Honda, she managed to take him down with the help of her Black Rose Dragon and she was even able to impress everyone in the skating rink at the same time. Nothing like this has even happened to her during her birthday and Akiza had to admit that she was surprised by it all. However, despite how she initially felt in the beginning, Akiza was very glad that she decided to come out today.

"I feel great," She said with a huge smile on her face. "I'm having a wonderful time."

"That's good," Takashi replied. "But don't think that this is the end, Akiza. We still have a lot of stuff to do today and I'm going to make sure that you have a great time through it all."

"Awesome…thanks, Takashi."

The two Signers stared at each as small blushes started to appear on their faces. Soon, both of them decided to head out and continue on with their day. Neither of them knew what else was going to happen, but they did know one thing. Regardless of what happens, today would be a day that they would never forget. To that end, both Takashi and Akiza got on the former's Duel Runner's and drove off in order to continue their day.

Meanwhile, as this was going on, someone was busy watching them for the shadows. He was dressed in black and was wearing a black Duel Runner helmet, which was effectively covering his face. His attention was focused on both Takashi and Akiza as they left the area. Out of the both of them however, he was mostly looking at Takashi and soon found himself staring a picture he had of the young man. As this mysterious individual continued to stare at the picture, he soon pulled out a small walkie-talkie and proceeded to cut it on.

"I found him," He said. "He's currently heading east. Should I bring him to you?"

"_No. Now that I know where he's going, I'll take it from here. Besides…he's the only one who knows where he might be, which means that I'm the only one who can deal with him."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Takashi and Akiza continue on with their date, the two of them are suddenly ambushed by a bunch of creeps. Not wanting to mess up Akiza's birthday, Takashi tries his best to get rid of them, but finds it somewhat difficult. Can our hero managed to solve this situation…and just who is this mysterious person who's coming after him? _

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 98: Dueling with Heart_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a few quick announcements._

_First off, I want to say thank you for helping me get over 600 reviews for Over the Nexus. I couldn't have gotten this far without your help and I'm pleased to see that most of the reviews have been very positive. I promise to continue doing my best as we now make our way towards 700._

_Secondly, I want to inform you all that my second story, Trials to Becoming a Master, is preparing to come out of hiatus. You should expect the next chapter to come out sometime this week so please take a look and write a review when you have the chance. _

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off._


	98. Chapter 98

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 98: **_Dueling with Heart_

* * *

><p>"Damn it…I had that dream again."<p>

In today's modern society, the concept of love is mixed in the eyes of a lot of people. One part of the population believe people only get together for the sake of not being alone while another part believes that it's only purpose is help populate the planet. In the end, there's no right or wrong way to define love, since not everyone is going to have the same reason. This is also true for Alex McQueen, New Domino's Underground Dueling King and leader of the Dragunity Knights. If one were to ask him what he thought about love, he would have an answer that no one else would ever come up with.

Alex believes that love is the greatest gift God has ever given to man. It helps bring people together and allow them to live peaceful lives with the ones they want to be with forever. He also believes that if people aren't with the ones they love, then their lives don't have much meaning to them. That's what Alex believes and what he'll continue to believe until the day he dies. The reason why is because he knows what it feels like to be in love and what it's like to be away from the one that he loves.

Although he doesn't believe in the concept of love at first sight, just like his cousin Takashi, Alex felt an extremely special connection from the moment he first laid eyes on Amara Flyheart. Was it her beauty, her intelligence, her personality, or perhaps a combination of all three? In the end, Alex didn't really have an answer. However, there was one thing that the Dragunity Knight did know. Alex wanted to always be with Amara and spend the rest of his life with her.

From the ages of 15 to 18, the relationship between Alex and Amara gradually evolved from that of close friends to that of romantic soul mates. The even went so far to consummate their relationship when they were 17-years-old. Even though both of them were extremely young for that sort of thing, they believed that they were fulfilling the ultimate expression of their love. Later on that evening, Alex decide to ask Amara for her hand in marriage, since he was certain that she was the one he wanted to always be with. Unfortunately for the Dragunity Knight, life had other plans for both him and his beloved.

When it became clear that the actions of his father, Rex Goodwin, was going to have negative consequences on the world, Alex knew that he had to do something. If Goodwin wasn't stopped, then Amara would always be in danger and that was something Alex couldn't let happen, no matter what anybody said or did. With that reasoning in mind, Alex did the only thing he felt he could do, even if it meant breaking his and Amara's hearts in the process.

Without even giving her an explanation, Alex broke off his relationship with Amara and left for New Domino City. To make matters worse, he didn't even tell her in person as he had Sona relay the message to Amara just before the Psychic Duelist also left for New Domino. Alex couldn't bring himself to talk to Amara in person, believing that if he did, he wouldn't be able to go through with his plan. This was something that he absolutely had to do and even though Amara would probably hate him for what he did, Alex was ready to live with that.

It's been over 3 years since that incident and for the most part, Alex has been able to cope with his break-up with Amara. Although there are times in which he regrets it, the young man simply reminds himself about why he did it and that usually gets him moving again. Not only that, but Alex also promised himself that once the Signers and the Dragunity Knights managed to foil Goodwin and his ambitions, he would go back to Amara and properly apologize for what he did. It was a promise that seemed almost impossible to keep, but Alex was determined to do so, in order to make amends with his true love.

Currently, Alex had just woken up from a nap that he was having. He knew what the real objective what the Fortune Cup was, but he was also well aware that he needed Goodwin's plan to succeed, in order to obtain the final victory over his father. To that end, he's been working on plans that he'd hope will be enough for both the Dragunity Knights and the Signers to successfully pull off. However, working so hard took his toll on him and he decided to take a quick nap in order to refresh himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to feel better as the dream he just had made him feel even exhausted than before.

Needing a quick fix of energy, Alex got up from his bed and quickly made his way to the kitchen he set up in his underground hideout. He then started fixing himself a cup of some strong coffee, which he hope will give him the pick-me-up that he needed. As he was working on that, Alex sensed a familiar Reiatsu beginning to approach him. Turning around, he saw both Sona and Enoch enter the hideout, the latter closing the door behind him once he saw that no one was following him.

"Hey…guys," Alex said, pausing in order to yawn. "What brings you all here? I wanted you all to look over Takashi and the others until after Duel King Title Match."

"We are," Sona replied. "We just came here in order to tell you something."

"Is that so? Well…what is it?"

Alex let out another yawn, this one being even louder and longer than the one he let out earlier. When Sona saw that, the beautiful Psychic Duelist could tell right away that Alex was exhausted and she had a pretty good idea why. She was about to talk to him about it, but since the subject was a private matter, she needed to have Enoch leave the room for a moment. Fortunately for her, Sona had an idea on how to do just that.

"Hey Enoch," She said. "Can you head into the back room for me? The gift that I want to give Akiza is in there."

Enoch nodded his head upon hearing Sona's request and proceeded to make his way towards the back room. As soon as she watched him leave, Sona turned his attention back towards Alex, who was just about to pass out. Realizing that, the Psychic Duelist grabbed a bucket that was on the floor and filled it with some ice water. Once she deemed it cold enough, Sona dumped the water onto Alex, waking him up instantly and causing him to grab her by her shirt collar.

"What the hell was that for, bitch?!" He yelled.

"To get you to wake up," Sona answered calmly. "Now…what's wrong with you? Did you have that dream again?"

Sona observed closely as she watched Alex's facial expression change slightly upon hearing her say that. When she saw that, the young woman sighed quietly to herself as she was correct in her assumption. Sona went on to gently place her hand upon her face before looking over at Alex again, who was busy drying himself off with a towel that he happened to have on his person.

"What's wrong with you, Alex?" She asked him. "I know that you sometimes dream about the time you broke off your relationship with Amara, but I've never seen you so stressed about it, especially lately."

"…I don't know," Alex gently placed the towel on the table in front of him. "I don't know why I'm having that dream so often now. It's like…it's trying to tell me something."

"What do you mean?"

Standing silently, Alex started thinking about the dream he had, trying his best to find some meaning behind it. Normally, the Dragunity Knight would say that the dream was a manifestation of his regret for leaving Amara the way he did. However, after thinking about it for a moment, Alex started to wonder if that was really the case. It's been three years since that time and the dreams he's been having haven't been bothering him like they were now. Something has changed and for Alex, that change felt very familiar to him.

"…I can't explain it," He told his friend. "But...for some reason, I sometimes feel that Amara is here."

"How's that possible?" Sona asked. "Why would you think Amara is in New Domino City? I fixed things so that there would be no way that she could track us down."

"I know," Alex lifted his head up and stared at the ceiling. "But my dream and the way I've been feeling lately…it's almost like Amara is here and she's contacting me somehow. I know that sounds pretty stupid…but it's the only thing that I can come up with that makes any type of sense. Maybe I'm just losing my mind…"

Sona glanced at Alex as he continued staring at the ceiling. As she did, the Psychic Duelist thought about what he said and even though it probably wouldn't make sense to most people, it did make sense to her. She knew how close Alex and Amara were, having been childhood friends with the both of them. If Alex really having a feeling that involves his love, then there was a chance, no matter how unlikely it might be, that he was right. As a result, Sona let out a small sigh before taking the nearby coffee pot, pouring the coffee into a cup and giving it to Alex.

"Listen…if it will make you feel better, I'll do some work latter and see if Amara, or anyone close to her, is in New Domino City."

"Really…?" Alex gently took the cup as he turned to face Sona, who was busy pouring a cup for herself. "You would do that?"

"Yeah…" Sona gently blew on her coffee before drinking some. "Despite what others may think, I still consider Amara to be my friend. If she's in New Domino, the least I can do is check up on her. Besides…we don't know what's coming in the future. I think it's best to find out where she is so that we can make preparations for her safety."

Sona continued drinking her coffee, all the while thinking about Amara and Alex's relationship. She was in love with Alex too, but she knew that the feelings she had were outmatched by Alex's feelings for Amara. Because of that, the Psychic believed that the best way to express her affections to the man she loved was to always be by his side and support him in whatever he wanted to accomplish. The only thing Sona Shitori really wants is Alex's happiness and if that means letting another women have him, then so be it.

"…Thank you Sona," Alex said, bowing slightly towards her.

"Don't mention it," Sona nonchalantly replied. "Anyway, now that we got that out of the way, it's time I discuss the reason why I'm here. Alex…today is Akiza's birthday and the Signers are requesting that we all give her something. I came here for your gift."

Upon hearing Sona say that, Alex put down his cup of coffee and started thinking about what to give to Akiza for her birthday. He wasn't really good at this sort of thing, but he was sure he could come up with something. Eventually, the young man decided to play it safe and he proceeded to make his way towards a metal box that he has in his closet. Once he had it in hand, Alex opened the box, revealing a large number of Duel Monster cards. After grabbing some, Alex closed the box and put it back into his closet before making his way over to Sona.

"Here," He said, handing the cards over to Sona. "It's not much, but I'm she'll like them. These cards aren't even on the market yet."

Sona examined each of the cards that Alex intended to give to Akiza. Once she finished, the young woman nodded her head and put them away in her purse. After that, Sona looked at the time and saw that it was almost 3 in the afternoon. According to what Lilly told Enoch, Akiza's party takes places sometime tonight and Sona had promised Lilly that she would help out. With that in mind, she grabbed her things and prepared to grab Enoch so that the two could head back to Poppo Time.

Before Sona left the show however, the young woman turned around and saw Alex looking down at a necklace that was around his neck. Recognizing the golden bird on it, Sona knew that necklace was the same one that Amara gave to Alex a couple of years ago. Upon seeing it, Sona let out another small sigh before lifting her head and leaving the room. As she grabbed Enoch and left, Alex continued staring at the necklace.

"Amara…I wonder how you're doing."

* * *

><p>As the sun continued shining brightly throughout all of New Domino City, Takashi Nakamura and Akiza Izinski are out on a date, in celebration for the latter's 18th birthday. Although things started off pretty slow, mostly because Akiza was afraid that something bad would happen to the both of them, everything was in working order now and Takashi was glad to see that was the case. After hearing how bad all of Akiza's previous birthdays were in the past, the young leader of the Signers was determined to make sure that this time was different. From the way things were going so far, everything was going as planned.<p>

Once the two of them finished up their time at the skating rink, Takashi asked Akiza if there was anyplace that she wanted to go to next. After some thinking, the Rose Duelist noticed an arcade in the distance and decided to head over there. Takashi agreed to take her to the arcade, even though he has a strong dislike for videogames. When they got there, both of them spent about an hour playing around, trying to see who can win the most games.

Unfortunately, while Akiza did well on each of the games she played, Takashi was having an extremely hard time. No matter what he did, he would get the lowest score in whatever game he decided to play. The sight of that frustrated him to no end and it caused him to wonder what he was doing wrong. Eventually, after losing at another game, the young man was just about to pick up the console and throw it into a wall. However, just before he could do so, Akiza suddenly appeared and decided to help him out.

Walking over towards one of the arcade's hardest fighting games, Akiza took Takashi's hand and help him move the controller around as they played. As they did, Takashi noticed very quickly that he was doing much better than before and wondered why that is. To that end, Akiza explained that the reason why Takashi is so bad at playing videogames is because he's reacting too quickly to the computer's movements. When he heard this, Takashi only became even more confused which forced Akiza to go into greater detail.

Because of his training under Izumi, Takashi was taught to react much faster than his opponent. Although this is helpful in real fight, it doesn't really do much when playing videogames since the character he's controlling can only go so fast. As a result, Takashi keeps messing up because he's reacting too quickly and isn't taking time to slow down and wait. However, with Akiza holding the controller and helping him move around better, Takashi did much better and was even able to win the game. The sight of that brought a smile upon his face, causing him to thank Akiza, who blushed a she let out a smile of her own.

After about another hour in the arcade, the two Signer left for their next destination. However, when Takashi asked Akiza where she wanted to go to next, the Rose Duelist decided to let him choose. The reason for that is because she felt it was unfair for her to keep choosing all of the places that they went to. She wanted to let Takashi have turn, believing that he would pick a nice place for the both of them. Upon hearing her explanation, Takashi took a moment to think about where they should go. Eventually, he came up with an idea and quickly brought Akiza to their next stop; a brand new card shop.

Having heard about it just the other day, Takashi wanted to head over there in order to see if they were any good cards up for sale. Seeing this as a good opportunity to do so, he brought Akiza with him to the shop and the both of them soon made their way inside. When they did, both of them were quite amazed by the inside of the shop. It had a very fancy look to it and a lot of the rarer cards were out on display in glass cases. Upon seeing all of that, Takashi and Akiza decided to split up so that they could get a good look around the place.

For the next 30 minutes, Takashi and Akiza examined all the cards and booster packs that they had for sale at the shop, carefully examining each of them in order to see if they would make a good fit in their decks. Eventually, as the continued to look over all of the cards, Akiza found a booster pack that caught her interest. Having never seen that pack before, the Rose Duelist wondered if it was brand new. After spending a few seconds thinking about it, Akiza decided to buy the pack in order to see what type of cards it contained.

After picking all the cards that they wanted to buy, Takashi and Akiza made their way to the cash register, where the former proceeded to pay for their things. Once they finished doing that, both of them made their way outside and headed for Takashi's Duel Runner. As they did, Akiza decided to open the mysterious pack of cards and went on to look through all of them. While she was doing that, Takashi glanced over to her in order to see what she was doing.

"So…did you get any good cards?" He asked.

"I guess so," Akiza answered as she continued to look through all the cards. "But most of them I already have."

For a moment, Akiza believed that the pack she received didn't have anything of real value. However, that changed when she looked at the last card that the pack contained. Having never seen it before, the young woman was quite surprised to see and went on to examine it more thoroughly. Once she finished, Akiza looked over towards Takashi for a moment, watching him look around the city as they continued to make their way over to his Duel Runner.

"This card," She thought quietly to herself. "Maybe…"

As she continued to look back and forth between Takashi and the card that she was holding, Akiza started to recall something important from about a week ago. Because of the events surrounding the Fortune Cup, she wasn't able to think it much since she was focused on her and Takashi's opponents. Eventually, Akiza forgot about them entirely since her defeat against Kuromu, since it would only work if she had won against him and met Takashi in the final round. However, now that she was alone with him, the young woman wondered whether or not she could implement her idea. After thinking about it, Akiza decided to go for broke and ask him.

"Say…Takashi…"

Before Akiza could tell Takashi what was on her mind, the Rose Duelist watched as Takashi just suddenly stopped upon reaching his Duel Runner. He was busy staring out in the distance with an intense look on his face. Worried, Akiza stared in the direction in which he was looking at and noticed a group of thugs beginning to approach them, each of whom was riding a Duel Runner of their own. Upon seeing them, Akiza hoped that they would simply ride pass them as she didn't want anything to happen to both her and Takashi today. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as all of them men stopped their Runner right in front of them.

As each of the thugs got off their respective Duel Runners, Takashi glanced over towards Akiza and saw how worried she was becoming. If this was any other day, something like this probably wouldn't bother her since she's more than capable of defending herself. However, since today was her birthday, Takashi knew that Akiza was afraid that something bad might happen. Wanting to put her at ease, the young man gently placed his hand upon hers and gave Akiza a small and comforting smile. When Akiza saw him do that, the young woman lighten up a bit, which relieved Takashi. He then turned his attention back towards the thugs, all of them beginning to walk towards them.

"Listen you guys," He said in a firm tone of voice. "I'm only going to say this once. Leave me and my friend alone…otherwise you'll leave me no choice but to get rough!"

"Why should we do that?" One of the thugs said as he began to remove his helmet. "After all…I have a score to settle with that girl over there."

Recognizing the voice of the thug that just spoke, both Takashi and Akiza watched as thug removed his helmet. When he did, both of them saw that it was Honda, the young man that Akiza defeated at the skating rink a few hours ago.

"What…what are you doing here?" Akiza asked him.

"That's a stupid question from such a pretty girl," Honda smugly stated. "I came here to get my revenge against you. No one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it."

As Honda continued making his way towards Takashi and Akiza, the two Signers watched as his friends beginning to follow suit. Although Takashi wanted to avoid any conflict, mostly because he didn't want any of Akiza's fears to come true, the young man was having a hard time keeping his anger in check. As he wondered what to do, he turned his head that Akiza was also trying to fight off the desire to rip both Honda and all of his friends in half and she was having a much harder time of it. It's because of this that Takashi realized that if he was going to do something, it had to be now.

To that end, Takashi grabbed the sword that used to belong to his father from the sheath strapped to his back and used to create a large dust cloud by swing the blade swiftly by the group. As Honda and his group started coughing, Takashi put away his weapon, grabbed Akiza by her hand, and quickly rode off with her on his Duel Runner. By the time the dust cloud cleared, Honda saw that the two of them were far off ahead, causing him and his friends to follow on their Duel Runners.

As the two groups raced across the city, Takashi realized that he wouldn't be able to lose them if things continued the way they were. Not only did have to be careful since Akiza was riding with him, but he also had to constantly move around cars and other pedestrians as well. It reached the point where he looked back and saw both Honda and two of his thugs' right on his tail. Because of that, the Signer decided to do something rather risky and take this chase somewhere else. With that, Takashi took a sharp right turn and he and Akiza soon made their way into a dark alleyway.

When Honda and his group saw this, all of them made their way into the alleyway as well and even though some of them ended up crashing because of the narrow path they were taking, most of them were fine. The sight of that bothered Takashi greatly as now had to come up with a new plan and he wasn't sure if he could formulate one in time to save both Akiza and himself. Eventually, as he continued to outrace the group behind him, Takashi soon felt Akiza's hand tapping against his right shoulder.

"Takashi…" She said. "Why are you going so slow?"

"…What are you talking about?" He replied. "I'm going as fast as I can."

"No you're not. I've seen you drive much faster than this. I know that you could ditch these guys if you really wanted to…so why aren't you?"

Akiza was right when she said that Takashi could go much faster than he currently was. What she didn't know is that reason behind all of this is all because of her. Whenever she, or anyone else is riding with Takashi on his Duel Runner, the setting of the Runner is changed so that it can't go as fast as it normally could. The reason for that is so that the individual riding with Takashi can handle sitting on the Runner without getting sick or hurt. Also, since Akiza was the one riding with him, Takashi takes special care to drive even slower than that since she is the only one out of his friends who's never had any proper training when it comes to riding Duel Runners.

Although she wasn't completely aware of that reason, Akiza had a feeling that she was the cause. That feeling made her feel bad since she was impairing Takashi, but the young woman was confident that even with her riding along with him, Takashi could still lose Honda and the others. All she needed to do was to convince him of that, which immediately decided to do.

"Listen Takashi," She told him. "I know you're concerned about me, but I also know that when push comes to shove, you'll never let anything happen to me either. I may not know much about riding Duel Runners, but I do know that you're one of the best. I trust you with my life…so please don't worry about me."

When Takashi heard Akiza say that to him, he took a moment to think about while still riding his Duel Runner. Although he was concerned about her safety, the fact that she trusts him means a lot to him. Also, if he didn't comply with her request, Takashi knew that it meant that he didn't respect Akiza enough to make her own choices. With that, the Signer let out a silently sigh before pressing a button on his Duel Runner. When he did, Akiza felt the part of the Runner that was behind her beginning to shift, making her feel somewhat cramped.

"Akiza," Takashi called. "I need you to shift your body so that most of it is sitting outside my Runner."

"What do you mean?" Akiza asked.

"The reason why I was going so slow before is because my Duel Runner wasn't in Duel Mode," Takashi explained. "Now that it is, I can go much faster. However, you're going to be in a lot of pain that if you continue sitting in the position you are now. To prevent that, you're going to have to position yourself outside the Runner, sitting horizontally to it. It may feel weird, but I'm confident that you'll make it work somehow."

Once Takashi finished his explanation, he revved the handles to his Runner and started going even faster than before. While this allowed him to lose some of thugs, it did cause Akiza a lot of back pain like he said. To prevent herself from getting seriously injured, Akiza agreed to do what Takashi said and slowly positioned herself horizontally across Takashi's Runner. Although this relieved her of the pain that she was feeling, the Psychic Duelist had to be careful or else she'll fall off the Runner. Despite that though, Akiza trusted that Takashi wouldn't let that happen and thus used one arm to hold on to the top of the Runner, confident that her beloved would keep her safe.

After Akiza successfully positioned herself, both she and Takashi rode off at great speed, moving around the alley so fast that it became hard for Honda and his group to follow. Not only that, but the way they were curving around each corner was so precise that when a couple of Honda's followers attempted to do the same, they would end up crashing into a wall. This continued for the next 3 minutes until only Takashi, Akiza, and Honda remained.

As Honda continued following them, Akiza turned around and saw the furious expression that quickly appearing on his face. The sight of him like that worried her, but her worries were completely erased when she saw the look on Takashi's face and saw how excited he was. Despite what was going on, the fact that he was now able to go all out seemed very euphoric to him, at least that's what Akiza thought. Eventually, as she continued to hold to Takashi's Duel Runner, Akiza watched as Takashi turned his Runner around and began making his way towards Honda. From the look of things, it looked like both Turbo Duelists were about to ram into each other. However, before anything could happen, something unexpected occurred.

From out of nowhere, a new Turbo Duelist suddenly appeared, coming in between both Takashi and Honda. When they saw that, Takashi firmly pressed down on the brakes and was successfully able to stop himself before he and Akiza happened to crash. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Honda, as he wasn't able to stop in time and ended up crashing into a wall, which not only rendered him unconscious, but also destroyed his Duel Runner as well.

As fire started erupting from Honda's Runner, both Takashi and Akiza looked on and wondered who this mysterious Turbo Duelist was. Most of her face was covered by the dark helmet that he was wearing and his entire was a jumpsuit with a red and white design to it. The Runner that he was riding also consisted of the same coloring as her jumpsuit, only with a gold trimming added on to it. Eventually, as the two Signers continued looking on at him, the Turbo Duelist soon turned his attention towards them.

"Nice riding skills you have there," He said, his voice being distorted by some sort of device on his helmet. "Sorry for interrupting, but I thought that it would be alright if I joined in on the fun."

"Um…no problem," Takashi hesitantly replied. "Thanks for helping us."

Takashi couldn't get a good fix on this mysterious individual. Although he was grateful that he helped him and Akiza, a part of him didn't seem to trust him due to the distortion he had to his voice. It was like had a something to hide and after everything he's experienced this year, Takashi knew that he had to be cautious of those who hid things. Eventually, Takashi decided that the best thing for him and Akiza to do right now was to leave before anything else happened to them.

"Well…thanks again," He said. "We better be going now."

"Yeah…" Akiza followed, feeling the same caution that Takashi was feeling. "Hope to see you again."

With that, Takashi revved his Runner and soon he and Akiza left the alley before anything else could happen. As they did, the mysterious Turbo Duelist remained silent for about 30 seconds before revving up his own Duel Runner. He soon started making driving up towards the Signers, catching up to them in practically no time at all. When he did, the Turbo Duelist turned his head towards the Signers before placing out his right arm.

"Oh…we'll see each other again," He said. "Sooner than you think!"

From his hand, the Turbo Duelist released a mysterious pink energy that connected itself to Takashi's Runner. At first, Takashi didn't think much of it as the energy soon disappeared just as soon as it appeared. However, that soon changed when he saw the Duel Disk on his Runner begin to activate. Upon seeing that, Takashi realized that something was up and soon confronted the mysterious Duelist about it.

"You bastard!" He yelled. "What the hell did you do to my Duel Runner?!"

"Let's just say…I did something to make sure that the two have a Duel," The Turbo Duelist explained.

"What do you mean?" Takashi asked.

"It's quite simple. You see, I just attached a Duel Anchor to your Duel Runner. With it in place, you have no choice but to face me in a Turbo Duel. If you don't or decide to stop driving…then you and your friend over there will go boom!"

Takashi and Akiza's eyes widen from shock when they heard that the former's Duel Runner will explode if he happens to stop while the Duel Anchor is still attached to it. Upon realizing what could happen to Akiza if the explosion did occur, Takashi started gritting his teeth in anger and soon glared at the Duelist with a murderous intent in his eyes.

"You son of a bitch!" He yelled. "You leave her out of this!"

"If don't want her to get hurt, then all you have to do is defeat me in our Duel," The Duelist calmly replied.

As Takashi's anger continued to get the best of him, his Signer Mark started glowing intensely as a result. Soon, as his emotions continued to consume him, Akiza started to notice that Takashi was beginning to manifest the blue aura that usually appears when he uses his Signer Powers. Remembering that she and her friends decided to keep the existence of their powers a secret from society, the young woman covered Takashi's mark with her right arm before facing the mysterious Duelist.

"Coward," She called him. "Are you so afraid of Takashi that you have to resort to such tactics? Well…it doesn't matter, anyway. He'll just have the mop the floor with you!"

Takashi turned his head towards Akiza, wondering what she was thinking. With the way she was positioned on his Runner, he wasn't sure if he could successfully Duel this opponent without having her fall off. However, upon seeing her look back at him and noticing that she still trusted him completely, the young man decided to get over his fears for the moment and focus on this fight.

"That's right," He said. "I don't know who you are, but there's no way in hell I'll let you get away of this! Get ready…because I'm going to kick your ass!"

With that said, both Takashi and the mysterious Turbo Duelist made their way to a secluded area so that they could drive without any interference. Once they reached it, both of activate the Field Spell: Speed World 2, which caused a large purple field of energy to surround not only them, but everything within a 10 mile radius.

"Let's see what you got," The Turbo Duelist told Takashi. "By the way…you can call me Heart."

"I don't give a damn who you are!" Takashi firmly replied.

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Heart: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Heart said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "I Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Heart: SPC – 1**

After drawing the top card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Heart revved up his Duel Runner and proceeded to widen the gap between himself and Takashi. Once he was certain that he was far enough away from him, Heart turned his attention towards his cards, trying to decide which one he should play first. Eventually, the mysterious Duelist found the card that he wanted to use and went on to place it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"First, I Normal Summon: Harpie Lady #1, in Attack Mode!"

**Harpie Lady #1: ATK 1300 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

Upon placing the card onto his Duel Disk, Heart watched as a bright flash of light quickly shined next to him as he drove across the track. When it faded away, he watched as a Harpie Lady with long red hair and green eyes appeared and started flying right next to him. As it did that, Heart also watched as a bright green aura covered his monster for a few seconds before it faded away.

"Thanks to Harpie Lady's Special Ability, the Attack Points of all Wind Attribute monsters are increased by 300!" He explained.

**Harpie Lady #1: ATK 1600**

Once Harpie Lady's Attack Points stopped increasing, Heart continued on with his turn by taking two more cards from his hand and inserting them both into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, both cards materialized themselves beside his Duel Runner. However, instead of remaining on the field like in a regular Duel, the two face-down cards instead faded away from the field entirely. After that, Heart believed that he was good for now and decided to hand things over to Takashi.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn," He said. "Alright…let's see what you can do,"

As Heart drove off, Takashi glared at him intensely while gripping the handles on his Duel Runner. Eventually, the Signer nodded his head slowly before taking his hand and placing it gently onto his deck. However, before he made a move, Takashi turned his head around in order to see if Akiza was okay. When he did, the young man was relieved that she was still holding tight.

"Be careful Akiza," He told her. "Things are about to get rough."

"Don't worry about me," Akiza replied as she turned her head to face him. "Just promise me that you'll blast this guy into the next dimension."

"You got it," Takashi said with a smile. He then turned his focus back towards the Duel. "Alright…it's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Heart: SPC – 2**

Upon declaring the start of his turn, Takashi swiftly drew the top card from his deck and placed it into his hand. Once he did that, the Signer looked over all of his cards in order to see which one he should use this turn. After some thinking, Takashi was able to formulate a strategy and he went on to implement it. To that end, the young man grabbed one of the cards that was in his hand and proceeded to place it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did, a bright flash of light started to shine next t him and Akiza.

"I Normal Summon: Speed Warrior, in Attack Mode!" He declared.

**Speed Warrior: ATK 900 DEF 400 LVL 2**

When the light that was shining across his field began to fade away, both Takashi and Akiza watched as Speed Warrior materialized itself onto the field. As soon as it was out, the Warrior-Type monster used the skates that were on the bottom of its feet in order to keep up with its master's Duel Runner.

"I activate Speed Warrior's Special Ability!" Takashi shouted. "On the Battle Phase in which it was successfully summoned, its Attack Points are doubled!"

**Speed Warrior: ATK 1800**

As soon as Takashi finished explaining the effect of his monster, he watched as Speed Warrior's body started glowing brightly due to its temporary power boost. Once that was finished, Takashi directed his right index finger towards Heart's Harpie Lady #1.

"Go Speed Warrior, attack Harpie Lady…Sonic Edge!"

Speed Warrior quickly complied with Takashi's order and soon began making his way towards Harpie Lady. However, just before it was able to knock the monster down with its powerful Sonic Edge attack, Heart countered the play by activating one of the two face-down cards that he set face-down on his field. When he did, a powerful shield emerged in front of Harpie Lady, causing it to take the blow from Speed Warrior's attack.

"Not so fast," Heart said. "I activate the Trap Card: Impenetrable Attack! With it, I can prevent my Harpie Lady from being destroyed through battle this turn!"

"Even if you block my Speed Warrior's attack…you still take the points difference as damage!" Takashi stated.

Just as Takashi said that, a powerful shockwave quickly made its way towards Heart. When it struck him, the mysterious Turbo Duelist started wobbling around as he tried to regain himself. As he did that, Speed Warrior returned by Takashi's side, it's Attack Points returning to their original value.

**Heart: 3800 LP**

**Speed Warrior: ATK 900**

Once all of that happened, Takashi glanced over towards his hand in order to see which card he should play next. Since he wasn't able to destroy Heart's Harpie Lady, there was a good chance that he would attack with it on his next turn. Thinking about that once again reminded him that Akiza was riding with him and that the slightest mistake could cause her to get hurt. With that in mind, Takashi knew that he had to protect himself, because doing so would also protect Akiza. To that end, the Signer grabbed one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, both he and Akiza watched as the card materialized beside them for a moment before disappearing.

"I set one card face-down," He said. "With that, I end my turn."

"Very well," Heart replied as he prepared himself. "It's my turn, I Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 3**

**Heart: SPC – 3**

As Heart drew a card from his deck and placed it into his hand, Akiza was busy observing his moments while still riding on Takashi's Duel Runner. Despite the situation that she was in, the Rose Duelist wasn't afraid at all. It wasn't just because she was with Takashi, although that was indeed part of the reason. What eased Akiza's fears was the fact this was the first time she's experienced a Turbo Duel from this point of view. Although she couldn't quite explain it, the young woman simply felt very calm and carefully watched as this Turbo Duel continued.

Meanwhile, Heart was busy planning his next move. Even though he lost 200 of his Life Points because of Takashi's recent attack, the mysterious Duelist believed that it was worth it to keep his Harpie Lady on the field. With it out, he could now proceed with the next phase of his strategy. To that end, Heart took the card that he just drew and quickly inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Alright, I activate the Speed Spell: Harpie's Nest!" He declared. "With it, since I have 3 or more Speed Counters, I can Special Summon up to 2 more Harpie monsters from my deck since I already have one out on my field!"

Acting quickly, Heart grabbed two cards from his deck and observed them in order to make sure that they were indeed the cards that he wanted to Special Summon. Once he was certain they are, he firmly placed both cards onto his Monster Card Zone, resulting into bright flashes of light to appear next to him and his Harpie Lady #1.

"I Special Summon: Harpie Lady #2 and Harpie Lady #3!"

**Harpie Lady #2: ATK 1300 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

**Harpie Lady #3: ATK 1300 DEF 1400 LVL 4**

When the two flashes of light faded from Heart's side of the field, both Takashi and Akiza watched as two more Harpie Lady's appeared before him. However, the two Signers were quick to notice something different about them. Unlike Harpie Lady #1, who has long and straight red hair, Harpie Lady #2 has short orange colored hair. As for Harpie Lady #3, she had long and spike blue hair. Although these differences may be small, it allowed everyone to tell which Harpie was which and Takashi knew that these 2 Harpie Ladies must have a unique ability of their own, just like the first one.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of Harpie Lady #1!" Heart continued. "Like before, Harpie Lady 1 can increase the Attack Points of all Wind Attribute monsters on the field by 300 points, which means the Attack Points of my other two Harpie Ladies now equal that of my first one!"

**Harpie Lady #2: ATK 1600**

**Harpie Lady #3: ATK 1600**

As a bright aura covered the bodies of both Harpie Ladies, Takashi was impressed by Heart's move. By saving his monster last turn, he was able to bring out 2 more monsters this turn and increase their Attack Points as well. Although he was still upset that he had to endanger both Akiza and himself through this Turbo Duel, Takashi had to admit that Heart was a good Turbo Duelist. Because of that, he knew he had to be careful and quickly braced himself for what was to come next.

"Alright," Heart said as he took another card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I activate another Speed Spell: Harpie's Guardian! Since I have 3 or more Speed Counters and have at least 3 Harpie monsters on my field, I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand!"

Heart took the card that he was talking about and placed it firmly upon his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. When he did, a huge gust of wind suddenly stirred up, causing Takashi to wobble around for a moment. After making sure that Akiza was alright, the two watched as a bright flash of light shined across Heart's entire field. From within that light, the cry of an extremely powerful beast could be heard.

"Appear now, Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

**Harpie's Pet Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2500 LVL 7**

Upon saying the name of his next monster, Heart watched as a giant eruption of flames appeared before him. From those flames came the powerful Harpie's Pet Dragon, who quickly stared down at its opposition released an ear shattering roar. Once the beast of completely materialized onto the field, the 3 Harpie Ladies each pulled out a chain and attached it around Pet Dragon's neck. After they did that, the three of them then proceeded to transfer a portion of their power into the monster.

"For every Harpie Lady that's on my field, Harpie's Pet Dragon gains 300 extra Attack Points," Heart explained. "Also, due to it being a Wind Attribute monster, Pet Dragon also gains additional 300 points due to the Special Ability of my Harpie Lady #1. That means Harpie's Pet Dragon gains a whopping 1200 extra Attack Points!"

**Harpie's Pet Dragon: ATK 3200**

As Harpie's Pet Dragon's power continued to increase thanks to its and Harpie Lady #1's Special Abilities, Akiza was beginning to wonder what Takashi was going to do. If this oncoming attack was successful, Takashi's will not only lose a good portion of his Life Points, but also be in prime position for a direct attack by the Harpie Ladies. Realizing that he was in trouble, Akiza looked down towards Takashi in order to see if he had a plan. When she did the young woman was surprised when she saw that Takashi was smiling.

Despite the situation that he was facing, Takashi was smiling. As a matter of fact, Akiza started to notice that her beloved was beginning to have fun. She had a hard time understanding why, especially since he was absolutely furious when the Duel first started, but shortly after a few turns, Takashi was instead beginning to enjoy himself. Akiza didn't know what to make of this, causing her to simply look on and watch as Heart prepared himself to begin his attack.

"Go Harpie's Pet Dragon," He called. "Attack his Speed Warrior!"

"I don't think so!" Takashi countered as he activated his face-down card. "I play the Trap Card: Negate Attack! With it, I negate your Dragon's attack and end the Battle Phase!"

Just as Harpie's Pet Dragon fired a massive blast of green energy towards Speed Warrior, a giant black hole appeared in between them and sucked in the attack. Once that happened, the black hole faded away and Speed Warrior was safe from any harm this turn.

When Heart saw that move, even those his face was hidden by his helmet, the mysterious Duelist was impressed by the way Takashi was able to outmaneuver him during that last exchange. He then recalled seeing him Duel at the Fortune Cup and realized that his skills weren't just for show. Because of that, Heart decided that he would need to get serious, prompting him to grab another card from his hand.

"Nice move there," He complemented. He then took the card that he was holding and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone, causing the card to appear right next to him in a face-down position before vanishing. "I now set one card face-down and end my turn."

As Heart ended his turn, Takashi was once again beginning to see Heart in a somewhat different light than before. From the way he's been acting up until now, it was clear that this Duelist wasn't the bad guy he made himself out to be at the beginning. Takashi was able to tell because he's able to read his opponent's intentions whenever he participates in a Duel. As the match goes on, he pretty much has a good idea on how his opponent is feeling and why they wanted to Duel him. Although he hasn't quite gotten all the reasons why Heart wanted to face him, Takashi was able to confirm that he didn't want to do so because he hated him.

While Takashi continued pondering that, Akiza was busy thinking about the both of them as she continued to watch the Duel from Takashi's Duel Runner. Although the Duel had just started, the Psychic Duelist was beginning to feel and witness things that she never experienced before. The speed, the wind, the rush, all of these things were pouring into Akiza and she was having a hard time adjusting to all of it. Despite that however, the young woman was also very excited by all the things that she was feeling and was beginning, albeit quite slowly, to understand why her friends love to Turbo Duel.

"This is incredible," She quietly thought to herself. "I never Turbo Dueling was like this. It's…it's incredible!'

Eventually, after about 2 minutes had passed, Takashi decided to get back into the Duel. Not only did have to deal with 4 of Heart's monsters, he also had to determine whether or not he was really an enemy. To that end, the Signer decided to gauge his opponent's reaction once he witnesses his next move. With that in mind, Takashi gently shook his head before gently placing his hand upon his deck.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

**Heart: SPC – 4**

After drawing a card from his deck and placing it into his hand, Takashi took a moment to examine all of his cards before formulating a plan. Because Harpie's Pet Dragon was the strongest monster on Heart's field, he needed to take it out first before dealing with the Harpie Ladies. Once it was gone, Takashi could then take his time to get rid of Heart's other monsters before attack his Life Points directly. To that end, realized what he needed to do, but first he proceeded to take Speed Warrior's card and change it from a vertical to a horizontal position,

"First off, I switch Speed Warrior to Defense Mode!" He declared.

Once he did that, Takashi watched as his Speed Warrior started floating next to him as it began to take a defensive position. After that, Takashi then took one of the cards that were in his hand and placed it firmly upon his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Goblindbergh, in Attack Mode!"

**Goblindbergh: ATK 1400 DEF 0 LVL 4**

When Takashi placed the card onto his Duel Disk, both he and Akiza watched as his Goblindbergh suddenly emerged from a bright flash of light, riding his trusty fighter plane. However, Goblindbergh was also carrying a large metal container which was attached to his plane by a strong string. When Takashi saw that container, the young man proceeded to take another card from his hand and place it onto his Monster Card Zone as well.

"When Goblindbergh is successfully summoned, its Special Ability activates," He explained. "I can now Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster directly from my hand. I Special Summon: Gagaga Magician!"

**Gagaga Magician: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

Goblindbergh pulled a switch on his fighter plane, which caused the container that it was carrying to detach from its string. As the container fell towards the earth, it opened up and released Gagaga Magician. Once the Spellcaster was out and was standing next to Takashi's other monsters, the Signer continued on with his turn by taking Gagaga Magician's card and placing it on top of Goblindbergh's.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Goblindbergh and Gagaga Magician!" He shouted. "With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

When Goblindbergh and Gagaga Magician heard Takashi's declaration, both monsters nodded their heads as they began changing into orbs of light. As Akiza looked up and watched, the young woman was amazed by how the lights were circling around the area while the portal to the Overlay Network was being formed. When it finally materialized, the orbs dove into the portal, resulting in a powerful explosion of light to occur. It was at that moment that Takashi grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Xyz Summon: Appear now, the King of Wishes, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

As sparks of light continued to shoot out from the Overlay Network, everyone watched as Number 39: Utopia emerged from the portal as well, proudly standing by Takashi's side. When it did, Akiza was left speechless as this was the first time she's seen the powerful Number up close before. Heart was also left quite amazed by the arrival of Utopia, mostly because he's never face a Number Card like it before. This caused the both of them to brace themselves as they waited to see what Takashi would do next.

"Alright," Takashi said as he grabbed a card from his hand. "Utopia, attack Harpie's Pet Dragon…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia immediately complied with Takashi's wishes and proceeded to make its way over to Harpie's Pet Dragon, pulling out its sword when the distance between them was close enough. As it looked like the two monsters were about to come to blows, Akiza wondered why Takashi would launch an attack when it was clear that Heart's dragon was much stronger. However, it wasn't until he made his next move that the Psychic Duelist understood Takashi's strategy.

"I now activate Utopia's Special Ability! By using one Overlay Unit, I can negate its attack!"

Just as Utopia was about to strike Harpie's Pet Dragon, one of the Overlay Units that were circling around its body made its way inside of the Number. When it did, Utopia's sword vanished from its hand and returned to the sheath that was placed on its shoulder. The Number then went on to make its way back towards its master, waiting for further instructions. Once Takashi saw that, the young proceeded to take the card that he was holding and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"Now…I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell: Double or Nothing! Since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can double Utopia's Attack Points and have attack again since its first attack was negated!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 5000**

A powerful golden aura quickly surrounded Utopia as the effect of Takashi's Spell Card started to take effect. Once it did, the Number grabbed both of its swords and proceeded to transfer power into them. As Akiza looked in awe and Takashi watched with a satisfying expression on his face, Utopia's swords started grew until they were about double in size.

"Now, let's try this again," Takashi said as he pointed his finger towards Harpie's Pet Dragon. "Utopia, attack Harpie's Pet Dragon…Rising Sun Double Slash!"

Once again, Utopia complied with Takashi's order and swiftly made its way over to Heart's monster. With its strength now superior to the Pet Dragon, Utopia was able to cut it down easily with both of its sword. As soon as it did that and the Number returned to Takashi's side, everyone watched as Harpie's Pet Dragon exploded and the resulting Sense Blast caused Heart to wobble around the road as his Life Points started to drop.

**Heart: 2000 LP**

After a while, Heart finally managed to regain himself after what just happened to his dragon. Takashi waited for a response him, hoping that his reaction would allow him to see if he's really a good person or not. Eventually, after about a minute of waiting, both he and Akiza started to notice something. The two Signers saw that Heart was beginning to chuckle to himself. Soon, his chuckling turned into laughter, which only ended up confusing the Signers a bit more.

"You're just like him," Heart said as he continued to chuckle. "You two are so similar…it's funny."

Heart continued to chuckling to himself for about another minute before finally stopping his Duel Runner. When he did that, the three Harpie Ladies that were flying next to him stopped as well. After seeing him do that, Takashi got his answer and was able to determine which side of the fence Heart was really on. Upon coming to that realization, Takashi started to slow his Duel Runner down as a small smile appeared on his face.

"So that's how it is," He said.

As he continued to slow down, Akiza was beginning to wonder what Takashi was doing. She still remembered what Heart said about what will happen to Takashi's Duel Runner if he happened to stop driving. Not wanting that to happen, as well as wondering what Takashi was thinking, Akiza stepped in and ask him about what he was doing.

"Why are you stopping Takashi?" She asked. "If you do, your Runner will explode."

"Don't worry Akiza," Takashi replied. "Everything is going to be fine."

Confused by his confidence, Akiza simply braced herself as Takashi was about to stop his Duel Runner. When he finally did, the Psychic Duelist waited for the explosion to occur. However, after about a few seconds of waiting, Akiza opened her eyes and realized that she and Takashi were alright. Although the fact that she didn't die just now pleased her, it also left Akiza even more confused.

"What's going on? What happened to the explosion?"

"There is no explosion," Takashi answered. "It was all a bluff."

"A bluff...? You mean…he was lying?"

Takashi nodded his head in confirmation upon hearing Akiza's words. Throughout these first couple of turns of this Turbo Duel, Takashi was able to tell that Heart didn't mean them any real harm. Although he did have a reason to Duel him, Takashi knew that it wasn't for anything bad that he may have done. However, despite that being the case, the fact remained that Heart went to all these lengths just to Duel him and the Signer needed to know why that was the case.

"Hey…" He said. "Why did you do all of this Heart?"

"…Because I needed to see something," Heart explained. "Oh, by the way, Heart isn't my full name."

Takashi was slightly confused when heard Heart say that to him. However, before he could ask him to explain himself, the young man watched as the Duelist was making his way towards his helmet. When he took it off, Takashi and Akiza looked on in shock as it was revealed that Heart wasn't a boy, but instead a girl. She had long pink hair and green eyes, with a smiling that was almost as warm as the rays of the sun.

"My name is Amara Flyheart," She continued. "I'm sorry I went through all that trouble, but I just needed to get you to Duel me. By the way, that Duel Anchor I placed on your Runner won't do anything to it. In fact, let me take it off to prove it."

Amara placed her hand out in front of her, causing the Duel Anchor that she placed on Takashi's Duel Runner to reappear. She then grabbed the anchor and pulled it towards her, thus removing it from the Runner. After she did that, Amara watched as the Anchor disappeared from sight, much to Takashi and Akiza's amazement.

Once that was taken care of, Amara turned her attention back towards her opponent and started thinking about how he was able to destroy her Harpie's Pet Dragon in just one turn. The fact that he was able to do so was truly amazing and it reminded Amara of someone else that she knows. It was because of the similarities between Takashi and the person she was thinking about that made Amara believe that the Signer had come into contact with him, which was the reason why she wanted to Duel him in the first place.

Meanwhile, as Amara continued to look at Takashi, the Signer himself was busy wondering why she wanted to face him. Even though he could tell that there was no ill will between them, it was obvious to him that Amara wanted something from him. Takashi had no idea what Amara wanted, so he decided to ask in order to get some type of answer from her.

"If don't mean any harm, tell me why you wanted to face me?" He asked her. "I mean…it's clear to me that you want something."

"You're right," Amara confirmed. "You see Takashi, ever since I watched your Duels in the Fortune Cup, I had a feeling that you might be able to help me find someone I know. I have reasons to believe that he's somewhere in the city."

"I don't understand," Takashi told her. "Just who are you talking about?"

"…I'm talking about the Underground Duel King of New Domino City; Alex McQueen."

Upon hearing Alex's name, Takashi suddenly shot up from shock. When Amara saw him do that, the young woman could tell right away that Takashi knew Alex, proving that she was right to choose him. With that out of the way, all Amara had to do was to get Takashi to inform her of Alex's whereabouts. Unfortunately, before she could do so, Takashi had already started replying to her previous statement.

"I'm sorry Amara," He said. "I do know Alex McQueen, I but I can't tell you where he is. Please try to understand."

As Amara stared at Takashi with a mixed expression on her face, Akiza was busy looking at him as well with a confused expression on hers. Although the young women knew why Takashi was keeping quiet about Alex's location, she wonder why he even decided to speak up about it. She knows that it would've been better if he had simply kept quiet about the whole thing. At first, Akiza thought that Takashi had simply forgotten about that. However, after thinking about for a moment, she came to the conclusion that even though he could've remained silent, Takashi has enough kindness to tell Amara that even he knows where Alex is, he simply can't tell her. Upon hearing him tell Amara that, Akiza hoped that would be enough for the Harpie Duelist. However, despite her appearance, Amara was more stubborn than she looked.

"Why can't you tell me where he is?" She asked.

"I just can't," Takashi answered. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"Is that so…then how about this? Let's continue our Duel. If you win, then you don't have to tell me where Alex is. However, if I win, you have to tell me everything that you know. How does that sound?"

Takashi remained silent as he thought about Amara's proposal. Given her personality and how she went to all of this trouble, it was clear that she would continue to pester him about this until he finally gave her answer. Although Takashi could tell that this situation was rather personal for Amara, he couldn't tell her where Alex was since he doesn't want to involve her in his troubles. Because of that, Takashi did the only thing he could do.

"Alright…I accept your terms."

"Good," Amara said as she placed her helmet back on her head. She then pressed a few buttons on it so that her face could still be seen and the distortion of her voice was gone. "Then let us continue our Duel."

With that, Amara left and all of her Harpie Ladies proceeded to follow her. Once she was a good enough distance away, Takashi turned his attention towards Akiza, who in turn focused her attention on him. The two Signers stared at each other for a moment before Takashi shifted head towards the side, informing Akiza that he wanted her to get off of his Duel Runner.

"You need to get off Akiza," He said in a polite tone of voice. "Things are about to get serious again and I don't want you to get hurt."

"…No," Akiza replied. "Let me stay. I want to see this Duel through the end."

Akiza's reply shocked Takashi a little as he wondered why she wanted to continue observing the Duel from this point of view. As he thought about that, Akiza took a moment to recall the feelings that she was having during the first part of the Duel. All of those emotions made her feel something that she never experienced before. She couldn't quite explain it, but she felt that she had to continue viewing this Duel.

"Something telling me that I need to continue watching this Duel," She continued. "I know I that might get hurt, but I need you to let me do this. Please Takashi."

Takashi looked into Akiza's eyes and saw how determined she was to continue viewing the Duel. Knowing that there was nothing he could do to change her mind, the young man simply sighed quietly before turning his head. He then revved up his Duel Runner in order to warm it back up.

"Alright," He told her. "Just hang on tight."

"I will," Akiza replied.

With that said, Takashi revved up his Duel Runner one last time before finally making his way across the track. As he did, Akiza held on to the Runner as tight as she could while Number 39: Utopia proceeded to follow them both. Eventually, the three of them were beginning to catch up with Amara, who simply looked back at them with a small smile on her face.

"Alright Takashi," Amara called. "I believe that it's still your turn."

Takashi nodded his head as Amara was right in her statement. It was still his turn and he needed to continue on with it if he wanted this Duel to go anywhere. After spending some time thinking about it, Takashi looked over towards his hand and soon pulled a card from it. Once he did that, the young man then went on to insert the card into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. This action caused the card to appear right next to him in a face-down position before quickly vanishing from sight.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," He said. "Okay…it's your move, Amara!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500**

"Why thank you," Amara replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 5**

**Amara: SPC – 5**

Not wasting any time, Amara quickly pulled a card from her deck. She then glanced at it for a moment before turning her attention towards Takashi's Number Card. Even though the effect of Takashi's Double or Nothing Spell had expired and Utopia's Attack Points had returned to normal, its power still outclassed each of her Harpie Ladies. If she wanted to take it down, Amara would need to step up her game and summon up some more power. Fortunately, she knew just what to do in order to accomplish that.

With her plan now set, Amara quickly looked over the cards on her Monster Card Zone before taking the time to stack them on top of one another. Once she did that, both she and the others looked on as all three of her Harpie Ladies started glowing.

"I Overlay all three of my Level 4 Harpie Ladies!" She declared. "With these three monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

As soon as Amara said that, her three Harpies transformed into colorful orbs of light and began flying across the entire battlefield. When Takashi and Akiza saw that, the two of them knew right away that Amara was preparing to bring out an Xyz Monster. The only question was, what type of monster was she planning to bring out and what kind of abilities will it have. In any event, the two of them prepared themselves as the Overlay Network reappeared and the three orbs of light dove right into it. As an eruption of colorful sparks shot from out of the portal, Amara grabbed a card from her Extra Deck and proceeded to place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the guardian that watches over the heavens, Harpie Angel Alecto!"

**Harpie Angel Alecto: ATK 2700 DEF 2400 Rank 4**

From within the Overlay Network, Amara's Xyz Monster finally emerged after releasing an ear-shattering cry. Harpie Angel Alecto had a similar appearance to the three Harpie Ladies that Amara had out before. The only difference is that Alecto had long pink hair and green eyes, similar to Amara, and was wearing pink and green armor. Alecto was also carrying two long swords which it had placed on its back. Once the Harpie Angel had completely materialized onto the field and the Overlay Network disappeared, everyone watched as a strong pink aura began to surround the monster.

"I activate Harpie Angel's Special Ability," Amara declared. "You see, as long as it has Overlay Units, the Attack and Defense Points of all monsters that have Harpie in their name increase by 300. That's mean my Angel Alecto's power increases all the way to 3000!"

**Harpie Angel Alecto: ATK 3000 DEF 2700**

As the pink aura continued to surround Alecto, everyone watched as the armor that it was carrying began to change shape, becoming much stronger as a result. Not only that, but the aura also changed the shape of its swords, becoming much sharper and even more devastating than before. When Takashi saw that, he knew that he had to be careful since Alecto's power was now more than enough to take down Utopia.

Meanwhile, back over on Amara's side of the field, the young woman was now trying to determine what to do next. Because she witnessed Utopia's Special Ability on Takashi's last turn, she knew that if she attacked without thinking, he would simply negate it. She needed to get around Utopia's powers if she wanted to get at it and Takashi's Life Points. Eventually, after some thinking, Amara was able to come up with an idea, prompting her to take a card from her hand and place it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon: Cyber Harpie Lady!"

**Cyber Harpie Lady: ATK 1800 DEF 1300 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light covered Amara's side of the field for a few moments as her next monster materialized onto her field. When it did, everyone noticed that Cyber Harpie Lady had a similar appearance to Amara's first Harpie. The only difference is that Cyber Harpie was wearing a cybernetic armor which made it much more powerful. Also, thanks to the Special Ability of Harpie Angel Alecto, a similar pink aura began to cover around Cyber Harpie Lady, increasing its Attack and Defense power even more.

**Cyber Harpie Lady: ATK 2100 DEF 1600**

"Perfect," Amara said with a smile. "Now, with that taken care of, I can activate the second Special Ability of my Harpie Angel Alecto! By using one Overlay Unit, I can have one Harpie monster I control gain the ability to attack twice this turn! The monster I choose…is none other than my Angel Alecto!"

Once Amara finished explaining the effect of her monster, she watched as one of Angel Alecto's Overlay Units entered its body. When this happened, Alecto's body was covered in a colorful energy as it went on to grab both of its swords. After it did that, the monster then pulled out both of its weapons, now prepared to strike down both Utopia and his Speed Warrior.

"Alright…let's do this. Harpie Angel, attack his Utopia…Mystic Strike!"

Harpie Angel Alecto complied with Amara's command and proceeded to make its way over to Number 39: Utopia. When it did, both monsters fought each other with their respective swords, but it was clear that Utopia was at a disadvantage. Eventually, Alecto was able to destroy both of Utopia's swords and was about to cut the monster down. However, before it could get the chance, Takashi responded by activating his Number's effect.

"Not so fast!" He shouted. "I activate Utopia's Special Ability! By using one Overlay Unit, I can negate your monster's attack!"

As soon as Takashi said that, Utopia's final Overlay Unit quickly entered its chest plate, allowing the Number to bring forth its Moon Barrier. Unfortunately, Amara had already prepared for this situation and responded by activating the face-down card that she set on her previous turn.

"I don't think so! I activate the Trap Card: Power Drain! With it, since your monster just activated its effect, I can use this Trap in order to negate it!"

When Takashi heard the effect of Amara's Trap, his eyes widen from disbelief as he watched Harpie Angel Alecto slice through Utopia's barrier without any trouble at all. Then, as both Takashi and Akiza looked on in horror, Alecto managed to cut down Utopia as well, creating a small explosion that surrounded them both.

**Takashi: 3500 LP**

As the explosion continued to surround them, Takashi started wobbling around a little due to the Sense Blast that Amara's attack created. Although he managed to straighten himself out and was unharmed by it, the young man was very concerned about Akiza, since she's never experienced something like that before. Fortunately, when he turned around to check up on her, Takashi was relieved to see that Akiza was alright. He then turned himself back around and braced himself for what was to come next.

"Good," Amara said with a smirk. "Now…Cyber Harpie Lady, attack his Speed Warrior!"

Without wasting anytime, Cyber Harpie Lady quickly made its way over to Takashi's Speed Warrior and was able to take it out with a few strike of its laser whip. When Speed Warrior was destroyed, another Sense Blast was created, but Takashi and Akiza were able to bear it without much difficulty. However, the both of them knew that things were about to get much worse as Takashi's field was now empty and Harpie Angel Alecto was about to conduct its second attack.

"It's time, Harpie Angel…attack his Life Points directly!"

When Amara launched her command, Harpie Angel Alecto released a powerful scream before making its way towards Takashi. Once it got close enough, the powerful Xyz Monster struck the Signer with its sword, creating a massive wave of energy. The energy was so intense that Takashi was having an extremely hard time keeping himself balanced on his Duel Runner. Fortunately, he was able to keep himself upright, even though that last attack cost him a good portion of his Life Points.

**Takashi: 500 LP**

Once the force of the attack finally came to an end, Harpie Angel Alecto returned to Amara's side, waiting to see what she'll do next. After managing to take down both of Takashi's monsters and bring his Life Points all the way down to just 500, it was clear to Amara that she was in control of the Duel. Because of that, the young woman decided that she didn't need to do anymore since it would take a few turns for Takashi to overcome this situation and even then, she believed that the Duel would already be over. As a result, she promptly handed things back over to her opponent.

"I end my turn," She said. "Alright…it's your move, Takashi."

After declaring the end of her turn, Amara quickly drove off in order to widen the distance between Takashi and herself. As that was going on, Takashi had finally shaken off the pain he was feeling from the Sense Blast. This was possible due to the fact that just before the blast struck him, he used his Signer Powers to bring forth his blue aura for an instant. The aura surrounded everything that was touching his body, which included both Akiza and his Duel Runner, softening Amara's Sense Blast so that it wouldn't be as powerful. Once he was certain that his Runner was fine, Takashi turned his focus towards Akiza in order to see if she was okay.

"Are you alright, Akiza?" He said in a concerned tone of voice. "Did you get hurt?"

"I'm okay…" Akiza replied. "Don't worry about me."

Takashi nodded his head upon hearing her say that and quickly drove off so that he could catch up with Amara. As he did so, Akiza started to feel the same sensation that she was experiencing at the start of the Duel again. Despite what just happened, the Psychic wasn't afraid at all. In fact, a part of her was becoming excited due to all the things that she was feelings. She then started to wonder if Takashi was feeling the same way that she was and upon seeing the small smile that was on his face, Akiza realized that was indeed the case.

"Incredible," She said quietly to herself. "This is just incredible. Is this…how Takashi and the others feel whenever they participate in a Turbo Duel? If it is…then maybe I…"

Just Akiza was about to finish her though, she suddenly felt powerful jolt as Takashi started driving even faster than before. When she saw him do that, she realized that Takashi had been holding himself back a little, for reasons that she didn't know. Whatever the case may be, Akiza knew now that things were about to get serious and thus held on to the Duel Runner as tight as she cold while Takashi was about to begin his turn.

"Here we go!" He yelled. "I Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 6**

**Amara: SPC – 6**

In what seemed like an instant, Takashi swiftly drew the top card in his deck, glanced at it, and placed it into his hand. After he did that, the Signer then went on to take one card from his hand and insert it into his Spell/Trap Zone. As soon as he did that, he went on to place his hand back on his deck.

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton! With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can now draw 2 cards at the cost of discarding 1 to the Graveyard!"

Without wasting anytime, Takashi drew 2 more cards from his deck and examined them closely for a split second. After that took one of those cards and placed it into his hand. After that, he glanced over towards Akiza for a moment before presenting the card over to her. When she saw him do that, the young woman knew right away that Takashi wanted her to hold the card for a moment and proceeded to do just that. Once she had it in hand, Takashi then follow through with the secondary effect of Angel Baton by taking one card from his hand and placing it into his Graveyard. Takashi then asked Akiza for the card back and once she gave it to him, she watched as she inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I set one card face-down," He said as the card appeared next to him for a few seconds. "I now end my turn."

Amara glanced over towards Takashi for a moment, wondering what he was thinking. Given the circumstances that he was in, she was certain that he would summon a monster in order to protect himself, but that wasn't the case. Instead, all he did was set a card face-down on the field. At first, Amara wondered if Takashi was giving up, but after remembering the similarities between him and Alex, she realized that it would take a lot more than this to make him surrender. As a result, she decided to find out first-hand what Takashi was up to by attacking him with her Harpie Angel.

"Okay then," She said as she placed her hand upon her deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 7**

**Amara: SPC – 7**

Upon drawing a card from her deck, Amara looked at it for a moment before placing it into her hand. She then turned her Duel Runner around and started drifting backwards just before she conducted her Battle Phase.

"Harpie Angel Alecto, attack his Life Points directly….Mystic Strike!"

Angel Alecto responded to Amara's request without question and quickly made its way over to Takashi. However, before the Xyz Monster could even get close, Takashi stopped its attempts by taking one of the cards he drew via Angel Baton's effect and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. When he did that, a powerful barrier suddenly emerged in front of him, thus stopping the Harpie's attack.

"I don't think so…I activate the Special Ability of my Battle Fader!" Takashi countered. "When I'm the target of a direct attack, I can Special this monster and end the Battle Phase!"

**Battle Fader: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

After Harpie Angel Alecto returned to Amara once its attack failed, the barrier that was covering Takashi quickly faded away from sight. Once that happened, his Battle Fader suddenly appeared from a small flash of light. When Akiza saw that, the Rose Duelist was very pleased as Takashi managed to keep Amara's monsters off of him for the moment. This caused her to believe that Amara would simply end her turn since she couldn't attack anymore. However, because Turbo Dueling was still new to her, Akiza forgot one important factor, a factor that Amara had every intention of exploiting.

"Nice move Takashi," Amara said to him as she turned her Duel Runner back around. "However, don't think your off the hook just because your blocked my attack. As I'm sure you're aware…there's a safety line in Turbo Duels and you just crossed it!"

"…Safety line?" Akiza questioned. "What does she mean by that?"

"She's talking about the effect of Speed World 2," Takashi calmly answered. "She means to activate it."

"That's right," Amara turned her attention towards her Duel Runner, focusing on the number of Speed Counters that she currently has. "With Speed World 2 in play, at the cost of 4 Speed Counters, a Duelist can deal 800 points of damage to their opponent for every Speed Spell currently in their hand!"

Akiza became shocked upon hearing Amara explain the effect of Field Spell that's been active since the start of the Duel. She then looked over towards the Speed Counter gauge and saw that Amara currently has 7 Speed Counters, which is more than enough for her to use the effect. If this goes through, Takashi would lose the rest of his Life Points. The thought of that worried her greatly and her worries quickly turned into dread when she noticed that Amara was about to activate Speed World 2's effect.

"This is the end. I remove 4 of my Speed Counters in order to use Speed World 2's effect! Now, since I have one Speed Counter in my hand, you're now dealt 800 points of damage!"

**Amara: SPC – 3**

Once Amara said that, a powerful beam of energy shot from the back of her Duel Runner and was quickly making his way towards Takashi. However, despite the oncoming attack, Takashi calmly responded by removing a card from his Graveyard. When he did that, the portal to the Graveyard suddenly materialized in front of him, releasing an army of tomatoes wearing football gear.

"Sorry Amara, but I knew that you were going to do that," Takashi revealed. "That's why I'm activating the effect of my Interceptomato! By banishing it from the Graveyard, any effect damage I take this turn is reduced to 0!"

All of the tomatoes stacked on top of each other, shielding Takashi from the blast that was making its way towards him. When they were struck by it, all of them were destroyed, but none of them regretted it since they successfully fulfilled their duty in protecting their master. Once that happened, the portal to the Graveyard disappeared and Takashi was allow to continue on without any more interruptions.

When Amara saw that, the female Turbo Duelist became even more impressed with Takashi's skills than ever. Even though he had only 500 Life Points left, Takashi's defensive tactics made it nearly impossible for her to get at him. Under normal circumstances, such a thing would be annoying Amara to know end. However, because Takashi was similar to Alex in both his personality and Dueling style, she was simply becoming more excited and was even glad that the match between them was able to continue.

As for Akiza, the Psychic's opinion on the Duel was slightly more mixed than Amara. Although she found the Turbo Duel between Takashi and Amara to be really exciting, Akiza was also feeling somewhat left out. From her point of view, it was like Takashi and Amara were able to understand each other much better, despite not having met each other until today. This made Akiza feel a little bit sad as she wondered if the connection that she had Takashi had couldn't be as strong just because he's a Turbo Duelist and she isn't.

Before Akiza could continue pondering that, she noticed that Amara was continuing on with her turn. With both of methods of winning blocked by Takashi's tactics, there was nothing else Amara could do in order to get at his Life Points. However, despite that being the case, a part of her could tell if she just ends her turn right now, there's a strong possibility that Takashi will formulate a strategy powerful enough to take her out. In order to prevent that from happening, Amara took two cards from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, the young woman watched as the cards appeared next to her for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn," She said.

Once Amara did that, she tried to widen the distance between herself and Takashi again. However, even though she tried her best, Takashi was still hot on her tail. Eventually, the two of them were about neck and neck with each other, which only ended up impressing Amara even more than before.

"Incredible…" She said. "The way you act, speak, and Duel….they're all just like Alex. The similarities between you two are so uncanny…that it's funny."

"What are you talking about?" Akiza asked, wondering what Amara was mentioning. "What makes you think Takashi and Alex are so similar?"

Amara glanced over towards Akiza for a moment, noticing the look of intrigue that was on her face. Even though she's been focusing on her Duel against Takashi, she also took the time to see the interaction between him and Akiza. It was clear to her that the two of them cared deeply for one another and that, as the Duel was going on, Akiza was becoming more and more intrigued by it. It was because of all those things that made Amara realized that Akiza was acting very similar to her whenever she's around Alex. Because of that, the young woman decided to answer the Rose Duelist's question.

"I can tell because we're Dueling," She answered. "You see…when True Duelists face each other, they're able to sense each other's feelings. This is especially true for Turbo Duelists, as all the things their feeling are magnified several times over. That's why I can see the similarities between Takashi and Alex…as well as tell what's going on within their hearts. I'm sure you feel the same way…don't you, Takashi."

Akiza was surprised by Amara's statement and looked towards Takashi order to see if what she was saying was really the truth. However, Takashi didn't respond as he was preparing to start his next turn. This made Akiza feel a bit bad again since it proved that her initial feelings on the matter were true. Akiza then started to wonder whether or not the bond between herself and Takashi couldn't be as strong as she would like, just because he's a more experienced Duelist than her.

As the Psychic continued thinking about that, Amara glanced over towards Akiza again and noticed the sadden expression that was on her face. Seeing that looked reminded her of herself and how she wondered whether she could really get close to Alex because she lacked the skills that he had. It wasn't until later that she realized that it doesn't really matter whether or not she possesses those skills. It was Amara's love and commitment to Alex that allowed the bond between them to grow and she knew that Akiza would be able to achieve the same thing with Takashi, as the two of them continued to be with each other.

Eventually, Takashi break off the conversation that the girls were having by preparing to begin his turn. Given the situation that he was currently end, the Signer believed that he needed to end this Duel now. If couldn't, then there was no doubt that Amara would use the effect Speed World 2 again on her next turn to win the Duel. As a result, Takashi gently placed his hand upon his deck, gathered up all of his strength, and prepared himself for his last play.

"It's my turn," He declared. "Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 8**

**Amara: SPC – 4**

As Takashi drew a card from his deck, both Akiza and Amara realized that the Duel was still going on and promptly returned their focus to it. In the case of the latter, the young woman put all the power that her Duel Runner could handle so that she could separate herself from Takashi. Meanwhile, as he looked at the card that he just drew, Takashi saw that it was precisely the card that he needed. With it, he could take down Amara's monsters and win the Duel. Because of that, Takashi didn't waste any time and proceeded to conduct the first phase of his plan.

"First, I activate the Trap Card: Call of the Haunted!" He said. "With it, I can Special Summon one of my monsters back from the Graveyard. Return to battle, Number 39: Utopia!"

After Takashi pressed a button on his Duel Disk, he watched at the portal to the card Graveyard materialized itself before him again. This time, Utopia emerged from the portal, once again taking his place by Takashi's side. However, the powerful Number wouldn't be around for long as Takashi needed to give it an upgrade before he could put his plan into motion. Because of that, the Signer grabbed a card from his Extra Deck and placed it on top of Utopia's card.

"Next, I'm going to rebuild the Overlay Network with my Utopia in order to Chaos Xyz Summon!"

Utopia's body started glowing brightly as the Number transformed into a bright orb of light. It then started flying around the area while the portal to the Overlay Network reappeared onto the field. As soon as it was out completely, the orb of light dove into the portal, causing a massive eruption of energy to occur.

"Go…Chaos Xyz Evolution! Appear now, the warrior that changes darkness into light, Chaos Number 39: Utopia Ray!"

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

Once the eruption of energy ceased, everyone watched as Chaos Number 39: Utopia Ray emerged from the Overlay Network, fully prepared for battle. When Amara saw it, the young woman instantly recalled the final Duel of the Fortune Cup, in which Takashi brought it out in order to defeat Kuromu. Having never faced a Chaos Number before, Amara braced herself for anything, unaware that this was still only the first phase of Takashi's plan.

"I now activate Utopia Ray's Special Ability," He declared. "By using an Overlay Unit, I can increase Utopia Ray's Attack Points by 500, while decreasing the Attack Points of one of your monsters by 1000! The monster I choose…is your Harpie Angel Alecto!"

Just as Takashi finished his explanation, Utopia Ray's one and only Overlay Unit entered its body, surrounded it in a powerful glow. The glow was so intense that it not only caused the dark colored spots on its armor to turn white, but also blinded Amara's Harpie Angel, effectively decreasing its power.

**Number C39 – Utopia Ray: ATK 3000**

**Harpie Angel Alecto: ATK 2000**

"Next, I activate the effect of Speed World 2!" Takashi continued. "By removing 4 of my Speed Counters, I can deal 800 points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand! Currently, I have only one Speed Spell, which means you lose 800 Life Points!"

**Takashi: SPC – 4**

A small beam of energy quickly shot out from Takashi's Duel Runner and immediately struck Amara's. When this happened, the young woman started wobbling around a little while as he Life Points started to drop.

**Amara: 1200 LP**

After Amara's Life Points stopped dropping, Akiza watched carefully as Takashi took the card that he drew at the beginning of the turn and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the Psychic then paid close attention as the card materialized itself onto the field.

"I now activate the Speed Spell: High Speed Crash!" Takashi declared. "With it, since I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can destroy one card on my side of the field in order to destroy another card on either field!"

When Amara heard the effect of Takashi's Spell, she instantly realized what his plan was. He was intending to destroy the face-down card that was on his field in order to most likely destroy her Cyber Harpie Lady. Once it was gone, Takashi would have Utopia Ray attack Harpie Angel Alecto, leaving Amara with no monsters and only 200 Life Points left. Amara knew that she couldn't let that happen and thus responded by activating one of her face-down cards.

"I don't think so!" She yelled. "I activate the Trap Card: Angel Wing! Now, with this card's effect, all Wind Attribute monsters I control can't be destroyed by card effects this turn!"

A powerful gust of wind suddenly stirred up across Amara's side of the field, creating a barrier which protected both of her monsters. When Akiza saw that, the Rose Duelist gritted her teeth a little since that meant that Takashi couldn't use his Spell Card anymore. However, what Akiza didn't know is that Takashi had already foreseen Amara's move and was already prepared for it.

"The cards I choose to destroy are my face-down card…and Utopia Ray!"

Once they heard Takashi say that, both girls suddenly shot up as they had a hard time believing it. Why would Takashi choose to destroy Utopia Ray, especially after going to all the trouble of bringing it out? Neither Akiza nor Amara knew the answer, but they were about to learn as Takashi quickly activated his face-down card before it could be destroyed.

"However, at that moment, I activate the Trap Card: Starlight Road!" He said. "When 2 or more cards on my side of the field are about to be destroyed, the effect of Starlight Road negates their destruction! Not only that, but is also allows me to Special Summon; Stardust Dragon from my Extra Deck!"

As Takashi grabbed his Ace Monster from his Extra Deck, Amara was beginning to see how Takashi managed to become the Number 1 Contender for the title of Japan's Duel King. His ability to foresee an opponent's move and the fact that he was able to keep his cool on the battlefield were all traits that a Duel King should have. Eventually, the young woman couldn't help but smile since the fact that Takashi was able to pull this off was the final indication that truly proved to her that Takashi was well acquainted with Alex, since he possesses the same traits.

As for Akiza, the beautiful Psychic Duelist was just as ecstatic as Amara was. She was utterly amazed by Takashi's skills by a Duelist, as every play he made served ultimately led to this moment. Soon, a big smile appeared on her face as she was so happy, both because was about to win, but also because she was about to witness the summoning of Stardust Dragon. Unfortunately, Akiza's happiness was about to disappear as something horrific was about to take place.

Just as Takashi was about to place Stardust Dragon's card onto his Extra Deck, he stopped when he saw a large truck fall over the bridge that Amara was about to pass under. Given the distance between her and the truck, Takashi realized that there would be no way for her to escape being crushed. This caused him to instantly lift his head up in order to see who was responsible. When he did, the young man gritted his teeth in anger as he saw that person behind this was none other than Honda and his goons.

"Take that you bastards!" He yelled. "No one makes a fool out of me and walks away!"

As Honda started laughing hysterically, Takashi was wondering what to do. Even if he drove as fast as he could, he wasn't sure if he could catch up to Amara. He also took into account that even if he did reach her and pushed her out of the way, there's a strong possibility that he and Akiza would get crushed instead. It was a no win situation no matter how you looked at it, but Takashi knew that he had to make a decision before it was too late. Soon, just as it looked like Takashi was about to risk it and drive over to Amara, he suddenly noticed that someone took his Stardust Dragon card.

Turning his head back, Takashi saw that Akiza was the one who took his Stardust Dragon. He wondered what she was going to do with it, but he didn't have time to ask as Akiza was already moving. She pushed Takashi's arm out of the way so that she could get a good look at his Duel Disk.

"This is the only way…" She said to herself.

"What the hell are you doing, Akiza?!" Takashi asked her.

"I'm going to summon Stardust Dragon!"

Shocked by her response, Takashi watched as Akiza's closed her eyes for a moment so that she could build up enough energy. Once she did, the Psychic opened her eyes and promptly placed Takashi's card onto his Duel Disk, causing a bright flash of light to appear.

"Take Flight…Stardust Dragon!" She screamed.

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Stardust Dragon emerged from the flash of light that was created, now a flesh and blood creature thanks to Akiza's Psychic Powers. The beast, aware of the situation at hand, quickly flew over to where Amara was and used its large body to block the truck, allowing her to safely drive pass it. Once she did, Amara turned around and stared at Akiza, both surprised and amazed that she was a Psychic Duelist.

Once Takashi and Akiza were about to move out of the way of the truck as well, Stardust Dragon dropped it before finally disappearing from sight. The reason why Stardust vanished is because when Honda and his group through the struck, they interfered with the Duel. This caused the Duel Disk system for both Takashi's and Amara's Duel Runners to deactivate, effectively canceling their Duel.

_Duel Cancelled_

* * *

><p>When Honda and his group realized that their plan was foiled, they immediately decided to leave before Takashi and the others could return and get their revenge. However, before they could get too far, they were stopped when a young man with red hair and green eyes appeared before them. Cracking his knuckles, the man glared at all the thugs as he began to make his way over to them. He then proceeded to beat each of them up until they were all at the edge of death. Once he finished, the young man left the fallen thugs and began making his way over to his black and red Duel Runner.<p>

Meanwhile, Takashi and Akiza had finally caught up with Amara, who was busy catching her breath. As Akiza got off of Takashi's Runner and took off her helmet, Amara was busy removing hers. She then looked at the two Signers, noticing the mark that was glowing slightly on Akiza's arm. When she saw it, the young woman wondered whether or not to comment on it, but decided not to. She then listened as Takashi spoke to her.

"Amara…are you okay?" He asked.

"…Yes," She replied. "Thanks to your friend."

Amara turned her focus towards Akiza again and gave her a slight bow, grateful to her for saving her life. When Akiza saw that, young woman felt slightly embarrassed since no one had ever bowed to her before. At first, the Psychic didn't know what to do, but soon decided to bow at Amara as well, showing that she was just as polite.

Once that was done, Takashi noticed that someone was approaching them on a Duel Runner. When the individual reached him, it revealed to be the same person who beat up Honda and the others. After removing his helmet, the young man looked over towards Amara, checking to see if she was okay.

"Are you okay Amara?" He asked.

"I'm fine Jason," She replied. "Thanks for taking care of those guys, big brother."

Jason nodded his head, smiling when he heard that his little sister was alright. He then turned his focus towards Takashi. As he looked into his eyes, the young man could tell that Takashi was an extremely powerful Duelist. Even though Amara was giving it everything she had, Jason felt that Takashi was only using about half of his true strength. This made him wonder just how strong he really is when Duels for real, but Jason decided not to mention it since he didn't want to hurt his sister's pride. He then listened closely as Amara started talking to Takashi.

"So Takashi," She started off. "If our Duel had continued, I'm pretty sure I can guess what would happen. First…you would have Utopia Ray attack Harpie Angel Alecto before having Stardust Dragon attack my Cyber Harpie Lady. If both attacks got through, then I would have most likely lost the Duel. Well…am I right?"

"…Who knows," Takashi answered. "I mean, you still had another face-down card on the field. For all I know, I could have been something that could've saved you."

Amara smiled upon hearing Takashi say that as he was right about her face-down card. The card was the Trap: Mirror Force, which would have destroyed all of Takashi's Attack Position monsters the moment he declared an attack. However, because she knew the effect of Stardust Dragon, Amara knows that Takashi would have simply released his Ace Monster in order to negate the Trap. Even so, with Stardust gone until the End Phase, at least one of Amara's monsters would be safe. Also, once it was her turn again, she would have enough Speed Counters to use Speed World 2's effect again and win the Duel. However, given everything that's happen, Amara wondered if that truly would've been the case at all.

Eventually, all of these thoughts caused Amara to laugh as she was very amused by everything that's happen today. When she finally calmed herself down, she looked over towards Takashi and gave him a warm smile. Seeing her smile caused Takashi to smile as well, as he happy that could have such a fun Duel, despite how things started off initially.

"Listen Amara…" He said as his smile slowly faded away. "I can tell how much you care about Alex, but I simply can't tell you where he is. You see, the both of us are currently involved in something pretty nasty…and I know that he wouldn't want you to get involved."

"You may be right," Amara replied. "But even so…I want to find him. You see, I'm deeply in love with Alex. He's my soul mate. Even things might get dangerous for me, I would rather die by his side than to live another moment without him. That's how I express my love for him. You must know how it feels Takashi…having someone you always want to be with, despite the troubles you go through."

Upon hearing Amara say that, Takashi stayed quiet as he thought about what she just said. While he was doing that, Akiza was busy doing the same thing. She soon glanced over towards Takashi, knowing that the person she wants to always be with was him. Listening to Amara's resolve only ended up strengthening Akiza's, causing her to vow that she would always stay by Takashi's side and support him, no matter what the two of them may face in the future.

Eventually, as time passed by and Sector Security sirens could be heard, Amara decided that now would be a good time to leave. As she got placed her helmet back on her head, the young woman looked over towards Takashi nodded her head towards him. She then revved her Duel Runner again and prepared to leave.

"Well, I better get going," She said. "Until we meet again, Takashi."

Amara soon turned her attention towards Akiza, who was busy looking at her. As both young women stared at each other, Amara smiled at Akiza and gave her a quick wink, causing the Psychic Duelist to blush a little.

"Stay by his side," Amara whispered. "He loves you."

Although Amara was only whispering, Akiza was able to hear her very clearly. Hearing her say that Takashi was in love with her, shocked Akiza to no end. She was about to say something in response, but Amara and Jason had already left the area before she could. Now, all alone with Takashi, Akiza glanced over towards him again, while still thinking about what Amara said. After some time, Akiza closed her eyes and silently smiled as a small blushed appeared on her face.

Meanwhile, as he watched Amara and Jason leave, Takashi was still thinking about what she said to him. She was right when she said that he had someone he always wanted to be with, despite all the crap he's going through. He initially believed that person to be Hikari, due to her being his childhood crush and the one he promised to protect when they were younger. However, after her death nearly 7 years ago, Takashi drove all thoughts of being with someone out of his mind, since didn't want to endanger them simply because they were around him. However, after some more thought, Takashi started to wonder if there was another.

As he glanced over towards Akiza, Takashi gently placed his hand upon the necklace that she gave to him before left to train with Alex. He then remembered how much he cared for Akiza and how his growing affections soon transformed into love. It was because his romantic feelings for the Rose Duelist that made Takashi wonder something about her.

"Is Akiza…the one?" He thought. "The one Amara was talking about?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As Takashi's and Akiza's date starts coming to a close, the both of them start reflecting about where they are now and where the future is going to take them. Eventually, just before the two of them head back home, Akiza makes a special request to Takashi. Just what is her request and can Takashi fulfill it?_

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 99: The Star and the Rose – Part 1_

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><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, it's Spirit Reader with a few announcements._

_First off, I want to say sorry for the month-long delay. I was busy with personal matters that I simply couldn't put aside. I can't say for sure that they won't resurface, but I'll try to let you know if I go on another delay._

_Second, because a lot people have been asking me about it, I want to tell you something about the current story arc. I know it's been going on for a while and for those of you who have been patient with me, I want to say thank you. However, I'm here to say that the Fortune Cup Saga will be coming to an end in the next 5 chapters. Once those chapters are out, the next Saga of the story will officially begin. I can't guarantee when those chapters will be out, I'll try to finish them by the end of the year._

_Next, I want to answer a question about the ages of the main characters. I know I already did this, but I'm doing it again. Please disregard the age list on chapter 63, because it's currently wrong. I'll fix it sometime later._

**Takashi – 18 **

**Akiza – 18**

**Lilly – 19 **

**Crow – 18 **

**Toru – 20 **

**Misaki – 17 **

**Alistair – 20 **

**Alex – 22 **

**Sona – 22**

**Amara – 21 **

_Lastly, I want to remind you all that OCs are still closed. Please do not send any to me right now, because chances are I'm not going to accept them. As I said before, OCs will reopen once the next story arc begins and not a moment sooner. I know all of you want to see your characters in the story, but I simply can't focus on including them and on the story right now. Please be patient until then._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


	99. Chapter 99

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 99: **_The Star and the Rose – Part 1_

* * *

><p>"Alright…everything is looking good so far."<p>

Those were the words spoken by Lilly Muto, as she and her friends continue setting things up for Akiza's birthday party. Yesterday, after learning from Enoch that today was going to be Akiza's 18th birthday and that she had no intention of celebrating it, Lilly decided to set up a surprise party for her friend in order to mark the occasion. In order to make that work however, Lilly needed someone to take Akiza out for most of the day so that she and the others could work without her knowing. Not even taking the time to think about it, Lilly knew exactly who should the one to take Akiza out and immediately called Takashi as a result.

When Lilly first met Takashi, nearly one year ago, the beautiful young woman had a small crush on him due to his kind personality and his strong desire to help anyone in need. However, after seeing how deeply in love Akiza was with him and how Takashi shared similar feelings, Lilly grew out of her crush and decided to help her friends get to together. For nearly a year, Lilly's attempts didn't bear much fruit, due to the fact that Akiza was too timid and Takashi was afraid to make a push. However, after setting them up on a date all alone, Lilly believed that this time would be different and that, by the end of the day, Takashi and Akiza would finally become a couple.

The thought of that brought a smile on Lilly's face as she really wanted her friends to be happy together, especially after all the garbage they had to go through early in their lives. Also, if her plan work and Takashi and Akiza really did become an item, Lilly believed that event could also act as a present for the latter since its one she really wants. Just the thought of that motivated Lilly to work harder so that everything will be ready for the party. To that end, the Signer made her way into the kitchen so that she could continue working on the birthday cake.

As Lilly worked on Akiza's cake, the others were busy setting up decorations for the party. Toru and Crow placed graffiti all over the place while Misaki took the time to wrap all of the presents. When the boys finally finished the work, the two of them decided to check up on Misaki in order to see how she was doing. After seeing that they were doing alright, Toru and Crow decided to look over at each of Akiza's presents.

"So…" Crow said as he held one the gifts in his hand. "Who gave her this thing?"

"I did…," Misaki confirmed as she took some tape and placed it onto some wrapping paper. "…I decided to make Akiza a brand new Duel Disk. If it works out well, I'm hoping to make more that I can sell for a profit."

Crow was surprised to hear Misaki say that as he never saw her as someone who would use her mechanical genius in order to make herself some money. However, after thinking about for a moment, the Blackwing Duelist realized that Misaki's plan was a pretty good one. In today's society, things like Duel Disks, Duel Runners, and other mechanical items are selling like hotcakes. If Misaki, who's already good enough to make her own Duel Runner, continues to develop her craft, she could make a big name for herself and earn a lot of money as a result.

As Crow continued pondering that, Toru took the opportunity take the Duel Disk that Misaki was going to give to Akiza. While he examined it, the Scrap Duelist took the time to think about the same thing as Crow, but went further and started thinking about something else as well. After spending some time pondering it, Toru decided to ask Misaki about it.

"So…" He started off. "Does this mean that you're planning to become an engineer or something? I always thought you would try to make a name for yourself in the Pro League."

"…You shouldn't make assumptions," Misaki replied, hardly paying attention to Toru. "…Unlike you, I want to do something that can not only make a lot of money, but can also provide me with a reliable income."

Toru felt somewhat crushed by Misaki's remarks while Crow couldn't help but snicker. Zora, Misaki's grandmother and the one who owns the apartment that they all live in, is always on Toru because he can't pay his rent on time. This is because, unlike the rest of his roommates, Toru only relies on his Dueling Career in order to pay for his expenses. The others, while also trying to make themselves known in the Dueling World, know that they need another form of income in order to not only pay for cards and Duel Runner parts, but for Zora's rent as well.

Takashi, who's somewhat of a jack of all trades, has opened a successful odd jobs business while also taking the time to teach martial arts at a local dojo. Crow partakes in a delivery service while Lilly takes her time doing part time work at a computer store and a local daycare. As for Akiza and Misaki, although both of them are exempt from paying rent because they're enrolled at Duel Academy and Zora prioritizes education, both of them decided to get jobs too. Akiza sometimes helps out Takashi at his odd jobs business, acting somewhat as his assistant/partner, while also working a part time job at a local bakery. Misaki, on the other hand, works part time at a local car shop, using the knowledge she acquires there in order to open up her own shop.

Although Toru wanted to start working part time like his friends, he found that his skills are more towards Dueling than anything else. He knew that if he could do more than Duel, he wouldn't have rushed to leave Crash Town so early. Despite that flaw however, Toru works hard for himself and it's that dedication that allows Zora to overlook his tendency to be late on his rent from time to time. Also, whenever he does have his rent ready, Toru also pays her about 20% extra as his way of saying thank you to the nice old women.

Eventually, as the three of them continued talking amongst themselves, Lilly realized that they weren't working and proceeded to clap her hands loudly as a result. She then went on to glare at them, silently telling the three that they needed to get back to work. Upon seeing that glare, both Toru and Crow instantly shot up and did just that while Misaki calmly nodded her head and went back to wrapping the presents. As she did, Misaki noticed the make-up kits that Lilly had bought for Akiza and the Dueling Decks that Crow was going to give to her. Seeing them both as good gifts, Misaki silently nodded her head again before wrapping both items.

After Misaki finished her work, the young woman decided to help Lilly with the baking in order to keep herself busy. Knowing that more people will allow her to finish faster, Lilly accepted Misaki's offer and instructed her to gently place the icing on top of the cake. As Misaki did that, the young woman started to wonder about something that caught her mind. Since Lilly was the one who organized everything, Misaki believed that she might have the answer and decided to talk to her about it.

"…Hey Lilly," She said. "If we're giving all of these gifts to Akiza…what's Takashi going to give her…?"

Lilly glanced over at Misaki while she took some eggs out of the refrigerator. As she cracked the egg shells and placed the contents into a bowl, the Signer took a moment to think about her question. After about a minute, a small smile appeared on Lilly's face as she turned around to face her friend.

"It's quite simple," She told her. "You see, although we put a lot of thought into our gifts, there's only one thing that she truly wants and it's something that only Takashi can give to her."

"And what's that…?" Misaki inquired.

"His love for her," Lilly closed her eyes for a moment as she placed the eggs into a pan. "From the moment she first met him, Akiza has been deeply in love with Takashi. She wants to spend the rest of her life with him…because he's the one who allowed her to look past the darkness in order to embrace the light. Also, it doesn't hurt that Takashi feels the same way about her, as just being with Akiza makes Takashi feel a lot better about himself and the path he's walking. That's why when I told Takashi that he needs to confess his feeling to Akiza while on their date…as it's the only thing she wants."

After finishing her explanation, Lilly reopened her eyes and went back to work. As she watched her do that, Misaki thought about what she just said while continuing to place icing onto the cake. Because she wasn't very experienced when it came to things like love, not having a boyfriend before, Misaki wasn't entirely sure if Lilly's plan for Takashi and Akiza will end up the way she believes it will. However, after remembering how close Takashi and Akiza are with each other, the young woman decided to believe that Lilly's plan will work and that her friends will end up together by the time the day comes to an end.

Eventually, as time passed by, everyone heard someone knocking on the door. When Toru came up to answer it, the Scrap Duelist was happy to see that it was Sona and Enoch. Not only that, but the two Psychics were also joined by both Madas and Tem, who also heard about the party and wanted to participate. After greeting all of them, Toru allowed all of them to enter the apartment and watched as each of them placed their respective presents on the table.

Once they did that, Sona and the others looked around the place and saw that everything was looking pretty good for the party. However, they also noticed that there was still a couple of things left to do before things were ready. As a result, they all decided to pitch in and help out the Signers. With that, Madas and Tem helped out Toru and Crow with the reminder of the decorations while Sona and Enoch started cleaning up the place so that it wasn't messy by the time party arrived.

As the two Psychic Duelists cleaned up the place, Sona noticed that Enoch had somewhat of a mixed expression on his face. Ever since she first met up with him today, Sona quickly picked up on that look and saw that it was becoming sadder as time passed by. Knowing full well what was troubling her friend, Sona let out a small sigh before walking over towards Enoch and dragging him by the ear. Once they were a good enough distance away, the two started talking about what was wrong.

"So…do you want to talk about it?" She asked him. "Or are you just going to stand there like a total idiot?"

Enoch glared at Sona slightly after hearing her say that to him. However, he was quickly able to get over it after remembering that she's always acted like that ever since he first met her. He then went on to close his eyes for a moment as he started thinking about what was bothering him. As he did so, Sona simply let out another sigh before going on to straighten her glasses. She then gently folded her arms as she leaned towards him slightly.

"Listen Enoch…I know what you're going through. Believe me I do. However…you need to let Akiza go."

"…I know that you're right," Enoch softly replied.

As he slowly reopened his eyes, Enoch started recalling his time with Akiza at the Arcadia Movement and how he grew to have feelings for her. Even though it was clear that his feelings were unrequited, he still held on to them as it allowed him to keep moving forward. Somewhere deep in his heart, he wanted to believe that there was still a chance between him and Akiza. However, after hearing about Lilly's plan by Sona, Enoch realized that any chance he thought he still had never really existed.

"I'm just having a hard time accepting it. I truly meant it when I said that all I want is for Akiza to be happy. It's just…I really wanted her to obtain that happiness with me. I know I'm sounding like a baby…but that's how I feel."

"You're not sounding like a baby, Enoch," Sona told him. "You're sounding human."

Enoch was surprised by Sona's comment and watched her closely as she started looking towards the ceiling. As she did so, the young woman started recalling her relationship between herself, Alex, and Amara. Although she's known Alex much longer than Amara has, Sona could tell that both of her friends had a thing for each other. Even though she had feelings for Alex as well, Sona decided to let Amara have him. The reason why she did that is so that not only Alex would be happy, but also because doing so allowed Sona to let go of the belief that she could get together with him.

If she continued to hold on to that belief, the young woman knew that she wouldn't be able to continue on with her life. She would simply keep fighting for something that she would never be able to obtain, no matter how hard she fought for it. It was hard and there were times that she wanted to give up, but she didn't and Sona was able to grow much stronger as a result. She knows what Enoch is going through because she experienced the same thing. As a result, the Psychic Duelist looked back towards her friend and gave him so much needed advice.

"Enoch," She started off. "There are ways of expression your feelings to Akiza without having to be in a romantic relationship with her. You can support her in the trials that she'll eventually have to face, as well be there for her whenever she needs your help. I know that it sometimes feels that it isn't enough, but believe me when I say that it is. You just need to have heart and be content with the fact that the person you love is happy. Once you do that…you can start moving forward."

"…Sona," Enoch said, amazed by what she just said. "I…I don't get it. How are you so strong?"

"I AM NOT STRONG YOU IDOIT!"

Surprised act hearing her raise her voice at him, Enoch suddenly fell backwards on his butt. He then looked at Sona as she was giving him a rather frightening glare. As Enoch started shaking slightly out of fear, Sona proceeded to correct her friend.

"You should be asking, why am I so kind? I'm kind!"

"Right…your kind, Sona…very kind," Enoch mentally replied.

Once that was settled, Sona turned herself around so that Enoch wouldn't see the warm smile that just appeared on her face. Started thinking about how men like him, Takashi, and even Alex are all clueless when it comes to matters like love. This is especially true it comes to figuring out what's going on inside a woman's heart. However, despite how clueless they might be, Sona knew that men like them were rare to come across in this world and it reminded her about how Akiza, Amara, and even herself were able to fall for them. It was because that fact that allowed Sona to look past the cluelessness that the boys had, even though it sometimes annoyed her.

She then went back to cleaning the apartment as everyone else was busy looking at her. When she started looking back at them, Sona watched as Lilly and the others quickly went back to doing what they were doing. Seeing them do that made her chuckle a little as she found their actions to be somewhat amusing. Once she finally finished cleaning, Sona stretched her arms for a second before making her way towards the kitchen. When she got there, the Psychic Duelist saw that Lilly was still cooking.

"Do you need any help?" Sona asked her.

"Um…sure," Lilly replied. "Could you help me out with the pasta?"

Sona nodded her head towards Lilly and quickly started working on the pasta that the Signer was working on earlier. As the two of them worked, Lilly looked outside and saw how the sun was continuing to set over the horizon. The day was quickly coming to an end, which also meant that Takashi and Akiza's date will soon be over. She wondered whether or not the two of them confess their feelings yet, since having them do so was the whole purpose of this plan. As she continued to think about it, Sona looked over towards her and quickly understood what was going on inside her mind.

"Don't worry," She told her as she continued cooking. "Everything will work out fine."

"Really…?" Lilly questioned as she turned around to face Sona. "How can you be so sure?"

"It's quite simple. Even though I'm not as close to them as you and the others are, I can tell that Takashi and Akiza have a very powerful bond. Both of them went through a lot and it's through their suffering that they managed to find each other. It may be hard for them to confess their feelings for one another, but I'm confident that today will be the day. Besides…Akiza told me that if the time finally came, she had a plan on how to best tell Takashi on she feels."

Lilly was quite surprised by what Sona just said. Akiza never told her about any plan that she had. Whenever the subject of her love life was mentioned, the Rose Duelist would simply become very nervous and choose not to respond. It was because of Akiza's reluctance to push forward that made Lilly believe that someone needed to make the push for her friend. However, after hearing about this, Lilly now started to wonder what type of plan did Akiza come up with.

"So…what does she plan to do?" She asked.

"I'll tell you," Sona replied. "Akiza's plan is…"

* * *

><p>Ever since he first arrived in New Domino City, Takashi has found it very hard to find a place that it's nice and quiet. Although he's a very proactive individual, Takashi also enjoys sitting around and relaxing. Doing also allows him to put his mind at ease and enjoy his surroundings. However, since New Domino is an extremely large city and a lot of people are moving around and making noise, Takashi usually can't find a place where he can be alone with his thoughts. Fortunately, in the year that he's been here, he's found two places that allows him to do so.<p>

The first place is the roof his apartment home, Poppo Time. Because the apartment is located in the far end of the city, it's usually very quiet during the night. It's because of that Takashi likes to meditate there just before he goes to sleep or when something is troubling him and he wants to be alone. The second place that he likes to go to is a small pier that's also located on the outside of New Domino City.

The first time he went to the pier was during the night in which he had Kagura teamed up in order to save their friend Nami from a Duel Gang. He just happened to find it by chance and since his mind was being troubled by something, the young man decided to hang out over there so that he could think things over. The soft sounds of the ocean had somewhat of a soothing effect on him, which ultimately prompted the Signer to head back over there whenever he had the chance to do so. Takashi never told anyone about his place at the pier, but that all changed today.

As the sun continued setting over the city, Takashi and Akiza were still continuing their date. After getting a quick bite to eat and some ice cream as dessert, the two of them decided to go some place quiet so that they could relax. With that in mind, Takashi took Akiza to his secret spot by the pier. When they got there, Akiza was amazed by the beauty of the ocean and how peaceful things were. Upon seeing the look of satisfaction that was on her face, Takashi smiled, happy that his friend was enjoying herself.

Eventually, as the two of them continued watching the sunset, Akiza looked over towards Takashi before taking the time to think about the Turbo Duel he just had with Amara and the feelings she was experiencing. The rush of the Duel was a sensation that she's never experienced before in her life. For Akiza, it was like being both happy and scared at the very same time. Not only did it allow her to gain an even greater appreciation for Turbo Duels, but also caused to wonder if she would be capable of entering that world. Soon enough, Akiza decided to talk to Takashi about what she was thinking about.

"Say Takashi…" She called.

"Yeah," Takashi replied. "What is it, Akiza?"

"That Duel that you had with Amara earlier…I was wondering…does it always feel that exciting whenever you participate in a Turbo Duel?"

Takashi glanced over towards Akiza after hearing her ask him that question. He wondered why she would want to know something like that, but he decided to go ahead and answer her question. So, after spending a few seconds remembering all the times he participated in a Turbo Duel, Takashi towards the sea as he proceeded to answer the question.

"It doesn't always feel that way," He started off. "Sometimes it feels much more intense. You see, whenever I Turbo Duel, I feel like all of my senses have been multiplied by 1000. It's so incredible…that it's sometimes too hard to believe. And when I'm facing my opponent…I can even sense what's going on within their hearts. Turbo Dueling is really hard and dangerous, but the things you get out of it well outweigh any of the risks. I'm glad I choose the path of the Turbo Duelist, Akiza…because now I have an even greater appreciation for the game of Duel Monsters."

"…I see," Akiza looked at Takashi for a moment and soon let out a small smile. She then turned her attention towards the ocean. "Then that settles it."

"Settles what?" Takashi asked. "What are you talking about?"

Akiza remained silent for a moment as she started to recall Takashi's Duel with Amara again. Having been there and experienced it with them, the Psychic Duelist not only gained a much greater respect for Turbo Duelists, but also finally decided on the next stage of her Dueling Career. Truthfully, Akiza was already considering taking that path, but it was thanks to that Duel that finally allowed her to make that choice. Because of that, she silently thanked Amara and Takashi for giving her the chance to experience that Duel.

"Takashi…I want to know too," She told him. "I want to see the world you see in a Turbo Duel, the world that you feel…and the world that you love."

"Akiza…do you…?"

"Yes," Akiza turned her head towards Takashi and looked at him with a determined look on her face. "I want to become a Turbo Duelist."

As he continued to look at the serious expression that was on her face, Takashi knew right away that Akiza was serious about wanting to become a Turbo Duelist. Even without her telling him, he could tell that she didn't care how hard it will be. She was willingly to put in the work if it meant entering the world that he and the rest of their friends are already a part of. Just seeing her like that put a small smile on his face as it made him realize just how far Akiza has come since the moment they first met.

In the beginning, Akiza was so distant and was unwillingly to try out new things. However, things were completely different now. The shy and introverted young girl that she once was no longer existed. In her place was a beautiful and kind young woman who was willing to try out new experiences, both for her friends and for herself.

"Alright Akiza," He said. "If that's what you want…then I'll help you become a great Turbo Duelist. Let's just take care of our business with Goodwin first. That way we won't have any distractions later."

"You got it," Akiza happily replied.

The two friends smiled at one another as they were delighted that they were going to have another thing in common with one another. This day that they've been having has been full of unexpected surprises that neither of them had expected, but it was through those experiences that their bond has grown even stronger than ever. Takashi and Akiza were both really grateful that were able to spend this day together, has they both considered it one of the best days that they had in quite a long time.

Eventually though, as things started to quiet down and the two of them went back to looking towards the ocean, Akiza looked back towards Takashi and noticed that he was deep in thought. It was clear to her that he was thinking about something rather personal, as he wasn't budging and he had a serious look on his face. Seeing him like that worried Akiza a little as she never liked it when Takashi got that way. In fact, whenever she did see him like that, Akiza would in fact become somewhat afraid of Takashi.

This was true even when they first met each other for the first time. Although most people would think that Akiza was the scary one back then, in actuality, she was the one who was afraid. Back then, most people feared Akiza because of her powerful Psychic abilities and as a result, she grew up practically by herself. She didn't fear anything because everyone else's was directed towards her. However, that changed when she met Takashi. Despite overwhelming him with her powers, Takashi kept on fighting and refuses to give up. That frightened Akiza as Takashi was the first person to stand up to her and not take any of her crap.

As time passed by and Akiza became best friends with Takashi, the young woman would still continue to hold on to that fear. She preferred when Takashi was happy and hopeful, willingly to himself over others. She didn't like it when he was sad or worse, mad. Whenever he was like that, Takashi would give in to his negative emotions and let his anger and despair get the better of him, just like during his battles against Sasuke and Kuromu respectively. When that happens, it's like Takashi was becoming the exact thing he was fighting against, which scared Akiza greatly. Now, with that feeling now returning, the beautiful Rose Duelist decided to talk to her beloved, in order to help him with whatever he was thinking about.

"Takashi…" She said a she got a little bit closer to him. "Are you okay? You're looking a little bit tense."

"…I'm fine, Akiza," Takashi told her as he clasps his hands together. "I was just thinking about your determination…and about what Amara told me after our Duel."

"What about them?" Akiza asked. "Is it bad?"

"No…it's not bad. It's just…"

As he continued to stare out into the distance, Takashi recalled what Amara said to him just before they said their goodbyes. She told him about her love for Alex and how she wants to be there for him, no matter what type of danger she might have to face in the future. He then went on to recall the determined look that Akiza had in her eyes when she declared that she wanted to become a Turbo Duelist. Both girls were exceptionally strong and knew exactly what they wanted for themselves. However, thinking about their determination caused Takashi to question his own.

For as long as he could remember, Takashi always tried to stay true to his beliefs and never give up on the things that he wants in life. However, in recent months, his resolve has been shaken considerably because of recent events, events in which he was a part of. Although he always finds the strength to continue on with one problem, another situation would occur that would cause him to lose heart again. It was becoming a trend and Takashi wasn't sure if he could break it.

"You and Amara are really something else," He said. "You don't hesitate and you're willing to go to the ends of the earth in order to get what you want. I wish I had the same heart as you two. Perhaps if I did…then maybe some of the people that I used to care about would still be here."

"…Do you mean Hikari?" Akiza asked in a low tone of voice.

Takashi didn't answer her question, but his silence told Akiza everything. She knew that Takashi believed that his greatest failure in life was his inability to save Hikari and her older brother Riku. Their deaths continue to haunt him to this day and their memory act as one of his greatest sources of strength and greatest source of despair. Akiza was well aware of that and the Psychic Duelist also knew that Takashi believed that a good part of him died along with his childhood friends. Just thinking about that saddened her more, but before she could talk to him about it, Akiza listened as Takashi continued talking.

"If only I was strong as you. If I was, then maybe the people that I tried to protect wouldn't have had to die. But I wasn't strong and it was my weakness that led to their deaths. It makes me wonder if…the world would be a much better place if I wasn't even born."

At the very instant Akiza heard Takashi question whether or not he should've been born, something within the Psychic Duelist snapped. She gritted her teeth a bit and proceeded to get behind Takashi, who simply continued to stare out into the distance. As she looked at the back of his head, Akiza suddenly recalled all the good and noble things that Takashi has done ever since she's known him. She also took the time to remember the things that Hikari's spirit told her about Takashi while she was trapped in her coma. Remembering all of those things and seeing Takashi talk bad about himself infuriated Akiza, so much so that she wanted to scream.

"Takashi…YOU IDIOT!"

Using her right foot, Akiza firmly kicked Takashi in the back, the force of the blow was enough to send him flying into the water. As she watched him begin to swim back to the surface, the Rose Duelist quickly calmed herself down so that her Psychic Powers would suddenly manifest and overwhelm her. Despite that though, she was still visibly upset with Takashi and proceeded to look at him coldly even when his head finally stuck out of the water.

"Hey!" He said as he shook some of the water off of his face. "What the hell was that for?!"

"For being a f**king idiot!" Akiza replied. "How can you sit there and wonder what things would be like if hadn't been born…especially after all the good things you've done?!"

Takashi stared at Akiza for a moment and saw that she was beginning to shed tears. Upon seeing her do that, the Signer couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes and simply kept his head down. He then started thinking about what she just said to him and all the things he did in his life. Although he has done a lot of good, Takashi still believed that the mistakes he made far outweigh them. This caused him to feel even worse, much to Akiza's annoyance.

"Because…" Takashi continued. "I don't know if what I'm doing will mean anything in the end. Ever since I was a little kid, I've tried my best to help others so that no one would have to live a life of pain and loneness. However, I was just a child and I didn't know how the world really worked. Now that I'm older, I can see that nothing is cut and dry. For every person I help, 10 more enemies seem to appear before me. Not only that, but sometimes the problems I fix only lead to even greater threats. I try to tell myself to keep going and that everything will be alright in the end…but I feel that nothing I do will actually change anything. That's why I wonder what the world would be like if I wasn't around. If I was gone…then maybe none of this crap that we're in wouldn't be happening and the people that we've lost would still be here."

"…But what about the people that you did help, Takashi?"

Takashi's eyes widen after hearing Akiza say that to him. He then looked back up and saw her clinching her fists as more tears ran down her face. The Psychic Duelist was still upset with him for constantly blaming himself for what he believed he did, but she understood his feelings regardless. Despite that though, Akiza knew one thing that Takashi always seems to forget whenever he begins to doubt himself. Although she wanted him to figure it out for himself, the young woman decided to tell him anyway because he was her friend.

"Takashi," She said. "You're always talking about the things you didn't do and the people you weren't able to help. Why are you spending so much time on that? Instead, shouldn't you be focusing on the people you did help…and the people you will help in the future? If you weren't around then who's to say that things wouldn't end up becoming even worse for everyone. If you ask me…I'd say that the world wouldn't be able to survive if someone like you weren't there trying to protect it."

Akiza closed her eyes for a moment and started thinking about all the things that Takashi has not only done for others, but for her as well. He would always put the problems of everyone else on his own shoulders, doing everything within his power in order to make them happy. It was through his sheer determination that Takashi was able to open the hearts of many, so it saddened Akiza greatly when he told her that he didn't have enough of it. That wasn't true at all and Akiza wanted to do everything she could in order to convince Takashi of that.

With that, Akiza slowly opened her eyes and gently knelt down on her knees. She then gently placed her hand on Takashi's face, slowly rubbing the large cross-shape scar that he received 3 years ago. As she did that, Akiza gave Takashi a warm and loving smile, which caused him to blush a little.

"I told you this before…all the good things you've done far outweigh the bad. Takashi…you're the strongest person I know and no one has more determination than you. So please…stop saying things like not being born. If you weren't here in this world…then I doubt I could survive in it."

After hearing Akiza say that to him, Takashi suddenly started to think about the last thing Amara told him before they left each other. She asked him if there was someone that he wanted to always be with…someone that he always wanted to love and protect, despite dangers that he may have to face. After thinking about it for a moment, Takashi wondered if Akiza was the one Amara talked about…due his friendship and growing affection for her. It wasn't until now that the Signer realized that she was indeed the one.

Ever since Hikari died in his arms, Takashi made a decision not to become romantically involved with anyone he encountered. The reason for that is because he not only believed that he was unworthy of being loved that way, but also because he didn't want to endanger the person he came to care about. His vow to protect other people forces him to partake in many dangerous situations and Takashi didn't want others to get hurt just because they were around him. Also, he felt it was very unfair of him to place an unnecessary burden on those he loved, just because he was traumatized as a child and was trying to make up for it.

However, that wasn't the case with Akiza. She doesn't consider being around him to be an unbearable burden as she finds the things that Takashi does to be very inspiring. Not only that, it was because of the path that Takashi walks that made Akiza realize that she wanted to walk a similar path. Her kindness, strength, and empathy, Takashi recognized them all. Ever since he realized he had feelings for her, Takashi wondered if Akiza was truly someone he could give his life to. Now, after seeing her once again help him through his doubts, the young leader of the Signers realized that Akiza was not only someone he could give his life to, but also someone who would give her life to him.

"Akiza…" Takashi looked up towards her and smiled, showing that he wasn't sad anymore. "Thank you."

"…No problem," Akiza replied, relieved that Takashi was no longer blaming himself for things. "Here…let's get you out of there before you catch a cold."

Akiza extended her hand out towards Takashi so that she could help him out of the water. However, at the very instant he grabbed her hand, Takashi snickered as he proceeded to put a plan into motion. After making sure that he had a good grasp on her, Takashi pulled Akiza towards him, causing her to fall into the water with him. By the time she floated back to the surface, Takashi was laughing while Akiza was giving him a fierce glare.

"What was that for?!" She angrily asked him.

"For pushing me in first," Takashi answered as he continued laughing. "I'm just paying you back, Akiza."

"Oh really…? Well, I hope you don't mind if I do this!"

Akiza took her right hand and firmly splashed the water, resulting in some of it hitting Takashi's face. When Takashi saw that happen to him, he simply snickered some more before going on to splash some water back towards Akiza. This exchanged between the two Signers continued for the next 10 minutes and as time passed by, the two of them were beginning to enjoy themselves more and more. Takashi and Akiza always enjoyed spending time with each other, but today was a truly special for the both of them, as this day showed them just how much they really care about each other.

Eventually, after playing around in the water for a bit, Takashi and Akiza both got out and started making their way towards the former's Duel Runner. Once they got there, Takashi opened a compartment and pulled out a small towel. After using it to dry his face, Takashi handed it Akiza, who proceeded to do the same. However, even as she attempted to get herself dry, the wind made Akiza feel even colder, which soon caused her to let out a light sneeze.

"Sorry…" She said. "I'm just a bit chilly right now."

As the Rose Duelist started shivering a little, Takashi started to feel bit as it was his fault that she got wet in the first place. He wanted to make it up to her, but was having a hard time trying to figure out how. After some thinking however, one idea did pop inside his head and Takashi decided to try it out. But, before he did anything, Takashi went back inside the trunk compartment of his Duel Runner and pulled one his jackets. He then went on to place it over Akiza's shoulders.

"Here," He said to her. "You can use this to warm up…at least until we head to a shop so that I can buy us some new clothes."

"Are you sure?" Akiza asked him. "I mean…you don't have to."

"I'm sure," Takashi got on his Duel Runner and quickly placed his helmet on. "C'mon, let's get going."

Akiza nodded her head and soon placed Takashi extra helmet on her head. Then, after pressing a button on it so that the visor would cover her eyes, Akiza got on Takashi's Duel Runner and held on behind him. Once she did that, Takashi quickly drove off in order to find a good clothing store for Akiza and himself. As he did that, Akiza gently placed her head against his back, already feeling a lot warmer just by being near him.

Soon though, after about 10 minutes of driving, Takashi finally found a shop that sold good clothes a decent price. After going inside, both he and Akiza took their time as they looked around the place. Eventually, Takashi found what he wanted to wear and went on to pay for it. He then went into a dressing room so that he could change out of his wet clothes without being seen. When he came out, he was wearing a red and black t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and a black jacket with a pair of black and white shoes.

When Akiza found what she wanted to wear, Takashi proceeded to pay for her things before watching her enter the female changing room. As he waited for her, the young man took the time to look at the necklace that she gave to him before he left to train under Alex. For some reason, the stone that was hanging off it seemed to have a much brighter glow than usual. Takashi wondered to himself why that was the case, but before he could examine it some more, he heard his cell phone. After getting it out of his pocket, Takashi saw that he just received a text message for Lilly.

_Everything's all set. Do one last thing with Akiza and then make your way back over here. Also…don't forget about what you have to do._

After reading Lilly's message, Takashi put his phone away as he thought about what to do. He didn't forget what Lilly wanted him to do on his date with Akiza and he even promised himself that he would do it. Despite that though, Takashi was still very nervous and he wasn't sure if he had the guts to say it. As he closed his eyes and started thinking very carefully about what he wanted to do, Akiza finished changing and soon started standing next to him.

"I'm done," She said. "Are you alright, Takashi?"

"Huh…?" Takashi spoke as he opened his eyes back up. "Yeah, I'm okay. So how did it…"

Upon seeing what she was wearing, Takashi stopped talking as he was amazed by how beautiful Akiza looked. She was wearing a red shirt with two stripes on it, stockings, and a new set of red high heel pumps. Also, like always, Akiza was wearing the emerald crested, golden cross-shaped medallion that Takashi had gave to her a few months back. Although this outfit was very simple to eyes of a lot people, Takashi still found it to be very attractive on Akiza, which in turn caused him to blush a little.

"Wow…you look…really good,"

"Really…?" Akiza said as a small blush appeared on her face. "I kind of picked this out of the blue."

"I really mean it," Takashi insisted. "You're very attractive, Akiza. You make anything you wear look good."

The blush on Akiza's face quickly grew much brighter as she was very flattered that Takashi would praise her on her beauty, even when she doesn't really focus on that part of her. She soon smiled and thanked Takashi for his kind words, who in turn said that it was no problem. Once that was said, both Signers left the shop and began making their way over towards Takashi's Duel Runner. As they got on it, Takashi took his time to watch the setting sun.

"It's getting pretty late," He pointed out. "I guess we have time to do one last thing. So Akiza…what will it be. I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

After hearing Takashi say that, Akiza thought long and hard about where she wanted to go to next. As she did so though, the Rose Duelist took the time to think about Takashi and how he was able to make her 18th birthday such a wonderful experience. When her birthday came around, Akiza was afraid that things would go south, just like how they do every year. However, Takashi was able to break that chain and Akiza was grateful that he did that for her. Soon enough, the young woman finally came up with an idea and went on to tell her love about it.

"Well…" She started off. "There's something that I want to do, but I first need to head over to a specific place. Can you take me there, Takashi?"

"No problem," Takashi said with a smile. "Just tell me where I need to go."

"Okay. Head over to the northern part of the Daimon Area. Once we get there, I'll tell you when to stop."

Nodding his head in compliance, Takashi revved up his Duel Runner and quickly drove off towards Akiza's chosen destination. As he sped across the road, he wondered what kind of thing Akiza wanted to do and why she had to go to the Daimon Area in order to do it. In the end, it didn't really matter as he would find out the answer soon enough. With that, the Signer kept on driving.

After 15 minutes of riding across the road, Takashi and Akiza finally reached the northern part of the Daimon Area. Once Akiza told him to stop, Takashi parked his Duel Runner and proceeded to follow her as she walked across the road. As they did, the both of them made their way through a park full of beautiful flowers. Just looking at them brought up memories of a dream that Takashi had just after he defeated Kagura in their match at the Fortune Cup. He once again started to wonder why Akiza wanted to come here and he soon got his answer when the Rose Duelist stopped in a specific place.

"Takashi…do you remember this place?" She asked him.

"I'm not sure," He answered. "I mean, I think I had a dream about being in this garden, but not this place in general. Why do you ask?"

"Because…this place is very special to me," Akiza turned herself around and faced Takashi, placing both of her hands behind her. "You see Takashi…this is the place where you and I first met."

When Takashi heard Akiza say that to him, he was instantly surprised and quickly started looking around the area. As he examined all the beautiful flowers and all the people that were walking through the park, Takashi recalled the day in which first met Akiza in this place. From what he could recall, the Daimon Area was pretty much abandoned by the general public and the place was a complete mess. Even though it's been almost a year since he was last here, Takashi was still surprised that this place could change so much in such a short amount of time.

However, even though he was shocked to be back in this place, Takashi was more focused on what this place meant to him. Not only was the Daimon Area the first time he met Akiza, but it was also the day he received his Signer Mark. Since that day, he's been pulled into one fierce battle after another. Although he didn't really think about before, Takashi knew now that meeting Akiza here in the Daimon Area all those months ago was when it happened; the moment that changed his life forever.

"I see…" Takashi spoke as he continued to survey the area. "But I'm still somewhat lost. Why would you want to come here? Is it just to see the flowers?"

"Not entirely…" Akiza replied. "Takashi…for the longest time now, there's been something that I wanted to tell you. However, no matter what the circumstance, I haven't been able to do so. As time passed by, I even started to wonder if it was even possible to tell you. But now, after spending this day with you and having such a fun time, I realize that I can. However, there's still one thing that has to be done before I do. So Takashi…can I make a request?"

"No problem. What is it?"

Akiza remained silent for as she mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do. After clearing mind of any doubts that she was having, the young woman went into her pocket and pulled out her Dueling Deck. She then looked at it for a moment before presenting it to Takashi.

"Takashi, this is my last birthday wish. I hereby…challenge you to a Duel!"

"You want to Duel me?" He asked, surprised by her request. "Why?"

"Because…it was through Dueling that our bond was first formed," She explained. "I believe by Dueling each other again, something even more wonderful will be forged between us. Besides…don't you remember our promise? We said that we would Duel each other again. Even though it was supposed to be at the Fortune Cup Finals, I figure now's a good enough time to keep it. Well…what do you say?"

Takashi remained quiet as he simply stared in Akiza's eyes. Like before, there was no doubt in them. She was completely determined to face him right here and now, no matter what the outcome might be in the end. With that in mind, Takashi knew that there was no way he could deny her. As a result, he pulled out his own Dueling Deck and presented it to Akiza.

"Alright then…I accept your challenge, Akiza!"

With that said, both Signers nodded their heads at each other before pulling out their respective Duel Disks. After strapping them to their arms and shuffling the others deck, Takashi and Akiza backed away until they were a few feet apart from each other. When they finally stopped, both of them activated their Duel Disks and drew five cards from their decks. As they did so, they suddenly imagined seeing themselves from 11 months ago about to Duel each other. The vision only lasted for a second, but the nostalgia they were feeling still remained. Because of that, both Takashi and Akiza decided that now was time to get things started.

* * *

><p><em>Duel<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Akiza: 4000 LP**

"I'll make the first move," Akiza declared as she placed her hand upon her deck. "I Draw!"

Swiftly, the Psychic Duelist drew the top card on her deck and examined it closely before placing it into her hands. After that, Akiza then took the time to look over the rest of her cards. Even though she's seen Takashi Duel plenty of times in the past, she still knew that he would be a difficult opponent to face. She would have to plan things carefully and, after saw a couple of good cards in her hand, Akiza came up with a good way to start off this Duel. So, she proceeded to taking one card from her hand and inserted it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"First, I'm activating the Spell Card: Graceful Charity. With its effect, I can draw 3 more cards from my hand at the cost of discarding 2 to the Graveyard."

Following along with the effect of her card, Akiza placed her hand back upon her deck and swiftly drew 3 more cards from it. She then went on to place them into her hand before trying to decide which ones she should discard. After finding them, the Rose Duelist promptly picked them up and placed them into the Graveyard section of her Duel Disk. Once she did that however, two flashes of light suddenly shined across her side of the field.

"Next, I activate the Special Ability of Dandylion! When it's sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon 2 Fluff Tokens onto my side of the field in Defense Mode!"

**Fluff Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

**Fluff Token: ATK 0 DEF 0 LVL 1**

When the light on Akiza's field finally started to fade away, Takashi watched as two Fluff Tokens appeared in front of his opponent. As he continued to look at them, he wondered what kind of strategy could Akiza have for them. In the end, Takashi decided to prepare himself for anything as he knew just how good Akiza was at playing Duel Monsters.

Meanwhile, back on her side of the field, Akiza was satisfied that she was able to bring out her Fluff Tokens so easily. She then proceeded on with her turn by grabbing another card from her hand. This time, the Rose Duelist placed the card face-down on her Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone in a horizontal position. When that happened, the face-down card materialized itself onto her field, right next to her Fluff Tokens. After that, she inserted another card into her Spell/Trap Zone and like with her first face-down card, it materialized right behind her Fluff Tokens.

"I then set a monster face-down in Defense Mode and another card face-down on the field," She continued. "With that, I end my turn."

"I see," Takashi replied as he looked over her field. "Starting off with defense, Akiza?"

"You know the old saying…Slow and steady wins the race."

Takashi and Akiza smiled at one another as the both knew how true that statement really was. Even though both them like to praise the other's skills, in truth, both of them are about equal in strength. When two equal powers clash against one another, the one who makes the slightest mistake is most likely the one who will lose in the end. Akiza knew that, which is why she started off with a defensive tactic, in order to cautiously prepare herself for the true battle that lied ahead.

As for Takashi, who was still examining all the cards that were on Akiza's field, the young man wondered about his opponent's strategy. Usually, when Duelists bring out Token Monsters, they tend to use them for two reasons. The first is to protect themselves long enough until they can launch a counterattack. The second is to use the Tokens as a means to bring out an even stronger monster. Because the Duel was just starting, Takashi wasn't sure about the first one so he decided that Akiza's plan centered on the second strategy. If that was indeed the case then he knew that he had to act fast. With that in mind, he prepared to begin his turn.

"Here we go Akiza," He said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Almost as fast as lightning, Takashi quickly drew the top card on his deck and placed it into his hand. He then examined all 6 of his cards very carefully, knowing that every decision he made would either help or hurt him in this Duel. Soon, after spending almost a minute forming a strategy, Takashi made his move by first taking one card from his hand and placing it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone. When he did that, the Signer watched as a bright flash of light now covered his side of the field.

"For my first move, I Summon: Queen's Knight, in Attack Mode!"

**Queen's Knight: ATK 1500 DEF 1600 LVL 4**

When the light that was shining across his field started to fade away, Takashi watched as his trusty Queen's Knight materialized before him. Once it was out, the powerful female warrior braced herself for battle, prepared for anything that Akiza had in store for her. Now, with a monster on field, Takashi now had to decide what to do next. Even though there was a good chance that Akiza will use her Fluff Tokens in order to summon a stronger monster, Takashi was also concerned about the face-down monster that she had on her field. Believing that the monster had an important purpose, Takashi decided to target it first before going after the Token Monsters.

"Queen's Knight, attack her face-down monster now!"

The noble knight quickly complied with Takashi's command and soon dash towards Akiza's face-down monster. However, before Queen's Knight could slash the card in two with her sword, Akiza responded by activating the face-down card that she had placed on her field. When she did, the card flipped up and another blinding light covered her field again.

"Not so fast," She said. "I activate the Trap Card: Shift! I can change the target of your knight's attack from my face-down monster to one of my Fluff Tokens!"

Just as Akiza said that, the light shining from her Trap Card continued to shine across her field, blinding Takashi's Queen's Knight. This caused the warrior to swing her sword wildly, messing the face-down monster and instead striking down one of the Fluff Tokens. After that happened, the light faded away and Queen's Knight was forced to return back to Takashi's side, much to his annoyance.

Despite the fact that his attack failed, Takashi still saw some good out of that last play. Not only was he able to take down one of Akiza's Fluff Tokens, but he also made her use her Trap Card. That was good as it could've been a real pain if it was used later on during the match. Now, as he got ready to continue on with his turn, Takashi decided that the best thing he could do now was prepare himself for Akiza's next play. To that end, he took two cards from his hand and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, Takashi watched as both cards appeared face-down on the field, right behind Queen's Knight.

"I set 2 cards face-down and end my turn," He said. "It's your move again."

"Very well," Akiza replied. "It's my turn, Draw!"

Akiza drew the top card from her deck and placed it into her hand. Once she did that, the young woman looked over at the cards that were on her field and saw that everything was in place. All she needed to do now was play one more card and she decided to do just that. So, after picking out the card that she wanted to use, Akiza firmly placed it upon her Monster Card Zone and watched as another flash of light covered her field.

"I Summon the Tuner Monster: Nettles, in Attack Mode!"

**Nettles: ATK 1200 DEF 400 LVL 2**

When the light that was covering her field faded away, Akiza watched as Nettles appeared and started jumping next to her remaining Fluff Tokens. It was clear that the little Tuner Monster wanted to make itself useful to Akiza in this Duel and the Rose Duelist had every intention of doing just that. However, before she did, Akiza still had one more thing to do and thus took the face-down card that was on her Monster Card Zone and proceeded to flip it up.

"Next, I'm going to Flip Summon: Rose Witch!" She declared.

**Rose Witch: ATK 1600 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

As the face-down card quickly flipped itself up, everyone watched as a bright flash of light shot up from it. When it finally faded away, Akiza's Rose Witch had materialized onto the field and was now standing next to its fellow monsters. After that happened, Takashi had a pretty good idea what was going to happen next and watched as Akiza did exactly what he was thinking about.

"I now Tune my Level 1 Fluff Token and Level 4 Rose Witch with my Level 2 Nettles!" Akiza shouted.

All 3 of the Psychic Duelist's monsters nodded their heads upon hearing what she requested of them. They then proceeded to fly high into the air as all of them prepared themselves to conduct as Synchro Summoning. As they did that, Akiza opened up her Extra Deck and soon pulled out a card from it. Once she had it in hand, Akiza soon placed the card onto her Monster Card Zone.

"As the land becomes under siege, a beautiful warrior appears to protect all of nature. Behold, as her might opposes every enemy! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Erza, Knight of the Roses!"

**Erza, Knight of the Rose: ATK 2500 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the Synchro ritual finally came to an end, a giant pillar of light energy suddenly shot down onto Akiza's side of the field. From that pillar, the Rose Duelist watched as her newest monster emerged from it and stood by her side. Like she described, Erza, the Knight of Rose is an extremely beautiful warrior with long crimson red hair and violet eyes. She was also wearing white armor and was carrying a long broadsword in her right hand. After the pillar of light finally vanished from the field, Erza turned her attention towards Takashi's Queen's Knight and prepared herself for battle.

While this was going on, Takashi looked on in amazement at Akiza's newest monster. Because she was planning to Synchro Summon a Level 7 monster, Takashi assumed that she would bring out her Black Rose Dragon. However, that wasn't the case at all as Akiza instead brought out a Synchro Monster that he's never seen before. With it out on the field, Takashi had to be extra careful since he had no idea what kind of abilities Erza has or how Akiza would utilize them. As Takashi continued to think about what to do, Akiza proceeded to conduct her Battle Phase.

"Let's go," She said. "Erza, attack Takashi's Queen's Knight…Rose Sword Slash!"

Erza nodded her head after hearing her master's orders and quickly dashed towards Takashi's Queen's Knight. As that was happening, Akiza took the time to take a card from her Graveyard and put it away. Once she did that, both she and Takashi watched as a bright pink aura started covering Erza's body.

"At this moment, I now activate Erza's Special Ability," Akiza declared. "When it launches an attack, I can banish a Plant-Type Monster in my Graveyard in order to increase my Knight's Attack Points by 600 until the end of your next turn!"

**Erza, Knight of the Roses: ATK 3100**

As the pink aura continued to cover Erza's body, Queen's Knight tried her best to defend herself from the warrior's attack. Unfortunately, the Knight of the Roses simply proved herself to be too difficult an opponent and was able to bring down Queen's Knight with little difficulty. When Takashi saw that, he started gritting his teeth slightly as his Life Points started to drop.

**Takashi: 2400 LP**

After the battle between the two Knights came to an end and Erza returned back to Akiza's side, Takashi looked at her as he tried to figure out what to do. Although the two have participated in a couple of practice matches in the past, this was the first time in quite a while that they're facing each other in a serious Duel. Although he wasn't afraid, Takashi was still quite surprised at how strong Akiza has become since then. As he continued to think about how strong Akiza has gotten though, a small smile suddenly appeared on Takashi's face.

"Wow…," He said. "You're incredible, Akiza. Just Dueling you gets my blood pumping. I can't wait to see what you'll do next."

"…Why thank you," Akiza replied with a small smile of her own. "But I'm just getting started, Takashi. I have plenty more to give…that's because I know you'll find a way to turn this around."

"You're right about that…" Takashi nodded. He then proceeded to press a button on his Duel Disk, activating one of his face-down cards. "I activate the Trap Card: Miracle's Wake! With it, I can revive my Queen's Knight since it was destroyed through battle this turn."

Another bright flash of light shined across Takashi's field just after he finished explaining the effect of his Trap Card. From that light, his Queen's Knight reappeared and once again stood by his side. When Akiza saw that, the Rose Duelist simply let out another quiet smile as she right to say that Takashi would make the most of this situation. It's always been like that ever since she first Dueled him here all those months ago and Akiza knew that trait wouldn't be changing anytime soon.

Eventually, Akiza turned her attention back towards the Duel as she started plan out her next strategy. Since Takashi was able to bring back his Queen's Knight, there was a pretty good chance that he was going to use it order to bring out a monster that could stand up to Erza, Knight of the Roses. In order to prepare herself for that event, Akiza took one card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. Once she did that, the Rose Duelist watched as the card appeared face-down on her field, right behind her monster.

"I set one card face-down on the field," She said. "With that, I end my turn."

"Okay then," Takashi replied as he placed his hand back upon his deck. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing another card and placing it into his hand, Takashi centered himself as he attempted to come up with a strategy good enough to take down Akiza's knight and make her lose a good portion of her Life Points. Soon enough, he was able to formulate a plan, but he lacked the cards needed in order to pull it off. Fortunately for Takashi, he had just the card in order to get the ones that he still needed. With that, the Signer took that card and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell: Pot of Greed! With it, I can draw 2 more cards from my deck!"

Once he finished explaining the effect of his Spell Card, Takashi wasted no time in drawing 2 more cards from his deck. After getting a good look at them, a small smile appeared on his face as they were exactly the cards that he needed. With them, along with the cards that he already had on him, Takashi was pretty confident that he could take control of this Duel. So, after making sure that his plan didn't have any mistakes, the young made his next move by grabbing another card and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon: Magician's Valkyria, in Attack Mode!"

**Magician's Valkyria: ATK 1600 DEF 1800 LVL 4**

Once again, another bright flash of light shined across Takashi's field as his next monster began to materialize. When it did, Akiza was shocked to see that it was Magician's Valkyria, a Spellcaster-Type monster. Although it wasn't uncommon for Takashi to use those types of monster, he usually centers his deck around Warrior and Dragon-Type monsters instead. Akiza then started to wonder what Takashi would Valkyria for and she soon found out after seeing him place the monster's card on top of Queen's Knight's.

"I now Overlay my Level 4 Queen's Knight and Magician's Valkyria!" He continued. "With these two monsters, I now build the Overlay Network!"

Both of Takashi's monsters nodded their heads upon hearing him say that and soon transformed into colorful orbs of light. The both of them then started flying around the entire garden while the portal to the Overlay Network materialized in front of their master. Once they saw that, both orbs dove into the portal, resulting in a giant explosion of light. It was at that instant that Takashi opened up his Extra Deck, picked up a card, and placed it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"Xyz Summon! Appear now, the King of Wishes, Number 39: Utopia!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 Rank 4**

As more and more light continued to shoot out of the Overlay Network, both Takashi and Akiza watched as Number 39: Utopia emerged from it and stood by the former's side. With the Number, two Overlay Units also appeared and started circling around Utopia's body. Seeing Utopia stand before her both frightened and excited Akiza as this was the first time that she was going to face it in a Duel. She soon prepared herself for anything, knowing full well how resourceful Takashi can be when using the powerful monsters.

While Akiza continued to marvel at the sight of Utopia, Takashi was busy getting ready to make his next move. Despite the fact that Utopia is an extremely powerful monster, it wasn't good enough to take down Erza, Knight of the Roses. Even so, Takashi had ways of getting around that and he knew that Akiza was aware of that fact too. As a result, he decided to change things up a bit in order to confuse his opponent.

"Alright…Utopia, go and attack Erza…Rising Sun Slash!"

Utopia complied without any hesitation upon hearing Takashi's orders. It then pulled out one of the swords and began making its way towards Erza. When Akiza saw that, the young woman knew that there was more to this attack and simply kept her cool as a result. Soon enough, her belief was validated as Takashi continued with his turn.

"At this moment, I activate Utopia's Special Ability!" He continued. "By using one Overlay Unit, I negate my monster's own attack!"

Just as Utopia and Erza were about to go at it, one of the Number's Overlay Unit quickly made its way into its chest plate. When that happened, Utopia's sword suddenly vanished from its hand and returned to its sheath. Without its weapon, Utopia couldn't fight and so back away before Erza could retaliate. After that happened, Akiza got ready as she believed that Takashi would now respond by playing one of his favorite Spells: Double or Nothing. However…

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Flash Effect!" Takashi shouted as he inserted another card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

Akiza's eyes quickly shot up after hearing that the Spell Takashi was playing wasn't the one that she thought. She then looked on as a giant flash of light covered the entire field, blinding her for a few seconds. As her eyes attempted to readjust themselves, Akiza listened closely as Takashi started to explain the effect of his Spell Card.

"Flash Effect activates when a monster's Special Ability activates," Takashi explained. "Now, Utopia gains 800 Attack Points and the effects of all the monsters currently on the field are negated until the end of the Battle Phase!"

As the light from Takashi's card continued to shine brightly, Utopia managed to absorb the light energy coming from it and used it to increase its power. However, the same couldn't be said for Erza. The light from Flash Effect was too much for her and the powerful knight soon lost the extra strength she received from her Special Ability, due to her powers being negated.

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 3300**

**Erza, Knight of the Roses: ATK 2500**

"Because Utopia Special Ability was negated, it can continue its attack!" Takashi pointed out. "Utopia…Rising Sun Slash!"

Once again, the powerful Number pulled out its sword and began making its way towards Erza, now prepared to face her now. However, before the monsters could clash, Akiza finally regained her wits and promptly activated her face-down card.

"It's not going to be that easy, Takashi!" She told him. "I activate the Trap Card: Battle Simulation! With it, the Attack Points of both our monsters are cut in half and neither of them can be destroyed through battle!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 1650**

**Erza, Knight of the Roses: ATK 1250**

Through the power of Akiza's Trap, both Utopia and Erza's powers were instantly cut in half. When Takashi saw that, he knew that the reason why Akiza did that was to not only protect her monster, but to also reduce the damage that she would take. Her move impressed him greatly, but he was able to see through it nonetheless.

"I know that Akiza…but since you lowered my monster's Attack Points, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell: Double Bind!" He said as he inserted the card into his Spell/Trap Zone. "With it, not only are Utopia's Attack Points doubled, but if it battles a monster who can't be destroyed through battle, that effect is no longer applied!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 3300**

With the power of Takashi's second Spell Card, Utopia was able to regain the power that it lost through Akiza's Trap. Once that happened, the Number continued on with its attack and was completely overwhelm its opponent. As Akiza watched on helplessly, Utopia was finally able to bring down Erza with one final slash, the force of which created a powerful shockwave.

**Akiza: 1950 LP**

After the battle came to an end, the light coming from the Flash Effect Spell finally started to fade away. When that happened, the temporary power boost that Utopia received from it began to disappeared. However, in exchange for the loss of power, Utopia was able to regain the use of its Special Ability.

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 2500**

Once everything was settled, Takashi examined the rest of the cards that were in his hand, wondering which one he should play next. After what he just did, the young man had a feeling that Akiza would attempt to pay him back for what he just did. To prepare himself for that moment, Takashi took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. Once he did that, the Signer watched as the card materialized face-down on the field, right behind Utopia.

"I now set one card face-down and end my turn,"

As soon as Takashi ended his turn, Akiza was finally able to regain herself. Even though she knew that Takashi would find a way to turn things around, she didn't expect that he would be able to take down Erza and half of her Life Points all in the same turn. Despite all of that though, the beautiful Psychic couldn't help but to smile. Not only was she having a lot of fun during this Duel, but Akiza also felt that Takashi was feeling the same way. It was at that moment that she suddenly remembered something that Amara told her during Takashi's Turbo Duel with her.

During that match, Akiza asked Amara how she was able to see similarities between him and Alex. Amara explained that when two Duelists of equal strength face each other, they're able to see what's going on in each other's hearts. Upon hearing that, Akiza was surprised, but she also realized that this was how Takashi was able to not only see into her heart, but into the hearts of his other opponents as well. This was one of the reasons why Akiza challenged Takashi to a Duel, in order to feel what he feels whenever he Duels someone and is having a good time.

As Akiza continued to smile, Takashi noticed the look that was on her face and started smiling as well. Throughout this Duel, Takashi was able to look into Akiza's heart and could tell that she was enjoying herself more than she ever had before. Just seeing that made Takashi happy as well, as he was not only having a good time playing this Duel, but Akiza's happiness also resulted in his own happiness. He then wished that this Duel could continue for a quite a while so that both of them continue to enjoy every second of it. Soon enough, Akiza prepared herself to do just that.

"Alright," She said to herself. "It's my turn, Draw!"

After drawing the top card of her deck, Akiza glanced at it for a second before looking towards Takashi's side of the field. With things as they are now, the Psychic was well aware that she was going to lose if she didn't do something on this turn. Because of that, Akiza decided that the warm-up was now over and it was now time to get serious. To that end, she took the card that she just drew and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"To begin, I'm activating the Spell: Pot of Greed! With it, I now draw 2 more cards."

Swiftly, Akiza drew two more cards from her deck and placed them into her hand. Once she did that, she then took the time to formulate a new strategy. Akiza took everything into account; Utopia's Special Abilities, the face-down cards that Takashi had on the field, as well as the cards that he had in his hand. The young woman made sure that nothing wasn't overlooked and, eventually, she was able to come up with a plan. With that, continued on with her turn by taking one card and placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster: Twilight Rose Knight!"

**Twilight Rose Knight: ATK 1000 DEF 1000 LVL 3**

A small flash of light shined across Akiza's side of the field as her trusty Twilight Rose Knight materialized before her. Once it was out, the young woman continued on with her play by taking another card and also placing it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"When Twilight Rose Knight is successfully summoned, its Special Ability allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant-Type monster directly from my hand. So…I Special Summon: Lord Poison, in Attack Mode!"

**Lord Poison: ATK 1500 DEF 1000 LVL 4**

As another flash of light shined across Akiza's field, Takashi watched as her Lord Poison appeared and soon stood next to her Twilight Rose Knight. With both monsters out, Takashi was now absolutely certain what was going to happen next and thus prepared himself to activate one of his face-down cards when the time comes.

"Here I come, Takashi!" Akiza shouted. "I Tune my Level 4 Lord Poison with my Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight!"

Both of Akiza's monsters nodded their heads and soon jumped high into the air in order to perform the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. When they did, another giant pillar of light shined down on Akiza's side of the field. It was at that moment that Akiza grabbed another card from her Extra Deck and placed it onto her Monster Card Zone.

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world, Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

When the light pillar of finally started to vanish, both Takashi and Akiza watched as Black Rose Dragon appeared on the latter's side of the field and suddenly let out a powerful roar. Like always, Takashi was amazed by the sight of Black Rose Dragon as he still clearly remembers the first time he faced off against it. He soon braced herself for what was to come next while Akiza continued on with her turn by taking another card from her hand and inserting it into her Spell/Trap Zone.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card: Block Attack!" She declared. "Through this card's effect, your Utopia is now switched to Defense Mode!"

Just as Akiza said, Utopia suddenly felt a powerful force begin to overwhelm its body. This force was so intense that the Number suddenly found itself switched into Defense Mode. Utopia tried its best to break free and return to Attack Mode, but it simply didn't have the strength to do so. When Akiza saw that, another small smile appeared on her face. She soon decided to fulfill Utopia's desire, but at a certain cost. To that end, the Psychic proceeded to remove a card from her Graveyard and put it away.

"I now activate Black Rose Dragon's Special Ability. By banishing a Plant-Type monster from my Graveyard, I can switch Utopia back into Attack Mode…and reduce its Attack Points to 0!"

**Number 39 – Utopia: ATK 0**

Several thorns suddenly shot out of Black Rose Dragon's body, all of which grabbed Utopia's major limbs. Once that happened, the Signer Dragon then used its power to drain all of Utopia's strength, making it extremely easy for it switch the Number back into Attack Mode. Once that happened, Akiza then went on to conduct her Battle Phase.

"Now Black Rose Dragon, attack Utopia…Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon instantly obeyed Akiza's command and quickly fired a stream of purple flames towards Utopia. When Takashi saw that and realized that if this attack connected he would lose the Duel, the young contemplated on what to do; activate Utopia's effect or his face-down card. In the end, Takashi decided on the former, since he wanted to save the face-down card for later.

"I activate Utopia's Special Ability!" He shouted. "By using an Overlay Unit, my monster can block your attack!"

As Black Rose Dragon's flames continued to make its way towards it, Utopia's final Overlay Unit quickly inserted itself into the Number's chest plate. Once that happened, Utopia used the strength that it had left in order to bring forth his Moon Barrier. However, even though that happened, Akiza simply snickered. She had foreseen that Takashi would do that and thus removed another card from her Graveyard in order to counter it.

"I activate the Trap Card: Black Rose Petals!" She said. "Now, since Black Rose Dragon is on the field and monster you control just activated its effect, I can banish Black Rose Petals from the Graveyard in order to negate Utopia's Special Ability and destroy it!"

Takashi's eyes widen as he couldn't believe what he just heard. He then started to wonder at what point during the Duel did Akiza send her Trap Card to the Graveyard. Instantly, he realized that it was during her first turn, back when she played Graceful Charity and was forced to discard 2 cards via its effect. Upon reaching that conclusion, Takashi realized that Akiza had foreseen that this event would happen, even at the start of the Duel.

As Takashi continued thinking about that, Black Rose Dragon suddenly released several rose petals from the tip of its wings. These petals were so toxic and lethal that Utopia couldn't stand being surrounded by them. Eventually, the Number suddenly found itself exploding into several pieces, leaving Takashi vulnerable to a direct attack.

"With your monster now gone, a Replay occurs," Akiza explained. "Now, Black Rose Dragon can attack your Life Points directly! Go…Black Rose Flare!"

Shifting its focus towards Takashi, Black Rose Dragon started building up power again as it prepared to launch its attack. When it finally finished, the Signer Dragon fired another stream of flames towards Takashi, who was still shocked by Akiza's strategy. When he was finally able to regain himself, he instantly reacted by activating his face-down card.

"…Not so fast!" He yelled. "I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Force! Now, since your launching an attack, this card destroys all the monsters you have in Attack Mode!"

"I don't think so!" Akiza countered as she took a card from her hand and placed it into the Graveyard. "I activate the Special Ability of my Rose Archer. By discarding it to the Graveyard, I can negate the effect of your Trap and destroy it!"

As the Mirror Force wall suddenly appeared in front of Takashi, the spirit of Akiza's Rose Archer suddenly appeared in front of her. Knowing what it had to do, Rose Archer pulled out an arrow and instantly fired it at Takashi's mirror, shattering it completely. Once that happened, Rose Archer vanished as Black Rose Dragon's attack continued to make its way towards Takashi.

"Holy crap…." Takashi though as slowly watched Black Rose Dragon's flames continue making their way towards him. "Akiza…you're so…amazing…"

Never in his life has Takashi met a Duelist like Akiza. All of her moves served a specific purpose and she made sure that she executed them without any hesitation. Even though he's a great Duelist in his own right, Takashi always found the way Akiza Dueled to be extremely spectacular. In fact, there are some instances in which he finds it very hard to keep with what she's doing. So, as defeat approaching him, all Takashi could do was smile, as he was happy that he was going up against such a wonderful opponent.

While this was happening, Akiza was simply looking on as Black Rose Dragon was continuing on with its attack. She noticed the smile that was on Takashi's face and knew that he was having such a fun time. His smile made Akiza extremely happy, causing her to smile herself. However, her smile soon faded away for a moment as the young woman started thinking about the real reason why she challenged Takashi in the first place.

"No matter what happens," She thought. "No matter who wins…I'm going to tell him how I feel. I'm going to tell Takashi…that I love him."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Takashi Nakamura and Akiza Izinski, two people who know what it's like to know happiness and despair. Both of them have been through a lot in life and have become much stronger people as a result. As the Duel between them continues both Takashi and Akiza realize an important fact. Once this Duel ends, things between them will change…Forever._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 100: The Star and the Rose – Part 2_


	100. Chapter 100

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 100: **_The Star and the Rose – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em>13 years ago<em>

_Akiza Izinski: Age 4_

The world is a cruel place and not everyone can survive it, no matter how strong they may be or how much help they may receive. People will betray and curse others, even for the most simplest of reasons. People can even get themselves killed, just because they looked at someone funny or did something to either scare or tick off somebody else. That's just how the world works and if anyone wants to survive in it, they need to learn how to be tough and overcome any hardships that they'll eventually have to come across. However, this isn't the case with children.

In the eyes of children, the world isn't cruel, but instead a fun and happy place that's filled with adventure. Their pure innocence allows them to get over the darker truths of life, preventing them from feeling any despair. Most parents realize this and they do their best in order to maintain their children's innocence, at least until their grown up enough to accept what really going on without them becoming corrupted by what they learn. No matter what they eventually become in life, most kids generally have happy beginnings. This is even true for one particular little girl.

For the first 4 years of her life, Akiza Izinski lived a very privilege life, filled with happiness. As the only child of Senator Hideo Izinski and his wife Setsuko, Akiza was well loved by both of them and she loved them just as much. She lived in a fancy mansion, got all the best toys, had the best parties, filled with friends. Even when her father's job caused him to not spend as much time with each other as they would have liked, the both of them did make the time they did spend together count. It's easy to say that Akiza was a very happy girl and she couldn't wait for tomorrow, as it was her 5th birthday.

Knowing that her father would make her 5th birthday something that she would always remember, Akiza waited patiently for him outside of their home. Even though it wasn't until tomorrow, the little girl wanted to greet her dad so that they could not only have fun today, but also plan out what they're going to do tomorrow as well. So, even as the hours continued to pass on by, Akiza kept on waiting. Even when her mother suggested to her that she should come inside and rest, the future Signer simply said no and kept on waiting. This continued from morning to all the way into the afternoon.

Eventually, as day was beginning to transition into night, Akiza's willpower was beginning to run out. Despite the fact that Akiza was able to sit around and wait for most of the day, there's only so much that a little girl like her can take. She was really tired and she felt like she could fall asleep at any moment. However, despite how tired she was feeling or how hungry she was becoming, Akiza refused to go back inside. She was going to wait for her father, no matter how long it took for him to get back home.

"Daddy will be here soon…" She said to herself. "I just know he will."

As time continued to pass on by, Akiza decided to walk around the front of her house in order to pass the time. It wasn't much, but since she was only 4-years-old and even the simplest of things can take her interest, it didn't really have to be. Soon enough, the little girl noticed her mother's flower garden in the distance. She always found them to be very pretty and she loved taking to the time to look at each flower whenever she had the time to do so. Eventually, this gave Akiza an idea and she soon began making her way towards her mother's garden as a result.

When she got there, the little girl took her time as she tried to determined which flowers were the best out of them all. Akiza's plan was to pick out a couple of her mother's flowers so that she could present them to her father when he finally got back home. It wasn't much, but it didn't really have to be. It was that thought that counted and Akiza believed that her dad would like it, especially since she had a knack of picking out the best flowers.

Soon, after examining each flower to the best of her ability, Akiza eventually found the ones that she wanted to give to her father. So, after taking her time and making sure that she didn't end up damaging the entire garden, Akiza began pulling out the flowers she picked. As she did so, the little girl started smiling quietly to herself as she imagined to happy look that her father will have when she gives the flowers to him. Eventually, after about 10 minutes, Akiza had most of the flowers that she wanted. All that was left was a single red rose, which she began to make her way towards.

However, just as she placed her hand on the beautiful flower, Akiza suddenly felt something sting her finger and quickly pulled her hand back. She had accidently pricked her finger on one of the thorns that was on the rose. As she began sucking on the finger that she pricked, Akiza was trying her best to keep herself from crying as she was in a lot of pain.

"Oww!" She cried. "That really hurt! Why did that flower have….to have….thorns…on...it?"

Suddenly, for some strange reason, Akiza felt incredibly drowsy, so much so that it was becoming impossible for her to stay awake. This was quite odd as she was feeling quite lively a few seconds ago. Eventually, the fatigue that she was feeling was sleeping too much for her to overcome and the little girl soon found herself falling onto the grass, with the flowers she picked placed around her. As she was about to close her eyes and drift off to sleep, Akiza started to notice something, just as her vision began to blur.

"Huh? What's…that…?"

Before she fell asleep, Akiza saw that a beautiful creature was beginning to make its way towards her. It had the appearance of a powerful dragon, but its wings and body were completely covered in roses. Even though she's never seen this dragon before, Akiza somehow felt she had a strong connection to it. As a result, the little girl let out a small smile before finally closing her eyes and falling asleep. When she did that, the dragon disappeared.

A little while later, just as she was beginning to wake up, Akiza noticed that she was being carried by someone. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was her mother, who had already brought her inside of their home.

"Mommy…?" She said, still slightly drowsy.

Setsuko looked down towards her daughter and saw that she was awake. This put smile on her face as she was glad that nothing was wrong. When she saw that Akiza was lying motionless on the grass, the kind mother was worried that something had happened to her. Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case, which relieved her greatly. Setsuko then proceeded to kiss her daughter's forehead before continuing on to her room.

"Mommy," Akiza continued. "I'm sorry…I messed with your flowers."

"It's okay sweetie," Setsuko replied. "I can also plant new ones. Anyway, let's get you to bed. It's getting pretty late."

"But I want to wait for Daddy," Akiza insisted.

"I know Akiza, but your daddy is doing something really important right now," The kind mother explained. "I promise that he'll be here by the time you wake up."

Akiza was upset to hear that from her mother, especially since she really wanted to meet up with her dad today. However, there was nothing that she could do about it and Akiza had no choice but to accept that fact. As a result, the little girl let out a small sigh of disappointment. When Setsuko saw that, the young woman realized how much her daughter wanted to spend time with her father today. She wanted to cheer her up, but didn't know how too at first. Eventually, as they continued to make their way upstairs, an idea soon popped inside of Setsuko's head, causing her to smile a little.

Soon, the two of them finally made their way into Akiza's room. Once they were inside, Setsuko helped her daughter changed into her pajamas before tucking her into bed. After that, she picked up Akiza's favorite teddy bear and handed it over to her before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Sweetheart," She called. "I know it's not much, but how about a bedtime story? I'm pretty sure that you'll like it."

"Really…?" Akiza said, quickly becoming interested. "Okay."

"Alright…this is a story that my mom use to tell me all the time," Setsuko explained. "It's about a Princess of Roses and how she came to meet a Prince of the Stars."

Upon hearing that the story she was about to listen to was about a Princess, Akiza's eyes instantly shot up. The little girl always enjoyed stories like that as she always found them to be very interesting. Regardless if they were good, bad, happy, or sad, Akiza loved them all, as she believed that each of them had to be true. To that end, Akiza held her teddy bear tightly as her mother began to tell her story.

"Long ago, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a beautiful Princess of Roses. She got that title because not only was as beautiful as the flower, but she was just as graceful as one too. Her hair was a beautiful shade of red, her face was extremely rosy, and she was known to wear several different roses on her dresses. Meaning of the citizens considered her to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She had everything a girl could want in her life…except for one important thing."

"What's that mommy?" Akiza asked.

"Friends," Setsuko answered. "You see, because she was a princess, she wasn't allowed to hang out with the citizens. As a result, she lived a very lonely life with no one to keep her company. This made the princess very sad and she would sometimes cry herself to sleep at night because didn't like to be alone."

As she continued listening to the story, Akiza started to feel sad too. Because she always had her parents, she never knew what it was like to have a lonely life. As a result, she started to wonder what life would be like if she ever had to go through something like that. Obviously the thought of being alone all the time frightened her greatly causing her to wish that something like that would never happen to her. It's ironic though since Akiza will indeed suffer that same fate, not to long from now. Eventually, the little decided to stop thinking about that and continued listening to her mother's story.

"One night, while everyone else was asleep, the princess decided to go outside to the castle garden. When she got that, she looked high into the sky before making a single wish. The Princess of Roses wished for a friend, one that she could not only be with, but also live happily ever after with. At first, nothing happened. However, the princess watched as a single star shot down from the sky and began making its way towards her. When it finally got there, the star revealed itself to be a handsome prince."

"Wow…" Akiza said, her eyes widening with each passing second. "Then what happened?"

"Well, as the princess marveled at the sight of the prince, the prince went on to explain that he came from a kingdom up in the stars. One day, a terrible thing happened and the prince was left all alone. He roamed all over, hoping to find someone he could be with, but he simply wasn't able to. He was about to give up, but that was when the Prince of the Stars heard the wish of the Princess of the Roses. Realizing that there was someone who was just as lonely as he was, the prince came to see her. He then went on to ask the princess if he could be her friend, a request the princess happily accepted. So, from that point on, the Princess of Roses and the Prince of the Stars became the best of friends, always spending every hour of every day with each other. Eventually, the two of them got married and they went on to live happily ever after."

As soon as Setsuko finished her story, the young woman watched as her daughter was left speechless. To Akiza, the story that she just heard was the most magical one that she's ever listened to. Eventually, after about a minute of simply laying on her bed, Akiza stood up and started smiling like it was Christmas morning.

"Wow!" She exclaimed. "That was amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it," Setsuko said with a warm smile.

"Mommy…is the story real? Is there really a Princess of Roses and a Prince of the Stars?"

Upon hearing Akiza's question, Setsuko paused as she tried to come up with an answer. Of course, she knew that story wasn't real since her own mother told her so. However, she didn't want to crush her daughter's hopes, especially now since she's so happy. Soon, after spending a couple of seconds thinking about it, Setsuko finally came up with answer.

"I can't say for sure, sweetie," She started off. "However, there is one thing that I know is true. My mom told me that if you make a wish on a beautiful night sky like the Princess of Roses did…then it will definitely come true."

Once again, Akiza's eyes lit up after hearing this and soon started to wonder if the sky was pretty enough to make her wish. After looking outside her bedroom window and seeing all the stars that was in the sky, she knew right away that the conditions were perfect. She was about to rush over towards it, but was stopped by her mother. Setsuko proceeded to smile and gently pat her head before tucking her back into bed.

"Calm down, Akiza," She said to her. "It's not that easy. I also heard that the wish won't come true unless you really need it too. Besides, I'm pretty sure you already have everything you could possibly want."

Akiza remained quiet as she thought about what her mother just said. It was true that she did have everything that a girl her age could possibly want, but there was still one thing that she didn't have. She wanted to tell her mother about it, but she simply couldn't bring herself to do so. As a result, Akiza decided to keep quiet.

Eventually, Setsuko realized how late it was and decided that it was time for Akiza to go to bed. Tomorrow was a big day for her and she wanted her daughter to get all the rest that she could. So, after gently kissing her forehead, the young woman made sure that Akiza was laying on her bed comfortably before making her towards the door. Once she reached it, she opened it and prepared to leave the room.

"Goodnight Akiza," She said with a warm smile. "Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight mommy," Akiza replied.

With that, Akiza slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Once she saw that, Setsuko let out one last smile before closing the door and heading off to her own room. After about 2 minutes, making sure that her mother couldn't hear her, Akiza opened her eyes back up and began making her towards her bedroom window. Once she was there, the little girl stared out in awe as the beautiful stars lit up the night sky.

Because she was always put to bed pretty early, Akiza never really got the chance to look at a view as beautiful as this. Even though her mom and dad have taken her to the city once before and she found the lights from all the buildings to be pretty cool, there was something about the stars that somehow filled her with joy. Soon though, Akiza remembered the reason why she was looking out at the stars in the first place and proceeded to close her eyes and clasps her hands together.

"I wish…for a best friend," She said quietly to herself. "A friend that will always make me happy…and always be with me. I wish for a friend…that I can live happily ever after with, just like the Princess of Roses."

Just as Akiza spoke her wish, a beautiful shooting star, one brighter than any of the other stars, shot across the night sky. After that, Akiza made her way back towards her bed, placed the sheets over to her, and once again closed her eyes while holding on to her teddy bear. As she started to drift to sleep for real, the little girl let out a small smile just as said one last thing.

"I hope to meet you soon…"

While Akiza was resting comfortably in her home, another young individual was also staring out into the night sky. This young person was none other than 5-year-old Takashi Nakamura, who was busy on top of the roof of his home in Crash Town. Having been trained by his martial arts master, Izumi, for almost a year now, Takashi was able to climb on top of the roof of his home without much difficulty. This was great as he always liked staring out at the night sky and since he could make it to the room, he could get a good look at all of the stars.

As he continued to look at all the stars, Takashi took the time to try and see he could connect the dots in order to form images. However, despite how hard he tried, he couldn't find a single one. This caused him to let out a quiet sigh as his grandfather was much better at doing this than he was. Takashi was about to give up, but stopped when he was finally able to make out an image from the stars. However, as he did, the little boy was amazed by the look of it.

From what he could tell, the group of stars that he was looking at took the shape of a giant dragon. Just looking at it brought a sense of nostalgia to Takashi, somehow believing that he knew what the dragon was even though he's never seen it before. While he continue to figure out what this dragon was, Takashi didn't realize that his right arm was beginning to glow slightly. Eventually, his Signer mark appeared on his arm for a short moment, but disappeared soon afterwards. Shortly after that, Takashi lost sight of the dragon image, much to his confusion.

"Hey…" He said to himself. "Where'd it go?"

"Takashi…it's time to head to bed!"

The person that just called out to Takashi was none other than his grandfather, Klaus. Realizing that how late it really was and that he had more training with Izumi tomorrow, Takashi decided to put the dragon out his mind and began making his way down from the roof of his house. However, as he did, the little boy suddenly heard something call out to him from inside of his mind.

_I hope to meet you soon…_

"What the…?" He said, gently placing his hand upon his head. "What was that?"

As Takashi stared out in the direction in which he believed the voice came from, Klaus saw that his grandson was still outside. As he made his way over to him, the old man saw that Takashi had a look of utter confusion plastered on his face. Wondering if something was wrong, Klaus gently shook Takashi's shoulder, hoping to get his attention.

"Takashi…" He said. "Takashi…what's the matter? Are you alright?"

"…Huh…?" Takashi muttered, getting his wits about him again. "Grandpa…I think I just heard girl call out to me."

"Is that so?" Klaus stared out into the distance, but he couldn't find anyone for miles. "Well I don't see anybody."

"But…it sounded so real. And, for reason, the voice felt so warm."

Klaus continued looking at Takashi, unsure what to make of his grandson's words. For as long as he's known him, Takashi was a pretty special child. In a lot of ways, he was just like his mother, Sakura, who was also known to be a pretty special. In the end though, Klaus came to the conclusion that his grandson was just tired and decided to get him to bed.

"Maybe you're hearing things," He said to him. "Let's go, little guy. You can have some milk and cookies before you head to bed."

"…Okay,"

With that, Klaus gently lifted Takashi off the ground and placed him around his shoulder. After that, the old man began making his way back to his home while Takashi continued staring out into the distance. As he did, the little boy heard the girl's voice again, this time more clearly.

_I hope to meet you soon…_

After hearing it again, the warm feeling that Takashi was experiencing grew stronger. He wasn't sure why he was feeling this way, but he was sure that this feeling wasn't a bad one. As a result, Takashi let out a small smile as he looked up towards the sky again.

"I hope to meet you too…"

* * *

><p><em>Present Day<em>

**Takashi: 2400 LP**

**Akiza: 1950 LP**

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2400 DEF 1800 LVL 7**

"Black Rose Dragon, attack Takashi's Life Points directly…Black Rose Flare!"

As her beloved Black Rose Dragon prepared itself to fire another stream of purple flames at Takashi, Akiza Izinski was standing by her dragon's side, reading for anything that might happen next. It wasn't that long ago that the beautiful Psychic Duelist was standing in this same spot in the Daimon Area, walking down the path to evil. However, it was thanks to strength and kindness of one young man that Akiza was able to see the error of her ways and move away from the path that she was walking down. That young man's name is Takashi Nakamura, the opponent that Akiza was currently facing.

Throughout all the time that she's known him, Akiza has never been more grateful to be Takashi's friend than right now. Before today, the young woman had no intention of leaving her room since she was afraid that something terrible might happen since her birthday usually brings tragedy to either her or the people that were around her. However, that wasn't the case this time around. Even though things haven't exactly gone the way that either of them had planned, the fact remained that today has been a day that they won't soon forget and Akiza knew that none of this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Takashi.

Eventually, as that fact continued to race through her mind, Akiza then started to recall everything else that Takashi has done for her. Even when she initially rejected his friendship, he refused to give up on her. For Takashi, he saw something in Akiza that he believed was worth saving, even when she couldn't see it herself. It was because of that, as well as his kindness, strength, and his will to keep going no matter what the odds, that Akiza found herself falling in love with him. Even though she was happy for all the things that he's done for her today, the one thing that Akiza truly wanted for her birthday was to confess her feelings to Akiza, wanting him to know just how much she feels for him.

To that end, the Rose Duelist asked Takashi to Duel her right here in the Daimon Area. Although it has since turned into a beautiful flower garden, the fact remained that this was the same place where Takashi and Akiza first met and had the first Duel. This was where the bond between them first formed and Akiza truly believed that there was no better place where she could confess her feelings.

As for why she wanted to Duel him, Akiza remembered the Duel that Takashi and Amara had previously and how both of them were able to tell what was inside the other's heart despite not knowing one another. Wanting to know what was inside his heart and for him to do the same with hers, the Rose Duelist challenge her beloved to a friendly match, one which Takashi happily accepted. During the initial stages of their Duel, it was clear that both of them were evenly match, taking advantage of the smallest openings that they managed to give one another.

Eventually, things began to move in Akiza's favor as she not only managed to bring forth her Black Rose Dragon, but use her Trap Cards to not only destroy Takashi's Number 39: Utopia, but one of his face-down cards too. Now, with Takashi only having 2400 Life Points remaining, if Black Rose Dragon's attack successfully connects, Akiza would win the Duel and achieve her first official victory over him as well. However, despite the fact it would be cool to win, Akiza knew that this Duel had an entirely different meaning.

Before the match between them began, Akiza swore to herself that no matter what the final outcome may be, she was going to tell Takashi the truth about how she feels about him. Having known him for almost a year now, and knowing that her feelings for him has been equally growing ever since she first discovered she loved him, Akiza knew that she couldn't push this off anymore. Even if Takashi didn't feel the same way as her, she couldn't move on with her life without telling him her feelings. Also, Akiza wished to know what was inside Takashi's heart. She wanted to know how he feels on a much deeper level and she hoped that she would be able to do so through their Duel.

Meanwhile, as Akiza continued to think about the true meaning behind this Duel and her feelings for her opponent, Takashi was standing in awe as Black Rose Dragon's attack continued to make his way towards him. As the flames, in his eyes, approached him in slow motion, Takashi was utterly amazed by Akiza's Dueling skills. Her abilities were astonishing as he found it extremely hard to keep up with her. However, despite the fact that he was about to lose, the young man wasn't upset at all. The fact that he was facing an opponent as strong as Akiza only ended up exciting Takashi, as he enjoyed the thrill of the awesome challenge.

However, despite the fact that he was having a fun time with this Duel, Takashi started to notice something else as things went on. He couldn't quite explain it, but the Signer felt that there was more to this Duel than just the promise he and Akiza made to face each other again. Wanting to know what the other meaning of this Duel is, as well as not wanting the fun end right here, Takashi responded by activating the final face-down card that was on his side of the field.

"I'm not going down that easily!" He shouted. "I activate the Trap Card: Offensive Guard! Since I'm the target of a direct attack, Offensive Guard cuts the damage I take in half! Afterwards, I can then draw a card from my deck!"

Through the power of his Trap Card: Takashi watched as a small protective aura quickly surrounded his entire body. With its power, Black Rose Dragon's attack only managed to inflict half the damage that it was suppose to, saving Takashi from certain defeat.

**Takashi: 1200 LP**

After Black Rose Dragon's attack came to an end, Akiza was amazed that Takashi managed to survive that last attack, but not shocked. The Psychic Duelist was well aware that it would take much more than that to defeat him. However, she was satisfied that she not only managed to take out one of his best monsters, but also reduce his Life Points by half. Akiza then prepared herself to continue on with the rest of her turn, hoping to set the stage for her future victory.

While that was going on, Takashi took the time to draw a card from his deck due to the effect of his Offensive Guard Trap Card. After he did that, the young man quickly began formulating a counter strategy. With only 1200 Life Points left, he couldn't afford to make any more mistakes, especially since Akiza was an expert of taking advantage of the smallest openings that her opponents revealed. Eventually, Takashi determined that he did have an idea for one tactic that he could use, but he first needed a certain, which he hoped to draw during his next turn.

Eventually, after about a minute of thinking, Akiza continued on with her turn by taking one card from her hand and inserting it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When that happened, the Rose Duelist watched as a face-down card materialized on her side of the field, right behind her Black Rose Dragon.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," She said. "Okay Takashi…show me what you'll do now."

"Oh don't worry, Akiza," Takashi replied with a small smile on his face. "I'll show you plenty…and then some!"

Despite the fact that he was currently losing the Duel, Takashi wasn't the least bit afraid. As a matter of fact, the Signer was excited by the current outcome of the Duel. Matches that were too easy bored him to no end. Not only was Akiza an exceptionally skilled Duelist, but one that he couldn't let his guard down against, no matter what the situation. Because of all that, a large smile quickly appeared on his face as he prepared to begin his turn and continue on with this amazing Duel.

"It's my turn," He said. "Draw!"

Filling himself with determination, Takashi swiftly drew the top card from the top of his deck and placed it into his hand. After that, the young leader of the Signers closed his eyes and began imagining a flowchart, filled with all the cards that both he and Akiza currently played during this Duel. As lightning filled through the flowchart, Takashi instantly came up with a plan that would allow him to take control of the Duel again. With that, he opened his eyes and made his first move by taking one of the cards that was in his hand and inserting it into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"To begin, I'm activating the Spell Card: Card Destruction!" He stated. "With it, we both must discard our entire hand to the Graveyard and then draw the same number of cards that we just discarded."

Once he finished explaining the effect of his Spell Card, Takashi quickly took the few cards that made up his hand and placed them all into his Graveyard. Because the effect of the Spell also applied to her as well, Akiza gritted her teeth slightly as she was forced to discard her entire hand as well. After that, both Duelists then proceeded to draw the same number of cards that they just sent away. As soon as Takashi did that, he looked at his cards and let out a small smile before taking one card from his hand and placing it onto his Duel Disk's Monster Card Zone.

"Next, I Normal Summon the Tuner Monster: Debris Dragon!"

**Debris Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 2000 LVL 4**

A bright flash of light shined across Takashi's field for a few seconds, after he placed the card onto his Duel Disk. When it faded away, Debris Dragon appeared before him, ready to battle. However, despite the fact that his monster was more than eager, Takashi knew that it wouldn't stand a chance against Akiza's Black Rose Dragon. Fortunately, bringing out his Tuner was only the first stage of his plan. The next stage involved him taking a card from his Graveyard and also placing it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"When Debris Dragon is successfully summoned, its Special Ability allows me to Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard that has 500 or less Attack Points! As a result, I Special Summon: Decoy Dragon!"

**Decoy Dragon: ATK 300 DEF 200 LVL 2**

Once again, another bright flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as another monster appeared before him. This monster, Decoy Dragon, looked very similar to Debris Dragon, with the only clear difference is that it looked much younger. After the little monster fully materialized onto the field, Takashi went on to take another card out from his Graveyard and also proceeded to place it onto his Monster Card Zone.

"I now activate the Special Ability of my Quillbolt Hedgehog!" He stated. "When there's a Tuner Monster on my side of the field, I can Special Summon this monster from my Graveyard."

**Quillbolt Hedgehog: ATK 800 DEF 800 LVL 2**

One more flash of light shined across Takashi's side of the field as his trusty Quillbolt Hedgehog materialized onto his side of the field, right next to his other two monsters. After looking at all three of his monsters, Akiza knew right away what was coming next, especially after noticing that the mark on her right arm was beginning to throb a little. Because of that, the Psychic Duelist braced herself as she watched Takashi take the 3 cards that were on his Duel Disk and place them all into his Graveyard.

"I now Tune my Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog and Level 2 Decoy Dragon with my Level 4 Debris Dragon!" Takashi yelled.

All 3 of Takashi's monsters nodded their heads upon hearing his command and proceeded to fly high into the air. As they did, Debris Dragon transformed itself into 4 rings, which surrounded both Decoy Dragon and Quillbolt Hedgehog. Once that happened, both monsters transformed into a group of 4 stars before a bright light consumed all of Takahsi's side of the field. As Akiza turned away a little in order to keep herself from going blind, Takashi took the time to take a card from his Extra Deck and place it onto his Duel Disk.

"Gathering wishes form to create a new shining star!" He said proudly. "Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take Flight, Stardust Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 2500 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

As the light from the Synchro Summoning continued to illuminate the entire area, the cry of a powerful beast could be heard from within it. Having heard that cry several times before, both Takashi and Akiza knew right away who it came from, causing the former to smile while the later simply braced herself some more. Once the light finally faded away, both Signers watched as the mighty Stardust Dragon appeared, proudly standing by Takashi's side.

Upon seeing its fellow Signer Dragon appear onto the field, Black Rose Dragon released a powerful roar, one so great that the ground started to tremble a little. Not wanting to be bested, Stardust Dragon returned the favor with a powerful roar of its own. The presence of both dragons was so intense that Takashi could feel their powers resonating with each other. It was at that moment that he remembered his first Duel with Akiza and although he wasn't as skilled as he is now, he was able to feel that same power. Whenever they Duel, Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon were bound to face each other and today is no different.

"Alright," He said with a look of fierce determination on his face. "Stardust Dragon, attack Black Rose Dragon…Cosmic Flare!"

Without missing a beat, Stardust Dragon complied with Takashi's command and immediately began building up energy from within its body. After building up enough power, Stardust opened its mouth and released all of that power in one massive blast of cosmic energy. However, despite the fact that this attack was enough to take down her beloved Black Rose Dragon, Akiza was more than ready for it. As a result, the Rose Duelist went on to activate the face-down card that she set last turn.

"I activate the Trap Card: Impenetrable Attack!" She shouted. "With it, I can prevent my Black Rose Dragon from being destroyed through battle this turn!"

As Stardust Dragon's Cosmic Flare attack continued to make its way over to Black Rose Dragon, Akiza's face-down card managed to take affect before the blow could connect. With it, a protective aura surrounded Black Rose Dragon, allowing it to survive a blast that normally would've killed it. However, despite the fact that she manage to save her dragon, Akiza still took the 100 points of damage from Stardust Dragon's attack.

**Akiza: 1850 LP**

Although he was slightly shocked that Akiza managed to save Black Rose Dragon with that last move, Takashi was able to immediately realize that it would take more than that to take it down for good. With that in mind, the young man looked back towards his cards and started pondering what to do next. Since both Signer Dragons were out on the field, things were going to get even more intense and he needed to be ready for when that happened. To that end, he took one card from his hand and inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When that happened, the card appeared face-down on his field, right behind his Stardust Dragon.

"I set one card face-down…with that I end my turn."

"Then it's my turn again," Akiza replied after she placed her hand upon her deck. "I Draw!"

With a strong pull, Akiza drew the top card from the top of her deck and glanced at it in order to see what it was. When she did, a small smile appeared on the young woman's face. With this card, the chance to win this Duel was now here in front of her. All that was left to do was play it, take a chance, and make her way to victory. To that end, Akiza shot a powerful look over to Takashi before taking the card that she just drew and inserting it into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Foresee Draw!" She declared. "With it, I can guess one type of card and then draw one card from my deck. If I'm right, I can either activate the card's effect of summon it, ignoring any conditions that would prevent me from doing so. However…if I'm wrong, I must not only banish the card that I just drew, but I also lose half of my Life Points."

After hearing her explain the effect of her Spell Card, Takashi starting clinching his right fist a little as Akiza was preparing to draw again. Under normal circumstances, the chances of such a move working would be around 33%, but Takashi knew for a fact that percentages didn't mean anything. Because of her Psychic Powers, Akiza could not only create real monsters through her thoughts, but also know what card she's going to draw before she even does so. This meant that she was going to succeed, no matter how much the odds were against her. Now Takashi had to be extra careful for whatever Spell, Trap, or Monster that Akiza was to use against him.

Meanwhile, as Takashi was rethinking his strategy, Akiza was preparing to place her hand upon her deck. When she did, the Psychic closed her eyes and focused her thoughts. This allowed her to see a picture of her next card appear inside her mind. The card that she was seeing was precisely the one that she was hoping for. This caused to let out a quick smile, one that Takashi happened to notice. Afterwards, Akiza drew the top card from her deck.

"I choose a Trap Card!" She said. She then revealed the card to Takashi, who lit up in shocked upon seeing what it was. "And I'm right, which means I can activate its effect right away!"

Akiza placed the card that she just drew into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone. When she did, a giant flash of light immediately appeared and struck her Black Rose Dragon, causing the beast to let out a fierce roar.

"I activate the Trap Card: Assault Mode Activate! With it, I can tribute my Black Rose Dragon in order to Special Summon: Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode!"

**Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode: ATK 2900 DEF 2300 LVL 9**

As the light from Akiza's Trap continued to strike Black Rose Dragon, both she and Takashi watched as Assault Armor began materializing on the beast. With each plate that was attached, the dragon's impressive strength increased by several fold. Eventually, all the armor was placed and Black Rose Dragon was now powerful enough to do away with Stardust Dragon. Upon seeing that, Takashi prepared himself for what was about to happen, but was shocked by what Akiza declared next.

"Now…I activate Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode's Special Ability!" She stated. "When it's successfully summoned, it can destroy every other card that's on the field. Go…Assault Rose Gale!"

Black Rose Dragon nodded its head and released a powerful gust of wind and flower petals that were surrounding the entire field. As Stardust Dragon started screaming in agony, Takashi was wondering what Akiza was trying to do. Having faced each other 3 times prior to this, she must know that Stardust's Special Ability has the power to negate her dragon's effect and destroy it. Takashi didn't know what Akiza was up to, but what he did know is that if he didn't do something quick, he would lose Stardust and, by extension, lose this Duel. Not wanting that to happen, the Signer responded by activating his dragon's effect.

"I activate Stardust Dragon's Special Ability!" He countered. "By releasing it, Stardust can negate Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode's effect and destroy it! Go…Victim Sanctuary!"

As Black Rose Dragon/Assault Mode continued its assault, Stardust Dragon gathered all the strength that it could muster and used to grab on to its opponent. Once it did, Stardust started glowing as bright as the sun, causing it and Black Rose Dragon/Assault to begin to disappear. When it did, both dragons were gone and Takashi let out a giant sigh of relief.

"…I wouldn't be so calm if I were you,"

Upon hearing those words, Takashi lifted his head up and looked towards Akiza. He then saw that she was looking at him with a somewhat playful expression on her face. Despite the fact that her monster was just destroyed, she didn't seem distraught. In fact, from what he could tell, she exactly seemed glad. Takashi was confused why she would act like that, but he immediately figured out the reason after thinking about the Special Abilities of both of their monsters. When she saw that look on his face, Akiza's smile grew a bit bigger as she started to explain what Takashi had just realized.

"Takashi…out of all the monsters I've faced, your Stardust Dragon has given me the most trouble," She started off. "Its power to negate the effect of my Black Rose Dragon has really messed me up before. Not only that, but it's second Special Ability allows it to be Special Summoned onto the field after using its first Ability, allowing you to gain the advantage on your next turn. However, that's not the case this time. As I'm sure you know…Stardust Dragon is gone until the End Phase of this turn, meaning there's a gap of time until he can be brought back. However, because of the effect of Assault Monsters…"

"…The monsters that were used to Summon them can be immediately Special Summoned to the field once their counterpart is destroyed," Takashi finished.

"Precisely…return to battle, Black Rose Dragon!"

A bright blast of purple energy immediately shot down from the ground and began covering the entirety of Akiza's side of the field. When it started to fade away, Takashi looked on in shock as Black Rose Dragon was once again standing before him. Although it was no longer in its Assault Mode, that didn't matter. With Stardust Dragon gone and with only 1200 Life Points left, if it attacked now, he would lose the Duel. A lot of things were going through his mind at this moment, but one of the most prominent was how amazing Akiza really was.

As for Akiza herself, the young woman was quite pleased by what she was able to accomplish just now. Not only did she managed to out maneuver Takashi again, but she now had another opportunity to win the Duel again. Not wanting this chance to go to waste, Akiza hardened herself and prepared to conduct the finishing move.

"Takashi…this has been one of the best Duels I ever had in a while," She said to him. "Unfortunately, this is where it ends. Black Rose Dragon, attack his Life Points directly…Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon nodded its head after hearing Akiza's instructions. The monster then proceeded to launch another stream of purple flames towards Takashi, hoping that this time its attack would be enough to take him out. However, just before the attack could reach him, Takashi quickly responded to Akiza's move by activating the face-down card that was on his side of the field.

"Don't worry Akiza," He said as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "This Duel is far from over! I activate the Trap Card: Stardust Flash! With it, I can Special Summon a Stardust monster directly from my Graveyard. Be revived…Stardust Dragon!"

Just as Black Rose Dragon's flames were about to strike him, a powerful stream of white light shot from Takashi's field, protecting him from the attack. When the light faded away, Stardust Dragon reappeared on the field, once again standing against Black Rose Dragon. The two dragons stared each other down, not wanting to let up for a single moment. For them, they were going to protect their respective master from any harm that the other might happen to inflict, no matter how difficult it may be.

Meanwhile, as both Signer Dragon roared at each other, Akiza was trying to think up a new strategy. Since Stardust Dragon reappeared on the field, a Replay occurred, giving her the chance to attack again. However, the Rose Duelist knew that if she did, she would lose Black Rose Dragon, the heart of her attack force. She had to wait until another chance presented itself to her. To that end, Akiza simply took a card from her hand and inserted it into her Spell/Trap Zone. When she did, the card materialized onto her field, right behind Black Rose Dragon.

"I set one card face-down," She said to Takashi. "With that, I end my turn."

Once Akiza said that she ended her turn, Takashi let out a large sigh. Her last move nearly finished him off and he was forced to use his Trap Card well before he really wanted to. This meant that he had to come up with a new tactic, since he knew that attack head on would be reckless, even if his monster was stronger than hers. However, with the cards he had now, Takashi lacked the pieces necessary to make his plan. With that, he hoped his next draw would bear him more fruit.

"It's my turn," He said as he placed his hand upon his deck. "Draw!"

Using all of his strength, Takashi swiftly drew the top card from his deck and glanced at it for a quick moment. When he did, the young man saw that while the card wasn't the one he was hoping for, it was still something he could use. Because of that, he immediately inserted it into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I activate the Spell Card: Pot of Greed!" He said. "With it, I can draw 2 more cards from my deck."

Not wanting to waste any time, Takashi immediately drew 2 more cards from the top of his deck and looked over them both. As he did, the Signer saw another awesome strategy materialize inside of his mind. Although he still lacked another important card that he needed in order to make his plan work, Takashi believed that Akiza wouldn't attack him recklessly until she could come up with another strategy that could match his own. With that in mind, Takashi took one of the cards he just drew, along with another one that was already in his hand, and inserted them into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I set 2 cards face-down," Takashi said as two face-down cards materialized on his side of the field. "I then end my turn."

Once Takashi ended his turn, Akiza prepared herself to begin hers. Because Black Rose Dragon has less Attack Points than Stardust Dragon, attacking now would be pointless. Even if she used her face-down card, it wouldn't do much now since Takashi's down cards can probably counter it. She needed something else in order to swing the momentum of the Duel back into her favor. As a result, Akiza hoped that her next draw would allow her to obtain that key piece.

"It's my turn," She said as she placed her hand upon her deck. "Draw!"

Swiftly, Akiza pulled the top card from her deck and glanced at it for a moment before looking over the other cards that were in her hand. She then looked over towards the cards that were on Takashi's side of the field, mainly his 2 face-down cards. Akiza had no idea what those cards were, but she had a feeling that they're meant to power up Stardust Dragon. If that's the case, she needed to use cards to power up Black Rose Dragon, just enough for her to match Takashi's strength.

With that strategy in mind, Akiza grabbed the card that was on the far left corner of her hand and inserted it into Spell/Trap Zone. When she did that, she watched as another face-down card materialized onto her side of the field, right beside her other one.

"I'll set another card face-down and end my turn again," She told him. "It's your move, Takashi."

Takashi nodded his head and was prepared to draw another card in order to signify the start of his next turn. However, just before he placed his hand upon his deck, the Signer stopped. He then looked towards Akiza, staring deeply into her hazel brown eyes. Akiza, for her credit, was busy staring into Takashi's sapphire blue eyes. As they continued to look at one another, both Signers were able to see into the other's soul, truly understanding what drives them to do the things that they do.

Although he's only known her for less than a year, Takashi was able to see that she's truly grown, both as a Duelist and as a person. Her desire to change herself and become a better individual has given her a strength that she never though existed. With that strength, Akiza not only wishes to become one of the world's best Duelists, but become something that she never thought was possible for her; someone that can be looked up too. Upon seeing that, Takashi let out a warm smile, filled with happiness.

As for Akiza, even though she's known Takashi for the same amount of time, the young truly feels that she got to see what he's really like on the inside. Despite all the pain and suffering he went through over losing Hikari and her older brother, Takashi resolved to move forward. He now strives to become a Duelist that can not only honor their memory, but one that others can be proud of as well. It's for those reasons why he works so hard and never gives up on his beliefs, even if they tend to force him into some harsh situations. Just thinking about that made Akiza smile, as she once again realized why she fell in love with this incredible person in the first place.

Eventually, as time passed by and the sun was now beginning to set over the horizon, Takashi and Akiza slowly began to chuckle to themselves. Soon, their chuckles then turned into laughter. After everything that they've been through recently, the two of them haven't been able to truly enjoy themselves. However, now wasn't the case. On this day, at this very moment, both Takashi Nakamura and Akiza Izinski were to see the true value in themselves and in their lives and they knew that they had each other and this Duel to thank for that. Unfortunately, both of them knew that this wonderful Duel of theirs had to reach to a conclusion.

"Akiza…" Takashi said to her.

"Yes…?" She replied, wondering what he wanted to tell her.

"I want to thank you. You helped me see sides to myself that I thought were lost to me forever. For a long time, I truly believed that it didn't matter if I lived…or died. However, despite everything that's happened to me, you've showed me that my life, despite what others my think, still has value. Akiza, you're my best friend and I'll always be grateful for what you've done for me. So thank you…thank you for restoring my will to live."

Upon hearing Takashi say that, Akiza starting crying tears of joy. She was overjoyed to hear him say that, thanking her for restoring something that he thought he lost. However, while she delighted to know that she helped him, the Rose Duelist knew that her actions were only possible for everything that Takashi did for her. Because of that, Akiza gently wiped her tears away before shaking her head and smile at her beloved.

"No Takashi…I should be the one thanking you," She told him. "Before I met you, I couldn't imagine living life the way I do now. I was on a path of destruction, one that probably would've destroyed me. However…you saved me from that path, despite everything I've said and everything I've done. Not only that, but you've given me something else…something that I'll always cherish. That makes everything I've done for you…pale in comparison for everything that you've done for me. Thank you Takashi…thank you for everything."

Takashi and Akiza continued looking at each other, happy they were able to play an important part in the other's lives. However, both of them knew that they had to get back to the Duel and with that, the two Signers prepared themselves for was to come. It was Takashi's turn and he has yet to draw. He needed a card to him help turn the tide, but there was no guarantee that he could get it with his draw. Despite that, Takashi didn't lose faith. For him, he believed he was going to draw the card he needed and it was that belief that allowed him to utilize one of his newest abilities. As a result, Takashi's right hand was starting to glow a bright golden color, just as he was about to place his hand upon his deck.

"A truly powerful Duelist can shape the outcome of a Duel," He said. "He can even generate the very card that he needs to draw! Go…Shining Draw!"

With his new power surging through him, Takashi pulled the top card from his deck and held it high into the air. The light from the card was so intense that it made look like it was daytime, even though the sun had already started to set. When the light finally started to fade away, Takashi took a good look at a card, causing him to let out a bright smile. The card he drew was exactly the one he needed and with it, he could win the Duel. With that, he wasted no time as placed the card into his Spell/Trap Zone.

"I set one card face-down," He said as the card appeared face-down on his field. "I now end my turn."

Once Takashi ended his turn, Akiza prepared herself to begin her own. Because he just performed a Shining Draw, the young woman had a pretty good feeling that Takashi's card was one that would allow him to win the match. In order to counter it, she would need to draw the card that she needed at this moment. However, even with her ability to know the card that she's about the draw, it's still no guarantee that she'll get the one she needs. Because of that, the Rose Duelist slowly hesitated as she began to make her way towards her deck.

As he watched her, Takashi had a pretty good feeling what was going inside Akiza's mind, especially after she just saw him perform a Shining Draw. Despite that though, he believed that she would get the card that she wanted, even if she didn't know. All she needed was a little encouragement and Takashi planned on giving it to her.

"Akiza…" He started off. "Remember what I said before I drew my card? A Duelist can shape the outcome of a Duel…and can even generate the card that they need to draw. In others words, just can't hope that you'll get the card you want…you must will the card to you. Believe in yourself and the card will come to you."

Upon hearing him say that, Akiza slowly nodded her head and proceeded to close her eyes. She then began ridding herself of all of her fears. She couldn't think about what could happen because that would lead to her defeat. Instead, she focused on what she wanted to happen, both in this Duel and what she really wanted for herself. After realizing what she wanted, Akiza opened her eyes and looked at Takashi with a determined expression on her face. It was this determination that not only caused her Signer Mark to glow brightly, but also caused her right hand to emit a bright pink energy.

When Takashi saw that energy shine from her hand, the young man knew right away what it was and what it meant. He also believed that Akiza had the ability to achieve that power, she just needed to the confidence boost in order to pull it off. Now that she has that boost, Takashi prepared himself from what was about to come.

"Like you said, Takashi," Akiza spoke. "A truly powerful Duelist can shape the outcome of a Duel. They can even generate the very card that they need to draw. Go…Shining Draw!"

Akiza swiftly drew the top card of her deck, causing a bright flash of pink energy, similar to the golden energy that Takashi brought forth, to shine across the entire field for a few moments. When the light finally faded away and she was able to get a good look at the card, the Rose Duelist smiled. She then turned towards Takashi who simply nodded his head and smiled back at her. Now that she had the card that she needed, Akiza decided that the time was now to make her move.

"Let's do this! Black Rose Dragon, attack Stardust Dragon now…Black Rose Flare!"

Black Rose Dragon complied with its master's instructions and quickly fired another stream of flames, this time towards Stardust Dragon. Because his monster was stronger than Akiza's, Takashi knew that this couldn't be the end of his strategy. As a result, the Signer simply continued to brace himself as he watched Akiza activate one of her two face-down cards.

"However, before the attack goes through, I'm activating the Trap Card: Prideful Roar!" She declared. "Now, by taking the damage I would've taken in this battle, Black Rose Dragon's Attack Points become 300 points higher than that of Stardust Dragon's!"

As Black Rose Dragon's attack continued to make its way towards Stardust Dragon, the effect of Akiza's Trap Card began to activate. By taking the 100 point difference in the dragons Attack Points as damage, the Rose Duelist watched as a purple aura surrounded her monster, making it strong enough to take down its opponent.

**Akiza: 1750 LP**

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 2800**

With its new power, Black Rose Dragon's flame attack was now powerful enough to defeat Stardust Dragon. However, because he wasn't going to let his dragon go down so easily, Takashi responded to Akiza's play by activating one of his face-down cards.

"That's not going to work!" He yelled. "I activate the Trap Card: Reinforcements! With it, Stardust Dragon gains 500 extra Attack Points, giving it more power than Black Rose Dragon!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 3000**

Through the power of his Trap Card, Takashi watched as a bright blue aura surrounded his Signer Dragon. With its power, Stardust was able to fire a Cosmic Flare attack, one strong enough to not only block Black Rose Dragon's attack, but also start to overcome it. At a glance, it looked like Stardust was about to win this battle for Takashi, but Akiza had other plans and went on to activate the second face-down card that she had on her field.

"Good move, Takashi," She said to him. "However, I knew that you would increase the Attack Points of your Stardust Dragon, allowing me to activate my second Trap: Rose Angel Wings! With it, since the Attack Points of your monster increased during the Battle Phase, the Attack Points of a Rose Monster I control doubles until the end of the turn! This means Black Rose Dragon's Attack Points goes all the way up…to 5600!"

**Black Rose Dragon: ATK 5600**

As the attacks of both dragons continued to collide with one another, Takashi and Akiza watched as Black Rose Dragon's wings started glowing brightly. This glowed caused the shape of its wings to change from that of rose petals to those of angel. With its new wings, Black Rose Dragon was able to overcome Stardust Dragon's counterattack and responded by firing another Black Rose Flare…only with double the amount of power.

Upon seeing that, Takashi was impressed that Akiza was able to see through his Trap Card. However, he had already predicted that she would be able to do that and responded by activating the other face-down card that was on his field.

"You never cease to amaze me," He said as he watched Black Rose Dragon's attack continue to make its way towards Stardust. "However, despite how much fun this Duel is, I think it's time it came to an end. I activate the Trap Card: Force from the Heavens! Now, since your monster has 1000 more Attack Points than mine, Stardust Dragon's Attack Points becomes the same as Black Rose Dragon's!"

**Stardust Dragon: ATK 5600**

Just before Black Rose Dragon's flames could hit their target, a giant blast of lightning shot from the sky and hit Stardust Dragon. When that happened, Stardust took the opportunity to absorb the energy from the lightning, increasing its power so that it was equal to that of Black Rose Dragon's. After it finished absorbing enough power, Stardust flew high into the air and unleashed its strongest Cosmic Flare attack towards Akiza's monster. To counter, Black Rose Dragon fired its strongest Black Rose Flare attack towards Stardust, causing both moves to collide once again. However, this time, both attacks were evenly matched and the clash between them was so great that it created an explosion that took both dragons out.

As smoke from the blast covered the entire area, Akiza struggled to see what was going on. While she did, the young woman noticed a powerful blue glow was beginning to pierce through the dark clouds. When it eventually did, Akiza looked on in awe as Takashi body was emitting the blue aura that came with his Signer Powers. She then watched as the young man smiled at her before activating his final face-down card.

"Since both of our monsters were destroyed through battle this turn…I can now activate the Quick-Play Spell: Spirit Battle!" He explained. "With it, the spirits of Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon come forth to do battle once again. Not only that, but the owner of the losing dragon takes damage equal to their destroyed monster's Attack Points!"

Once Takashi finished explaining the effect of his Spell Card, both he and Akiza watched as two giant pillars of light shot up from their respective fields. From them was the spirits of Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon, who immediately engaged in another fierce confrontation. The battle between them was intense, with both dragons struggling to get an advantage over the other. But, it soon became clear that Stardust Dragon had the superior strength and was about to finish off Black Rose Dragon with one last Cosmic Flare.

However, while the attack was beginning to make its way towards her spirit monster, Akiza took the time to examine the card that she drew with her Shining Draw. The card in question was the same one she obtained today when she and Takashi went to the card shop. When she first saw it, the young woman believed that it would help her obtain what she really wanted from this Duel. So, when Stardust Dragon's attack struck Black Rose Dragon, Akiza realized that the time was now and immediately inserted the card into her Duel Disk's Spell/Trap Zone.

"…I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Heart-to-Heart!" She said. "Through this card's effect, since I'm about to take damage via a card effect, that same amount of damage is inflicted upon you as well, Takashi!"

When Takashi heard Akiza say that, his eyes widen as he didn't expect that she had a card that would take him out at the very instant he took her out. He then watched as a giant orb of light covered the entire field, causing the damage that Akiza took from his Spell Card to affect him as well. Once that happened, the orb of light expanded, surrounding both Takashi and Akiza completely.

As the orb caused the spirits of both dragons to disappear from sight and caused both Duelists Life Points to slowly deplete, Takashi and Akiza silently looked at one another as the white void that was surrounding them continued to expand. While they looked at one another, both of them let out a small smile, as they were both pleased by the ending of their Duel. Even though none of them won, both of them knew that wasn't really important right now. What was important is the strong connection they have with each other and how they were able to make it evens stronger thanks to everything that they've been through today.

Eventually, as they continued to look at each other, a small blush slowly appeared on Akiza's face as she began to make her way over towards Takashi. With each step she made towards him, Akiza felt a strong sensation coming from her heart, almost like it was about to come out of her chest. Despite that though, she wasn't feeling any pain. As a matter of fact, the feeling that Akiza was experiencing was rather pleasant, as she was about to accomplish something that she wanted for the longest time now. Because of that, the blush that was on her face only grew bigger with each step she made towards Takashi.

As for Takashi himself, the young man was also feeling a warm sensation coming from his heart. This feeling was something that he never experienced before, even when he was with his previous crush, Hikari. In the past, Takashi would've told himself that he was unworthy of having such feelings, however, things were different now. Having been through so much and having seen that Akiza was willing to stay by his side no matter what may happen, Takashi finally realized that he not only deserved to be happy, but also deserved to be with her.

So, when Akiza finally reached Takashi, the young woman took her hand and gently placed it upon his cheek again. When she did that, Takashi took his hand and gently placed it on top of Akiza's. The two Signers then proceeded to smile at one another again as they both of them got closer.

"Akiza…" Takashi said. "There's something that I've wanted to tell you for a while now. I…I love you. I love you, Akiza Izinski. You make me more than what I am. When I'm with you, I feel stronger…like I can do anything. I also feel more compassionate, striving to protect all living things, not just those who are around me. I feel all of those things and it's all because of you. I love you, Akiza. I want you to be by my side…so that I can always be by yours."

Upon hearing Takashi say that he loved her, Akiza started shedding more tears of joy. She then looked down for a moment before completely embracing Takashi and letting him hold her closely. The Rose Duelist then placed her head gently upon his shoulder before finally confessing her feelings for him.

"I love you too, Takashi," She told him. "I've been in love with you for the longest time, ever since the day we first met. You've given me so much and I can never thank you enough for that. I want to be by your side too. I want to be by your side forever."

The two Signers continued their embrace for a few more moments before taking the time to look at one another. As they saw a reflection of themselves in the other's eyes, both Takashi and Akiza let out a small smile before slowly closing the distance between each other again. Once they were close enough, the two shared a passionate kiss, signifying the start of their new relationship. It was at that moment that the glow from the orb of light reached its highest setting, causing both of their Life Points to finally drop to 0.

**Takashi: 0 LP**

**Akiza: 0 LP**

* * *

><p>Sometime, as the night sky completely enveloped all of New Domino City, Takashi and Akiza finally made their way back to Poppo Time, their apartment home. Before they made their way inside however, the two of them stopped at the front door. They then looked at each other with loving expressions of their faces, happy that they were able to enter the next stage of their relationship and become a romantic couple. Because of that, the two of them shared a quick kiss before holding each other closely.<p>

"Thank you so much, Takashi," Akiza said to him. "Today was the best day of my life."

"Don't mention it, Akiza," Takashi replied. "I'm glad that was able to make you so happy. God knows you deserve it."

"Maybe so…" Akiza looked at Takashi again and let out a small smile. She then took a moment to look towards the front door. "Still…a part of me wishes that I could spend the day with others as well. If anything, that would make this day even more wonderful."

As Akiza said that, Takashi let out a small chuckle. He then nodded his head in agreement, as he also believed that this day would be even better with everyone else involved. Eventually, the young man gently petted the top of his new girlfriend's head before beginning to open the door to their apartment.

"Well…let's head inside," He said. "You can tell everyone all the things that we did today."

Agreeing, Akiza made her way inside of her home with Takashi following close behind. Once he closed the door, both of them were completely surrounded by darkness. While Akiza struggled to find the light switch, Takashi stood behind her, raised his hands and began making various signals. Once he was finished, the Signer gently grabbed Akiza by the hand before making his way over to the light switch. When he flipped it and the lights finally came on, Akiza was utterly shocked by what she was witnessing.

"SURPRISE…HAPPY BIRTHDAY AKIZA!"

In a state of utter surprise, Akiza noticed that each and every one of her friends were standing before her, each of them carrying a present in their hands. She also took the time to notice that there decorations set up all over the place, indicating that this had been planned. As she tried to come to grip with what she was both seeing and experiencing, Lilly made her way over to her gave her a warm smile.

"Sorry for shocking you, Akiza," She told her. "But after hearing what happened on your previous birthdays, we decided to throw a special one this year. That way, you can see that despite everything that's happened…your friends will be here to love and support you. So…what do you think?"

For a while, Akiza remained silent as she was still trying to adjust to what was going on. Eventually though, Lilly was able to get a response from out of her…and it was exactly the one she was hoping for. Akiza was so happy that it once again brought her to tears. She then looked towards all of her friends and smiled at them, trying her best to keep herself together, but failing miserably.

"You guys…thank you so much," She said as more tears ran down her face.

Once she said that, everyone else in apartment smiled and nodded their heads at her. They then proceeded to bring her inside so that she could open her presents, eat her cake, and play all the party games that they've set up for her. For Akiza, it was a wonderful experience and it allowed her to truly appreciate everything that she currently has and all the friends that she could experience things with.

Eventually, as the party continued, Takashi and Akiza decided to tell their friends that they were currently in a relationship. However, much to their surprise, all of them simply laugh and told them one simple phrase; it was about damn time.

All of them were well aware that the two of them liked it each other and most of them wanted them to hurry up and become a couple. However, because of one reason or another, they were unable to do so and that was beginning to get on their nerves. Fortunately, that wasn't the case anymore, relieving them all. Despite that though, the group were still happy for the new couple and congratulated them on their new found happiness.

For the next few hours, the gang continued to party, eating all the food and playing any games that they could come up with. Eventually, things started to die down and most of the guests were already passed out from the sheer exhaustion of partying so hard. One the individuals that was still up was Takashi, who simply chuckled to himself after seeing most of his friends lying down on the floor. He considered leaving them there, but in the end he decided to pull out some blankets and place them over his friends. Once he did that, the Signer nodded his head and began making his way upstairs.

Shortly after that, Takashi took a quick 10 minute shower before heading towards his special place on the roof. He then sat of the edge of his apartment building and took his time staring out at all of the stars. While he did that, Akiza had appeared on the roof, already in her evening gown since she just finished taking a shower herself. As she stared out towards her new boyfriend, the young man suddenly recalled the story her mother told her about the Princess of the Roses and the Prince from the Stars. After that, she then remembered the promised she made, hoping to find a friend just like the prince from the story. Once she finished, Akiza smiled after realizing that the wish she made all those years ago finally came true.

After she finished thinking about that, Akiza slowly made her way towards Takashi and promptly sat by his side. The couple then proceeded to cuddle with each as both of them continued to stare out into the beautiful cosmos. Once they spent some time doing that, Takashi and Akiza then went on to look at one another, marveling at how beautiful the other looked. Even they both knew that they still had a long road ahead of them and had many more trials to face, the two Signers believed that they could overcome it as long as they had their friends…and each other.

"I love you, Takashi Nakamura."

"And I love you, Akiza Izinski."

With that, the two of them shared another kiss, this one being even more passionate than the last.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_Finally, the time has come for the long awaited rematch between Takashi and the Duel King of Japan; Alistair Miles. Both of them have come a long way since they first picked up a Duel Monsters deck and it's time to see which of them is the strongest. Will Takashi be able to pull out the win and become one step closer to achieving his dream of becoming the world's best Duelist or will Alistair win and prove that no one cane surpass him?_

_Next Time of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 101: The Fortune Cup Finale; Takashi vs. Alistair – Part 1_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with a couple of announcements. _

_First off, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. All of you have been really good to me this year and I wanted to something special for you as my way of saying thanks. So, instead of my usual Christmas Chapter, I decided to give you chapter 100 of Over the Nexus instead. I spent the last month working on it, making sure that everything looked right and I'm quite pleased with the result. I hope all of you like it as well, especially since it contains the moment that all of you have been waiting for._

_Second, because the newest chapter is out today, there will be no Christmas Special this year. However, that doesn't mean a holiday short won't be posted. So please, look forward to this New Years as I post my very first New Years Special of Over the Nexus._

_Next, in celebration of 100 chapters of Over the Nexus, I've decided to something special for all of my fans. Starting next chapter, I will be posting character trivia for each of the main characters in Over the Nexus. With them, you'll be able to discover things about your favorite characters that you may or may not know already. I worked hard coming up with them and I hope you like it. Here, let me give you an example as I give you 5 trivia notes on the series as a whole._

**- In the beginning, Over the Nexus was going to be based more on its real-life video game counterpart, but later became an alternate version of the anime after Spirit Reader decided it would be more fun to write a story that way.**

**- Originally, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's protagonist, Yusei Fudo, was going to appear as the main character, but was later replaced by Takashi Nakamura after Spirit Reader wanted to make a character that was more relatable to his readers.**

**- Lilly Muto was originally set to be Takashi's love interest and the series main female protagonist, but that role was later given to Akiza Izinski after Spirit Reader decided that he wanted a female lead that was similar to his protagonist. Also, after watching the second half of the 5D's anime and seeing how Akiza's anime counterpart kind of fell off the radar, Spirit wanted to make her Over the Nexus counterpart more memorable.**

**- When Spirit Reader comes up with a new character or storyline, he usually takes inspiration from different manga, anime, or video game series. For example, the character of Kagura Toyoshima is based on Kagura Mikazuchi from the manga/anime Fairy Tail. The same thing applies to the young Psychic Duelist; Wendy Marvell, who's based on the Fairy Tail character of the same name. As for story arcs, the Satellite Grand Fire arc was inspired by the Kyoto Grand Fire arc from the manga/anime Rurouni Kenshin.**

**- In the Over the Nexus universe, powers and plot points from any of the other Yu-Gi-Oh! series are up for grabs. This is why Xyz Monsters and the power of Zexal was introduced, even though they were not present in the 5D's era. The reason for that is because Spirit Reader didn't want to be limited to cards from just one particular era. **

_Lastly, I want to inform all of you that I'm currently working with fellow writer, Serpentdragon, on a new story, based on the famous Power Rangers franchise. As we get closer to posting it, I'll reveal more about our group project. In the meantime, please look forward to it as the first chapter should be out sometime in January of 2015._

_Well, that's it for now. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year._


	101. Chapter 101

**Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus **

**Fan Fiction by**: _Spirit Reader_

**Yu-Gi-Oh!** (Including **GX, 5D's, Zexal, **and** Arc V**) **original creator**: _Kazuki Takahashi_

**Chapter 101: **_The Fortune Cup Finale; Takashi vs. Alistair – Part 1_

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><p>"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…MORE POWER!"<p>

It was the night before the long awaited title Duel between Takashi Nakamura and Alistair Miles and almost everyone in New Domino City was fast asleep, wanting plenty of rest so that they could watch the epic contest between the two exceptional Duelists. However, out of the millions of people who were living in the city, a few individuals were still awake. One of those individuals was none other than Alistair Miles himself, who was currently preparing himself for his title defense. However, because of the importance of this particular title defense, Alistair's training was much different than anything he's done before.

After witnessing Takashi's Duel against Alistair and seeing him unleash the power of Zexal, Alistair has been working tirelessly to increase his own abilities so that he could surpass his fellow Signer and prove his supremacy over him. Unfortunately, despite his attempts to transform the Chaos power that's within him to Zexal power, Alistair was unable to do so. Even when he tried combining his Chaos with his Signer Powers, Alistair was still unable to achieve Zexal, frustrating him to no end. Eventually, with time running out and no other options available to him, Alistair had no choice but to swallow his pride and go to the one person who could help him; Rex Goodwin.

Ever since he was approached by the Director of Sector Security to become the country's Duel King, Alistair has made it a point to avoid ever coming into contact with Goodwin. The Signer didn't trust him because he sensed an unsettling feeling coming from him. Although he wouldn't admit it out loud, Alistair was in fact scared of Goodwin, not only because of his incredible power, but also because his inability to read him. Despite that though, it didn't change the fact that he needed his help. While Alistair does hate Goodwin, his hatred for Takashi is even greater.

Upon being approached by his Duel King, Goodwin simply smiled at him before immediately granting his request. Because his long awaited goal to fully summon the Crimson Dragon was about to finally come to fruition, Goodwin wanted to make sure that nothing happened that could possibly messed things up. To that end, he brought Alistair to a hidden room underneath the main Sector Security building. Once they were there, he had the Signer be strapped to a machine which produced pure amounts of Chaos energy. As soon as he activated it, Goodwin watched as the Chaos energy flooded into Alistair's body, causing him great pain.

This continued for last few days, with Alistair continuing to request that more power be forced into him. Even though such large amounts of energy would kill any other man, Alistair stayed strong. For him, the pain that he was feeling was nothing to the humiliation he felt when Takashi almost defeated him during their last Duel. Since that moment, the Duel King vowed to defeat him, no matter what the cost to himself.

As the transfer of power was taking place, Goodwin was busy watching Alistair from a nearby control room. With him was both Lazar and Mina, the two of whom were also checking on Alistair, taking the time to check on his life signs, making sure that they were readable. However, as time continued to pass by, Alistair's life signs were beginning to drop, worrying Mina greatly. Despite that though, Alistair insisted that he wanted more power and Goodwin complied with his request without a second thought.

Once more Chaos was forcibly injected into him, the power that was surging through Alistair's body was beginning to take a unique on the Duel King. Due to the power, a powerful, yet dark, aura was beginning to wrap around him. This aura, made from a mixture of Alistair's power and the Chaos that's continuously being injected into him, was so intense that it was causing all the reading in the control room to go berserk. If things continued, the likelihood of a meltdown was imminent. However, despite that fact, Goodwin refused to let things up and simply increased thee power.

While watching this take place, Mina's heart was beginning to break as she continued to watch Alistair scream in agony. In the time she's spent with him, the beautiful assistant slowly started to develop romantic feelings for the Duel King. Even though Alistair didn't really care for her in return, that didn't change the way Mina felt for him. As a result, the young woman realized that she couldn't stand idly by and let this go on any further. As a result, Mina rushed out of the control and began making her way towards Alistair.

"Oh my…" Lazar said as he watched Mina. "Should we try to stop her?"

"Why bother?" Goodwin replied. "It's almost over anyway…and there's absolutely nothing that she can do about it."

As Goodwin once again increased the power that was flowing into Alistair, Lazar looked at the Director for a moment before turning his attention towards the monitors. As electricity began to short out all the machines, a small smile began to appear on the Vice-Director's face. For him, he simply found everything that was happening very amusing. Mina's feelings for Alistair, Alistair's hatred for Takashi, Takashi's desire to help others, and Goodwin's plan for all the Signers, Lazar found it all utterly amusing and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. He didn't care what happened in the end, so long as the final result got him what he desired in the end.

Meanwhile, Alistair was beginning to reach the end of his rope. Despite his overwhelming desire to take down Takashi and regain the pride that he lost, the pain that he was feeling was beginning to overwhelm him. His life was beginning to slip away and despite what he wanted to do, Alistair was beginning to realize that there was nothing that he could do about it. To that end, the Signer was beginning to resign to his fate. However, as he closed his eyes, Alistair suddenly started to recall his past and everything that he did, leading up to this moment in his life. Upon realizing that, a powerful force suddenly overtook him, granting him a sudden burst of strength.

As this new strength started to push back the pain that he was experiencing, Alistair suddenly came to a powerful realization. The memories that he just experienced reminded him of all the things that he went through in his life, including all the things that he had to give up; like his friends and all the people that cared about him back in the Satellite Sector. With that in mind, Alistair realized that if he died right now, then everything that he did up this point would've been for nothing. Not wanting that, Alistair willed himself to overcome the pain and control the Chaos that was inside him, not caring what happened to him in the process.

Just as Alistair came to that realization, the machine that he was strapped to finally reached its limits and suddenly exploded. When Mina suddenly reached him, the young woman was in utter disbelief, so much so that she immediately fell to her knees. She soon started shedding tears while shaking her head repeatedly, refusing to believe what just happened.

"No…" She said to herself. "No…he can't be…gone…He just can't be."

"Of course I'm not…" A voice from the smoke cloud replied. "There's no way I'd die before I achieve my goal."

Upon hearing that familiar voice coming from the smoke cloud, Mina's eyes widen as she watched someone begin to approach her. Soon enough, the person in question was none other than Alistair, who had survived the explosion and has become much more powerful thanks to the Chaos that was placed into his body. As he felt the power continue to surge through him, a large, yet somewhat fiendish smile, began to appear on the Duel King's face.

"Amazing," He said to himself. "This power…it's incredible. Nakamura better watch out…because I'm now more powerful than he could ever imagine. In fact, I'm more powerful than I ever imagined!"

After saying that, Alistair suddenly started laughing to himself as a powerful dark aura began erupting from his body. The aura was so intense, that it broke the glass windows in the control room, forcing Lazar to jump back in order to prevent any harm to himself. However, Goodwin remained where he was and simply destroyed the oncoming glass with a sudden burst of his Reiatsu. Once he did that, Goodwin then turned his attention towards Alistair and noticed that his power was increasing, even at this moment.

Alistair's surging power put a small smile on Goodwin's face as his increased abilities was precisely what he was hoping for. With his new level of strength, Alistair was now roughly the same strength as Takashi when he unleashes the power of Zexal. Now, when these two powers collide at the final Duel of the Fortune Cup, their energy, along with the energy of the others Signers, will finally bring forth the arrival of the Crimson Dragon in its complete form. The thought that pleased Goodwin greatly, as 19 years of hard work would have finally come to fruition.

"It's only a matter of time now," He said to himself. "In just a few more hours…everything that I've strived for will finally come to a realization."

Once he said that, Goodwin closed his eyes for a moment and started to recall his past. As he did so, the Director of Sector Security suddenly started to remember his little brother Minato, who is also the father of his nephew; Takashi. Upon seeing the both of them appear inside his mind, Goodwin slowly reopened his eyes and began looking up towards the ceiling.

"Minato, I really hope that you'll be watching tomorrow's Duel…because I'm sure that your son is going to put on one heck of a Duel."

As Goodwin smiled at the prospect of his plans finally coming to fruition and Alistair continuing to praise his increased powers, his opponent, Takashi Nakamura, was busy thinking about the Duel that was to come. It's been almost a week since he defeated Kuromu and won the Fortune Cup. In that time he learned the truth of his origins, got a much needed lecture from his martial arts teacher, and finally confessed his romantic feelings to Akiza and became her boyfriend. After everything that's happened, one would expect the Signer to stop and get some much needed rest. Unfortunately for Takashi, like most things for him, things didn't go as planned.

Even after everything that he's been through over the last couple of days, Takashi knows his duty. The young man has come so far in the last year and he knew that he couldn't stop now. His next greatest challenge was now only a couple hours away, the long awaited rematch with Alistair Miles. Despite the fact that he nearly defeated the Duel King during their last encounter a couple of months ago, Takashi knew that things could've ended differently if the incomplete Crimson Dragon hadn't materialized when it did. Since that moment, Takashi knew that Alistair would be hell-bent on getting revenge and he would have to get stronger in order to counter him.

Laying down on his bed, Takashi turned over towards his desk and gently grabbed his Dueling Deck. He then spent some time staring at it, thinking about everything he and his cards have been through. While he is a great Duelist, capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone he happens to face, Takashi knows that he wasn't always that way. Unlike Dueling geniuses like Alex, Akiza, and even Alistair, Takashi knew that its takes him longer to grasps certain things. For him, things sometimes don't come naturally and that sometimes slows his growth as a Duelist. However, despite that minor flaw, Takashi works hard and it's that hard work that got him to where he is now. Because of that, the young man believed that as long as he had these cards and that he continued to believe in himself, he would be victorious, no matter Alistair had in store for him.

Eventually, after putting his deck back on his desk, Takashi's attention soon shifted to something else. Instead of thinking about his Duel with Alistair, the Signer was now thinking about the true purpose of the Fortune Cup; Goodwin's plan to bring forth the Crimson Dragon. Thanks to Alex, Takashi knew that the arrival of the Crimson Dragon would inform the Signers of a new threat that would soon plague not only New Domino City, but possibly the entire world. But, despite that knowledge, the leader of the Signer was still worried. He still knew very little what Goodwin wanted to do with the Dragon or if the Director already knew about this oncoming threat. Not only that, but Takashi was also worried that even if he and his friends managed to stop Goodwin and this new threat, something even more troubling would appear to take its place. In the end, Takashi was very concerned about everything that was about to happen and he wasn't sure if it could be stopped.

As he continued to ponder all of those things, the Signer soon realized that he's over thinking things, a bad habit that he's had for quite a while now. Despite wanting to examine all the possible details, he knew that he had to focus on the matter at hand; his Duel against Alistair. Because of that, he decided to worry about Goodwin's plans and everything else later. As a result, Takashi got up from his bed and proceeded to grab a laptop from his desk. After that, he quietly left his room and began making his downstairs to the garage.

Once he was there, Takashi made his way towards his Duel Runner and immediately started it up. After that, he took a cord and plugged one side into his Runner before plugging the other side into his laptop. Doing this allowed him to examine all the details that his Runner contained, like its current performance, speed, and other things. Although he wasn't very skilled at this sort of thing, Takashi knew that he couldn't just rely on his friends when it came to maintaining his ride.

While he continued to analyze all the details of his Duel Runner, Takashi started thinking about his skills as a Turbo Duelist, specifically his ability to use Sense. During his training for the Fortune Cup, both Alex and Sona spent their time trying to teach Takashi how to use and probably control the technique known as Sense. As time passed, the Signer learned the craft and even modified it into his own version of the technique; Cross Sense. Takashi had hoped that the Fortune Cup would give him the time to perfect his Cross Sense move, but despite the explosive battles he's participated in, he has yet to do so.

At the very best, Takashi believed that his Cross Sense was only about 75% percent complete. In order to defeat Alistair, he knew that it would need to be at 100%, but he wasn't sure if there was enough time to do so. Misaki has done a good job at modifying his Duel Runner, but she's told him on more than one occasion that his Duel Runner is the hardest to work on for some reason. Believing the reason for that is his father, the one who crafted his Duel Runner so long ago, Takashi wondered what was his dad thinking when he made it. In the end, he didn't know and decided to not worry about it for now. Even so, he still wanted to see if he could at least improve on his Cross Sense, but was having a hard time understanding the data.

"Shit…" He silently cursed as he typed on his laptop. "So many numbers and I'm having a hard time understanding each and everyone one of them. I guess that's what I get for growing up without a formal education. I wonder what Hikari would say if she saw my ass now?"

"…I'm sure that she would be very proud of you, just like I am."

Upon hearing the familiar voice speak to him, Takashi turned his head around in order to see who it was. When he did, the young man was surprised to see that it was Akiza. The young woman wearing his usual pink evening gown and white coat, but she was always wearing white slippers to cover her feet and the gold and emerald necklace that Takashi gave to her a few months back. Not only that, but Akiza was also wearing her reading glasses, having grown more comfortable wearing them after hearing Takashi comment how cute she was when she did.

"Akiza…?" Takashi said, slightly confused by her sudden appearance. "What are you doing up so late? You should get some rest."

"That's my line," Akiza pointed out as she made her way over to him. "You have your match against Alistair coming up. Shouldn't you get some sleep before the Duel?"

"I already slept, about a half-an-hour's worth."

Akiza was shocked to hear that Takashi only give himself 30 minutes of sleep tonight. With his Duel against Alistair coming up, the Rose Duelist thought that her boyfriend would try and get as much rest as he possibly could. However, that wasn't the case at all. Instead of sleeping, he was instead trying his best to improve the performance of his Duel Runner, wanting to be at his absolute best when the Duel finally takes place. Akiza was slightly worried about that, but she knew that Takashi was more than capable of taking care of himself and decided to trust his judgment.

As she continued to watch him type of his laptop, Akiza decided to see if she could help and proceeded to sit next to him on his Duel Runner. Once she did, the Rose Duelist sat there for a few moments before taking her hand and gently placing it on top of Takashi's. Upon feeling their hands touch, a small blush appeared on Takashi's face. He then stopped working for a moment and turned himself around slightly, allowing Akiza to gently place her head upon his left shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. "You're not worried about my Duel against Alistair…are you?"

"...No," She answered. "I'm not worried about that. I'm fully confident that you're going to win and become the next Duel King. I'm just…"

"Just what…?"

Akiza remained silent as she thought about what she was going to say to her beloved. As she did so, Takashi could feel one of her hands trembling, albeit very slightly. She was trying her best to keep her worries for him, not wanting to burden him since he already had so much on his plate. However, after feeling Takashi gently hold her hand and seeing him give her a comforting smile, the Rose Duelist knew that she couldn't keep these feelings from him. Because of that, she told Takashi what was on her mind.

"I'm just worried about what will happen next," She told him. "It seems that ever since we've first met, we've been involved in one battle after another, with no end in sight. At first, it didn't really bother me because we were trying to help other people. However, now that we're in a relationship…things are much different now. I'm scared…If things keep going the way they are, I'm afraid that something bad might happen."

Akiza closed her eyes for a moment and place her head down, not wanting Takashi to see the sad expression that was on her face. While she did that, Takashi was busy thinking about what he could say to her. Like her, he was also worried about the future, especially the future of their relationship. Normally, when he did things, nobody else was involved except for him. However, now that Akiza was his girlfriend, she was now involved in the bat-crap world that is his life, whether he liked it or not.

Takashi knew that Akiza wouldn't blame him for the things that might happen to the both of them as they continue on with their relationship, knowing how nice she is. Despite that, the young man still felt bad and wanted to do something to show his new girlfriend that everything would be alright, no matter what type of trials that they would have to face. After some thinking, an idea suddenly popped inside of Takashi's head, resulting in a small smile to appear on his face.

With his plan in mind, Takashi got up from his Duel Runner and proceeded to stand in front of Akiza. As the Psychic Duelist looked at him, the was shocked to see him pick her up and hold her in his strong arms. Akiza then watched as Takashi brought her out of the garage and began making his towards the roof.

"Um…Takashi…?" She said, confused by what was going on. "What are…you doing?"

Akiza waited for Takashi to reply to her question, but got no response from him. All the female Signer could do was watch as her beloved continued carrying her as they made their way up towards the roof. Once they were there, Takashi walked towards one of the edges of the building and began to stand on top of it. Upon noticing how up they were, Akiza began holding Takashi tightly so that she wouldn't fall. However, as she did that, the young woman noticed that Takashi was simply looking at her with a kind and comforting smile on his face.

"I understand what you're feeling Akiza," He said to her. He then began looking in the distance, towards the dazzling lights of New Domino City. "When I look out towards the city, it's sometimes hard for me to believe that anything bad could happen. However, I know that's not the case. Life is too unpredictable. One moment you can be living a life of happiness and the next moment you be living in the depths of despair. For the longest time, I've tried my best to fight for a world in which everyone is happy and nothing bad will happen. However, that's easier said than done and ended up losing a lot of important people as a result. It was for that reason why I was so hesitant to confess my feelings for you, because I didn't want to involve you in that world."

Takashi paused for a moment as he closed his eyes and thought about the people he wanted to protect, but ultimately failed to. As they appeared within his mind, the Signer wondered if he truly deserved the happiness he has now after believing that he robbed the happiness of those he failed to save. However, as those thoughts appeared within his mind, Takashi simply remembered about all the times his friends supported him, especially Akiza. Eventually, he reopened his eyes and towards his girlfriend, smiling at her once more.

"However, as I got to know you and the others, I came to realize something very important. Despite all the things that I can do, I know for a fact that I'm useless by myself. Without all of you, wouldn't have been able to get to where I am now. Akiza…I love you. No matter what might happen in the future, I'm not afraid to face it because I have you by my side. So even you're frightened by what may happen to us, just know that I'll always be here to support you, my love…just like how you're always supporting me."

Once she heard him say that, Akiza started shedding tears of joy. She then let of a small smile as she thought about how Takashi always stuck by her side, even when she considered him to be her enemy. Remembering that and remembering all the trials that the two of them have gone through eased the Psychic Duelists of her fears. She then lifted her head and gazed deeply into her beloved's eyes as she gently placed both of her arms around his neck.

"You know…" She said. "You've always had such a way with words."

"Thanks," Takashi replied. "Don't tell anyone, but I sometimes practice these speeches in private."

"Is that so…Well then, let me show something that I've been practicing."

Akiza gently closed the distance between her and Takashi before eventually pressing her lips against his and giving him a passionate kiss. As he experienced this amazing display of affection, Takashi was utterly amazed by how incredible this kiss was. Even though they haven't been a couple for long, the way Akiza was kissing Takashi made it seem like that they've been in a relationship for several years now. It was so incredible that neither one of them wanted this moment to stop. Unfortunately, Akiza was running low of air and thus gently broke the kiss so that she could catch her breath. When she did, Takashi looked at her with a shocked look on his face.

"W…Wow," He said. "Who taught you how to kiss like that?"

"It was Lilly," Akiza answered. "Ever since she first found out that I liked you, she's been giving me several pointers about stuff like this. Even when she stopped teaching me, I decided to keep practicing in secret, hoping that I could someday use it one day in order show just how much I love you. I'm glad to see that it did the trick."

"You can say that again," Takashi smiled once again as he placed Akiza down on the edge of the roof. He then proceeded to place his arms around her waist, slowly bringing her towards him. "Hey…if you don't mind…I would really like another one of those."

"Sure," Akiza smile as she gently took off her glasses and held them in the tips of her fingers. She then once again wrapped her arms around Takashi's neck. "For you Takashi…you can have as many as you want."

With that said, Akiza closed her eyes and went on to kiss her beloved again, only this time it was several times more passionate than the one they had just a few minutes prior. As the couple displayed their affection for one another, both of them found themselves coming to a powerful realization. Because they spent so much time bottling up their feelings for each other, everything that they're doing not only seems more intense, but also more passionate now that they're releasing all of those pent up emotions. The two Signers didn't know how long this feeling will last, but both of them decided to simply enjoy it while it lasted.

Unfortunately for the new couple, their emotional display was about to be brought to a halt as Lilly and the others were busy looking at the two of them from the entrance to the roof. Like them, they couldn't get to sleep and they decided to spend the rest of the night trying to get Takashi's Duel Runner in working order. However, in order to make sure that happened, they needed Takashi, who was busy making out with Akiza. Although they were happy for their friends, the group knew that they had to get to work and thus Lilly stepped forward in order to put a stop to this.

"Okay, you two," She said as she clapped her hands loudly. "That's enough for now."

The force of Lilly's clap was loud enough to snap Takashi and Akiza out of their emotional trance, causing them to break their kiss. They then turned their heads and looked towards their friends, embarrassed that they were doing something like this in front of them. This caused the two of them to separate from each other slightly as they got down from the edge of the roof.

"Um…How long…have you been standing there?" Akiza asked as she slowly placed her glasses back on her face.

"Long enough," Lilly quickly answered. "Even though I'm still happy for you two, I think it's time you hold off from that for a little while. We have a Turbo Duel to prepare for…remember?"

Akiza nodded her head slightly as both she and Takashi began making her way towards Lilly and the others. As she did, the young woman looked towards her boyfriend and saw that his face was still visibly red. Seeing him like that put a small smile on her face as she was glad that she was able to please him so much, even though he was still slightly embarrassed by having their friends barge in like that. Akiza then resolved to show Takashi even more acts of affection…but only after he's victorious in the final Duel of the Fortune Cup.

Eventually, once the group made their back to the garage, all of them proceeded to work with Takashi so that he could be ready to face Alistair. While Misaki and Toru were busy working on his Duel Runner, making sure that it was in working order, Lilly, Crow, and Akiza began looking through Takashi's deck, checking to see if there's anything he needs to change before the big match. While all of this was going on, Takashi was busy working with both groups, trying his best to listen carefully to what everyone had to say.

As he continued to work with his friends, Takashi started to remember something that's been on his mind for a while now. He initially wanted to talk about it after his Duel against Alistair, but he soon realized that this was something that he needed to know before the match. Because of that, the leader of the Signers turned his head and began looking towards both Lilly and Crow.

"Hey guys," He said to the both of them.

"Yeah…" Crow said as both he and Lilly looked up towards him. "What is it?"

"…I need you tell me about Alistair. And not about his cards or his personality…I need to know how he ended up the way he is now and why he betrayed the both of you."

Both Lilly and Crow were surprised to hear this request from Takashi as he never even mentioned this before. While Crow was a bit reluctant to tell Takashi, Lilly was more supportive of the idea. Ever since Takashi first agreed to help her get back Ancient Fairy Dragon from the Duel King, the young woman was planning to tell him the reason she thinks Alistair betrayed her and the others. However, due to everything else that's happened, Lilly never found the time to do so. Well, now was as good a time as ever and Lilly decided that the time was now to tell her friend what happened to her former friend.

"Alright…" She said. "I don't know all the details…but this is what I think happened."

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

"_Ladies and Gentlemen…there's only 1 hour left until the Turbo Duel of the century, so please hurry and get your tickets because time is running out!"_

When the energetic MC shouted these words over the loudspeaker, thousands and thousands of spectators rushed over to the ticket booth, hoping to be one of the lucky few who gets the opportunity to see the Duel King Title Match between Takashi Nakamura and Alistair Miles. For most people, this was title match was going to be like no other. Both Duelists seemed so evenly matched that it seemed practically impossible to choose a side. However, it's for that very reason why they were so excited for this Duel, so that they could finally see who truly deserves to hold the title of Duel King of Japan.

While all of this was going on, Lilly and the others were busy in the garage that's stationed in the Kaiba Dome. Even though all of them spent all night making sure that Takashi's Duel Runner was in working order, the group knew that it wouldn't hurt to take one last look at it. So, while Takashi was busy in the back, changing into his new riding outfit, the others were hard at work putting the last modifications onto his Duel Runner.

As they continued to work, the group of 5 were soon greeted by their friends, Tem, Madas, and Jay. Having predicted what they would be up to, the three of them decided to check in on them and help out in any way that they could. Even though they honestly wished that they were the ones facing Alistair today, they all knew, each in their own way, that Takashi had the best chance of dethroning the Duel King. Because of that, they decided to work hard with their other friends in order to make it happen.

After spending about 30 minutes crunching all the numbers and analyzing every possible variable, Misaki gently nodded her head as she closed her laptop and put it away. Once she did it, the young woman proceeded to press some buttons on Takashi's Duel Runner, allowing the machine to reset its system so that it could absorb all the new data that she typed into it. After she did that, Misaki took a closed her eyes and let out a small sigh, relieved that she managed to get all of that accomplished before that match could begin.

"So…is it ready? Did you get it done?"

Recognizing the voice that was calling out to her to be Toru's, Misaki slowly reopened her eyes so that she could face him and answer his question. However, when she did, the young woman saw that Toru was staring directly at her, violating her personal space. Because of that, Misaki swiftly punched Toru straight in the nose, causing him to fall down and writher on the ground in pain.

"…Yes, it's finished," She answered. "…I have to admit, it took me forever to so, but I finally managed to boost the power of Takashi's Duel Runner. Now…he should be able to perform his Cross Sense technique…hopefully at 100%."

Upon hearing her say that, the others all jumped for joy while Toru simply let out a thumbs up. Because of the complexity of Takashi's Runner, the group had a hard time modifying it in order to give more power. However, they all knew that if anyone had a chance of giving the Runner the power it needed, it was Misaki Himura. As a result, the others began hugging and congratulating her up close, even though it annoyed her slightly.

While all of this was going on, a few more people entered the garage that the others were in. Those people were none other than their allies, Sona Shitori and Enoch Wylie. Like Madas and his group, the two Psychic Duelists wanted to see if everything was ready for Takashi's Duel against Alistair. However, after seeing how all of them were playing around with each other, the two safely assumed that all the preparations were made and that the only thing they needed to worry about was the Duel itself.

"So…where's Takashi?" Sona asked. "You would think he'd be here getting ready."

"He's in the dressing room right now," Akiza answered. "He said wanted to try on the outfit his Martial Arts master gave him."

"I see. Well, while we wait for him to show up, I might as well use this opportunity to tell this to all of you."

Upon hearing the seriousness in Sona's voice, the group instantly realized that what she wanted to tell them was really important. Because of that, each of them stopped playing around and focused on her. This also included Toru, who finally managed to recover from Misaki's punch and get back on his feet.

"Listen you guys," Sona continued. "I'm sure most of you are aware of what's going to happen today during this Duel. The world as we know it is about to change and in order to prepare for what's to come, Alex has informed me that he wants to meet with all of you once the match is over."

"Wait…" Crow said, stopping Sona from continuing. "What does he want to see us for?"

"You'll find out when you meet him," Sona replied. "However, if what he told me was right, I'm pretty sure you and the rest of the Signers will have a pretty good idea what that is."

After hearing her explanation, Crow was now even more confused than he was before. What did Sona mean when she said that the world was about to change and that the Signers would have an idea about what it is? When he turned his attention towards the others, all of them were just as confused as he was and thus were not able to give him an answer. As a result, the Blackwing Duelist had no choice but to believe in Sona's words, while also preparing for the worst.

While Crow was busy thinking what he and the others should do, Sona turned her attention away from him and began focusing in on Jay. Seeing the expression on his face, the beautiful Psychic Duelist knew right away that he had no idea what was going on. This wasn't too surprising because Jay, unlike Tem and Madas, wasn't as associated with the Signers and thus had no knowledge of what was going on. Despite that though, Sona needed Jay to join the group once today's Turbo Duel was over, given his status as a Dragunity Knight.

"Jay," She called out. "I know you have a lot of questions, but I need you to hold off from asking for now. I promise you'll get your answers once you meet Alex today."

Jay looked at Sona with a hesitant look on his face. Although he wanted to trust her, the fact of the matter is that Jay didn't know much about her or Alex. The only thing he remembers about him is how he forced Takashi into a Turbo Duel a couple of months back and that he put people in harm's way in order to do so. Despite what he was trying to accomplish, that incident didn't rub the young Duelist the right away. As a result, Jay was reluctant to believe Sona and go along with her and the others to meet the Underground Duel King. Before he could say anything about the matter though, Jay and the others soon heard some noise coming from the dressing room and quickly turned their attention towards it.

When they did, all of them saw that the noise was coming from Takashi, who just finished changing into his new riding gear. His outfit consisted of a black and silver jeans and a red and dark blue shirt. He was also wearing black and yellow shoes and a jacket that had the same design as his pants. Lastly, Takashi was also wearing a pair of fingerless gloves, which had the same color scheme as the rest of his outfit.

As the young leader of the Signers began stretching around, making sure he could move in his new clothes, the others were impressed by his look. This was especially true for Akiza, who found herself even more attracted to him than before. Even though the Rose Duelist appreciated what was inside Takashi's heart than his looks, it didn't change the fact that she found him to be very handsome and his new riding clothes only enhanced on that fact. While she and the others continue to marvel at him, Takashi was busy looking and Sona and Enoch and wondering what they were doing here.

"Hey guys," He said the both of them. "What's going on? Does Alex want something?"

"Yes," Enoch answered. "You see, he wants to meet up with all of you after your Duel with Alistair concludes."

"I see…I guess that makes sense."

Because he knew Alex better than the rest of his friends, Takashi understood why the Duel King would want to see him once the Duel was over. Even though the last time the two of them met each other ended up in a nasty argument, Takashi knew that he couldn't worry about that right now. All that mattered was the Duel. Everything else afterwards could be dealt with later.

However, before he could make his way towards his Duel Runner, Takashi looked over towards Jay and noticed the conflicted look that was on his face. When he saw it, the Signer completely understood why he felt this way. Unlike the rest of them, Jay wasn't involved in all of the crap that they've been through during the last couple of months. Not only that, Jay was also the youngest of all of them, still only 15-years-old. Despite that though, Takashi knew that he was going to need Jay's help in the future and decided to encourage him to join the cause.

"Look Jay," He said as he placed his hand on his head and smiled. "I know I'm asking a lot, but please trust us. Believe me when I say that we're going to need your help."

Takashi gently rubbed Jay's head, causing his hair to become very messy. When that happened, Jay become a little annoyed and quickly shook the Signer off him so that he could fix his hair. As he did so, he noticed the smile that was on his face and that, for some reason, it seemed like Takashi was radiating like the sun. Although he wasn't sure why, just seeing that made Jay feel a lot better and more confident about joining up with everyone to meet Alex.

"Alright," He said. "I'll come with you guys."

Upon hearing him say that, Takashi nodded his head in approval before going on to slap Jay's hand. With him on board, not only did their group just gain another member, but the second Dragunity Knight was now their ally. With Jay on board, all that was left was to convince both Aiku and Kagura to join up as well. Once that happens, all the remains his finding the 5th Dragunity Knight, which should become much easier with everyone working together.

After that was settled, Takashi began talking to everyone about how to best approach his Duel with Alistair. Even though he received a lot of tips from both Lilly and Crow, as well as remembering his first Turbo Duel with him, it didn't hurt to get some last minutes tips before the big match. Unfortunately, before he could receive some new information, the MC started talking over the intercom again, forcing Takashi to turn his attention towards it instead.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen, the opening ceremonies is about to begin in the next 5 minutes. As of right now, all tickets stands are now closed. I repeat, all ticket stands are now closed."_

Once the MC finished his announcement, Takashi realized that the time had finally arrived. There was no more time to prepare. All that was left to do was go out there and trying his best to pull out another victory. To that end, Takashi picked up his helmet and placed it around his arm. After he did that, he proceeded to face all of his friends, who in turn were looking back at him.

"Well guys…wish me luck out there," He told all of them.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Madas asked him. "We don't need to do that."

"He's right," Tem followed. "We already know that you're going to win."

Once he heard Tem and Madas' vote of confidence, Takashi turned his attention towards the others and saw that they felt the same way. Each and every one has watched carefully as Takashi has grown throughout this tournament. With each new challenge that he was able to overcome, not only was he able to move on in the standings, but his skills also improved significantly as well. At his current level of strength, not only did they believe that he could defeat Alistair, but also become a Duel King that the whole country could be proud of.

Upon seeing that, Takashi smiled at all of his friends and silently thanked them for all the support that they've given him. He then began making his way towards his Duel Runner and activated it. As he did so, Akiza suddenly realized something important and began rushing over towards her purse. As the others watched her, they notice her pull out a long burgundy colored scarf. Once she had it in hand, the Rose Duelist made her way towards Takashi and proceeded to gently wrap the scarf around his neck.

"What's this Akiza?" He asked her.

"It's a scarf, silly," Akiza answered with a small smile. "You see, I saw you wearing a similar one during your Duel with Kuromu. Lilly told me that when you wore it, you felt like I was there with you. I was very flattered to hear that and so I asked Zora to help me make you another one since that other scarf was destroyed during that Duel."

Akiza continued wrapping the scarf around Takashi's neck for a few more seconds, making sure that just enough was around him. Once she finished, the young woman took a few steps back so she could get a good look at her boyfriend. When she was able to, Akiza smiled as found Takashi even more handsome with her scarf around his neck. As for Takashi, he liked the scarf as well, especially since Akiza made it for him.

Once he made sure that enough it was placed around his neck, Takashi got up from his Duel Runner for a moment and began making his way towards Akiza. As soon as he reached her, the young man gently wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and held her close. When he did that, Akiza returned the favor by gently placing her arms around him.

"Thanks Akiza," Takashi said softly. "I promise to always cherish it."

"Don't mention it," Akiza replied. "Now go out there and kick some butt."

Takashi nodded his head, agreeing to do just that. He and Akiza then went on to have a quick, but passionate kiss before separating from each other. Takashi then placed his helmet over his head and lowered its visor before returning over to his Duel Runner. After that, Takashi revved up the machine before driving off towards the arena floor.

When the group saw them leave, the others decided to follow suit and began making their way towards the stands. The only ones who stayed behind were Sona and Enoch, who told them that they couldn't afford to be seen by the public right now and that they would be watching the Duel from someplace else. After they saw all of them leave, Sona proceeded to make her leave as well, but in the opposite direction.

"So…are you going to try and find the other Dragunity Knights?" Enoch asked.

"Of course," Sona replied. "While I was talking to the others, I managed to sense both Aiku's and Kagura's Reiatsus. Even though they're not on our side, it's important that they hear what Alex has to say."

"I see," Enoch nodded his head. "Good luck with that, Sona. Contact me if there's any trouble."

Sona nodded her head and began making her way to both Aiku and Kagura while also trying her best not to get noticed. As she walked away, Enoch stared at her for a few moments before walking in the opposite direction. Although he told Akiza and the others that he couldn't afford to be seen by the public right now, he still wanted to see the Duel. Because of that, he made his towards the top of the Kaiba Dome, in a place where no one would notice him.

Meanwhile, as the spectators were waiting patiently for the Duel to finally get underway, Aiku Gato was busy walking around the stadium. He had a pretty nasty expression on his face, highlighting the fact that he didn't want to be here. However, due to some convincing from his parents, who wanted to see the Duel in person, the young man had no choice but to go with them. However, despite the fact that he didn't want to be here, Aiku found saw one good thing out of this. If anything, he would get to see Takashi completely and utterly crushed once he was defeated by Alistair.

As the thought of that ran through his mind, Aiku turned his head slightly and saw a beautiful young woman standing by one of the exits. At first, he wasn't able to tell who she was, but after getting a closer look, he saw that the woman in question was none other than Kagura Toyoshima. Seeing her here in the Kaiba Dome surprised Aiku slightly, since he knew Kagura wasn't the type of person to stick around and watch a tournament if she wasn't competing in it. Aiku then started wondering whether or not he should go up and talk to her, but after remembering how she and Takashi got into a fight during the first round of the Finals, he ultimately decided to do so, believing that anyone who didn't like Takashi and his group was okay.

"Hey," He called. "Hey Kagura…"

Kagura heard Aiku voice and slowly turned her head towards him. As she watched the young man approach her, the Twilight Duelist simply nodded her head before turning head back to where it was before. She currently had a lot on her mind right now and she wanted to be alone with her thoughts. In truth, Kagura wasn't planning on being here to watch the final Duel of the Fortune Cup, but a part of her felt that she just had to be here so ended up coming anyway. What that feeling was, she didn't know. However, Kagura believed that it was something important and decided, just this once, to trust her feelings and not her head.

"Kagura," Aiku continued as he finally reached her. "What's up? I didn't expect to see you here."

"I can say the same thing about you," Kagura replied, barely glancing at Aiku. "Did you come here to watch the Duel?"

"Truthfully, I rather be taking a s**t than be here," Aiku kicked his foot across the ground, causing a skid mark to appear underneath him. "However…my parents insisted that I come. At the very least though, I get to see Takashi get his ass kicked in person…which is something."

"I see…"

Hearing Aiku say Takashi's name caused Kagura to recall her interactions with the young man. Her short time with him caused her life to flip entirely upside down. At first, Kagura was completely set on her goal on getting revenge on the members of Team Satisfaction, who she blamed for the death of her cousin, Vivi. However, upon meeting up Takashi and seeing him openly go against her goals and beliefs caused Kagura to question everything she wanted up to this point. Although a part of her still wanted to get revenge, Kagura was now wondering if what Takashi told her was true and that her life would no longer have meaning once she accomplished her goal.

While Kagura continued to ponder this and many other things, Aiku was beginning to worry about her a little. Usually, from his point of view, Kagura was a strong young woman who always looked determined and was completely focused on her goals. But that wasn't the case now, as Kagura seemed to be filled with doubt and confusion. Just the sight that bothered Aiku and even though he and Kagura weren't exactly friends, he wanted to at least help her overcome whatever what was bothering her.

"Listen Kagura…I…"

"My, my….what do we have here? It's not like you to be like this…isn't it, Kagura?"

Surprised by the voice that just interrupted him, Aiku turned his head and saw that the person who just spoke was none other than the Director of Sector Security, Rex Goodwin. Just seeing him here surprised Aiku to no end, but the young man was even more shocked by the fact that Goodwin knew Kagura. He was about to go and ask her what her relationship with the Director was, but Kagura already started talking before he got the chance.

"It's nothing," She told Goodwin. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Is that so," Goodwin said with a small smile. He then proceeded to gently place his hand on Kagura's shoulder. "Well then, whatever it is I'm sure that you'll be able to overcome it. After all…you do take after your parents."

Goodwin nodded his head towards Kagura before preparing to take his life. However, as he began to do so, something he said suddenly caught Kagura's attention. It was at that moment that the Twilight Duelist suddenly remembering something very important, something that she wanted to talk to Goodwin about."

"Director!" She called. "Before you leave…I have a question."

"Is that right," Goodwin replied, stopping in right in place. "What would that be?"

"Just a moment ago, you just mentioned my parents. That reminded me about something you told me a few years ago…about how just before they did, my parents gave me away to Vivi just before they died."

"That's right," Goodwin turned himself and stared at Kagura, noticing a strong look in her eyes. "Your mother and father wanted to keep you alive, so they gave you to Vivi and had her go outside city limits, saving the both of you from the blast that became none as Zero Reverse."

"I know," Kagura continued. "But you also told me something else. You said that shortly before I was born, my parents gave birth to another child…my older brother."

When Aiku heard Kagura say that she had an older brother, the young man suddenly felt the hairs on the back his neck stand up. Given what he knew about her prior, Aiku thought most of Kagura's relatives died during the Zero Reverse incident, leaving her an only child. But if what she said was indeed true, then this was a very huge deal. He wanted to speak up about it, but stopped when noticed that Kagura was about to speak again.

"You told me that my parents also sent my brother away and that he's still alive, even after these years. However…you've have yet to tell me who he is, saying that I would find out for myself one day."

"That's right," Goodwin acknowledged. "The two of you are bound to meet again, which is why I didn't tell you who he is or what's his current location. You see, I believed that fate would bring you together. So Kagura…given what you're telling me, can I assume that you found out who your older brother is?"

"…I…I don't know," Kagura gently her head down. "I mean, I think I do…but I'm just not sure. In fact, even I know seems to be shrouded in grey."

Goodwin watched as Kagura clinched her fist, indicating that all of these things that she was feeling were bother her to no end. However, instead of being worried about that, Goodwin simply let out another small, yet unnoticeable, smile. The Director then began making his way towards his office, but not before telling Kagura one last thing.

"Kagura…" He started off. "Don't worry, everything will be made clear soon. However, if you still want answers, I recommend you follow Takashi Nakamura after his Duel today. I'm confident that he can help you."

With that said, Goodwin left and quickly disappeared into the crowd. Once he was gone, Aiku looked over towards Kagura and saw that she was staring out in the direction that Goodwin was headed too. He wondered what he was talking about and what Takashi had to do with all of this. However, before he could get those questions answered, there was one thing he wanted to know above all else.

"Hey Kagura," He called. "How do you and Goodwin know each other?"

"…That's simple," Kagura said as she started to walk off. "He's my uncle."

While all of this was going on, everyone sitting in the Kaiba Dome noticed that fireworks were beginning to explode high above the stadium. Not only that, but several colors of lights began to light up the inside of the complex as well. Seeing that meant only one thing, that the time for the Duel of the Century was about to begin. This caused the crowd to get out of their seats and scream at the top of the lungs.

As they did that, a small hole began to open up on the platform that was placed in the middle on the stadium. From that hole emerged the MC, who was wearing a fancy outfit and carrying his trademark microphone. After he made sure that the crowd was as pumped up as they possible could, the MC ordered all the lights to be cut off and that only a single spotlight was shining on him. Once that happened, he began talking to audience.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen," _He started off. _"The time as finally arrived. It has taken us countless months and hundreds of fierce Duels to reach this moment, but the moment we've been waiting for is now upon us. Welcome…to the Fortune Cup Title Match!"_

The crowd's screams suddenly became even louder than before once the MC declared the arrival of the Title Match. Soon, the spectators started stomping their feet repeatedly on the ground, causing the ground beneath them to shake a little bit. Just seeing their excitement brought joy to the MC, but he knew that had to calm them down so that he could introduce the Duelists.

"_Now…please join me as we welcome the one who will challenge for the title of Japan's Duel King!"_

All the lights in the stadium started flashing all over the place as more fireworks began shooting up into the skies. Eventually, the spotlight that was shining on the MC soon changed its position towards a nearby entrance tunnel. Once that happened, everyone in the stadium watched as smoke began to emerge from the tunnel.

"_From out of nowhere, this young man quickly began making a name for himself in the Dueling World. His skills with a deck are now being considered to be the best our country has seen in the last 20 years. However, will that be enough for him to take down the current champion? We'll soon find out. Ladies and Gentlemen…please join me as we welcome our challenger, the Shining Star of New Domino City…Takashi Nakamura!"_

At the very moment the Duel King called his name, Takashi suddenly rocketed out of the tunnel, flying high into the air. As he did so, all of his friends, who were sitting in the middle stands of the stadium, all started cheering for him along with the crowd. Once Takashi landed on the crowd, the young Turbo Duelist began taking a few laps around Kaiba Dome track before positioning himself on the starting line. After he did that, Takashi gently tugged the scarf that Akiza gave him, while waiting patiently for his opponent to appear.

"_Now…before we introduce our current champion, we have a very special announcement," _The MC said to the crowd. _"Everyone…please welcome the organizer of this tournament and the Director of Sector Security, the one and only Rex Goodwin!"_

Another bright spotlight suddenly appeared inside the Kaiba Dome and began shining towards the office that the high executives usually stay at. When everyone turned their attention towards it, they all saw Goodwin standing proudly with a cool and confident smile on his face. The crowd then started clapping for the Director, happy to see him here today. However, Takashi wasn't as pleased to see him and simply gave his estranged uncle a fierce glare.

When Goodwin saw his nephew stare at him like that, the Director simply nodded his head towards him. It was clear to him that Takashi was still upset about what happened during their encounter at the Sector Security building. Despite that however, Goodwin wasn't concerned about what his nephew was feeling at all. Right now, there was only one thing that the Director wanted to do and that was to tell the audience, and all those watching on TV or listening on the radio, something important about the young challenger. Because of that, Goodwin pressed a button on the collar of his jacket, activating a small microphone.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen," _He started off. _"Let me be the first to welcome you today at this glorious event. It's been a long time coming as countless Duelists battled each other in fierce competition, hoping for the opportunity to make it to this moment. However, out of the hundreds of the Duelists who signed up for the tournament, only one of them managed to reach this point…and that one person was none other than Takashi Nakamura."_

As Goodwin began praising Takashi's skills and went into careful detail about all the Duels he won in order to reach this point, the Signer was wondering just what the hell he was up to. He knew that whatever Goodwin did always had a motive behind it, but he simply wasn't able to figure out what is. However, as he continued to listen to the Director talk, Takashi suddenly came up with one reason why and his eyes began to widen as a result.

"_Everyone…words cannot express how proud I am of Takashi for getting here," _Goodwin continued. _"You see, shortly before the incident that plagued New Domino City almost 20 years ago, my younger brother, Minato Goodwin, watched as his only son was brought into the world. That child was none other than Takashi himself and woman who gave birth to this talented young Duelist was none other than the Legendary Female Duelist…Sakura Nakamura!"_

At the very instant Goodwin revealed that Sakura Nakamura, the Legendary World Queen, was Takashi's mother, the entire crowd was completely stunned. Even though it was just as surprising for them to hear that Takashi was also Goodwin's nephew, the announcement that he was the son of such of a great Duelist was even more shocking. Because of that, the entire crowd was left silent as they attempted to process this new information.

While the crowd remained silent, Aiku and Kagura were busy looking down at the crowd from one of the stands. Having already known that Takashi was Sakura's son, Aiku wasn't the least bit surprised, unlike everyone else. However, what did surprise him was the fact that Takashi's father was also Goodwin's younger brother. If that was true, this meant that Takashi is Goodwin's nephew, just like Kagura is. He just couldn't believe it, but as soon as he thought about that, another realization popped into his head, something even more incredible.

"Hey Kagura…" He called, turning his head towards her. "Does this mean…?"

Kagura didn't answer Aiku as she was busy staring at Takashi, her eyes completely fixated on him. Even though she's haven't known him along, the young woman felt a strong connection with Takashi ever since she first met him. This also includes the encounter they had in Crash Town almost six years ago. Although she was aware that her uncle was into some pretty shady things, Kagura knew that Goodwin wasn't the type of person to lie about something like this. Because of that, Twilight Duelist was able to reach the same realization that Aiku just had.

"Takashi Nakamura is….my older brother…"

As Kagura continued to process this unbelievable conclusion, Takashi was busy trying to figure what Goodwin was up to. He couldn't understand why he would reveal this information to the crowd. Was it to simply pump them up or did he have some other motive? Eventually, he was about to step up and question his uncle about this, but suddenly stopped were he started to hear some clapping.

"Awesome…!" Someone in the crowd yelled. "This is f**king awesome!"

The cheers of the sole spectator quickly caused everyone else in the crowd to start cheering for Takashi as well. Sakura Nakamura was an amazing Duelist back during her time and her death still resonates with the people of New Domino City, even to this day. So the fact that her son, Takashi, was here to try and become a Duel King just like was truly a sight to behold. Also, for those who have already seen him Duel, they could see that Takashi truly was Sakura's son since his style was very similar to hers.

For the next few minutes, the crowd continuing cheering for Takashi, some of whom wished that he would win today so that he could live up to the legacy that his mother left behind. However, despite the fact that he now had even more fans than before, there still quite a few fans who were against him, believing that Takashi wasn't at the level to be Duel King, let alone his mother's level. Because of that, those who weren't on his side started cheering as loud as they could when they saw the spot light shine across the other side of the stadium, towards another entrance way.

"_It's been almost 3 years since he first arrived on the Dueling scene and he's already being compared to some of the greatest Duelists in history," _The MC explained over the microphone. _"His no-nonsense style of play and the overwhelming strength of his monsters have given victory or victory, signifying his status as Duel King. However, will his skills be enough to bring down our up-and-coming challenger? Let's find out. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome to the Kaiba Dome…Japan's current Duel King…Alistair Miles!"_

At the very instant the MC finished his speech, Takashi watched as a giant explosion suddenly occurred at the other entrance. From the blast emerged Alistair, who was riding his trademark Duel Runner, but with a new black a red design. Once the crowd saw this flashy, yet impressive, entrance, many of them started chanting Alistair's name, hoping that he would once again provide them with a Duel that they won't soon forget.

However, despite the wishes of the crowd and those watching at home, Alistair had no time for any of them. There was only one thing on his mind right now, the complete destruction of Takashi Nakamura. It's been a long time coming, but time as finally come for their rematch and the Duel King had every intention of setting the record straight and proving once and for all that he was the superior Duelist. Because of that, Alistair let out a cocky, yet ruthless, smile towards his challenger as also began making his way towards the starting line.

Once both Duelists were there, all the ground officials began making final preparations to the track. It was during this moment that both Takashi and Alistair stared down at one another. As he looked at his opponent, Takashi could tell that something was different about Alistair. He could feel a powerful darkness coming from him, yet he didn't know where it came from or how he got this power. It's for that reason that the Signer braced himself, knowing that this Duel was going to be even more dangerous than he first thought.

"What's wrong, Nakamura?" Alistair asked, seeing the look of fear on his foe's face. "Don't tell me you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid, Alistair," Takashi replied.

"That's good to hear…" Alistair's ruthless smile grew bigger as a dark aura, invisible to those normal people in the crowd, began to faintly radiate from off his body. "…Because I'm about to show you what true fear looks like. Trust me when I say that being Sakura Nakamura's son won't save you from this fate!"

Upon hearing Alistair say that to him, Takashi's anger began to flare up within him. When that happened, a blue aura also began to radiate off his body, clashing with Alistair's dark power. The young man then began gripping the ends of his Duel Runner, now even more motivated to win this Duel.

"Don't you compare me to my mother, Alistair," He told him. "My mother is dead…she's gone! There's no way I can ever be like her. But that's fine…because the strength I have is more than enough to defeat you!"

Alistair was pleased to hear Takashi say that. For him, this Duel wouldn't mean anything if Takashi wasn't at his best. It's only when he can crush him at his best that Alistair could get his revenge and not only proved himself as the strongest Signer, but also the strongest Duelist. As a result, the Duel King also gripped the ends of his Duel Runner and prepared him for what he believed to be…the complete and utter destruction of Takashi Nakamura.

With that all said, and the preparations now complete, MC determined that enough time has been spent playing around. So, after getting okay from Goodwin, he informed the technical crew to activate the automatic countdown. Once that happened, everyone watched as a Solid Vision timer appeared and began ticking down.

"_Alright…it's time to get this match underway!" _The MC shouted. _"Duelists…it's time to activate your Speed World 2 Field Spells!"_

Both Takashi and Alistair nodded their heads and proceeded to press a button on their Duel Runners. When they did, the effect of their Speed World 2 Spells activated, resulting in a giant sphere of energy to cover the entire stadium. Not only that, but the Spell Card also put both of their Duel Runners in Duel Mode, activating their Duel Disks as a result. Once that happened, both Duelists revved up their Runners as they watched the clock continue to tick down.

"_Let's get busy people! 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…!"_

* * *

><p><em>DUEL<em>

**Takashi: 4000 LP**

**Alistair: 4000 LP**

At the very instant the countdown finished, Takashi and Alistair dashed across the track at incredible speed, much to the crowd's amazement. The two of them then started riding around each other, trying their best to get in front. Eventually, Alistair was the one who was able to get out in front, thanks to the extra power in his Duel Runner. However, despite him taking the lead, Takashi was able to keep up with the Duel King, only being a few feet behind.

"_It's clear from that earlier exchange that both of our competitors mean business," _The MC commented on. _"However, it takes more than just riding skills to become Duel King. You'll need to have great skill with the cards as well. Now…as in with all Title Matches, the challenger is allowed to have the first move!"_

Takashi nodded his head and placed his hand upon his deck. As he did so, the Signer started thinking about all the Duels he's competed in ever since he first learned how to play Duel Monsters. He believed that all the matches that he's participated in up to now have been preparing him for this one Duel. All the victories and all the defeats he's experienced have helped him grow and it's because of all those things that he needed to give this Duel everything he got. So, with fire in his eyes, Takashi proceeded to swiftly pull the top card of his deck.

"It's my turn," He declared. "I Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 1**

**Alistair: SPC – 1 **

Once he had the card in his hand, Takashi glanced at it for a second and saw that it was a good one. With it, along with the other cards that made up his hand, he could pull off an incredible play in just a couple of turns. However, before he could make that move, he would need to set the ground work first. To that end, Takashi grabbed one card from his hand and placed it face-down onto his Monster Card Zone.

"To begin, I set a monster face-down in Defense Mode!"

Just as he said that, Takashi watched as a face-down card materialized itself in front of him in a horizontal position. Once that happened, he continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and inserting it into his Spell/Trap Zone. When he did that, another face-down materialized onto his side of the field. However, unlike his first one, this face-down quickly disappeared just soon as it appeared.

"I then set one card face-down. With that, I end my turn."

When the crowd saw Takashi end his turn, all of them wondered what he was planning. His move seemed so basic that any common Duelist could do it. They weren't sure if he was really taking this Duel seriously or if he was just holding back until things really got thick. Soon enough, most of them agreed to wait and see as the battle progressed. As for now, all eyes were focused on Alistair has he prepared to begin his turn.

"What…is that it?" The Duel King questioned. "C'mon Nakamura, you're going to have to do better than that. Here…allow me to show you how to conduct an opening move! It's my turn…Draw!"

**Takashi: SPC – 2**

**Alistair: SPC – 2 **

Alistair began his first turn of the Duel by swiftly, yet forcibly, drawing the top card from his deck. Then, without even looking at it, the Duel King put the card into his hand and grabbed another one, which quickly placed onto his Monster Card. Once he did that, Alistair watched as a bright flash of light began to shine in front of his Duel Runner.

"Now, when you have a monster on your field while I don't…I can Special Summon this monster directly from my hand. Take to the field, Vice Dragon!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 2000 DEF 2400 LVL 5**

As the bright light continued to shine across his field, Alistair watched as a Vice Dragon appeared before him. Once it completely materialized, the powerful beast turned its attention towards Takashi and unleashed an ear shattering roar at him. However, after it did that, everyone watching the Duel looked on as Vice Dragon's body began to shrink.

"When Vice Dragon is successfully Special Summoned this way, its Attack and Defense Points are cut in half," Alistair explained. "However, that's a small price to pay for what I have in mind for you, Nakamura!"

**Vice Dragon: ATK 1000 DEF 1200 **

Once Vice Dragon's body finished changing shape, Alistair continued on with his turn by taking another card from his hand and placing it onto his Monster Card Zone. Like with his Vice Dragon, Alistair's second monster also began to materialize itself from a bright flash of light.

"Next, I think I'll follow up by Normal Summoning the Tuner Monster: Dark Resonator!"

**Dark Resonator: ATK 1300 DEF 300 LVL 3**

After the light faded away from his side of the field, Alistair gleefully watched as his Dark Resonator appeared, floating right next to Vice Dragon. When Takashi saw that, he instantly understood what Alistair was trying to do. However, because he didn't have the means to counter it, all he could do was watch as the Duel King body began to radiate with a dark aura again.

"Now…this is where the real fun begins," Alistair commented. "I Tune my Level 5 Vice Dragon with my Level 3 Dark Resonator!"

Both monsters nodded their head upon hearing their master's command. They then began flying high into the air, preparing themselves to conduct the ritual for a Synchro Summoning. As the crowd looked on in anticipation, Takashi felt a strong sensation coming from his right arm and saw that his Signer Mark was glowing rather intensely. Just seeing that only confirmed his suspicions and thus he began to brace himself as he watched Alistair pull a card from his Extra Deck.

"The ruler's heartbeat will now file through here!" Alistair said, his aura continuing to increase in power. "Now take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! Emerge, my very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

**Red Dragon Archfiend: ATK 3000 DEF 2000 LVL 8**

Once the Synchro Summoning was complete, a giant blast of fire and heat began to cover the entire Kaiba Dome. Even though it was just a hologram, almost everyone there instinctively took cover in order to shield themselves from the flames. As they did so, Alistair watched has his Ace Monster, the powerful Red Dragon Archfiend, appeared and began flying high above him. After the flames finally began to die down, the crowd was amazed by the appearance of Red Dragon Archfiend and began cheering for Alistair as a result.

"_What an incredible sight, Ladies and Gentlemen!" _The MC pointed out. _"Once again, the powerful Red Dragon Archfiend has appeared, ready to take down all opposition. With it now here, how will Takashi overcome this obstacle?!"_

"That's simple," Alistair followed. "…HE CAN'T!"

Alistair started laughing like a man possessed, believing that with his Red Dragon Archfiend now on the field, this Duel was already won. However, even with that belief, he wanted to make Takashi suffer. For him, this wouldn't end until his challenger was in the darkest depths of despair, regretting his decision to come to New Domino City and challenge his authority. Because of that, the Duel King had no intention of stopping here and already began contemplating his next big move.

While that was going on, Lilly and the others were busy looking on from the crowd, watching intently as the Duel continued. Even though all of them believed that Takashi was going to win, it didn't change the fact that they were concerned for him. Not only that, but the remaining Signers took notice of the dark aura surrounding Alistair's body, making them worry even more. This was especially true for Akiza, who soon clasps her hands together and closed her eyes.

"…Takashi…" She quietly spoke. "Please…be safe…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Preview<strong>_

_As their long awaited rematch finally gets underway, Takashi quickly realizes that even with all of his training, Alistair's strength is still far greater than he could possibly imagine. However, even with his back against the wall, our hero refuses to give up. Can Takashi somehow overcome this massive hurdle or will Alistair be successfully in permanently breaking him?_

_Also, we finally find out what drove Alistair to betray his friends in the Satellite in order to become New Domino's Duel King._

_Next Time on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Over the Nexus. Chapter 101: The Fortune Cup Finale; Takashi vs. Alistair – Part 2_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Announcements<strong>_

**Spirit Reader: **_Hey guys, this is Spirit Reader with some announcements._

_First off, I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope your holiday season went well and that you had a wonderful time with your family. _

_Second, I want to apologize to all of you for the long chapter delay. You see, during my break I had a lot of computer problems, which prevented me from updating like I wanted to. This also prevented me to do a Holiday Special, which I was really looking forward to. However, I'm happy to inform you that my computer is fixed and I will be able to update the story again. Also, if any of you are interested, I'll make another Holiday Special this year. Just tell me in the review section which holiday you guys would like it to be._

_Next, I want to remind all of you about the Power Rangers story that me and my partner Serpentdragon are working on. It's called Savage Force – Power Rangers: Jungle Fury! It is a reimagining of the Jungle Fury story, complete with new characters and new villains. Please look forward to it as it should be out around March._

_Also, while you wait for that story, please look out for Serpentdragon's Power Rangers story as well. This story is a reimagining of the SPD story, also will new characters. Both projects share the same universe so don't be surprised if elements from one story happens to appear in the other. Please give my friend's story the same amount of attention as mine. Serpentdragon is a talented writer who often helps me out with my works. I'm positive that his story will impress you as much as it impresses me._

_Lastly, I want to inform you all that I'm starting the character trivia that I mentioned last chapter. Today we will be focusing on Takashi Nakamura, the main character of Over the Nexus._

_**Takashi Nakamura Triva**_

_**1. Takashi's birthday is August 15, making him a Leo**_

_**2. Takashi's favorite food is BBQ beef ramen. He has no food he openly dislikes.**_

_**3. His hobbies include Dueling, cooking, reading manga, watching anime, and hanging out with his friends.**_

_**4. Takashi new Turbo Dueling outfit, which was given to him by Izumi, is similar to the second outfit worn by Sora, the main character of the Kingdom Hearts video game series. For everyone of Sora's Drive Forms, with the exception of Anti, Takashi has a outfit that's matches it. **_

_**5. He has a fear of stinging insects, having been attacked by a hornet swarm when he was little. Takashi's biggest fear however is that he might lose his friends in the same way he lost Hikari. **_

_**6. According to Goodwin, Takashi has his father's face, but his personality is more like his mother's.**_

_**7. Despite not having a formal education, Takashi is an incredible smart individual. Misaki believes that his IQ is about 160.**_

_**8. Takashi's facial description was based on Takashi Komuro, the main character of High School of the Dead. The scars he received over the course of the story were inspired by Kenshin Himura and Monkey D. Luffy, the main characters of Rurouni Kenshin and One Piece. **_

_**9. If Over the Nexus was created into an anime, Takashi would be voiced in Japanese by either Noriaki Sugiyama (Sasuke Uchiha and Shirou Emiya), Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Kirito/Kazuto Kirigaya), or Koki Uchiyama (Soul Eater Evens, Raku Ichijo, and Kaito Tenjo)**_

_**10. If the series had an English Dub, Takashi would be voiced by either Johnny Yong Bosch (Ichigo Kurosaki and Izaya Orihara), Yuri Lowenthal (Sasuke Uchiha, Simon, Suzaku Kururugi, and Ben Tennyson), Bryce Papenbrook (Kirito/Kazuto Kirigaya and Eren Jaeger) or Todd Haberkorn (Natsu Dragneel and Death the Kid)**_

_Well that's it for now. The next character trivia will be on Akiza Izinski. Until next time, this is Spirit Reader signing off!_


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